Silverado EV Trail Boss, Xterra Return, E 53 AMG, MINI 4 Door, Pickup Truck Road Trip

Hello and welcome to the AutoGuide show.

This week Kyle drives some trucks we have an expert on about trucks and we also drive

a couple of German sedans.

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So kicking things off this week Kyle, you went and drove a niche truck of a niche truck?

Yes.

Yeah, that was exactly how we felt we were going to this.

It was the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss.

So the off-road version of the brand's full-size massive electric pickup.

I have thoughts.

Mike, you and I drove the RST earlier this year and it made a lot of sense in my mind

of like, hey, it's street focused, right?

Because I feel like most people who are buying a big electric truck probably aren't off-roading

or probably don't want to.

So this was weird to me because it's a quasi-unibody, right?

That truck platform is weird on its own.

And I just don't really, I don't understand who this is for, I guess.

I know we've said so many times the entire market wants more like rugged trims.

So maybe that's it.

Someone who wanted an electric pickup already and then they're like, who, but I want a little

bit more off-road feel.

Cool.

But the limitations of the platform are pretty obvious if you go off-road.

It'll, it'll tackle things, but it doesn't do it with any grace.

Yeah.

I think it's not even about capability.

Well, it is, but it's about bragging rights.

It's someone who gets this and says, look what my truck can do.

We talked about this earlier when you're going on the event.

This is basically a stretched Hummer EV in terms of what it's got underneath it.

And we driven that on some pretty off-road focused, uh, tracks before.

And yeah, it's like, it's super capable.

So I'm sure this is too, it's almost too capable, but it's kind of like, who's doing

this, who's taking this?

It's too capable in ways and then not in others.

Like in off-roading, the problem is it doesn't have any lockers, right?

It uses an ABS setup.

Uh, and because it's a dual motor, it means there's one motor on the rear axle.

So it can't send all power one side or the other, right?

It's just breaking the one wheel that doesn't have grip.

And so what you end up with is when we would finish the trail, all we could smell

were burnt brakes because these trucks were working so hard.

And because it's a quasi unibody, it also doesn't have the articulation.

So if you're going over like a twistier section that would normally, you know,

just twist a body on frame has the flex there and all the articulation that you

want, and this would just lift a wheel right up in the air.

And it would get over what it needed because it has so much power and it has

good grip.

It's just that when the wheel goes high up in the air and then it comes down,

this thing's like over 8,500 pounds.

So it comes down with all the grace you'd expect of that much weight.

So it sounds like it's not as good as that.

Does it have some sort of extract motor where it gets like 75 inches of ground clearance?

Nope.

All right, so I take it back.

It's not as good as the Hummer.

All right, well, I just want to quickly say, though, like in Chevy's defense,

this is a trail boss, right?

It's not a ZR2, so it's not the most off-roading trim.

It's just light off-roading, but I mean, you're spending 90 grand US

or $110,000 Canadian, you could get a loaded ZR2 gas truck or I mean,

not even gas, get the excellent diesel, right?

And so that's the tough thing for me.

Well, it's a thing like that, the one you just described.

That's the one people that are really good off-roading, especially if they're

taking off-road trailers and stuff we're going to use.

This is, again, you can impress people on certain trails, but most of the time

it's just it's like how the lightning now has the STX instead of the, I think it was

the lightning or whatever.

Yeah.

And like the rest of the platform, yeah, it's like 478 miles is wild.

Like that's cool.

And I understand the argument of like, you're going to trail, you're going to

take this on a light trail, go out into the middle of nowhere because you have

so much range, power everything because you have over 10 kilowatts of on-board power.

Cool.

Like it's just, I feel like the buyer who needs all of that in one package is

such a small part of a Venn diagram.

So, but yeah, I mean, you're right with the range.

This thing you go on a weekend week camping way off the trail.

And like we said, when we off-roaded the Hummer, I'm sure was similar here.

You're going so sweet, so slow speed, you're barely using much of your range.

Like you can control for days.

Yeah.

And if you have a home charger, it's not going to cost you the $60 to charge

that 200 kilowatt hour battery pack.

It'll cost you like six.

So there we go.

Yeah.

All right.

So moving on, we will leave trucks for a second.

You drove the AMG E 53.

So this is the one with the V8.

No, no, with the Turbo six, or is this the one with the hybrid four?

I'm so confused these days.

You got it in line six.

Hybrid in line six plug in hybrid in line six.

But it's not like the plug in hybrid in line four cylinder in the 60 threes.

It's not confusing at all.

Yeah.

So it's a plug in hybrid, but it actually has a good amount of electric range.

Yeah, it's so I drove this and

I didn't like it that much at first.

And then I kind of liked it more.

And then I handed it back and was kind of eh.

But I think a lot of that had to do with the price.

And my biggest complaint is that it's just too stiff.

And I know that it's an AMG, but it's not the top AMG, right?

It is for now, but I assume they're going to put a 63 out eventually.

And so it just feels yeah, or even turn up the wick on this one.

But I mean, yeah, probably the eight.

And it just feels too stiff for where it is in the lineup.

I really enjoy the current E class a lot.

It is probably my favorite in that segment.

The regular ones, because they're so smooth.

And I figure if you're buying a high performance version,

you probably still want some level of smoothness because you're getting a sedan.

And I just didn't get that with this.

The transmission is also a little jerky,

depending on the handoff of the power.

And the brakes, the brakes are very strange.

Mercedes has done something weird with brakes recently, where I just don't get

correct pedal feel, trying to be smooth and stop and go traffic is tough.

But the powertrain is excellent.

I like how it looks.

I think it's fast and very capable.

This one is also way too expensive because it has the addition one package,

which is something like $18,000 on its own.

And you get the matte paint, the stripes, some unique color treatments and a car cover.

What is the power on this?

Five seventy seven, unless you use launch control and then it's six or four.

So it's up there with the five fifty,

because I drove the five forty not too long ago and it was super smooth.

But you say this is your favorite segment.

That's saying a lot because the five series is fantastic.

So just shows you how good this these cars are.

And I was going to say it sounds like they're the best platforms to drive.

But it's also, I think for both brands, the best

version of their current styling language, like this looks really good.

And I think the five series is probably the best looking BMW sedan right now.

So something about that size and proportions, I don't know.

I find it you've mentioned this before that you really like the five series styling and.

You know, styling is not I like it.

It's the seven and three just look too weird.

Well, I think the three is totally normal right now, right?

Like the three is the end of previous BMW styling.

And it's had two facelifts now.

But yeah, I do think these middle cars have grown so much

that they're as big as what an S or seven were a decade ago.

And they're so good at so many things.

And so it does make the expectations for the sports models so high.

Yeah, you're right.

The class has grown so much that the Germans will keep their their big guys

because it's like an image thing as much as a size thing.

But we're seeing so many other manufacturers killing off their supposed

full size because they're competing against these now.

And it just doesn't make sense.

Like Acura is long gone.

Infinity, I mean, I went decades.

Lexus just canceled there.

So yeah, yeah.

All right, moving on to something much smaller.

OK, this wasn't a sedan.

And technically it's not German, but it is a four door mini Cooper S,

which shared with the German platform.

And yes, it has a hatch, but this is their quote, practical car.

They do have the countryman, but that's a crossover.

So I drove the countryman gas.

The countryman electric, the convertible.

And now this I'm just missing the three door in the updated mini spectrum.

So this drives a lot like the convertible and their weight is pretty similar

because all this is a bigger vehicle.

It doesn't have all of that hardware for the top.

So performance wise, it drives much like I found.

Like it's it's quick.

It handles really well.

It's way more mature and composed than many of the past.

