Our Honest BEST & WORST Cars of 2025 - We Rank Them All ! | Ep 97 |Drive Torque Podcast
Drive Torque Podcast
Our Honest BEST & WORST Cars of 2025 - We Rank Them All ! | Ep 97 |Drive Torque Podcast
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
77:24
Car
Volkswagen Passat
The Volkswagen Passat is a roomy and comfortable car that's great for families or long drives. It's known for being reliable and easy to drive, making it a good choice for everyday use.
Car
BMW M2
The BMW M2 is a fast and sporty car that's part of the 2 Series lineup. It's designed for people who enjoy driving and want a car that feels fun and responsive on the road.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that many people love for its speed and unique shape. It's been around for a long time and is considered a classic.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a super-fast sports car that looks great and drives even better. It's made for people who love speed and want a car that can handle well on a race track, but it's also comfortable enough for regular driving.
Term
MOT
MOT is a yearly check in the UK to make sure cars are safe to drive. If a car passes the MOT, it means it's in good condition for the road.
Car
Porsche Spyder
The Porsche Spyder is a type of sports car made by Porsche. It's known for being light and fast, and it usually has an open roof, making it great for driving on nice days.
Term
Cup 2 tires
Cup 2 tires are special tires made for racing and high-performance driving. They help cars grip the road better, especially when going fast on a track.
Term
understeering
Understeering means the car doesn't turn as much as you want it to. It's like when you try to steer but the car keeps going straight instead of turning.
Term
grip
Grip is how well the tires stick to the road. Good grip means the car can turn and stop better without sliding.
Part
tyres
Tyres are the round rubber parts on cars that touch the road. They help the car move, turn, and stop safely.
Term
Bedford
Bedford is a racetrack in the UK where drivers can test their cars and improve their skills.
Term
braking zone
A braking zone is a part of the racetrack where drivers need to slow down before making a turn. It's important for safety and helps drivers navigate the track better.
Term
slide
A slide happens when a car loses grip and starts moving sideways instead of going straight. This can occur when turning too fast or braking hard.
Term
track day
A track day is when you can take your car to a racetrack and drive it fast. You pay a fee to use the track for a day, and it's a fun way to experience your car's performance safely.
Term
Michelin
Michelin is a famous brand that makes tires for cars. They are known for making good quality tires that help cars grip the road better, especially during fast driving.
Car
Alpine A110S
The Alpine A110S is a sporty car that is fun to drive. It's light and quick, which helps it handle well on the road, making it a favorite for people who love driving.
Car
Alfa Romeo 4C
The Alfa Romeo 4C is a small sports car that is designed to be very light and fast. It's known for its great handling and sporty feel.
Car
Citroen AMI
The Citroen AMI is a tiny electric car that's perfect for driving around the city. It's easy to park and use, making it a great option for short trips and urban living.
Car
BMW M4
The BMW M4 is a sporty coupe that offers a powerful engine and fun driving experience. It's designed for people who love fast cars and want something that looks great and performs well.
Car
BMW M3
The BMW M3 CS Touring is a special version of the M3 that combines sporty performance with more space, as it's a wagon. It offers better speed and handling than the regular M3.
Car
Ferrari Dodici Cilindre Spider
The Ferrari Dodici Cilindre Spider is a special sports car made by Ferrari. It's known for being fast and stylish, and it's exciting to see one at a launch event.
Term
front-mid engine
A front-mid engine means the engine is placed behind the front wheels but in front of the cabin. This setup helps the car handle better by balancing its weight.
Term
naturally aspirated V12
A naturally aspirated V12 is a type of engine with twelve cylinders that gets its power from air pressure, not from a turbocharger. This makes it feel more responsive when you accelerate.
Car
McLaren 12C
The McLaren 12C is a fast sports car made by McLaren. It's known for being lightweight and powerful, with a strong engine that helps it perform well on the road.
Car
Audi RS6
The Audi RS6 is a fast and powerful wagon that combines the practicality of a station wagon with the performance of a sports car.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a super high-performance sports car that is built for speed and handling on race tracks. It's lighter and faster than the regular GT3, making it a dream car for many racing fans.
Car
Mclaren Artura
The McLaren Artura is a high-performance sports car that uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to go fast while being more efficient. It's very lightweight and packed with modern tech.
Car
Lola T70 Road Legal NASCAR
The Lola T70 is a classic race car from the 1960s. The 'Road Legal' part means this version can be driven on regular streets, not just racetracks.
Term
six-speed manual
A six-speed manual is a type of car transmission where you have to change gears yourself, and it has six different gears to choose from. This gives you more control over how the car drives.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower tells you how strong an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and more powerful the car can be.
Concept
Porsche effect
The 'Porsche effect' is when people really want to buy Porsches because they are seen as special and high-quality cars. This can make them more popular and valuable.
Car
Citroën Ami
The Citroën Ami is a small electric car that's easy to drive around the city. It's designed to be affordable and practical for short trips.
Car
GA7M2
The GA7M2 is a type of car made by Mazda. It's known for being fun to drive and has a manual transmission, which means you change gears yourself instead of the car doing it automatically.
Term
parts
'Parts' are the different pieces that make up a car, like the engine or tires. They can be original parts from the manufacturer or parts made by other companies.
Car
BMW E90
The BMW 3 Series is a stylish and fun-to-drive car that many people use for daily commuting. It's known for being comfortable inside and has a reputation for being a reliable choice for those who want a bit of luxury in their ride.
Term
acceleration figures
Acceleration figures show how fast a car can speed up from a stop. For example, it might tell you how quickly it can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour.
Term
top speed
Top speed is how fast a car can go when it's pushed to its limit. It's an important number for people who care about how fast their car can drive.
Term
60 miles to the gallon
This means the car can go 60 miles using just one gallon of gas. It's a way to see how much fuel the car uses and how far it can go on that fuel.
Car
BMW Series Bmw
The BMW 7 Series is a large and luxurious car that's perfect for people who want comfort and style. It has lots of high-tech features and a smooth ride, making it great for long trips.
Car
Genesis GV60
The Genesis GV60 is a fancy electric SUV that offers a lot of power and luxury features. It's designed for people who want a stylish car that doesn't use gas and is better for the environment.
Car
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a super-fast version of the regular BMW 5 Series, designed for people who love speed and performance. It has a powerful engine and sporty features that make it exciting to drive while still being comfortable and luxurious.
Car
Porsche 911 Turbo S
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is a super-fast sports car that uses turbo power to go really fast. It's luxurious inside and has lots of technology, making it a top choice for those who want speed and comfort.
Car
Porsche Panamera
The Porsche Panamera is a luxury car that looks sporty and drives really fast. It has four doors, so it's more practical for families, but it still feels like a race car when you're behind the wheel.
Car
Audi S5
The Audi S5 is a sporty version of the regular Audi A5, designed for people who want a fun car that still feels luxurious. It has a powerful engine and looks great, making it a popular choice for those who enjoy driving.
Car
Tesla Model
Car
Aston Martin DBX
The Aston Martin DBX is a fancy SUV that offers both luxury and performance, making it stand out from other SUVs. It's designed for people who want a stylish vehicle that can also handle everyday tasks like family trips.
Car
Alpina Z8
The Alpina Z8 is a special version of the BMW Z8 sports car, made to be even faster and more luxurious. It's a rare car that many collectors love because of its unique design and performance.
LIVE
He's an owl.
He's an owl.
He's an owl.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Yeah, mate.
Happy New Year.
Can you believe it is 2026?
No.
Because it's not where we're recording this.
I know.
I know we're having to like suspend reality and imagine we are
on the day that this podcast goes out, which is in a couple of weeks time.
I still can't believe it's coming up to Christmas.
Where has this year gone?
I know.
It's scary, isn't it?
I know.
And what brought it home to me that some of the things we're going to talk about
today, the kind of cars of the year and all that kind of stuff, is I went back
through all the videos I've done this year.
And first of all, there are a few videos that I actually forgot I did.
But you look back and you go, that seems like yesterday and it was the beginning
of January.
Yeah.
Scary.
Did you ever calculate, Pete, how many studio shoots you did this year?
No, but I'll do it while we're chatting, if you like.
Yeah.
A few.
I did a few.
He probably did more studio shoots than I did shoots in general.
Yeah, I reckon people might have done more studio shoots than you published
videos this year, for sure.
Do you reckon?
We could be close.
I think this would be a good time to thank a few people.
Firstly, our wonderful audience who continue to listen to us, download
podcasts, watch us on YouTube, et cetera.
We wouldn't be here without you.
And we wish you all a very, very happy new year.
And the next one is our headline sponsor, Mission, who have been with us
again since day one.
