Subaru Teases New STI, GR Supra Final Edition, 626 HP Range Rover Sport, Toyota is Targeting Rolls-Royce
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Subaru Teases New STI, GR Supra Final Edition, 626 HP Range Rover Sport, Toyota is Targeting Rolls-Royce
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Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota GR Supra Final Edition is a special version of the GR Supra sports car that is being produced for the last time. It's designed for fans who want a unique and high-performance vehicle.
Car
Toyota GR86
The Toyota GR86 is a fun sports car made by Toyota. It's designed to be light and agile, making it enjoyable to drive, especially on winding roads.
Car
Toyota GR Corolla
The Toyota GR Corolla is a sportier version of the regular Corolla, designed for better performance and handling. It's made by Toyota's racing division, which focuses on creating exciting cars.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster and perform better.
Car
BMW M2
Term
collector's edition
A collector's edition is a special version of a car made in limited numbers, often with unique features. People who collect cars usually want these editions because they can be more valuable later on.
Concept
Mark 4
'Mark 4' is a way to refer to the fourth version of the Toyota Supra sports car. This version is famous for being fast and stylish, and many people still talk about it today.
Concept
hatchback
A hatchback is a type of car that has a back door that opens up, making it easier to load and unload things. It's a popular choice for people who need more space.
Term
EV
An EV, or electric vehicle, is a type of car that runs on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment and can save money on fuel.
Car
Subaru WRX STI
The Subaru WRX STI is a fast car made for racing and driving on tough roads. It's known for its strong engine and ability to handle well in different conditions.
Car
Subaru STI
The Subaru STI is a sportier version of the Subaru Impreza, designed for better performance and handling. It's popular among car enthusiasts for its speed and rally racing capabilities.
Car
Subaru Solterra
The Subaru Solterra is Subaru's first electric SUV. It's designed to be eco-friendly and has features typical of modern electric cars, like a long range and advanced technology.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that power goes to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better, especially in rain or snow. This makes it safer and more stable to drive.
Term
plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid is a type of car that can use both electricity and gasoline. You can charge it at home, and it can drive a short distance using just electricity before needing gas.
Car
Subaru WRX
Term
GT race car
GT race cars are special cars made for racing that are built to be fast and handle well on tracks. They are different from regular cars you see on the road.
Car
2000 GT
The Toyota 2000 GT is an old sports car from the 1960s that is famous for its beautiful design and speed. It's one of the first supercars from Japan and is very popular among car collectors.
Car
Lexus LFA
The Lexus LFA is a super-fast sports car made by Lexus. It has a unique look and a strong engine, and only a few were made, making it special.
Car
Acura NSX
Car
Honda NSX
The Honda NSX is a sports car made by Honda, famous for being fast and fun to drive. It was designed to compete with other high-performance cars and has a unique engine design that helps it perform well.
Car
Range Rover Sport SV Edition 2
The Range Rover Sport SV Edition 2 is a special version of the Range Rover Sport that has more features and better performance. It's designed for people who want a luxury SUV that can also handle tough terrains.
Car
Range Rover SV
The Range Rover SV is a fancy SUV that is both powerful and very comfortable. It's designed for people who want luxury and performance in one vehicle.
Part
4.4-liter V8
A 4.4-liter V8 engine is a type of engine that has eight cylinders arranged in a V shape. It's known for being powerful and providing a smooth driving experience.
Car
BMW X5M
The BMW X5M is a sportier version of the regular X5 SUV. It has a powerful engine and is built for people who want a fast and luxurious SUV.
Car
BMW X6M
The BMW X6M is a fast and powerful version of the BMW X6, which is a sporty SUV. It offers a mix of luxury and high performance, appealing to those who want a powerful vehicle that can also carry passengers and cargo.
Car
BMW M5
Term
$200,000
$200,000 is the price of the car being talked about. It's a very expensive car, which means it has a lot of features and performance that make it special.
Car
Lamborghini Urus
The Lamborghini Urus is a fancy SUV that goes really fast and has a sporty look, mixing luxury with performance.
Car
BMW X7
The BMW X7 is a big, fancy SUV that has a lot of space inside and comes with nice features. It's designed to be comfortable and powerful.
Car
Alpina B8
Car
Cadillac CT5
Car
Cadillac CT4
Term
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a type of car engine that has eight cylinders arranged in a 'V' shape. This design helps the car produce a lot of power, making it faster and more powerful than smaller engines.