But that's also sort of the problem is it doesn't have that raw

visceral feel you expect.

And I get the buyers of these cars are growing up.

So they're also growing the car up.

But then he's become a hey, look at our cool styling.

Look at our amazing inside tech and light show brand more than a driver's brand.

And I said this with the convertible.

It kind of reflects, I think, where the market is.

This sadly, people don't care about how cars drive as much as the tech

because that's just where the consumers are with all this autonomous

this and that and driver assist.

So they're going the way to make money.

And that's what a car company is supposed to do.

But like this is the S. There's no hood scoop.

There's no exposed exhaust.

More so, there's no way to control the transmission, which is a dual clutch.

You can't even customize your drive modes.

It's you pick an experience and off you go.

And I mean, go kart is pretty responsive and fast,

but it's too responsive to just drive around.

But then, I don't know, timeless is sort of the next closest

to get some sort of performance, but it's not enough.

So it's I think it's a good vehicle for what they're targeting.

It's just don't expect to be many of old and also don't expect this to be

like a wholly practical four door vehicle.

Like the doors are the smallest with the most rear wheel intrusion

the side of a Wrangler.

Adults are not having fun getting in and out.

Small family, perfect.

But if you had a real small family and you're putting in a rear facing child seat,

I feel terrible for you to get it out of there.

So sort of like your Silverado EV trail boss.

This this is a small segment that's looking for a mini,

but also a little more practicality, but not too much.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like they don't want a clubman or sorry, RIP.

Well, it's gone. I know.

Yeah, they want they don't want a countryman because the countryman is

like a proper like cross track size now.

And so now it's like, oh, well, I want the hatch, but I want a little more

practicality and you're like, OK, well, how much of a market is there for that?

The interesting thing to me is you said that it's aging up like the buyers.

And in my mind, I think that's actually kind of the opposite where

many is in this effort to always perpetually bring in young buyers, right?

It wants this image of like young hip.

And so young people sticking to the stereotype don't tend to care about

driving as much as like cool tech or useful tech or fun interactions.

I know we've talked about it before, that there are young people who very

much do care about cars. But yeah, it's it's following the stereotype

of like being very techie forward.

And it's it's sad because it is still fairly fun to drive if you're buying

a small car like I can't think of many cars that are more fun to drive.

But it's just the S used to be the fun car.

And then JCW came out and it kind of.

Oh, I think that's it.

I think, like I said, some young people still do like driving, which is great.

But there's like the effort or the 86 and the BRZ and the Miata for that.

And many used to kind of be in that sort of fun segment and they

realized it's shrinking, so let's go this way.

And it is like a tech audio light show inside, which is really cool.

And it's still kind of fun.

So just for the person that doesn't.

They're they're all outward, ultimate goals, fun driving,

but still on a little spirited drive.

But this car, I think the demographic is you 10 years ago.

So like a couple with maybe a dog, because you have the small door,

so let the dog in and you get a bigger hatch, which is more practical.

And then if you have nothing back there, you fold the seats down

and you get a really big cash.

So I get the appeals, just not me.

So moving on, Kyle is back in a truck this time, a Chevrolet surprise.

But this time it is gas. Actually, no, it's not gas.

Yeah, this was funny because I drove this much earlier in the year

near the tail end of summer and they happen to publish at the same week.

So I feel it's a good comparison.

I drove the Silverado 1500 Duramax, the diesel, and it was the high country.

It was the top trim.

So it's also a pricey big rig.

But it's now the only diesel light duty truck on the market.

I did not realize that until after I drove it, because Rams is gone

and Ford quietly stopped selling its diesel.

So if you want one, this is it.

And it's fantastic.

It's in my mind, this is exactly what a truck should have.

Like, yeah, the V8 sounds cool, sure.

But now this has 305 horse

and nearly 500 pound feet of torque.

Like you don't need more than that in a full size truck.

I know they're much bigger than they used to be, but that's plenty.

It never felt sluggish.

It got up to speed easily.

It was such a great car.

We were out in Canada's east coast.

So we were in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

It did everything we wanted and it was super comfortable.

Supercruise is great.

It still works out there, too.

I I think this is a really good truck.

I still don't love the looks.

It's probably my least favorite looking truck.

Yeah, the light thing in the front rear is never done before.

Yeah, I mean, like on one hand,

this one was kind of better because it was black on black on black.

And so it kind of highlights.

Yeah, but at the same time, everyone thinks you're an undercover cop,

which is maybe a good thing.

So I and the interior is only OK.

Like, I know it's not good when my wife gets in a car

and it's like, oh, this interior isn't very nice

because usually she's like, they're fine.

Um, so.

Overall, though, I think because of the diesel,

this quickly moves up the rankings for me where

if people are asking what they need for a full size truck.

I'm really tempted to just say, like, get the diesel.

When you're sitting inside, you can't see what it looks like either.

Yeah, so we'll talk with the special guest, the truck king later about

how ridiculous capabilities of these trucks are getting, as you were saying,

the numbers and whatnot.

But yeah, I think this truck and actually Chevrolet as a whole

perfectly sort of embodies and shows where we are with the electric markets.

So the EV truck you drove compared to this, it's like at the price point,

this is so much better at everything you need in a truck.

But then at the other end, if you do eco and oxygen, you can watch TV.

The price difference is worth going electric over that.

So I think the whole thing with these is there's manufacturers

and I think consumers are still trying to figure out

where they work in the market and at what what's the advantages and disadvantages.

So yeah, like I would get this diesel truck

if I'm spending that kind of ridiculous money in a heartbeat

because of everything you said, it's like you're not racing your truck.

And if you are, go buy a used sport truck.

And to add to that, in the case of both of the Silverados,

they have supercruise that takes into account your trailer,

which is something that you can't get yet on BlueCruise, too.

Right. So like that also really changes the the question

of which truck to get if you are towing regularly.

And to your point about EVs being suitable for trucks,

like that's kind of the the billion dollar question, right?

It's like they're very capable.

All of them are very capable now.

But most people don't use trucks for their capability.

And so in my mind, that makes EV trucks a little more tempting.

But the price is still the the big limiting factor.

Yeah, that going off too much.

That's why it's supposed to midsize EV truck is I think like if there's

an EV Maverick, that's that's the market, that's the spot.

But anyway, moving on, speaking of truckish things,

Nissan has officially 100 percent

finally for sure confirmed the exterior is coming back.

We've been hearing this for a while, but when their boss says it's coming back,

it's coming back, we can only hope it is based on a new frontier

or just the frontier we currently have.

Like make it make it a proper forerunner Bronco competitor.

Or if you're going to go the other way, then make sure it's at least as capable

as like a passport transport.

Like don't don't bring back a rogue rebadged exterra.

Yeah, yeah, I'm right there with you.

I'm I also just want to say Hollywood must be happy

because antagonists in teen dramas named Chad are probably now they have their new truck.

But it was such a weird thing.

Exterras were just always that truck.

Yeah, I it'd be silly not to do this, right?

Like the whole market is constantly we've been spending an entire episode

talking about how everyone wants ruggedness.

The exterra is a well-known name.

You have a frontier.

It's your only truck now.

Use that platform.

Yeah, and it better be able to climb the side of a mountain

when you get the exterra Rock Creek, because, you know, that'll come.

And the exterras like you could go crazy with it.

Like do something weird like this was the SUV.

But back in the day, you get a supercharged V6 and a manual transmission.

It didn't mean it was fast, but it was just a cool combo to have.

So so that does raise the question, though, of like, what do you put in this?

Just the frontiers engine and leave it be.

Do you put a supercharger on that for old time's sake?

Like Armada drop in the turbo six.