And we're all delighted to announce that they're continuing to support us
in a bigger and better way during 2026, which is just great for everyone.
I mean, they've been with us actually before day one.
They got on board when we were just thinking about doing a podcast
and they were like, oh, we'd love to get involved in that.
It's been awesome to have them on board.
And I think we can't...
Sorry.
I was going to say 26, I think there's...
Yeah, we're going to get thrown in the deep end in some new worlds
and do some live podcasts in places we may not have ended up otherwise
and learn a bit more about the wider world of Michelin as well.
So super excited to see what's in store.
Yeah, so do us a favor, guys.
Make sure you check them out on their Instagram, especially,
and give them a follow.
Feel free to comment, say that we sent you,
and just show some support and love for those guys.
What we've been up to, guys.
I know I've mostly been here in miserable UK,
but you have both been away a lot
and you've been busy with other things.
So, Pead, let's start with you as you got the biggest smile.
Well, Trace and I went away to...
It was our 25th wedding anniversary.
Our silver wedding, that makes us sound really old.
And we went to...
We had a week in Mauritius,
very lucky to have one of our neighbors actually
has a house in Mauritius and invited us to stay with them.
And that was, I don't know if you've ever been there before,
but a beautiful place, amazing people, great food.
And then the real special thing,
we had a four night safari in South Africa.
So I think lots of the guys that follow me know,
but Trace's worked with the Bourne Free Foundation
for the last few years as an advisor.
I raised some money for them a couple of years ago now
when I did My Half Iron Man.
And then Trace went out last year and helped
with the release of a couple of lions
that have been found or rescued from the Ukraine.
And we went back out to see the two lions
that she helped rescue and just...
It was the most wonderful, life-affirming,
memorable week of my life.
I think it was unbelievable.
Could you just slightly explain the two lions?
Did you say Ukraine? Were they from a zoo or are they wild?
No, no, no. They were captive.
So Bourne Free, generally, they rescue lions
that are found in captivity.
The scary one, right?
So they've got quite a few lions that they look after.
They can never be released into the wild
because they're imprinted on humans to some extent.
And if they got put out in the wild,
they'd be killed straight away by the male of the pride.
They had a male lion that they looked after since 2018.
It was found in the front seat of a Lamborghini
on the Champs Elysees.
Someone reported to the authorities
and it was being kept in an apartment in Paris,
a male lion cub.
They had a couple of lions.
One was found in a cage in a garden in the south of France.
The other one was found in a garage in Marseille.
People keeping male lion cubs as pets.
You don't have to be a genius to realise that
they grow quite quickly lions
and then they become lethal about eight months.
It's so sad and it's a big problem.
Unfortunately, once a lion has been brought up like that,
it can't be released into the wild
and that's where charities like Bourne Free step in, really.
It's so sad.
But they do amazing work and the lions have an incredible life.
They live as close to the wild as possible.
They have really big enclosures.
They're next to the safari or the game reserve.
There's a Chamorroys, just over 30,000 hectares.
They can actually hear lions in the wild calling
and sometimes the lions in the wild will come and visit
and come quite close to the enclosure.
They feel like they're in the wild
but they can never be truly free.
But they're as close to it as they can be.
Actually, a big shout out to Michelin
because Bourne Free have an outreach programme
with all the local schools to do with education
around wildlife and anti-poaching
because poaching is still a massive problem
which, again, just boils my...
I just get so cross about it.
We talked to the guys and said,
is there anything we can bring out?
They said, well, we always need things like beanies
and socks and...
They said, cut two hours as well.
Exactly, yeah, yeah.
And I had a chat with James
and Michelin gave us some money to help buy.
We basically took out a whole suitcase full of beanies
and socks and sweets and things
for the guys that kind of work.
Most of the people at work,
they're all living in the local villages and stuff.
And that was really, really lovely to see that.
We get so spoiled, don't we, with the things that we have
and over there, a pair of socks will make someone's day.
So a big shout out to Michelin for that
because that was a really lovely thing to do.
But, yeah, it was good. It was an amazing couple of weeks.
Absolutely amazing.
But I saw your... I was watching your stories in some of them.
There was one in particular where I think you were in a jeep,
all that buggy thing, going up a steep hill
and there was a giraffe in front of you
and the sun was dancing and it was just like,
this can't be real.
It was.
I haven't watched your YouTube video yet,
but I have been meaning to check it out
and I'm sure there'll be lots in there.
We were very lucky, as they say, the bush was kind to us.
Although my best reel,
we were down with a family of elephants watching them play
and these elephants went past
and one of them dropped the biggest fart
you've ever heard in your life.
So I had to put it on a reel and it's done really, really well.
So the moral to the story is to get reels to work,
but more elephants farting and that's the trick, basically.
So how was India part?
India was amazing.
I was there for a wedding,
Arli and my partner, one of her friends from university,
getting married in India.
So yeah, got to experience a full Hindu wedding,
which was super cool,
feel very privileged to just be able to experience that,
be welcomed in by the family
and kind of see a different world and a different perspective.
I also got a completely different perspective on driving as well.
You didn't drive out there, did you?
I really wanted to.
We had planned some day trips outside of the towns and the cities
that we were staying in and I was like, I'll just rent a car.
I love the experience.
I spoke to Joe about it.
He said get the train rather than maybe even drive anywhere
or even be a passenger.
We ended up getting Ubers everywhere
because it was so cheap and so accessible and so easy.
But yeah, I've never seen a country where road rules are less observed.
What, more than Belgium?
The entire place runs on.
As long as we all don't follow the rules, it will be okay.
As long as everyone uses their horn.
Yeah, and everybody has to use their horn.
So the second you stop at a red light, you're going to get beeped.
The second you're driving along or someone is either undertaking, overtaking,
coming alongside you, you're veering across multiple lanes.
They're trying to like also veer.
So our horn is used almost like an echo location device.
I imagine Bass would really struggle in India
because literally it's beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
And like you could just hear them like...
And the different horns for different things.
There is...
They're all like different bands.
Yeah, but like not, I don't think like too intentionally
for how you process the sound.
Trucks have like quite novel horns.
They're like do-de-de-de, do-de-de-de.
And then the little turk-toks are like a high-pitched one.
Cars will have a normal one.
But yeah, honestly, I mean, they've got a new...
You know, palming.
So you've got the premise of palming a steering wheel, right?
So India has a new one, which is like you hold the wheel,
but your arm is across the airbag and the horn.
And so as you're turning, you can still like press on the horn to like...
No!
You can be cornering whilst on the horn to people.
It's unbelievable, like full respect.
Because I personally did not see any crashes,
anything that was dangerous to the point of like actual consequence.
And so I was like, honestly, put these people in like a rally
or a race or something like that.
They'd probably do quite well because they just completely ignore
any kind of normality, any kind of like safety or being scared.
I mean, the amount of times we would be coming across a four-lane...
To be like, yeah, four lanes, two going each way on a crossroads.
And everybody would just be coming out at 20, 30 miles an hour.
And then basically whoever gets there first is the other person then stops.
But it's kind of like...
But it is potluck until you get there.
And like, I've also never seen people, again,
size of vehicles over there are a bit smaller than, let's say,
the UK and Europe and America.
But just the way that they can fred through the gaps.
I mean, I think I'd struggle to get through some of the gaps.
They did it in the AMI.
But these people were like...
It looked like every single time they went past a car
or squeezed through a gap that they were having a crash.
But then there was never a scrape, never a noise, nothing.
You've got scooters coming around you.
Yeah, it was...
As a car culture experience, it was fascinating.
Sounds like a video game.
It really was, yeah.
I mean, I guess here you've got...
You've got cars, vans, trucks and buses,
and maybe motorbikes on the road.
That's kind of... Or maybe pushbikes.
Over there, I guess, and you've got pedestrians, animals,
all kinds of things.
Yeah, because tiktoks are a little bit wider than a bike,
a little bit more inconvenient,
but they still think they're a bike.
And so they'll be up on the pavement
or going around traffic.
Like I said, new appreciation for...
When I worry about going through a 6'6 in the Passat,
I think next time, I won't try it at 30 miles an hour.
But if I was in India,
they wouldn't have even lifted to go through one of those.
It was just like, well, we're going through them,
and we'll see what happens.
That is brilliant.
An amazing experience.
The road surfaces are about the equivalent to the UK.
They're not very good.
Definitely not a driving tour location as such,
but to have the experience to see Mumbai and then Pune as well,
so to drive in between the two, about four hours,
and then, yeah, Ubering around the town
and out to a few sites and stuff, it was there.
I mean, your pictures were epic as always.