Term
supercharged V8
A supercharged V8 is a powerful engine that has a device called a supercharger. This device helps the engine get more air, which makes it run faster and produce more power.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet. It's known for its sleek look and powerful engine, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Term
flat-plane crank
A flat-plane crank is a special part of an engine that helps it run smoother and sound different. It's often used in high-performance cars to make them faster and more exciting to drive.
Term
dual-clutch
A dual-clutch is a type of automatic transmission that helps cars change gears quickly and smoothly, making them faster and more fun to drive.
Term
RPM
RPM means how fast the engine is spinning, telling you how much power it's making at any moment.
Car
Toyota Camry
Car
Audi A8
Car
Nissan Altima
Car
Buick Century
Car
Jeep Grand
Car
GMC Yukon Denali
Car
Jeep Cherokee
Car
Dodge Ram
Car
Genesis GV70
Car
Ford Mustang
Car
Hyundai Elantra
Car
Mazda Miata
Car
Chevrolet Trax
Car
Volkswagen Jetta
Car
Nissan Sentra
Car
Toyota RAV4
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Hello and welcome to the Auto Guide show.
This week we talk about a lot of Toyota news and a lot of fancy, fancy cars, and we also
give you some consumer advice.
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Okay, so kicking things off this week, we have a first drive review by you, Kyle, of
the GR Supra Final Edition.
Can't believe it's final already.
It feels like this car just came out.
Right?
And it's funny because it's been around for a usual generation length, right?
I drove it in 2019.
It's got a full run, but it still feels sad to say bye to it.
So I drove this a little bit a few weeks ago.
Listeners may have already heard about the GR Corolla and the GR86, so this was at the
same event.
The Final Edition has some suspension and chassis tweaks to make it a little sharper
to drive.
And it is.
It is actually sharper to drive, but I think most of us were a little bitter being at this
event because we know that the Final Edition in Europe and Japan gets an extra 50 horsepower
or something.
Yeah.
Like 400-something?
400-something horsepower.
And so a lot of us were like, why don't we get it?
What engine is that?
Is that like the M2 upgrade or something?
It's not quite there.
That's the weird thing is it's a completely unique tune where no other car that I know
of has that output.
So not that the Supra needs more power, let's be honest.
Every time I drive this thing, it is clear it has over 400.
And on the track, it's plenty quick.
It's just, yeah, that was a thing.
So other than those changes in the chassis, there is the availability of the GT4 Style
Pack, which adds some stickers down in front of the rear wheels, the red side mirrors,
a few other touches.
And it's supposed to pay homage to the GT4 spec race car.
That's a two grand option.
And when you get it, you have to spec one of the matte paints, either matte white or
matte black.
This is a collector's edition, right?
This is a future collector's edition because it is very expensive.
It's like a five-figure upgrade over the regular Supra for no additional power and barely changed
suspension.
So is it worth it if you really want a Supra?
No, probably not.
Is it the best the Supra's been?
Yes.
And it's going to be sad when we see it go.
I mentioned in this review that this entire generation has been plagued by the BMW connection,
right?
You have a ton of people still making that same joke seven years later, and they're going
to be the exact same people who complain that there's no car like this in a few years when
it's off the market.
Yeah, no, it's back to what I said originally.
Would you believe or guess if someone said to you, this car lasted longer on the market
than the Mark 4 Supra in North America?
Because that only lasted five model years, and this is its seventh, I think.
I mean, the Mark 4 went like 10 years in Japan, and because of video games, it's lived on
forever.
But yeah, like this was on the market for quite a while, although it doesn't seem like
it.
The Mark 4 Supra was a thing too, but yeah, it's sad.
It's the same thing as always.
It was a fantastic performer, and it looked nice.
It was just impractical and pricey, and that's sort of what happened with the last one.
And like you said, in 10, 20 years, people are going to be so nostalgic and fawning
over this and wondering why we don't make cars like that anymore.
And then Toyota will co-develop one with VinFast or something, and people will complain again.
VinFast, the only makers of inline sixes in 2045.
Well, I mean, obviously I had to see it go.
I always like driving it.
I didn't like trying to see out of it, but who needs to see what's beside or behind you
when you're driving a Supra, right?
Yeah, exactly.
So moving on to another Japanese icon, Supra, sort of out of left field for no reason, teased
two concept silhouettes image, like they're not really pictures.
So it's leading up to the mobility show, which is like the Toyota, or the Toyota, which is
the Tokyo like auto show, basically.
They have an interesting name, but that's what it is.
And they showed these two pictures, and they're both hatchbacks.
I guess the thinking is one's gas and one's EV interpretations of an STI.