Make it a monster.

All right.

So just quickly before we wrap up the AutoGuy show,

back to my eBay motor's first segment, if you head over to AutoGuy,

we have a lot more opinion pieces than we used to.

So check them out.

Let us know what you don't agree with our opinions.

One we have right now is I look at 11 cars and trucks and SUVs

that are using old name plates, not ones that consistently use them,

but ones that brought them back from the dead.

And do they actually live up to the name, the hype, the image?

Not all do. So check that out.

Let us know.

And we will be taking a short break.

And when we come back, Kyle and I will be talking to someone

who knows more about trucks than almost anyone in the industry.

And then I'll call him on to talk.

I for it. And we'll be back to wrap things up.

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Hello and welcome back to this show.

We have a special guest joining us.

Steve, if you could just introduce yourself and what you do to all of our listeners.

Hey, folks, my name is Stephen Elmer and I currently run the Truck King YouTube

channel and TK Power Sports, a couple of YouTube channels.

It's just a couple of YouTube channels, a couple of huge YouTube channels.

So yeah, second second generation on the channel, which is crazy,

like YouTube's been around long enough for that now.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, I can't believe sometimes looking back and realizing that we've been doing

this for over a decade, which is bonkers, putting videos on YouTube about cars.

It's funny to say that I saw a video of me from 14 years ago and I was like, whoa,

like, you know, you see yourself every day.

You don't think you changed.

And you see a 14 year old, like 100% man.

I see the early videos and I can't believe I look like such a child.

Well, for those who don't know, like used to work at AutoGuide and with me

back in the day and basically we're a child back then.

This was like your first big automotive job, I believe.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, for any long time, AutoGuide readers or viewers or listeners.

I started at AutoGuide in 2011.

That was my very first job in, you know, automotive journalism.

At first, just as a news editor, I was never hired to make videos.

I was just hired to write news and then slowly, but surely, you know,

work my way up there and started doing the video thing and then sort of never,

never looked back, you know, once the videos took off.

I love writing, but these days I don't write that much.

I'm just all video all the time.

Yeah.

You kind of found your niche, which makes sense because it's family inherited

into the trucks for AutoGuide because none of us had the facilities to really

test them.

So it was nice to take this truck and that became your thing.

And now you are the truck king.

I remember once I had, I can't really name the company, but I had a armored

car booked for review and I woke up sick and you filled in last minute and was

good because you needed a truck license to drive it, which I didn't have.

And I remember, yeah, it was the incast Huron.

Yeah, you did it on the fly video.

The thing was that monsters, which is good because I would have been a really

pathetic video of me just sitting in the vehicle that I couldn't drive.

Well, he wasn't had air brakes, right?

So you needed your air brake endorsement.

And, uh, and yeah, I have that because I used to drive big trucks.

So that, that was a heck of a, a heck of a vehicle to review, especially on the

streets around Milton, Ontario.

It felt very out of place and a massive armored truck.

Um, like, yeah, drive it, drive a little south and you'll be in your element.

Uh, so when you got out of school, you went straight and got your truck

license, I guess, then you did that for a little bit till you got into the, the

writing side of things.

Yeah, correct.

I mean, I'll start even further back than that.

So as you've been alluding to, uh, I'm second generation auto journalist.

My dad, Howard Elmer, when I was seven years old, he became a freelance auto

journalist.

Writing for the Toronto star, that was his big outlet.

And then he worked his way through all the major papers.

He actually started before that too in the snowmobile business.

So I really came up first, you know, in the power sports automotive journalism

business, watching what my dad did.

Um, and then yeah, out of school, I went to school to become a writer.

I deviated a little bit and did some digital media stuff.

Cause I kind of saw the future was more video rather than writing.

And then immediately out of school, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

And dad said, go get your truck license.

So that's what I did.

So I drove, uh, you know, big trucks.

I had my DZ here in Ontario.

So I drove big trucks for a while, big straight trucks, delivering stuff

all over Ontario and still trying to decide what to do.

And then the position came up at vertical scope and I jumped on it.

And as you mentioned too, you know, my dad, he kind of found his niche

was pickup trucks because his thing, especially in the late 90s, early 2000s

was most journalists aren't testing trucks as trucks were intended to be tested.

Most of them drive them empty and, and, you know, write about it, which is

fair game.

That's how a lot of consumers drive them to, but luckily we had the infrastructure.

You know, we have 60 acres of our own property.

We have, you know, our own wood lot.

We have a lake, we have boats, we have ATVs and snowmobiles.

So we already live that kind of pickup truck driven lifestyle.

So he saw that niche and went, you know what, let's test trucks properly.

So yeah, I really grew up in it.

You know, I have that experience, uh, different from most people where

my love of trucks is not just because, you know, I love trucks and my dad love

trucks, but because I got to see all the new trucks every year, basically

starting from 1998 on, I've been in every single brand new truck, every

single model year until today.

So that's, that's a different way to come up as a kid, but it was obviously cool.

And I remember just being so stoked for what truck is going to come home, you

know, on Monday and what's it going to have in the back seat?

And will there be TV screens?

Cause that was my priority as a kid.

So, yeah, I definitely kind of grew up in, in auto journalism.

I remember that was the thing back then, the TV screens.

If you had TV screens, I was like, well, remember the water brothers

packages and DCRs and whatnot.

Of course.

Yeah.

I was just going to say, it feels like everything's come full circle then.

Stephen, if you said you came up in power sports, you also saw the writing

on the digital wall with the move to video and stuff.

You're, uh, yeah, now you're, you're right back where you should be.

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, and I think also this probably goes without saying, but power

sports and pickup trucks, they go together really well.

If you really love trucks, there's a good chance it's because you have some kind

of toy, whether it's an RV or again, a fishing boat or a PWC or an ATV.

So I always kind of felt like there was a lot of crossover audience there as well.

And then just selfishly, I love ATVs and especially snowmobiles.

So, you know, I love keeping my finger on that pulse and being able to, uh, to

ride some new units too, just cause it's, uh, it's so fun.

And it's so different from automotive.

Like we do a lot of off-roading and pickup trucks, which is great.

But yeah, it's still, it's just not as raw and focused as power sports.

So there's a lot of crossover there, but they're so different.

And I love being able to kind of explore both of those worlds.

Yeah.

And power sports don't need to also handle the road like a truck does.

So you can, it's more specialized.

And as I said, you review both.

So you get, uh, you get like the two birds with one stone, you get to pick

up a pickup truck for review and go tow a power sport back home.

And you know, you do two things at once.

There are many videos of me online picking up side by sides in ATVs all over

the GTA and then reviewing the truck.

And then, you know, at the same time, reviewing the machine either on the

same channel or on a different channel.

So yeah, I've used that to my advantage.

And, you know, well, why not?

Especially, you know, picking it up like today, for instance, I just went

and picked up a Yamaha side by side, but I used my dad's Chevy 3500.

So, you know, that's not much of a load for a 3500, but I've taken tons

of small trucks and lots of crossovers and SUVs to pick up these things.

And, and that's really what a lot of consumers are using.

If you're only towing, you know, one ATV or side by side.

So yeah, it's, I feel like it's also relevant information for consumers

because that's what most people own.

And it's some kind of recreational toy that they want to tows.

Yeah.

I think you touch on an important thing there.

Like earlier, you said a lot of people don't necessarily test trucks or use

their trucks in the way that you guys do test them, right?

But that's the thing is there's always the option.

And so the fact that you're doing it, the fact that you're regularly

testing all these trucks, I mean, that's like that's very thorough, right?

Someone who maybe is on the fence about towing or a little anxious about it.