You are annoyingly good on your Instagram.
If you're not followed Pat, by the way,
on Instagram, you really need to.
You'll notice to annoy people less,
I put three in one Instagram story
rather than putting them individually,
because I was like, this will get relentless
if I'm posting 70 a day.
You're always edited and all the color graded and everything,
and you're like, it's annoyingly good.
Yeah, it was a cool experience.
Yeah, it looks amazing, mate.
Yeah, really.
South Africa, India.
Where have you been, then, Joe?
Bedford.
Bratley.
Bratley, yeah.
Well, it's been, yeah, you guys timed it pretty well,
although I know you've been back most of this week,
and it's been mostly miserable as well.
I tried it yesterday.
Oh, my God.
Oh, yeah, yesterday was just relentless, wasn't it?
Relentless rain.
Everywhere's flooded around here today,
but today's been lovely.
I went on a, well, it was kind of like a last minute,
last track day of the year,
because I've just had some more work done to my M2
that I was thinking about selling,
and then I've now put in another three and a half grand into it.
So now I'm not sending it for a bit, anyway.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
I thought that was going,
and maybe something else was coming in.
Well, I know that it was.
I mean, we can all relate to this.
You kind of sit there, and you're like,
oh, this, that, oh, my God, what about?
And there was a point about a month ago
where I was convinced that I was going to buy a 9-11.
I'd get rid of my M2,
use that as a deposit,
and finance a 9-11.
But it just became,
the numbers were just, as you know,
head from looking,
and numbers just started getting out of control.
And then I was like, I don't know.
Thankfully, I came to my senses.
I drove my M2 again out on track,
and I just thought, no, I'm be mad to get rid of this,
because I put so much, a bit like with your mini,
you put so much money into it,
that you're never ever going to get back any of that.
And so you're kind of throwing a lot down the drain.
I've got a really simple measure for you to work out
whether you should keep the M2 or buy a 9-11.
Some simple questions, okay?
Yes, no answers.
Do you own the M2 outright?
Yes.
Would you have had to finance a 9-11?
1000%, yes.
What are you thinking, man?
Just buy a 9-11.
No, no, keep the M2.
If it's yours, and if you own it,
and would a 9-11 have things or are they able to do stuff
that M2 can't, yeah, for sure,
because the M2 is quite track-focused,
but you love your track days,
and the M2 is brilliant in track days.
Would you love a track day in a 9-11
any more than you would do in an M2?
Maybe, but maybe not.
It's a road car, not a track car.
Exactly, yeah.
I think if I was looking at a GT3 or something,
then it might be a different question,
but then I would need to have more money.
Yeah, you're right.
And the perspective that I like to have with my car,
we'll call it situation.
Your AMI?
No, not the AMI.
I have a Porsche.
Not many people don't have a Porsche.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, if I could park it in my living room,
I think it would be probably better used than it does now.
But I like to think of things that you've paid for outright
or in cash or you've paid off.
They're free.
That's how I like to look at it,
because you're not paying any more every month.
You're not paying interest.
You're not paying any more a month on yours, are you?
Yours hasn't cost you any more since you bought it.
Like, it's free.
No, nothing, nothing, no, no.
It's all been free.
But no, I like to look at it like once you've got the thing,
you've got it in cash as it were,
or it's there as an asset.
That M2 is only costing you what you want to put into it.
It's not costing you 8, 9, 10% on top of its value
because you've got it on finance.
I think that's the scary thing, right?
You're talking about the 9-11s.
The interest rates make it so cost prohibitive these days
to finance a large sum of money,
and even on a PCP, it just starts to justify.
I think the other thing as well,
I mean, bear in mind I've got my mini outside with Joan outright.
I'm going to use the term, I don't care about that car,
but I don't worry about it because it's mine,
and it cost me like, it's just had its MOT,
past its MOT on Monday.
It's very little to ensure, and it's great.
The Porsche, I love my Spyder to bits,
but it is on finance.
It has an annual mileage limit on that finance,
and you're always thinking about,
well, I'm going to take it on a, you know,
whether it's a road trip
or you plan to take it away or whatever,
and you're always thinking, well, I am anyway,
about putting miles on it and costs and balancing things.
Your M2 is yours and yours, it's outright,
and it's a great story as well,
and it's part of the channel and all of that kind of stuff.
So anyway.
Yeah, no, totally agree.
And it's much easier to slide it round as well, isn't it?
Yeah, definitely.
I love it when you, I always know
when you've been ranting on Instagram, right,
because you look at your stories,
and there's like four or five in a row,
and you're like, oh, this one lasted longer than a minute,
this is going to be a good one.
Well, a picture of this, so it had been raining for days.
Thankfully, the actual track day was dry,
and that's why it was so last minute, I booked the day before,
because the weather was looking good.
So got there, it was, when I arrived there, it was minus one.
So 8am briefing, it was minus one.
And obviously the tarmac and everything,
the grass was all wet from the night before
and the frost and stuff.
But I knew that it was slowly dry out through the day,
but I knew like the outlaps or the sighting laps
and the first couple of hours will be deadly out there.
Really, like not even fun, because it's that cold,
and it's quite Bedford's grip when it's wet,
it's really inconsistent.
It's very like you find grip in certain parts of the track,
and then there's absolutely none in other parts.
So I thought, I'll go out and do a couple of sighting laps,
come in, chill out for an hour,
check out some other cars in the pit lane,
make sure I'm all organised and ready,
no stress, and then go out.
So I did that, and then I headed out in it.
And bear in mind, I'm on cup twos,
I had a brand new set on the front axle,
so they hadn't literally driven the car from home to there.
So they weren't even scrubbed in, they were still shiny.
So I just thought, I'm going to go out and do three or four laps
and just get a little bit of temperature,
hopefully in the tyres, just bring the car up to temp,
look at the conditions on the circuit, come in, reset,
evaluate, and then go out maybe half hour later.
So that's exactly what I did, went out there,
and there wasn't many cars out there at all,
there's probably six or seven cars, which as you know,
Bedford GT, six or seven cars,
you're probably not even seeing them,
because it's such a big circuit,
it's like nearly a three minute lap.
So I headed out and you're on freezing cold cups
and by that point it was about three degrees,
but obviously no temperature in the tyres.
First hairpin, you're coming out there
and the car was moving around,
it was understeering coming in, little wiggly on the way out,
but I was driving it at about 15%.
And I went out and I just slowly started picking the pace up,
trying to find where the grip was,
I could feel the temperature of the tyres coming in,
but there was no pressure,
because there's nothing behind me that, it was lovely.
I was like, oh, I'm enjoying this,
feeling your way around the circuit,
but not in a reckless way, just in a,
okay, I can feel the grip coming.
And then I get a board up,
saying for one of Marshall's, calm down.
Now, at that point, I'd probably just completed,
I'm not exaggerating,
the slowest lap I've ever gone around Bedford in my life.
Also, no rev, no engine noise,
because I'm not using any throttle
and I'm not revving it out because there's no grip,
no tyre noise,
because everything's wet and the tyres are cold.
So I'm sitting in the car and I'm looking behind me
and my mirror's going, but there's no other,
he must have been pointing at me.
Did another lap, then I got no drifting.
And then a bit later, I get a black flag.
And then, so this happened a few times throughout the morning
and I know you guys won't believe me,
because I do like to have a little bit of a skid
on track days,
but I came in at lunchtime and it's all on camera
and it would go in a video,
because it just couldn't, I was shocked.
And the Marshall pulled me over
and he had such a go at me
and he said, look, I know it's a BMW
and I know it's probably got this much power
but you've got to keep the car in line out there.
It's not designed for doing skis.
And he just went off on one and I was like, mate,
I said, I love you guys.
I know what you do as a job.
I come here all the time.
I haven't spun the car once.
I haven't been doing any of these little wiggles
around any other traffic at all.
I've just been trying to feel the grip levels.
I've not been purposely sliding a skidding
and it just left me thinking it's just frustrating
because we encourage people
not to drive like idiots on the road,
which I did a lot more of when I was younger.
So I save all of that passion
and pent up sort of driving to do it on track.
But as soon as you pick the pace up on track,
especially at Bedford nowadays,
you then get told off for it.
And I'd understand if it was reckless,
if I was coming into a braking zone
and dive bombing someone under the brakes
or if I was getting a massive slide and big smoke.
Or do the Scandi flick or something.
Yeah, exactly.
And you could hear the engine off the limiter
but none of that, none of that, not even close.
And it's like, what is the point?
Why am I even here spending?
It was 150 quid track day.
My insurance was 150 quid.
Fuel was 200 quid.