And we know Subaru, I know them very well.
They make fantastic concepts, and then if there is a production car that spawns off
it, which is rare, it looks nothing like it.
So I wouldn't get too excited about this ever making it.
But what really puzzles me is the EV one, I'm assuming the EV one doesn't have any sort
of resemblance to the current EV line, which I thought there'd be some sort of connection.
And the gas one looks like a previous generation WRX STI, which is odd that they wouldn't even
make it look a bit like this one.
No, it's the current one.
Those are the same headlights.
Just the body lines and the headlights, maybe it's because there's no body cladding.
But to me, when I look at it, I'm thinking of like 2019, but I guess that is trying to
be more modern.
I mean, they're always kind of boxy, so I guess there's only so much you can do with
shapes.
Yeah.
I think, so Subaru teased this very briefly last year, or not last year, this year, but
months ago.
And we were all wondering if it was a hatchback, because we saw the hinges.
And so I'm happy to see that it's going to be a hatchback.
And I love the idea of making an STI that's essentially just a hatchback version of the
current WRX.
But as far as we knew, the WRX STI was dead.
So I don't know what this could be.
And it seems kind of really mean to say, like, well, development of the STI is dead.
Here's a concept of what we could have done.
So yeah, I'm very curious.
But I mean, it's two weeks away, so we don't have long to wait.
Mitsubishi teased some Evos that never showed up.
I'm having trouble speaking today.
Yeah, you're right.
Like, I don't see them STI-ing the current gen for sure, because fat engine, allegedly
they can't do much more.
I mean, they put premium in it, and it gained, like, 10 horsepower over the regular 2.4.
I'm sure you could get up to 300, but that would be kind of a waste for the STI.
So until there's either, like, if you put the high-powered EV drivetrain that's in now
the Solterra and is going in the Trail Seeker and the Uncharted and basically everything,
put that in a car body, that's a good chunk of power for a car.
And if you performance-orientate the all-wheel drive, like, that could work.
But that or some sort of plug-in hybrid that doesn't exist, like, yeah, I don't know.
I think this is just sort of a stylistic, this is what it would look like now if we
had one.
This is what it could look like in the future, but there's no plans in the future.
Or we get, like, a WRX by STI, you know, where we already have the TS, now it'd be, like,
you know what I mean?
Like, sort of like our STI Sport, like how BMW has the M Sports and whatnot, like it
won't actually be an STI.
People will riot.
Yeah.
So, oh, well, like you said, two weeks.
It's not like Toyota, just for listeners who are regulars, and we hope there's some of
you out there.
Last week, we talked about that great Lexus supercar that Toyota was going to debut on
Monday.
We'll get to what they actually showed us on Monday.
But the spoiler to that is they said, hey, 54 more days, we'll show it to you, which
It's a countdown to a countdown.
Yeah, it was bizarre, but and now I think it's just going to be, like, their next super
GT race car.
Like, I don't think it's going to be a road car, which is so weird, too, that you picture
the LFA and the 2000 GT, but yeah, I don't know.
Because they use a super right now, right?
I believe.
Yeah.
And we just said it's dying.
So I wonder if they're going to go Honda.
Remember when Honda had the HSV?
HSV 010 or whatever.
Yeah, it was like what an NSX would look like if they still made one, but they didn't.
That's what I'm fearing Toyota might go and Subaru might go with the streetcar.
We're just full of positivity today.
It's been a long week.
All right, so moving on, we had a video go out today, and it is on the Range Rover Sport
Edition.
Oh, sorry.
Range Rover Sport SV Edition 2.
So basically, the ultimate Range Rover Sport.
And I had a Range Rover SV a couple of years ago and did a video, and it was like a $200,000,
I think almost $40,000 Range Rover.
And it had a lot of power from the BMW-sourced 4.4-liter V8 and super luxury race.
Well, this is sort of the sportier version, and this gets the X5M engine with even more
power, which I'm surprised BMW let Range Rover do.
So they must be paying a lot of money, but at 626 horsepower, which is a couple of ponies
more than...
I don't...
I can't remember how BMW does it.
Is the 600...
What is it?
Like 607 or something?
Just the M, or is that like the M special, M competition or something, right?
So I mean, the M5's gone now, X6M is only competition, and I think that's 620?
And the M5 CS before that was also 620?
Maybe 626?
Yeah.
Okay, so it's a little more than I thought, but I know this is like a little bit more
because they're sort of proud of that.
So it's like they basically said, we're $200,000, because that's how much this thing costs.