They get to watch your stuff and get a better idea of exactly what they can expect.

Yeah, that's that's definitely the idea.

And, and you're right, especially if you're getting into the world of trucks

and power sports and you're you're coming from, you know, no knowledge background,

it's it's overwhelming straight up.

It's it's not the same as buying a family car or a family crossover.

Suddenly you're looking into payloads and GBWRs and tow ratings

and what kind of hitch do I need and what kind of trailer do I need?

So it just the the world of trucks definitely has a lot more to it.

And we do our best to to demystify it as well as we can.

Yeah, anyone who is looking to get into the world,

I highly recommend checking out your channel because people just

if they don't know the world, they see like, oh, this is a center pilot

into a five thousand pounds, I'll go buy myself a five thousand pound boat.

Like, oh, it's like, there's a lot more you got to consider.

Remember when we worked together, Steve, we used to chuckle it.

Yeah, like that's great.

That's the rating.

And even with trailer brakes, that's what you're allowed to do.

But you don't really want to be near the limit of most vehicles.

Touring is correct.

100%. Yeah.

And then it's even more nuanced because not all trailers are created equal, right?

Like a flat deck trailer, a low boy flat deck that doesn't have any tall walls

on it is not going to be affected by aerodynamics.

Or as a trailer that's significantly lighter, but has big tall walls

and a roof is going to be way more affected by the wind and what's going on back there.

So, you know, even though the number might be lesser,

what kind of trailer is it?

How is it built?

Is it a travel trailer with a big flat nose on the front?

Because that's going to totally change how it tows as well.

So once again, you're right, you know, in automakers,

we all know they love to show off their numbers, right?

It's, hey, look how much I can tow.

Hey, look what the payload number is.

And that's where it's not always the best indicator for a consumer

getting into this of, oh, my numbers make sense.

Your numbers can make sense and it can still be a miserable towing experience

because of whatever you're too close to your limit.

The trailer's not loaded correctly.

So, yeah, once again, that's something that like we're always on about.

I almost like I get tired of talking about it, but you have to keep bringing it back up,

which is like the numbers are one thing.

Yes, they should make sense.

But let's talk about tall walls versus short wall trailers,

double axle trailers versus single axle because it's all different.

It really is.

And whether it's a boat or a side by side, even again, side by sides,

I'll put one side by side on the trailer and then put another one on and go,

it feels different all of a sudden.

The number hasn't changed much, but obviously the way that thing

cuts through the air is different than the way the last one was cutting through the air.

So that's that's another thing we always stress on the channel, too,

is at the end of the day, the best way to evaluate is with your butt.

You got to put your butt in the seat and go drive.

And that's going to ultimately tell you if it's a safe button-down towing experience or not.

So that's the knowledge we try to share with people and at least get you in that mindset of,

oh, OK, I can't just blindly trust the numbers.

Because, yeah, I mean, the Ford Super Duty can tow 40,000 pounds.

You're going to tow 40,000 pounds all the time.

You should probably get a tractor trailer or like a medium duty 5500, right?

So it's, yeah, the numbers we're dealing with these days, too, are just nuts.

That's probably right.

Just like if you look on me, it's funny you bring up the trailer height thing

because I was naive, young, well, I'm not even a kid.

I guess very late teens, early 20s, and I used to tow a WaveRun or Yamaha WaveRun

that I owned with my various cars.

I had a hitch originally for not my Laro.

I guess my first one was on my cobalt.

Then I had it on my Camaro and I also had it on something else.

But I remember the cobalt, like I towed that everywhere,

like all across Ontario, no problem and launch it, no problem.

Then my sister is moving.

It's like, oh, go rent a single axle, close box, you all trailer to help you move.

Hooked up to the cobalt, got on the highway and I think about 85 K.

So, you know, 50 miles an hour, that's as fast as I could go.

The wind pushing back on my car was just it wouldn't go any faster.

And I was like, it's lighter than the WaveRunner, but Aero suddenly came into play.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

And changes the whole thing.

Yeah, I have. Sorry, Mike.

No, go ahead.

So, Stephen, I have a question relating to trucks

that I feel like is very, you know, auto journalist.

We all have to deal with all the different driving assists nowadays, right?

And then, of course, automakers have various different towing specific assists.

Where do you land on those?

Yeah, it's a good question.

I think, first of all, this may be obvious, but obviously, you know,

there's so many different types.

So, I guess the first one that comes to mind is Supercruise while towing,

because they're still the only brand that's letting you do that.

You know, the other brands with BlueCruise and even with Tesla,

they have their own self-driving systems, but they won't do it with a trailer.

And with that one specifically, I really love it.

You know, I really do.

It works super well.

If you're going long distances, especially on mostly empty highways, man,

it really takes a lot of the stress out of towing.

And I also feel like it's very the way it reacts is very much how I would react to things.

So and that is not too sharp.

You always want, you know, smooth inputs on the wheel.

And in my experience with it, that's the way it's driven.

My one caveat, like usual, is, you know, you're still at fault as the driver.

So I do worry about drivers getting too complacent when they're using it.

But that one specifically, I'll call out and say, yes, if I was driving

across the country and I had that, I would use it absolutely.

Maybe not in like dense 401 traffic.

That's where I prefer to drive myself.

But once you're out of the cities and you're just cruising along, it's awesome.

And then when it comes to the other other assists, most of them are all, you know,

reverse focused.

You have ProTrailer Backup Assist and Ram has a system and Toyota has a system for that now, too.

I think it's really simple.

I think it's, I believe their excellent systems like ProTrailer Backup Assist,

that's the one I've used most recently, works really well.

It's really intuitive.

Turn the knob right, trailer goes right, knob left, trailer goes left.

And if you've never towed before, you know, backing up a trailer is stressful

and probably one of the most stressful parts of towing.

So if you've never done it and you use ProTrailer Backup Assist,

I like the fact that it actually teaches you in real time

because you start to realize, oh, the trailer goes this way, the truck goes this way.

That you know, so you kind of helps you wrap your head around it.

So I like that aspect of it.

I think my biggest kind of negative on it is you shouldn't own a trailer

if you can't back it up without it.

You know, I worry that people will rely on it too much.

And, you know, at the end of the day, if it works every time, then you're golden.

But what happens that one time it doesn't work?

So there's always that part of me that's like, yeah, the systems are good,

but you should understand how to do it without them.

And if you use the system enough, you should start to naturally understand

what to do without it because, again, it kind of teaches you the dynamics

of backing up a trailer.

So for the most part, I'm all for those systems.

I just think that if you go and get a truck, don't rely on it all the time.

And then, I mean, there's so many other ones, too.

The other one just in general is cameras, man.

The camera systems we have these days are incredible.

You know, I came up even in a time when there weren't that many cameras.

You had to use your mirrors.

If you're learning how to back up today or drive with a trailer,

you just have to use your cameras as an extra tool on top of your mirrors.

You can't forget that your mirrors are there.

But having that many views around the truck is massively helpful.

I was in that Silverado 3500 today, and it has the cameras that turn on

automatically when you hit the signal.

So I'm coming up in the highway signal, right?

And you can see right down the side of the truck and trailer.

It's just it makes it so much easier.

And those things it's hard to complain about because that's just straight up

safer, right? So for all of these systems, I think they're great.

Just understand what's going on behind the scenes, I guess,

is really what I'm getting at.

I have one just to bring up in a second, but you're thinking about

know how to back up a trailer.

That's something even without any assist, people need to learn, like,

take your vehicle to a parking lot and practice it.

Because you can tell the people like one of my neighbors who does

General Aver, he has a trailer that takes with him every day for his company.

And he backs, I think, into the tightest, craziest spot.