You know, tyres, thanks to Michelin,
Michelin didn't cost me anything.
But you know, the consumables,
you easily spend £1,000 on a track day.
And you just think,
I could have just gone out for spirit of driving the road
and I wouldn't have been breaking any road rules.
Like it wasn't,
but anyway, that's my rant over and done with.
But I really hope that if anyone from MSV
and anyone from Bedford are watching,
then I just think you need to readdress this
because those stories that I put up on my Instagram,
I'm not kidding.
I've probably got 50 replies from another,
from a load of other track day goers
who most of them have said,
I've stopped going to Bedford because of that exact reason.
The Marshalls are just too on it
and don't allow you to drive your car.
And yeah, so I think that needs to be looked at.
But that's anyway, that's my two cents.
So you guys have had a fantastic time.
I can have a rant and we can move on.
Excellent.
I thought it would be quite a good idea to talk about
as well, I know we've just started the year
as you lot are watching this or listening to it.
But I thought it would be a nice podcast and episode
to talk about some of our highlights and lowlights of 2026
in terms of mostly the cars and experiences
that we've all driven and experienced.
So I think the first topic should be the top three cars
that we have driven.
And Pat, of course, you can get into this if you want
throughout the year, starting with our third best,
second best, and then essentially something
that you would give car of the year to.
So I'm going to throw this to Ped
to give us your third place car.
Third place car.
Firstly, I look back through all the cars
I've driven this year and it was really, really hard
to pick three.
Because I've driven some absolute bangers this year.
And I've not put in my top three some things
that I thought I would have done, basically.
But there's reasons why I chose the three I did.
So coming in at number three, I put the Alpine A110S.
And the reason I put that is because I spent a lot
of time with it and did a drive tour in it.
And it was a great example.
When you get a good car, you can drive a good car
on OK roads and it will be a good car.
But if you get a good car on great roads,
then that car can become great.
And I've driven an A110 in the UK and it was all right.
I thought it was a nice car.
I didn't rave about it.
I wouldn't have thought I'll go out and buy one.
I had the A110S in the UK.
But the second I got it into France and into the Alps,
I'm like, oh my god, this car is light.
It's quick.
It changes direction like you wouldn't believe.
It was just a mega, mega bit of kit.
And I've actually got, beginning of next year,
first week of Jan, I've got the A110R 70th Anniversary
Edition Blanc, which is like 135,000 pounds.
Oh my god.
It's got like carbon wheels and everything.
That would be on Cup 2?
Probably.
So you'll be taking that somewhere sunny and warm, won't you?
No, no, I won't.
I've got the opportunity to take it back anyway.
But yeah, the A110S, brilliant car.
Really, really good car.
It wasn't perfect, but it was very, very good.
I'd say that car for me is probably one of those cars,
like a few of the sporty little cars that we found
in the last few years where when it's gone,
we'll all go, oh, I wish they made that A110 thing.
That was really good, wasn't it?
But no, I'd say nobody, they have sold a few.
They've sold more than they did, let's say the 4C,
which is the same rough platform and concept idea.
But yeah, I drove an A110.
I love the thing.
They're light, Gordon Murray dailies one.
I mean, it's got to be a reasonably good, you know.
They're pretty as well.
And they're small, I think makes them,
even next to your spider pet, it's probably small, right?
It's shorter and it's nice.
Yeah, that's a car I haven't driven for years.
So I know when I did, I loved it.
So I can only imagine taking out some proper roads
to just be amazing.
Lovely.
Pat, have you got a...
I'm sorry to throw you under the spotlight.
Have you got...
Oh, yes, Ami is third.
Oh, yes.
Yeah, the Ami is number three.
No, I haven't driven too many cars like you guys
to review or give my two cents in that way.
I'll just give one special shout out and mention
and then I'll let you two continue all of your lists.
So my car of the year special mention
would be the Michelin Porsche 911.
Yay!
I think we all had our concerns and our opinions
on how that car would come out, how that car was specs
and how that car would be used.
Was Joe vocal about that?
No, Joe didn't say anything.
I remember very vividly on the podcast, he said,
I won't give my opinion until I see it,
but the car, albeit with the wheels and the air kit,
once it had its wrap and its design on it,
I will say looked really, really good.
Obviously we got to leverage that car as spa.
It was amazing as me and Joe have always said
and Pete would discuss as well,
like a base 911 is really such a good sweet spot
and if you can get around, like Anthony said,
actually on the last podcast,
they came out that really the box sticking of options
isn't necessarily always needed,
but no, it was a really cool car.
Amazing experience.
We all had some great adventures in that car this year,
actually.
We drove it on track.
Yeah, it was cool.
Yeah, good show.
Maybe the N24 as well, which was mega.
Yeah.
No, really cool and excited to see what comes next.
Nice.
Yeah, I've completely forgotten about that car.
Good one, Pat.
What's your number three then, Joe?
So my number three is...
Which BMW have you chosen?
Yeah, well, okay, so this will make you happy.
My third is a BMW, but there's no others on the list.
Oh, that's fair enough, isn't it?
I reckon it's going to be M4 CS.
No, M3 CS touring.
Yeah, got it in one.
Yeah, M3 CS touring.
I mean, firstly, it's just a brilliant product.
It is a little bit flawed with the centre console,
the carbon centre console, which I think the more time you spend
in any of the modern CS cars, you do miss the arm rest,
you miss the storage bin, you miss the cup holders.
There's so many things that you end up going,
I just want a normal console.
Also, what I discovered when I had that car,
because I took my parents away, is there are...
You know, it's part of the centre console in most saloons or estates.
At the back of that centre console, there's usually...
You've got your climate control,
or at least you've got rear vents for your rear passengers, right?
But on the CS, you don't have anything.
So rear passengers have got no...
Yeah, so it's...
I know older cars didn't have vents in the back,
but I mean, the regular three series has digital display back there
with your independent... Do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
You don't even have that.
That six figures, really, the weight you're saving
and not having that in the back,
you should really probably have it in that kind of car.
Yes.
So that's the one negative,
but the rest of the package is just brilliant.
And, yeah, drive it on track,
and almost completely bend it at the BMW launch.
That's probably the biggest,
closest thing I've ever had to a big crap.
That would have been...
I mean, if I wouldn't have been in a hospital,
they would have been shocked,
and the car would have been finished.
So...
And then I took my parents away in it.
So, yeah, really nice memories of that car.
And, yeah, I think it's this undoubtedly a brilliant package.
So, yeah.
Excellent.
Right, number two, Ped.
Number two, I have chosen...
One, it was a great car, but two,
it was my first Ferrari launch,
which made it a bit more special.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
So, the Dodici Cilindre Spider.
Ooh.
Yeah.
And it had the car off too, that car.
That really seems...
The spec, all the cars on the launch had,
they were like dark green with tan interior.
It was lovely.
And I think just for me,
to be on a Ferrari launch was quite a special thing,
and we were driving in Portugal,
and it is a phenomenal car.
I know it's...
I know there's lots of people like that,
they don't like it and don't like bits about it,
but, you know, it's a front-mid engine,
naturally aspirated V12.
We're not going to see those for very much longer,
so enjoy them while we can.
Yeah, you've got to celebrate those things,
because that engine alone is...
From what I read and what I heard
and what I saw from videos like yourself as well,
it's a bit more compliant on the road,
a bit more usable than...
Way more than the A12.
Yeah, because the A12,
when I drove that,
you really have to be on it with that,
otherwise you're going to have a massive accident.
The 12C was much easier to drive.
It looked amazing.
I have to say, they've grown,
I wasn't sure when I first saw them,
but then I think it was that trip,
actually, in the spec on those cars.
It was great to see, because Ferrari,
well, the UK cars,
some of the specs are pretty challenging,
looks like they're sort of...
They're sort of configured
from a blind person, but...
I think they configure them
to make them stand out on the front of magazines.
What was that 488,
like a clown shoe or something?
That was a historic car, yeah.
That was a really historic livery, though.
It's one of those things,
if they're all historic,
if you know your Ferrari liveries have passed,
I guess it's a bit like how Tim specs a lot of his Ferraris.
They make sense.
If you don't, they can look a bit challenging.
Yeah.
Shout out to Tim's Tadici Cilindri, by the way,
because...
Oh, that gold...
No, what's the gold colour called?
I can't remember.
Orrica...
Yeah, something fancy in Italian,
but I wasn't sure,
but now I've seen it.
I'm like, that is...
It's so classy.
Chocolate interior.
It's a special thing, yeah.
Very cool.
So there you go.
Look, great.
Nice.
Pat, do you have a number two, then?
Or are you...?
No, my is just the Michelin 911.