We need six more horsepower, and BMW is probably like, well, you're paying us 50 grand per
engine or whatever they are, so go for it.
So anyway, to the actual vehicle.
It's very interesting because at that price point, you're playing with the Aston Martins,
the Bentley Bottegas, the G-Classes, like all these sort of image vehicles, and make
no mistake, this is an image vehicle.
Yeah, I say in the video, like it says Range Rover, everyone knows what a Range Rover is.
They all look the same, more or less.
They don't dramatically change the styling.
Even a new one, people will be like, oh, that's a Range Rover, and it's got the prestige.
So this one's unusual, though, because like the Urus, the Ferrari, the Aston Martin, they're
very performance with some luxury appointments.
Then you get sort of the G-Class, the Bentley, and even the Rolls Cullinan, and they're super
luxurious with just a lot of power.
This one's kind of in the middle where it's trying to be sporty and luxurious, and it
definitely is in the middle.
It's got massive grippy tires.
It can grip, and it's got carbon ceramic brakes, and it can stop, but it doesn't have the feel
of, as we just said, like an X5F or like a Urus or something, because it's not uncompromised,
but it is also a giant box that can comfortably seat four adults and all your gear, no problem.
The engine is ridiculous.
It's like zero to 60 in three and a half seconds, which I know in the electric age doesn't sound
fast, but for just pure gas in a 5,500 pound SUV, that's a box on wheels, is quick.
Yeah.
How does it feel?
The price tag and the fuel economy isn't terrible, obviously, or hindrance, but I totally
get the appeal of it.
The one issue that I have with this vehicle, and it's so weird, is the sound.
That 4.4 sounds fantastic in everything I've ever driven, including the SVB4, and I've
driven the X7, and you drove the M60, and you drove the Alpina?
What was the fancy?
Oh, the Alpina B8, yeah.
Yeah.
And it sounds so growly.
Here, it's loud, and it makes all the world's pops and bangs and burbles when you get off
the gas, especially in SV mode, but it sounds like not a V8.
At times, I'm like, is that just a big six?
It kind of sounds like, if you really open it up on full throttle and a high RPM, it
sounds like a V8.
But with this much power and speed, you're not doing that much, and if you're just moderately
accelerating or de-accelerating or whatever, just, I don't know, watch the video and you'll
hear the sound.
It just was weird, because it has the active four-valve exhaust, so you'd think it would
unleash it, but maybe I'm just, I don't know.
I've never had a problem with that 4.4 sound, so check it out, let me know what you think.
All right, moving on.
This one almost gave me a heart attack.
The title is the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 are being discontinued after next year, and I
got very sad, because as we've said many times on the show, the CT5 Blackwing V is
my favorite car on sale.
Good news is, there will be a CT5 replacement, but that is literally all we've heard.
We don't know if they're going to use the name and put it on an SUV, there's going to
be another car with that name, there's going to be another car without that name.
We don't know.
It's just, they're working on a full-size CT5 replacement, so please, please keep the
V8 around.
I know the supercharged V8's dead, but I heard Chevrolet has a couple cool ones in a Corvette
that maybe you could maneuver to angle to work on a front engine, I don't know.
Can you imagine a flat-plane cranked V8 in a Cadillac?
I can, I think that would be amazing.
This is sort of what Cadillac does, right, with the superchargers, it's a little manual,
like trying to show it to the Germans and be like, oh, that's nice, you guys have these
7,000 pound hybrid M5s.
We have a flat-plane crank with a dual-clutch in our car.
And it revs to 8,500 RPM.
So here's hoping, but CT4 will be sad it's gone, because that was a fun car, too.
And just the regular 5 I liked, so let's hope some sedans come, which is really sad because
I remember just last year, they used to tell the Cadillac one on about how their sedan
sales are growing.
Well, you can't really say.
Something happened to the 25, I don't know.
I guess you can't really say, hey, they're growing, but also we're still going to kill
them.
I couldn't really do that.
But yeah, it's tough.
I feel like every week we get news that a new car is being added to the list of discontinued
vehicles.
Yeah, like now they're going to be SUV only brand until this replacement comes along.
What's sad is we have like a death watch list of ones you're like, this is going for sure.
These were not on that list.
This is an out of left field one, and that keeps kind of happening, too, where you're
like, oh, that one?
Like, what's Toyota going to say next week?
So that Camry that we have, yeah, we don't think we're going to make it.
Yeah, I mean, I expected something like the Audi A8 to disappear first, right?
Like, how many people buy those a year?
Eight?
Like a new Altima.