Like he's lying every day, no problem.

And then you see the guys who tow once a year, trying to back the smallest

trailer under the driveway and they're blocking the road for 10 minutes

as they keep trying and trying to keep jackknocking over and over.

But anyway, I believe you around before this really took over.

So how much does the trailer's way assist systems help compared to what

when there was none?

I guess I would say that if you're doing things correctly,

then they don't really do anything.

You know, if your trailer's loaded right, the big thing with Sway

generally is that your weight is too far back so you don't have enough

tongue weight. If the front of that trailer is too light and it ends up

kind of pulling up on the back of your vehicle, then you start to get that that

sway. So I don't want to like, you know, talk myself up too much here,

but I don't think I've really ever felt it because I just know how to

load a trailer correctly.

So yeah, I think Sway Assist is intervening with you a lot,

then there's a deeper issue there.

But I mean, just again, based on all my experience with every other

automated driving system, I'm sure they're amazing.

And of course, these trucks and the ECUs in our cars now,

they can do things that you straight up can't do, right?

They can break just the trailer wheels way quicker than you would

ever think to do that. So I'm sure they do work well.

So it's sort of like when it's a system that should be more in an

emergency one-off, sort of like stability control. If you're driving and you're

constantly pinging off your stability control, you're probably not doing

something right. Yeah, exactly.

The only time I've ever experienced sway controls in the most unlikely

situation and it was in a smart car because Mercedes brought it from their

vans into the smart car and I drove to Detroit in one of the worst winter

storms and every time if people know between Detroit and Toronto,

it's just a big open straight highway, you'd go through clusters of trees and

every time you'd come out, you'd just get hammered by the wind.

And it was making the weirdest noise and I was like, why is it doing this?

And then when I got there, I was talking to Mercedes and oh, that's our

anti-sway kicking in to keep you straight. And I was like, oh, well, it works,

I guess, because yeah, in that little vehicle.

And it was probably using the ABS, I imagine, like dragging the ABS on one side

or something to keep you straight? Yeah, something. It was just, yeah,

I can't even remember the noise. I remember it was an unusual,

wasn't the usual ABS noise, but I think it's because it's the computer

kicking in and it's probably to let the driver know, hey, you know,

the conditions aren't great. I mean, we're automotive writers.

Like I was driving that car somewhere, you probably shouldn't have been in

conditions you shouldn't, but that was the point. Couldn't make it.

And it did. Yeah, sure. And almost didn't make it back in the snowstorm, but

fellow podcast fill in slash guest Jeff Wilson helped me home by making a path

in a Cadillac that I followed in the smart car in a blizzard on the highway,

because we couldn't see where the shoulders markers anything.

You just were kind of hoping you knew where the road was. And then Steve is, you know,

you're thinking like, this is crazy. How are we sitting on the road?

Then all of a sudden an 18-wheeler blows by twice the speed.

I remember those drives through Detroit. I'm pretty sure that year you're talking

about was the year there was so many tractor trailers in the ditch

that just got blown off the road and they could do nothing about it.

It was just so windy and so icy. I very well have very many memories of,

yes, driving to the Detroit Auto Show and sketchy winter conditions.

So you told us a lot about trucks and modern trucks.

What about a little about the truck you have? Because you have something pretty cool.

I do. Yeah, I have a 1985 Chevy K10. It's nicknamed Big Green.

It actually found life on YouTube with the Fastlane truck, which is a place I also used to work.

So TFL Truck bought it. They did a whole build series on it. So they put a lift kit underneath

it, 35-inch tires, and then they got a ZZ6 crate engine from Chevrolet. So that's a 5.7-liter V8.

It makes 400 horsepower and they drop that in there. So it's got a modern engine, you know,

which is nice. It's been fairly reliable for me. It did have some weird issues with the

fuel pump. It needs high-pressure fuel because it's not carburated. They took the carburetor off

because it came from Colorado. So it has throttle body fuel injection, which needs high-pressure

fuel, and I struggled with the high-pressure fuel pump for a bit. But outside of that,

it's nice to have an old truck with a modern engine because I pretty much know it's going to

start every time. And I love it. I absolutely love it. Again, it stands in such stark contrast to

all the new trucks I drive. So I feel like it's always a good reminder of where trucks came from.

And that is to say, from a place of just simplicity, man, everything on that truck is dead simple.

The parts are simple. Everything is overbuilt. That's something we hear a lot about these days,

is they don't build them like they used to. And for the most part, that's a really good thing

because our new trucks are so comfortable. However, I will say that in 85, for instance,

the transmission that's in my truck, it went into every single Chevy truck from light duty

right up to medium duty. So they're like big 5,500 delivery trucks use the exact same transmission.

And at that point, that was their thinking, was build the transmission for the biggest truck and

then just put it in all the other ones. So there is actually something to be said for that.

And same with the transfer case, like the transfer cases on the K10s from the 80s,

the square bodies are like legendary people doing builds today, they go searching for those

transfer cases because they're just so overbuilt. And that's the cool thing too,

like the TFL dropped the 400 horsepower engine and they didn't have to change a thing. The whole

drive line remains the same, differentials, you know, the drive shaft, it's all the same stuff.

So even that suggests that it was all overbuilt for the time too, it was ready to take that much

power. So yeah, I absolutely love it. And I always call it my old dumb truck because it's

just nothing like all our new smart trucks that we have today. But it's really rewarding to drive

an old dumb vehicle because I know that I'm the brain, there's no computer brain, it's all this

brain doing the driving. Do the kids love getting dropped off at school in it? Yeah, I just started

taking my oldest in it this year, once he moved to like a booster seat with just the seat belt.

And yeah, I think he's only been in it like two or three times, but he absolutely loved it,

he was so excited. And of course, for him, the first thing you notice was the crank up windows,

and then he's just sitting there cranking the windows up and down. He thought it was so cool.

It's funny that we've reversed that where like, when we were kids, like getting into a car with

power windows, it was like, oh, I gotta play with them. And now it's, yeah, the other way around.

The switch will make it go up and down or like someone in the front could unlock the door to

let you out like mind blowing. Yeah. So that truck, you kind of had that connection with

former employee and whatnot. But if it was up to you, what truck would you love to own?

It's a good question. You know, there's a there's a long list. These days though,

like recently, I've been really wrapped up in and I'm going to cop out a little,

I'm going to give you two trucks. Ford Lightning, an original Ford Lightning like 2001, when they,

you know, made it good on the racetrack. They dropped that thing to the ground, put a crazy

engine into it. I just think those are such cool looking trucks. It's such a small truck too,

compared to what we have today. Yeah. And then the same vein, a Dodge Ram SRT 10, you know,

when Dodge went crazy and threw a Viper V10 into the Ram. And actually they stand in stark contrast

because everything I hear about the Lightning is that it actually handles really well. Like,

you want to go on a racetrack with it. The Ram SRT 10 does not handle well. It's just there to roast

rear tires, but that's okay, because it's so ridiculous, right? So I've been kind of caught up

in those sport trucks from the past. And that's actually again, something no one is really doing

today. We're inundated with off road trucks, which I love. I'm not speaking ill of, but we have so

many off road options and so few cool street options in the truck world. So yes, I got my eye

on those old performance trucks. I would love an SRT 10 just to do donuts, but the tire budget

would be harsh. Yeah, you'd have to set aside twice the money. At least it's on the rear tires.

But yeah, well, I think I'll go ahead. No, go ahead. I think all three of us have driven the

Lobo. I think. And so that's a fun little reimagination of street trucks, but it's still

the smaller ones, right? Like the S10 Extreme. That sort of mold and it's like...