Yeah, number two is Michelin 911 again.
OK.
Nice.
It's a tsunami.
Consistent.
Yeah.
So, my number two is another wagon.
Fast wagon.
Ooh.
Ooh.
Oh, I know what it says.
Oh, it's going to be the RS6, the red one.
Yeah, the GT.
The Grenadine red one.
No, no, no, no, because that was...
No, the GT.
Oh, that was this year, wasn't it?
That was this year.
Oh, yeah, no, the GT one,
we took to the Isle of Man.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah, GT.
Although I wouldn't have it talking about, yeah,
people that are blind-specking cars.
I wouldn't...
Sorry, Lou, if it was you.
But I wouldn't have...
I wouldn't have had it in that...
Your wife's spec'd that car.
Be careful.
Joey doesn't do this for effect.
He is genuinely honest.
That's why he may have just offended his wife
about the car she may have spec'd.
You remember you got married this year, do you?
Oh, no.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that was one...
I think they only got offered that one.
And also, again, like you were just saying with the Ferrari,
it all ties in,
because that was the heritage colour
that harked back to the old Impster cars.
But ignoring the colour combination,
because I would also either have it in black or the grey.
I've seen the grey one look stunning.
The RS6 GT is such a special car,
and it's way more than I thought it was going to be.
I thought it was just a fancy paintwork
or sticker work,
but the suspension,
everything about that car
and the fact that I took it out to the other man
and was able to really,
really spank it out there,
like 10 times harder than you...
10 times harder than you could do at a British track day.
You didn't have marshals telling you off.
You had locals encouraging you to go faster,
which is just...
I just...
I still can't believe that face.
It's just nuts.
But yeah, what a car to take out there
and what a wonderful bit of kit.
And you can throw the kitchen sink,
your family, your dogs in it.
Brilliant. What a car.
But it didn't take my top spot.
So, yeah.
Talking of top spots, Ped.
Well, there were two...
I'm going to give two cars I mentioned
that didn't make the top spot.
And the reason why was they were just...
they were silly cars that I would never ever be able to afford.
So I drove my first singer, the singer classic.
That was the most amazing car,
just perfect.
And I drove my first hypercar, the Koenigsegg.
But I kind of thought,
well, they can't really be the best car
because they're so unique and...
Unobtainable.
Unobtainable, yeah.
So I'm trying to think when you drove the car
I've chosen for number one,
because I think we might have chosen the same car.
Oh!
But I think you might have driven it in 2024.
Oh, okay.
Then definitely not the same car.
9-11 ST.
Oh, yes.
Yeah.
Didn't I give that as car of the year last year?
I think you did, yeah.
You probably did.
You did last year and I said,
well, mine will be my car of the year next year.
And I guess what, it was.
It was, yeah.
I mean, the GT3 RS was mega...
I've driven some really lovely Porsches this year,
but there's something about a 9-11 ST.
There's just unreal.
I think it has that.
I think it has that classic car feeling.
You know, the...
Just the noises and the way you have to be a bit careful
with it and the clutch and like...
Yeah.
You almost like...
You're not...
You could go as fast as in a 3 RS, I'm sure,
but like, it's all of the build up.
It's all of the...
I don't know, there was just something...
Yeah, because it was a bit quirky in that sense,
the way that you have to drive it
and the way it sounds and stuff.
Yeah.
It's just a mega thing.
I'll be interesting.
I'm hoping to drive the 992.2 GT3 Touring next year.
Yeah.
Because that's meant to have lots of very similar traits.
It's not an ST, obviously, but...
But yeah, and just a wonderful, wonderful car.
And, you know...
Yeah, if I could, I'd have one in the garage downstairs.
Tell me about it.
I love it how you're like...
Yeah, so the singer and the Conan's Egg,
just they're out of reach.
Right, was it Conan's Egg?
Yeah.
And then it's like...
Yeah, but so I've just gone for one of those
sort of...
The cars that you win in the Christmas cracker.
Yeah, but I could have chosen the Hyundai Insta,
but it's not quite as sexy as the 911 ST, is it?
That's our problem.
You drive lots of normal cars as well,
but, you know, when you drive...
I drove a McLaren Artura, that was brilliant.
There's loads of cars on the list I drove this year.
I drove a Lola T70 Road Legal NASCAR.
That should be up there, really.
Wow.
But I decided not to.
Anyway, what's yours, dude?
ST, yeah, brilliant.
Well, so my winning car is also a Porsche 911.
Do you just remove the S off of its name?
You do, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, the 992.2 Grarity,
aside from the colour,
because the spec on that one was pretty dreadful,
but the car, I just...
What was it called, the colour?
What was it called, mate, the colour?
Cartagena.
Cartagena.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Cartagena.
Cartagena.
Cartagena.
Yeah, Cartagena.
But yeah, I just loved it.
I think what Porsche have done with that car,
it's just so stripped back.
The six-speed manual is as good,
and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same
as what's in all of the other special cars,
because it feels very much like it.
Arguably, the actual gear knob feels even nicer than the ST.
And I don't want to say it's affordable,
because it's not, you know, as I found out,
so this is the car we talked about earlier on,
the car that I was trying to finance,
and I managed to get two really good quotes
with some substantial discounts on brand-new cars to build,
build to order.
But even with those, yeah,
Monty's were just, you know, a bit too high for me,
but I would love to own one one day.
It's a lovely car, and it really proves
that you don't need any more than 400 horsepower,
even in something that, what does it weigh?
1,400 kilos.
It's not light.
It's not like, yeah, A110,
but it's just a brilliant car.
And it's, you know, it's Porsche just stripping
the thing back to basics,
and it's a brilliant package.
I love it.
And that's, yeah, that's my car of the year.
So, between us, the Porsche 911 has got car of the year.
Again.
Apart from a black 911.2 GTS cabriolet,
that didn't get car of the year.
Oh.
No.
Yes.
All three of us picked 911s, all different 911s.
Yeah.
This podcast is not sponsored by Porsche,
even though Joe's got a big Porsche poster right next to him.
Yes.
Well, it does say the Porsche effect, and he is right.
I think we've all felt the Porsche effect this year, for sure.
Yeah.
Excellent.
Nice.
Okay, so now, coming away from that,
but not, it's not too dissimilar,
but what's your most surprising car been this year?
Do you guys have top three for this,
or do you just have one?
I've just got one.
Okay.
Would you like me to go first,
so I can get my attention out of the way?
It's the Citroen Ami.
Yay.
Because we documented the entire process of the ordering,
and then receiving, and then giving back,
and then complaining, and chasing, and emailing,
and updating, and the whole process of the Citroen Ami was very,
was it, yeah, it was a difficult process.
If you were spending any real amount of money,
obviously Pete had a great negative experience with the 911,
in the sense that they were very happy to take the car back,
and it was all attempted to be resolved,
or could be resolved, and he was able to move on.
But with the Ami, I was so committed to seeing this through,
because I was like, the financials isn't the problem here,
it's £63 a month.
I do actually want the car, I live in London,
it could be useful, but you're making it very hard for me
to see the sense in this.
You know, I've driven it 10 miles,
and given it back to you then, and it took ages,
but it really has surprised me, I use it all the time.
We've now done, so my flatmate shares it with me as well,
because I put them on the insurance for a nominal additional fee,
and it's on 585 miles now,
and that's quite a lot when the car does 46 miles,
theoretically, on a tank as it were, on a charge.
It actually does about, I reckon about 40 to 43,
depending on the weather.
So, give or take, let's say, 10%-ish,
depending on the conditions, but it's...
And there's a small bit of this that's actually going to die off,
but it's so much cheaper than using public transport in London.
I got the tube the other day, it was 10 minutes each way,
and it was £7.80 in total.
Using the Ami would have cost like 25p,
and if you're outside of parking hours,
which in London is already till 6.30,
so you're going out for dinner or something,
two of you can go in the car.
That's a £15 journey on public transport,
but let's say me and my partner to go into town,
or even just to go a bit into London to have dinner,
has now cost us effectively nothing.
The storage space in it's great.
You can drive it almost flat everywhere,
because it only does 20 miles an hour.
As a car person, I find it fun.
It's obviously, inherently, just like with the Alfa 4C,
I've previously had, terrible.
Like, it isn't...
It's like the ride's harsh, the seats are uncomfortable,
the windows don't open, it fogs up when it's cold.
The lights are always on, they are quite bright,
but you should be able to flash and stuff, you can't flash.
It's been a real surprise.
I can't believe it's been as useful as it's turned out to be,
even given all of the issues.
The rust hasn't returned yet, so that's obviously a positive.
But, yeah, super surprised, use it every day,
gets me around town, whether it's just problems with the shops,
whether it's going into central London.
Like I said, I will say the one caveat is,
from the 2nd of January, 2026,
so the day this podcast goes live,
there will be no more free congestion charge for electric cars,
and also quadra cycles.
Now quadra cycles will receive a larger discount,
so it won't be £18,
it will be £9 for quadra cycles,
and for electric cars it will be, I think, £13.50.
So that's a bit shit to be brutal about.
So if I want to go into the centre of London during a work day,
let's say I went and saw our friend Roger yesterday in the car,
drove it into town, absolutely fine, charged it and everything,
great, cost me £3 to charge it.
But next time, if I want to do that,
it's going to cost me £9 extra.
So you're kind of back to almost parity with going on TFL,
using the underground, let's say,
but it's been a brilliant thing, and I was super surprised
just how useful and how good it actually has been.
It isn't just cost me £63 a month
and sitting in a garage because it's pointless.
Yeah, it's a good thing to get around.
So yeah, super surprise how that all turned out in the end.
Well, we still haven't driven it,
and I know when we first talked about it at the start of 2025,
or whenever it was April, May time.
Yeah, I think it was April, yeah.
I know both Ped and I were desperate to drive it,
and did you get a chance, you haven't?
I've not driven it.
I think we've got a race coming up though, haven't we?
Yes.
Yeah, we need to plan something with it.
We're going to race it against this.
Oh, right.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
So I mentioned that the top speed of that must be a little bit less
than a full blown car for the road, right, with number plates.
So probably up 20 miles an hour, does that do?
This does 55 miles an hour.
Oh, my.
And it wheelies, it's got a wheelie bar.
So if you accelerate really hard, the front tyre's kind of balloon
because of the centrifugal force on them.
Bloody wicky thing.
So I think we have a race.
I like that.
We'll need to find something a bit faster.
Well, that's cool about the AMI.
A quick shout out to Mark Tiff, who was the guy,
YouTuber who has a really interesting plumbing YouTube channel,
who bought his car off the back of yours, Pat.
I think you'd had conversations with him and stuff.
Absolutely.
And I actually saw him for a coffee about a month ago.
He's just picked himself up a lovely GA7M2 manual.
And he still doesn't have his AMI.
Oh, I got about all of that.
The Facebook group is constantly full of posts with people being like,
when are we going to get those summer AMI deal cars again?
Because they still have all the parts to fix them.
Well, Mark ordered his.
I think like a day after we initially talked about it,
before you even knew about your problem.
So Mark ordered it then and he's still not got it.
But he's persisting and hopefully it will arrive.
We'll do it in the reverse order.
So I'll talk about my most disappointing.
Sorry, my most surprising disappointing.
Disappointing's next.
Most surprising car for me.
I mean, there's been a few.
But my standout car for this year is a BMW.
Oh, it's a surprise.
Yeah.
It's not what you think.
Elite garages.
Elite garages.
E90 2011 320 diesel that Pat and I drove to Germany.
And actually by the time this is live,
my video will be live.
And you'll see in that video.
Yeah, because it's what I just finished the edit today.
So it should be live by tomorrow.
It's that car.
I mean, Pat and I have done some amazing journeys together
in pretty shit cars and pretty amazing cars like the ST
that we've just been talking about.
But that 320 diesel absolutely did.
I was going to say everything it was meant to everything it says
on the tin, but it did more than that.
It surpassed all of its.
So it covered 250,000 miles.
It's 15 years old.
We timed its acceleration figures.
It was faster than it was when it was brand new.
We tested its top speed.
It went faster GPS than it ever did always quoted to
when it was new.
And it matched the 60 miles to the gallon on the combined cycle,
which when you factor everything in the fact that it's worth
about a grand, it's it's done.
I mean, the fact it's done 250,000 miles is the biggest one.
So and also just how nice it was to drive on that long trip.
We did 1500 miles over what three days, four days.
And it was just a pleasure to drive everywhere.
It was just such a nice car.
And there wasn't one point on that trip where I thought,
I wish I was in my M five or I wish I was in some other press car.
Not at all.
It was like, I'm really happy in this three series BMW.
And I just really enjoyed.
I was sad to give that car back to Elite Garages.
So massive thanks to those guys if you're listening,
especially Josh, because it was his company car that he sacrificed.
And I don't know if you share the same feelings, Pat, but.
Absolutely.
I think my overarching sentiment with that car is bring back
comfort seats.
I mean, sporty looking seats that are the comfortable option.
Like you're 18 ways in a Porsche or whatever.
But these seats were like, these seats were like flat in the best way possible.
As in normally in a car seat, we'll all probably experience this because we're all
of a of a taller disposition.
Me at the smaller end of the spectrum of UT, but like your shoulders get
your shoulders get pushed forward because the way that the top of the seat curves
in for the headdress and a lot of these modern sportier cars that don't
necessarily have like carbon buckets or your real sports seats.
They still try and give that sporty look and feel.
And so your bum might be comfortable, but you're forever like filling
your a bit hunched over.
And this, the three series was like the seat was flat.
It was leather.
It was super comfortable.
And it meant you could just kind of relax back into the seat rather
than feeling like you're kind of lent forward into the seat.
Like a lot of more modern cars.
So yeah, bring back actually comfort seats, offer a sports option,
offer a racing or a higher end sports option, your carbon buckets and stuff.
But it was just so comfortable and nice.
And yeah, the car didn't miss a beat just like our 2011 Passat.
Same levels of just same era does everything.
And I think, yeah, if we, when we talk about peak car, maybe we want
better tech and that's when you get into your 2015, 16, 17, where we would
probably all argue kind of peak car is, but you can see how they were
getting there.
You know, everything works flawlessly as everything you need.
And yeah, comfortable as well, which is the best bit.
Yep.
Nice.
And Ped, what was your most surprising car?
It was the first car I've driven from the brand.
So I didn't know what to expect, but it was a Genesis.
It's an electric car, Joe.
Be careful.
Don't get too, yeah.
It was the GV60.
So it was 490 horsepower.
And I didn't know what to expect when it arrived.
It was parked outside and that is a good looking car.
Yeah, they look interesting.
Yeah.
Really nice looking car, really nice interior, dead premium feel,
drove beautifully, fast as, really good.
They are on the, you know, they're pretty punchy from a price point of view.
I was going to ask how much, how much does a Genesis start?
Like, what, where do they start?
That's a very good question.
I was just going to the video to see if I'll put it in the, in the title,
because I can't remember.
In my head, a Genesis is kind of 60, 70, 80, 90, 100.
Are we in that kind of, like not six figures, but way above your...
Oh yeah, it's not.
No, it's a Genesis G.
So they start at 54 grand, the GV60.
Yeah, this is the punchy one.
This was like the premium top, the top spec also.
For the powerful performance.
Yeah, about 67.
Yeah, 67.
I mean, it's a lot of money.
I mean, in today's world, unfortunately, that's, that's pretty good value, is it?
We're not a good value.
Joe, how much is a...
Because it, hang on, the car you just said, is that a four by four?
Or is that a saloon?
It's an SUV.
It's like a little, like a medium, small medium.
Would it be like an X3 equivalent?
Yeah.
The GV60?
Yeah, probably.
Yeah.
So how much is an X3, whatever you can get now?
You know, like an X3, sporty X3 equivalent?
Well, it's an electric car.
So it would be the equivalent of whatever the new IX is going to be.
But I don't know, I don't know if there's pricing on that.
IX3.
Because they're going to have to pay the same kind of money, if not more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I thought I'd chuck an EV in there, like, you know.
Yeah.
Same sort of price.
So the new IX3 starts at 60 grand.
So...
Yeah.
But like you said, I haven't...
I haven't...
I have driven one briefly.
So me and James and Michelin, actually, we went out to...
At the end of 23, I think it was the 22, we went out to their Gran Turismo World Final
in Monaco, which was a fantastic couple of days.
And Genesis are one of the big sponsors out there, because they're like...
They've got a lot of cars in the game, haven't they?
Gran Turismo game.
But yeah, James and I were throwing the keys to the GV60, because it was new then,
but it wasn't like the top spec one.
But I just remember thinking the interior was so nice, light and airy, the fit and finish.
It actually was quite Volvo in there.
It was a bit funky, you know, like the Volvo's a bit...
It's got the rotating gear selector things, quite cool.
That's right.
It's like a crystal ball thing, yeah.
Yeah, you love getting your hands on big balls.
You get in it, you get in it, you go, that's a gimmick.
And they go, ah, couldn't help myself, could he?
Yeah.
So what's the worst car then?
Whoa.