I'm saying because that was a small, sporty truck in the 90s. But yeah, we don't have any full

sensors. They just go full Baja mode. Right. Funny story, I worked at Chevy when the Extreme came

out and I remember all the salespeople like when I drive there, like, what am I going to do with

this thing? Who's going to buy this? It's like, it's just an S10 with a body kit. And I was like,

you're all old. There's lots of young people who think this is the coolest thing, even though

you're right. It is just an S10 with a body kit. For sure. And a lot of them were just that for a

while, right? And again, that's why I like those two, the Lightning and the SRT 10, because they

were pretty legit. But on the Lobo, like I am happy that Ford did that with the Maverick first,

because it is naturally the right size for a sport truck. You want it to be small. It just

aids in the handling. Making an F-150 handle good is awesome, but also a much harder task.

So I'm actually, yeah, I'm good with the Lobo. I do wish they went further with the powertrain.

That's my biggest complaint on the Lobo. That's pretty much obvious low hanging fruit. But

of all the brands too, it feels like Ford is the one that usually does stuff like that. And

that's the one spot where it could use a little more jam. But I do like that truck.

I'm with you there. If the 2.3 was in there, perfect. And I'm sure that'll happen. I'm sure

give it some time. And they'll be like, hey, look, we have a Maverick Lobo R.

Yeah, Lobo Lightning. But yeah, no, I agree, because that platform doesn't have the 2.3 or even

the 2.7. But how hard could it be to take it out of the old edge or out of the

Explorer and shove it in there? It's front wheel drive, all wheel drive bias.

And they tell us how all the parts for this and that are from the Ford RS. So why don't you

give us the RS? It was the engine. Exactly. That'd be awesome. But to Kyle's point, it reminds me

so much of the X-Runner. And that thing, to this day, you can't buy an X-Runner in decent condition

for anything reasonably priced because the following that that thing had. And I mean,

it was cool looking, lowered and had grippy tires. But it too wasn't like the engine was stocked

unless you pay like $55,000 for the factory supercharger, which no one did. Right. Yeah. Well,

out of curiosity, since those are your two picks, Stephen, have you been keeping tabs on prices on

Lightning and SRT10? Because I'm wondering which one is more affordable these days.

I'm at a date, so I'm sure these numbers aren't wrong. The last time I was looking up SRT10 prices,

I was seeing like $25,000 for like high mileage examples in Ontario. But that was already probably

like two years ago. So I don't know anymore. And again, finding one that's anything like

mint condition or unabused is probably next to impossible. No, no. I was going to say is the

quad cab auto any different than the regular cab manual in terms of pricing is like one noticeably

more affordable. It's a good question. I don't know is the short answer. I would wonder though,

is the manual more expensive or less like in that kind of vehicle, you'd think more expensive,

because the kind of person who wants that probably loves the manual. But yeah, I don't know for sure.

And it was the original and lighter. And like, yeah, when they put it in the quad, it was sort of like,

hey, we need to sell more. What else can we do? The transmission that can handle the power,

let's just shove it in the regular version of totally. Yeah. Yeah, I love those actually drove

one briefly. And by what I mean briefly is like across the parking lot. And it was just the thrust

was ridiculous. But I have had a friend who had the lightning modified, of course, even better for

track use. And that thing was ridiculous. Like you'd see it, we'd go on track days, and it would

just be embarrassing Mustangs and Camaros and whatnot. So that is that truck and the noise

it makes when you open up the intake that supercharger. Oh, my God, it's yeah, I love that

truck. Yeah, they're cool trucks, man. And now that we'll see maybe the street truck might be

making a bit of a comeback. I know Ram has something planned with Fox factory vehicles that's coming

out I think next week. So unfortunately, we're on the road now. Yeah, and then another isn't F-150

Lobo, which I guess is a Lobo Lobo in Mexico. Right. Yes, right. And yeah, I haven't been in the

F-150 Lobo. We'll see if it's any as good as the Maverick just based on what I read, it doesn't

sound like it's quite even as as sort of intense as the Maverick is, but we'll see. Yeah, it sounds

like it's more or less an appearance package. But I mean, still, we're heading in the right direction.

Yeah, fair. Yeah, that's it. And again, nothing against all the Baja trucks. I love that too.

But I do feel like there's a bit of a pendulum swing. And now we've gone so far up the off-road

route. You know, maybe we can turn back the other way a little bit. Yeah, no, I figure the

trucks are usually sort of ahead of the curve because that's what everyone emulates. We've been

having biases and raptors and whatnot for years. And now, you know, every SUV crossover needs an

off-road version. And when I was working for an OEM 10 years ago, I remember seeing this and I was

like, you know, we should really look at making off-road versions of vehicles and not sporty ones.

And they went all in. It wasn't because of me, but they went all in on anyway. And yeah, that's

what everyone's doing. So Steve, maybe you're right. Yeah, it's wild to think that the raptor is 15

years old now. Yes, yeah, it truly is. Yeah. And you know, give Ford credit because that really

did kind of birth this whole segment, especially being so southwest desert focused, right? Like

off-road has been around, but Raptor really took it to a new level with the whole Baja racing kind

of style. Yeah, absolutely. I remember being a kid and reading like, wait, it can just take

bumps at 100 miles an hour? What? Like incredible stuff. Totally. While doing these charity rallies

that are friends, well, they're still friends, and they still have it actually. And they bought a

second year Raptor. So they got it when the engine increased power and orange with the black

graphics package, because that's what it has to be. And I remember like, this was 20, I guess,

I think 2011. And I remember driving with them and just seeing like, they just drive for medians

and like just hit things. And I'd be like, how can you do that? Doesn't do burnouts. We struggled

with that. But otherwise, it was unbelievable. Before we let go, Steve, we kind of started

talking about it, but what future trucks near or far are you looking forward to?

I think the Ram Charger is the most exciting thing on the future. Oh, sorry, excuse me. That's the

Ram Rev now, the recently renamed Ram Rev. But not the Rev, the other Rev. Yeah, the plug-in

hybrid or once again, that's not correct. The range extended plug-in Ram pickup truck that's

coming. Man, I feel like I've been shouting about this for so long now that we need a plug-in hybrid

pickup truck. Everybody wants straight to full EVs. I'm not anti-EV. I'm not anti-EV pickup truck,

but they're not the right tool for a lot of jobs. Where a plug-in hybrid pickup truck is the right

tool for way more jobs. It just, in my head, it makes so much sense. I'm disappointed that

Stellantis didn't just take the four by E system and put it into a Ram. I think that would have sold.

So yeah, no doubt the Ram Rev is in my head, one of the most exciting things on the near horizon.

Yeah, Ram's going full Ram with it. Where like you said, they couldn't have just taken an existing

system and give it a bit of range. Like, no, we're going to put the world's biggest plug-in

hybrid battery into this sucker and get away 17,000 pounds and not to go. But it has infinite range.

And I know they cancelled the EV, but in my head, it's like, if you're doing all this development

work, how hard is that going to be to bring back one day if the market calls for it? And maybe it

won't, but I'm still confident that the EVs are coming. I think it's way slower than the automakers

thought it was going to be, but I don't think it's going to fully stall out. I think it's going to

be a slow burn and keep growing and growing. So I wouldn't even write off the full electric Ram,

but I would guess it's probably a few years away if it happens. Yeah.