So can I start with this one?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
I know, oh, can we guess though?
Can we guess?
Yeah, of course.
Okay, Pete, you guess first, because I don't want to say mine just in case I get it really wrong.
What, you've got to guess Joe's?
Yeah.
Anything electric?
Hmm.
I think, is it a BMW?
No.
Oh, is it not?
Okay, well then I won't say any more.
I guess I might guess out of the window.
It's a brand who, right up till this point in the podcast, will be loving us.
Oh, hold on.
It's got to be Porsche.
You're going to say the GTS, aren't you?
Really?
The 992.2 911 GTS T hybrid was the most disappointing.
I wouldn't say it's the most disappointing car I've ever driven because it's still an incredible bit of kit,
but it was the most disappointing 911 I've ever driven.
I think I've never, I've always got high expectations with any 911
and I usually leave with my expectations being lifted because they're so good.
But that T hybrid, I just don't get it.
It's so artificial.
Also, I've spent a bit of time underneath one up at Miltech.
When I got my M5 Touring, they put the new exhaust in it.
They had their own because I don't know if they still got it, but they liked it.
They own like a lot of development cars and they had one up.
They were just showing me all the engine and all the stuff that I know.
Like this thing's just built like crap.
Like all, it's just full of like the whole underneath like the sump where the engine sits.
It's just all nasty plastics now.
You could just see cost being cut everywhere on that car.
The artificial sound on startup is just awful.
I just, yeah, I don't, as a machine and there's something that if you look at a spec sheet and the numbers,
you go, wow, that's impressive.
And yeah, it's straight line performance is incredible.
Like it's not far behind the previous generation Turbo S.
But in terms of actual driving experience and being connected to that car, there's zero.
It's the worst 911 that Porsche have built in years.
And if that's what the future of 911s look like, then it's, they're not going to excite me that much.
I think the base Carrera is so much better than the GCST hybrid.
You couldn't even compare them.
And that's what made it really bad for me is the fact that I had the base 911 press car.
I parked that up and I jumped straight in the GTS because you do that with a lot of Porsche press cars.
You take two or three at a time.
So you drive them back to back, jumped out the base car and into the GTS.
And within five minutes I was like, oh my God, give me the base car back.
It is so much better.
And if any GTS owners are out there disagreeing, you're all wrong.
You've got no fucking idea.
I quite liked it.
Oh, I like the GTS.
Yeah, you probably just like the fact that the GTS badge.
Yeah, exactly.
It's got a GTS interior pack.
And just actually, you know what?
There's also another part of that and a car that I don't even know why I didn't feature it in my top three.
They've had a top four.
It would have definitely been in my top four.
It could have even stuck into the top three.
Panamera.
Well, a Panamep.
I mean, that's another one.
Amazing.
But it's the Carrera S, a model that in my opinion in the UK has kind of been forgotten about for the past couple of generations,
because people either go base Carrera or they start specking up an S and go, oh, wait a second.
Well, if I'm having those options, then that kind of brings it up to the GTS price and those options come free anyway with the GTS.
But at the moment, as it stands, the 0.2 generation 992, the S is a completely different car to the GTS,
because the GTS has got all the T hybrid gubbins in it, whereas the S is essentially a tuned version of the base car,
but it's stolen like turbos from the previous gen GTS and it's stolen all of the intakes and stuff from the previous gen turbo.
So it's a real special standalone car.
And I don't know if you've driven one yet, Ped, but I think the Carrera S is just fantastic.
And it's about 20 grand less than the GTS.
So it's substantially less because it doesn't again, it doesn't have all that hybrid stuff.
So they obviously that would have cost Porsche a lot of money.
But that car, wow.
And again, that's why I'm like, I'm sorry, but the S is is is a country mile better than the GTS in my opinion.
Anyway, I won't carry on going on about it.
Some more plasma value.
Ped, did you say worst car or most disappointing?
Most disappointing.
Or I mean, I thought it was worse as well.
Yeah.
So I've got my most disappointing one is Louie.
Is Louie in or has she gone out?
She's out of ear shot anyway, because I can hear you.
Maybe the new S5.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I forgot about that.
Yeah, that's terrible.
And so that was I think that was the most disappointing.
It wasn't, I didn't think it was a bad car.
I mean, it drove beautifully.
It was fast as however, having owned S4s and being a real kind of advocate for them.
I love them to bits.
And let's face it, the S5 is an S4.
Yeah.
The interior with those big screens and all the touchscreen.
They've just gone from, for me, Audi, delivering some of the best interiors out there to just delivering a car with one of the worst interiors I've ever seen.
I just didn't like it at all.
But the car drove amazingly.
It was quick and all that kind of stuff.
I just was just let down by the interior, but it wasn't a bad car and it wasn't my worst car.
It was my most disappointing because I had high hopes it would be lovely.
Yeah.
My worst car is actually parked outside right now.
It is shocking.
I haven't put anything on socials about it.
I've been driving it for the last week.
Uh-oh.
Vauxhall?
No, no, no, no.
It's the Vauxhall Mocha GSE.
No, that was really good.
It's electric.
It's an MG IM6.
Hang on, is that the one that doesn't have an MG badge on it?
It doesn't.
Well, it doesn't.
It's got MG written on the back, but it's not a badge.
Oh, okay.
There are parts of it that are really, really nice.
The interior is nice.
It drives nice.
It's quite quick.
It's 400 horsepower.
It looks like the love child between a Tesla Model Y and an Aston Martin DBX and the car
that that Mr. Soft dude used to have on the Mint's advert in the 90s.
You remember that, Mr. Soft?
No, you've lost me there.
No, you've lost me.
No, well, you've lost me.
So, yeah.
Oh, okay.
Google, yeah.
And, yeah, it's just, and it's 50, 48 to 53 grand, depending on which spec.
Oh, what?
What happens to MG's being like 15 grand?
So, this is the premium one, isn't it?
Yeah.
So, they don't sell it as MG.
It's called Intelligent Intelligence in Motion, I think, is what IM stands for.
And everywhere else is just sold as an IM.
But it's part of the group that own MG and a couple of other companies have kind of come
together to make this car.
And they're badging it as an MG IM6 in the UK, I think, to try and leverage the brand a little
bit.
But they can't sell it as an MG because MG's are like 25 to 35 grand.
They make really good, affordable electric and hybrid cars, MG.
And, you know, you either love or hate them.
But some of their cars are really, the MGHS is a really good car for the money, right?
Yeah.
So, you're never going to leverage that brand to sell a 50 grand car.
It just doesn't, it just doesn't happen.
No.
And it's just, it bongs at everything, right?
Oh, no.
And you can turn it off, but it's got driver attention warnings.
And it's just like, and the rear visibility is tragic.
It's just such a compromised car.
Wow.
It's my first MG press car for a while.
Slightly to be my last, to be honest.
But yeah, it's, I haven't put the video yet.
I finished filming it today.
But it is, it's just so flawed.
And little things like, it's got like blind spot cameras on the side, right?
Which lots of cars have.
Hyundai and Kia have them.
And when you indicate you get the camera shot down the side of the car.
Brilliant.
Right.
But Hyundai and Kia hide the cameras like in the door mirrors.
So you can't see them.
These are like, it's literally like a camera,
Plast on the front wing of the car.
It's just the most, and there's a big front facing camera stuck
just above the number plate.
And it's just, yeah, anyway.
So there you go.
Why I don't understand.
Yeah, it's weird.
You'll see what it looks like.
Yeah.
Well, I didn't even know there was such a thing, but I just,
I can't see.
And I really hope that nobody goes out and buys one because it's just
a stupid idea.
Small side note on, on MG's for India, when I was in India,
that was one of the observations I did have.
It was mostly Suzuki, some Hyundai, like the more premium stuff
got into Hyundai.
You could still see MSAs in the BMW, but MG's were everywhere.
Like new MG's were absolutely everywhere, but they weren't badged as MG's.
So what were they badged as?
But this is a big question.
No, they were this.
They didn't have Tata cars that separate.
Yeah.
This is a trick question, but it requires you to know what MG means.
Morris Garages.
Yes.
So they don't, they weren't badged as MG's with the MG emblem.
They were badged as Morris Garages on the front of them.
On the bonnet as Morris Garages.
And also, I guess, really heavily leveraging their British heritage.
The cars were called things like the Morris Garages Windsor.
That was their small hatchback equivalent.
I don't know if they're electric.
I don't think they are in India.
But yeah, Morris Garages Windsor was one of the cars I saw on the road,
brand new cars, but lots of brand new Morris Garages on the road,
as we would know as MG's.
But yeah, super interesting that there's a lot of that over there.
But yeah, they haven't really adopted the old electric thing yet.
That's not...
Well, I mean, have you seen the state of India?
I don't think, yeah, I don't think I have, I was going to say,
I don't think I have a worst car or most disappointing car.
I'm trying to rack my brain of what I have driven that's...
Your 912 has got to be the most disappointing car of this year.
Oh, that's true.
Yeah.
I forgot that will happen this year.
Yeah, no, the 912.
Okay.
The 912 wins that.
That's cost you as much as an MG and it's not work.
Yeah.
It's cost me that an appreciation of any brand new MG for a year.
Yeah.
And I've not had any pleasure out of it at all.
But yeah, no, it's an ongoing story.
Like with Joe's NT, it doesn't only be anything.
So it's not going anywhere.
And the next time I feel like throwing a bunch of money at it,
I wouldn't be able to enjoy it again for another half an hour.
Excellent.
Right.
We're going to...
Let's speak this last bit up because we're on the hour now.
So let's...
Best motoring experience of 2025.
Ped.
I've got one notable mention.
It's got to be the VW trip we did to Sweden where we were all sliding around in cars.
That was very cool.
And the fact that I was there with you guys and we had such a giggle and we met Benny
and everything, it was just wicked.
But I can't not have going in the passenger seat of NASA,
Alatayas, Thatcher, Sam Ryder, Dakar Car, around his back garden in Spain.
Unbelievable.
Brilliant.
Real privilege.
That's one.
Two very special things.
I can't believe the Volkswagen trip was this year.
Yeah, I forgot about that.
That's insane.
Pat, have you got one?
Yeah, I hadn't thought of one, but I'm now racking my brains.
I think mine actually will exist outside of my working world because I'm very fortunate
to do lots of cool things with you guys or with others and kind of experience that vicariously.
But I actually think it was again my favorite place in the world, which is Carmel and Monterey
and going down Big Sur.
And last time I went there in a Tesla model series.
I'm dead jealous of that because we haven't been there yet.
I went in the Tesla and I was like, you know what, these Tesla's aren't that bad.
But once the weight goes, they will kill you.
So it wasn't the best vehicle to experience the roads.
I went with Roger again, went in a Ferrari, which was lovely.
But then I rented a convertible 911, base 911 991 from 2014 and went with my flatmate, had an amazing time,
never really done top down motoring and just absolutely loved it.
Like one of the amazing plays, it's 20 plus degrees every day.
It's sunny, you've got insane scenery, beautiful roads and no one really about to pester you or to get you in trouble.
So yeah, really enjoyed that experience.
It was, yeah, I'm going to go back and do it again and try and top it.
But for now, we need to go, we need to make that happen.
Let's make that happen.
Mine, I've got two mentions.
I mean, a lifelong dream was to do a track day at Spa.
And this year I did it.
And I did it thanks to Michelin and thanks to Porsche GB in a GT3 RS for two days,
which was just nuts.
And thanks to RMA track days, of course, Layton who we had on the podcast earlier this year.
You should do a video about that, mate.
That would be wicked.
Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you?
Yeah, that's, yeah.
That is the biggest mystery this year, right?
And anyone listening, if you haven't watched Joe's Sin vs. Reality video we shot at Spa, go and watch it because it's utterly brilliant.
Thank you, mate.
And it deserves so much more than it got.
Yeah, it's one of those things, isn't it?
And then my next mention has to be, which I haven't talked about at all on this pod, is motorbike because 2025 is sort of my first year of motorbiking, starting my motorbike channel.
And it was the Alps adventure trip that I did on my own bike for six days.
Absolutely love that.
And yeah, I would go back in a heartbeat next year.
So yeah, they're my two.
Next one is.
I'm sorry, mate.
I'm sorry, mate.
You just messed up there massively.
The motoring experience this year is driving to your own wedding in a Z8.
Oh, yes.
And of course that.
It's alright, Joe.
I'll allow you to, if you start, I want to get on and get out.
Yeah.
And take two.
The best experience of 2025 for me without doubt was going to my wedding with my brother sitting next to me in a WZ8.
Thank you very much, Marlon.
Best Michelin experience.
Pat, we'll start with you.
Oh, I'm trying to think.
There's been, again, we're very fortunate to see lots of them and have lots of different experiences.
We're also lucky that a few of them we've done a few times now.
I think for me, the trip surrounding and then the event itself of N24 is just super special.
It's not just being at N24 and getting the access and doing the pit walk and some of the things like so we are more privileged to do.
But it was the fact that we could get a few cars out there.
We could have a few days beforehand.
The 911, the M4 and the GI Yaris trying to do top speed runs and just, it was a proper, it felt like a proper trip.
It wasn't just an experience.
It was a proper trip.
And we, yeah, it was mega fun with everybody.
Getting up onto the top of that, those guys, be it the viewing gallery and that was mega.
That's mine.
That's mine as well.
It was just, it was just a brilliant, a brilliant few days.
Yeah.
The race was amazing to go around Manti and be with the team and have such access to the team was, it was just proper, proper next level.
It was brilliant.
And hopefully we'll go back and do it next year.
Yeah.
Well, this year.
This year.
Next year.
And the last thing to talk about before we say goodbye and good night is what are we looking forward to in 2026?
Is there anything in particular?
Any mentions?
I'd love...
As a podcast or individually?
Ah, either or.
I mean, yeah.
I got two quick ones.
You two to drive the Citroen Ami.
Yes.
Yeah.
And you two and me to drive my 912.
Oh, yeah.
Because I've not really driven it.
So I'd quite like to drive it alongside you two as well.
Once it's...
I mean, it has a brand...
Here we go.
It has a brand new engine, a gearbox, in it.
What could go wrong?
Surely, surely it's fine now, even though it's downstairs and I don't want to turn it on because it makes weird noises.
I've got a really great video idea that's just come to mind.
Okay.
We do a track day.
Pat, you bring the 912 because we want to drive that.
Okay.
Joey, you bring your M2 because I've always wanted to drive that.
And I'll bring the Spyder.
And we can do swapsies.
I mean, I would be there in a heartbeat.
Can I swap the 912 with the Ami?
Because...
If we're going to do Bedford, I know somebody's already had a gearbox issue at Bedford and we don't want a second one.
That's true.
Not after my gearbox history, but...
Yeah, it'd be cool.
Let's...
Even if we're doing something outside of a track day or something.
Yeah, let's get the cars together.
I'll work out how to tow the Ami with the 912 somewhere other than central London.
Yeah.
And yeah, we'll have to do keys in the bowl and have an experience.
Ped?
I'm really looking forward to getting the Spyder out into the Pyrenees and doing a drive and getting some proper driving in it.
Yeah.
Because that's what it was bought for.
And then I look forward to festive speed this year because I didn't go last year.
And I hope to get to Le Mans if I can.
And then 24.
And to be honest, I'm looking forward to spending another year doing crazy shit with cars with you two.
Because it's just absolutely...
I love it.
Yeah.
Same.
Yeah.
Now, I can't wait for another year.
And I just think, yeah, we've got some great things planned.
Hopefully we can do some cool live stuff for the podcast.
I really want to do something with the new GT3 Touring.
But I'm going to wait till the weather gets a bit better because I don't want to go somewhere where it's snowing.
Yeah, you don't want to take a GT3 to the Breckenbeekens when it snows, mate, on Cup 2s.
That's bad.
Yeah.
But yeah, no, I just look forward to it.
And I think, yeah, we've...
This has been a long one.
And I hope everyone has really enjoyed it.
It's been great to hang out with you guys.
And yeah, once again, huge thanks to everyone, the support that you've given us.
Please continue to do that through 2026.
Tell your friends, family, anyone that's in the cars, especially.
And yeah.
Easy now.
Easy now.
Let's do it.
Bring on 2026.
Cheers.
Cheers!
You
You
You
You
You
You
You
You
About this episode
A lively discussion kicks off the new year with the hosts reflecting on their best and worst cars of 2025. They share personal stories, including memorable trips to Mauritius and India, and delve into the highlights of their automotive experiences, including track days and unique car encounters. Notable mentions include the Porsche 911 ST and the Genesis GV60, while the hosts debate the disappointing aspects of the Porsche 911 GTS T hybrid. The episode wraps up with excitement for future automotive adventures and a heartfelt thanks to their audience.
Original notes
Don't forget to send us your questions or subject for future episodes.
Subscribe/Follow, give us a rating and give us a follow on Instagram for all the latest Podcast news - https://www.instagram.com/drivetorque...
Cheers and see you at the next one 👊
Drive Torque Podcast
Joe Achilles and Peter Greaves (Petrol Ped)
0:00
77:24