Mike, I have one other thing before we let Steven go. And I know that it's getting time,

but Steven, I feel like it would be, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, you also had up

something that we all judged this year. So if you want to give a quick shout out for

Canadian Car of the Year. Yeah, sure. So yeah, I've been the chair of the Canadian Car of the

Year now for three years, two years, three years, I believe. And we're just getting ready to do our

big annual event with AJAC, which is TestFest, so everyone and all the auto journalists from

across the country get together and drive all our new cars. And then we vote on them. And yeah,

it's always exciting when a new Car of the Year competition comes around. And for me personally,

I love it because obviously I'm so hyper focused on trucks and SUVs. And these days, I just feel

like I don't even get the news from the car world because I'm so busy in power sports too. So

it's my yearly reminder of, oh, hey, there's these things called cars out there. I should go drive

some of them. So it's great to get in all the new stuff. And then of course, on a broader scale,

we're just trying to help consumers pick out new cars essentially and try to narrow down their

search list because there are so many cars out there today. There's more information on those

cars than ever, which is a positive and a negative, right? There's people like me on YouTube who,

this is all we do and put that information out there, but it's so hard for them to sort through

that. So with AJAC, we try to make it a little simpler and say, here's a list of the 12 best

cars in Canada. And then here's our four main winners. And hopefully consumers find that helps

them make a short list for themselves and helps them in their purchasing decisions. So yeah,

I'm excited, always excited for another car of the year. Yeah. That's best. It's like Christmas for

you. You get to show me like, oh, look at all these cars. I didn't know existed. 100%, man. Yeah. And

I always do that too. Like, what is that thing? When did they make that? When did they change that

name? And then I just walk by the trucks, which everyone else wants to drive because most other

people don't drive the trucks all year long. So that's definitely what it's good for, to be able

to get in some stuff that you might not be so acquainted with. Yeah. So if anyone needs to

find you at TestFest, you're going to be in the sports cars. Yeah, if I can get into the porches,

I'll be there. Well, I've submitted my vote. So I'm a head of the game this year. Usually I'm

one of the delinquents you're chasing saying get your votes in. So you don't have to chase me this

year. I still got to go do my vote. So we'll let you get going maybe to go do your votes and

get ready because it is just a couple weeks away. But thanks for joining us. We'll definitely have

you on again maybe after all the car of the year stuff is done and we can talk about the

winners and the ones that individually maybe we thought should have won. Yeah, yeah, that'd be

fun. Yeah, we announced a Toronto auto show in February and sometime after that it'd be awesome

to talk about them. Yeah, and then I can scold all of my fellow voters and say, why didn't you

make the wrong choice? Yeah. All right, well, thanks for joining us. We will talk to you again

soon. Yeah, thanks so much for having me on guys. Appreciate it. Thank you.

All right, welcome back. We have column joining us to talk some F1 and there is a race this weekend

or last weekend, depending on what you're listening to this, but we're not going to talk

about that. We're going to focus on rumors and the silly season because it seems to be just ramping

up. I couldn't keep track of all the rumors. There's some I've missed between last week when we

talked in this week. I'll do I'll be like scrolling on my phone and I'll just take like a screen cap

of like whenever I see a rumor and I just my phone is just filled with them and explode again. I had

to just remove a bunch of stuff because there's way too many. So I tried to narrow it down to the

juiciest ones. So here's the juicy, probably the most juicy is that Charles Leclerc has apparently

been in conversations with Aston Martin, McLaren, and Mercedes. That's when his contract finally

ends at Ferrari, which I think there's still a while left in it. But again, you know, if you're

smart, of course you would talk to other teams to see what they would offer you so that you

could be in a better position. But yeah, Ferrari, if they lose Leclerc and Hamilton decides to retire

at the end of next year, they went from having quite a duo to not a whole lot. So

You know how much time's left? I don't think it's at least next year. It might be the year

after that as well. I'd have to double check because it's going to say like looking at these

teams like well only one of these teams really have a chance at a seat. The other two are pretty

locked up. But if you're talking in a couple years, I get it. And Bearman obviously is going to

Ferrari eventually. He's, you know, being developed in Haas right now. So I would still think you'd

have him and Leclerc together, but maybe it could be like Charles Lecatelac. There you go. Oh,

that'd be a good move. Like it's funny, you're seeing this graphic on the screen of Charles with

all the different races it's on. There is that rumor, I think we talked about last week, that

Piastri could be going to Ferrari. So imagine Piastri ends up at Ferrari and then

McLaren's looking for somebody. And really when you're, I don't know, one of these top level

guys, I mean, I currently right now, if I was to look at Leclerc, I'd much rather be at McLaren

than at Ferrari. So I probably got into a lot of places. This is what I propose. Formula one

should be like other professional sports, and you have your two sign drivers, and you also have

your reserve, and then you have a couple prospects. And there's a trade deadline, and you can trade

drivers amongst teams. So you'd be like, all right, I'll give you Leclerc and a top prospect for

Piastri, and then swap them teams. Just make everything much easier and interesting.

I think, you know, someone will dream that up one of these days, because there's a lot of these

rumors that I never got to was about the potential drivers. Like, and I was going to skip over it,

but now I'll mention it, the Alex Dunn thing, who was a McLaren prospect, and he's a Formula

two driver, and he's the fifth in the championship now, and everyone's thought to be the up and

coming. And this week, McLaren sort of, it was big news that he, they like canceled their contract

with them, that he like, basically isn't a part of their racing program anymore. And everyone

sounds like that's like a big, the reason for that is that McLaren, they basically don't have a

path for him to get into a Formula one car, because they have two top drivers right now.

And so they're like, why would we continue to foster, you know, a younger driver when we already

have the people we need, right, versus you would start looking at, you know, if you've got a 19

year old, you start looking at, well, like, let's start fostering a 16 year old driver, because

in three years from now, we might really need somebody. But so it continues to just go, but I

love that idea of basically almost trading a prospect, because the reality is most of these

teams do have these guys like locked up in contracts. That was the whole Piastri fiasco,

right, when he got out of Alpine and went to McLaren is because Alpine didn't have an airtight

or a watertight contract with them. So we're gonna have him race next year. No, I'm not. Yeah.

Canceling that makes sense, because yeah, why keep investing so much money when you don't. And

that's why like this rumor too, when I hear this person's going to McLaren, I'm always like,

not anytime soon, because both drivers are under decent contracts, and they're in the best car.

So why would either young driver in the top car want to go anywhere? Yeah. Yeah. The only team

where that isn't true is with Red Bull, because they trade drivers like every two months. So,

but before we get to that, a piece of news from Indy Carr, that former F1 driver,

Mick Schumacher, who, you know, didn't have the best career in F1 so far, apparently,

he is going to be testing for Rahal Letterman in Indy. So he may wind up in a seat there.

He made some comment about how, because he was doing like World Endurance Championship,

and he liked it, but it's still sort of yearns for the open-wheel cars. And I think,

you know, this could be a good fit. He's certainly a knowable name, right? He'd have an

instant fan base in America, I would think, if he came to Indy Carr. So yeah, good for him. Like

I said, as a reserve or test driver, when you could be in this series, probably doing quite well

if you're on a good team. So yeah. Yeah. And he's got the ability to get on a good team. And it's

always tough. Like I don't, he didn't quite seem to have it for F1. He was also on a terrible team.

So sometimes that can make you look worse, and then you have to overdrive the car to try and get

max performance. So he might be better than his F1 record sort of showed, but it wasn't great either.

And, you know, but that doesn't mean you can't be exceptional in another series. So

And there's been more than one driver that's gone back or not back, but gone to Indy or other series,

gotten better at their craft, shown how dominant they can be there and then go back to F1. So yeah,

yeah, give it a shot. As I mentioned about the team that does train drivers all the time. So

no one's ever really secure. There's a rumor here. I have to find out the exact details. I wrote it

down. Yeah. So Arvid Lindblad, who I've mentioned before, apparently is like it's confirmed is

going to be racing at VCarve next year. So there's a Dutch guy, Eric van Herren, who's a reputable

name in Formula One rumors in gossip and Henhees. So that he claims this, it's like a done deal.

And what we just don't know is who won't be with VCarve next year as a result. So

Red Bull loves to churn them through, that's for sure. For those not in the know, explain what

VCarve is. VCarve is Red Bull's junior team, Racing Bulls, Toro Rosso, the one of the 95,

Visa, Cash App, whatever you want to call it. They have so many different names,

they just, but it's the feeder team to Red Bull is the important part.

Yeah. I think right now they're the running Bulls, but you're right, it's like Cash App

running Bull or Racing Bull, sorry, but it's something, but they just go by RB. So if I'm

to speculate, it's probably Lawson, although he's been doing okay lately, but that's usually just

what happens is you go on Red Bull, then they bump you back down here, you do better than you

get on Red Bull and then they cut you and you end up on another team unless he's already got a team

you want to just go to. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know who else. No, no, it's a weird setup, that's for

sure. So we'll see. And then my final bit of gossip is something we haven't talked about in a long

time is George Russell. Otherwise, just before we hopped on here, I watched in Singapore,

pre-practice two that he slammed into the barrier. So not too bad, but not good for the car, but he'd

be fine. But yeah, there's been this lack of information about contracts for Mercedes for

next year. So apparently there's a discussion, Italian journalist Franco Corardi. So he has

basically said that George has a contract, it just hasn't been announced yet. It's a one plus one.

So, you know, one year contract with a one year extension. And the extension becomes automatic

if he like outperforms Kimi Antonelli by a certain margin of points. We don't know what that margin

is. But that's the, that's what it's discussing. So, so because I know I think that was the whole

sticking point with why we haven't heard a contract is Mercedes only wants to give him a one.

He wants a two year. And so they've just been in a stalemate for all this time. So I think that's

that this is the compromise they found is, yeah, we'll give you a basically, we'll give you a two

year if you can show that you're definitely the number one driver. And Kimi started the season

strong, but George is really like stayed very just, just stable all year long. And Kimi's ebbed

didn't float, I'd say. So I feel like Russell's not 100% happy with where the team's at. I don't,

I think it's fine with the team, but it's funny how whenever there's rumors of moving, it's always

his name comes up. Remember he used to be, he and Verstappen are going to swap seats now. It's,

you know, maybe him and Charles will swap seats, which would be hilarious if George and Lewis ended

up on Ferrari together. The whole team moved, but that would be funny. Yeah, he just seems to,

I don't know, strange fit. And he certainly is driving really well. I mean, he's not one of

my top choices if I was going to pick like a top three driver, but I mean, I think he is even fourth

in points right now or something like that. So in the championship, so he's, he's very reliable.

And I think it's done really well in a car that isn't fabulous, right? Like the Mercedes is just

okay. And I think he's put in some pretty good times this year. So, so good for him. And hopefully

he gets what he wants out of it. So that seems to be the theme this year. Every car is okay.

I mean, McLean has been pretty good. Although last couple of races, well, they've been some

self-inflicted wounds, but we guys stopped talking about drivers on this because Lawson just smashed

into the wall. So, oh no. Well, that's not name anymore names. It's Singapore. There's a lot

of wall smashing to be done. So we'll see more of that, I think, before the weekend is through.

So let's see if Lawson can not make three straight mistakes like last time.

Not Lawson, sorry. Who was it that had a horrible, horrible race? Oh, Piastri.

Oh yeah. Yeah. That was just like mistakes brought on more mistakes and unusual for

Piastri in general, right? So yeah, it's sort of like he got rattled where that's what's happened

to Norris in the past. And Piastri always just seemed, you know, ice water in the veins. But,

you know, everyone has those moments. They do. They do. So I'm excited for a weekend of racing.

Now Norris and Leclerc just bumped in the being released in Pit Lane. So we got to stop saying

names there. All right. Shut it down, Mike. Shut it down. Yeah. All right. Well, we will talk to

you next week. We'll have some analysis potentially of this week. And I'm sure more silly season

rumors as we, we don't wind down the season, but there isn't that much left. And then it's

going to be, usually we don't talk much in the off season, but I think this year we'll be

coming back every week as we get ready for the chaos of the new regs, new teams, new manufacturers,

new drivers. There will be a lot to talk about. We need to have like somebody from Cadillac on

side connections to be like, Hey, Mark Royce, come on and talk about F1 with us. Yeah. Let's talk

about Botas and what he's going to bring to the team. Yeah. Let's do it. All right. We'll talk to

you later. Sounds good, Mike. Take care. So that just about wraps things up on the Auto Guide

Show brought to you by eBay Motors. I'll take a quick look at what we have been up to and what's

coming up. So this week I am driving a Chevrolet EV. It seems to be a thing this week. It is the

Blazer EV SS, something we haven't driven yet, and I'm not going to get into any details, but

it's a sledgehammer EV. I'm just going to leave it at that. Okay. Nice. I know one of our friends

did a comparison at another outlet with that and the Ionic 5N. And so you calling it a sledgehammer

feels like that's appropriate. It's funny because I was going to say like it has all the power and

velocity by van, but without the like sharp reflexes. Like you, it grips like crazy because of its

tires in the corner, but your equal parts hanging on as driving the vehicle. So it's interesting.

It sounds fun in its own way. Yeah. And then I am in something, not a polar opposite because it is

enthusiast oriented, but a much simpler car. I am in the 2026 Honda Civic SI. And you know what?

It's great. I love the SI. I know it's not the sharpest choice in the sport compact segment,

but living in the big city, it's such a good city car. I took a friend, I'm not going to talk too

much about it either because obviously we'll save it for the review, but I took a friend to a movie

last night and she was really impressed with how nice it was inside. She's like, oh, it's a standard.

Yeah. Aren't you, doesn't that get to be a pain like in the city? I was like, maybe in other cars,

but not in a Honda. This shifter is so good. Yeah. Yeah. It's fantastic. Imagine how good

a view with grippy tires too. Yeah. So next week, I am going from one overpowered SUV to another.

I am in the Range Rover Sport. I think it's called the SV1. Anyway, it's the one with the over 600

horsepower turbocharged V8. Oh, so it's subtle. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I'm sure it'll sound subtle

because that's also something Range Rover likes to do with their SVR vehicles. I appreciate that

we've switched because, you know, I had a very, very fancy August and first half of September

and now you are, and I'm in a Civic Si this week. And then next week, I'm in a Hyundai Tucson hybrid.

Oh, nice. I'm looking forward to seeing about that because we like the,

I guess it'll be the pre-facelift now. Or is it the same one? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was a pre-facelift.

We've driven the facelift, or at least I did very briefly at Test Fest. I didn't. Yeah. So look forward

to seeing what you think living with it because that was like one of, if not our favorite in that

segment. Yes. You know what we should do? We should get all the hybrids of that size and do a

negative comparison down the road. Interesting. Well, you know, it's funny you mentioned that

because I'm taking it with me to go drive a certain other hybrid in that class, you know,

just the one that currently leads the class in sales. I don't know how it, I don't know how

the scheduling happened where I'm just happening to be driving one of its main competitors to it.

Yeah. Weird. Well, that also kind of hints at what you're doing next week. I am going nowhere,

so just me and a big V8 for the week can't complain. But we will have other stuff that

we've been doing lately on the show. Maybe I'll have my full impressions on the Blazer EVSS.

Kyle will have some other thoughts posted like the Supra. But until then, this has been the

AutoGuide Show and I'll see you next week. So long, everybody. eBay has reinvented car buying

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