Yeah, like those are the cars I expect to disappear.
I thought Cadillac would kind of, I mean, I guess these are also like the Supra.
These have been around since 2020.
They've lived their life cycle.
So...
But like, quick name me a General Motors car that's built that's not a Corvette.
Like, they just don't make cars.
So it kind of makes sense these go away.
Like the Malibu's dead.
Yeah, I know.
Yeah, it's a raised SUV hatchback thing.
But yeah, no, like the Malibu's gone.
Camaro's gone.
The AT4.
The CT4 and the Camaro had some familiarity and platform.
So it kind of makes sense it's going.
And the CT5 is just kind of doing its own thing.
But it needs to come back.
And it needs to have a Buick twin.
And maybe that'll rationalize it.
There we go.
So moving on to other ambitions.
Toyota is, oh, you know, just casually going to go after Rolls-Royce.
You know, just woke up one day and thought, here we go.
I mean, stranger things have happened.
This is the world's largest automaker we're talking about.
If they really want to push something, I feel like they can.
They did it 36 years ago, right?
When it was, here's the LS.
We're going after Mercedes.
And it worked.
So, I mean, I'm cautiously optimistic.
And this time they're actually not even starting from ground zero, right?
Like with the Lexus brand, it was nothing.
And here they're starting with something that is, well,
admittedly well-known back in the home country.
Yeah, well, even when Lexus came out, they made Centuries and Crowns.
And those weren't used for Lexus originally, like the LS and whatnot.
But at least they knew how to make big stately vehicles.
So that's the thing, too.
Like they're going to use the Century brand,
which not everybody will be familiar with unless you're, like, from Japan
or maybe some surrounding countries or car nerds like us,
which is, like, it is a Rolls Royce in Japan.
Like the government has used Century limos and cars forever.
And it has the name.
It's just they need to sell it to the rest of the world.
And like you said, they're not starting from nothing.
And I don't think it would be too hard.
And it's good they're using that and not the other name they had, Crown,
because it kind of killed that in that sense with all these Crowns that are
running around right now.
But I don't know where they plan to use it and how they plan to do it.
Trying to sell a $300,000 Century in America might be tough when people are,
like, but I have a Century in my driveway.
It has a 3.1 liter pushrod V6 and a Buick badge.
So, you know, just the naming might have a little confusion at first.
But once you're past that.
Anyway, let's talk about their first concept.
It's a giant.
It's very Rolls Royce.
Is it an SUV?
Is it a car?
Is it just a big blob of metal that seats a lot of people?
Like, it's one of those.
I was at a Rolls Royce event this week, and I was standing beside the Phantom
again, and I forget how massive that is for a car.
There's SUVs that look smaller than it.
Yeah.
And that's what this does, right?
It certainly looks imposing.
And it has its own look.
Yeah.
Like I said, I'm cautiously optimistic.
I don't want to bet against Toyota.
It's like, you know, we've tried that before.
Oh, they can't make a luxury brand.
Oh, they can't make an amazing supercar that everyone is going to just fall
head over heels over for years.
Do F1.
Oh, wait.
That's not a good idea.
But this concept, you know, you need four headlights on each side and a
grille bigger than a Corolla.
And yeah, it's imposing.
Yeah.
Good.
I mean, like you said, if there's a brand that you are like, well,
they'll do it.
It's them.
Them or the Korean conglomerate.
They seem to just be able to do whatever they want to.
Or VW Group for that matter, I guess.
Yeah.
So just getting towards the end here quickly.
The Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
Yes, it is now called a Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
It's no longer its own thing.
Got a styling update.
And it's for the better, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It modernizes.
It aligns more with the other Wagoneer, the Swagoneer.
If you will.
Mike, what about the regular Wagoneer?
What about it?
Where is it falling now?
Yeah.
So you go Swagoneer to Grand Wagoneer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which I get because I get what Chrysler.
I call them Chrysler still.
That's what I'm going to call them.
I know what they're trying to do is they're trying to have Wagoneer
Suburban Expedition, blah, blah, blah.
Grand Wagoneer Escalade Navigator.
But I don't think people ever got that because I don't think it was marketed
right.
They didn't call them Jeeps, which is confusing.
So just go off to the high end.
And there's so much confusion in that market anyways.
Where does the Expedition Platinum Max end and the Navigator begin?
Or where does the Yukon Denali end and an Escalade begin?
So it just kind of go in there.
And you're right.
It looks like the Swagoneer.
And it looks like what I think the Grand Cherokee is going to look like
if that leaked image we saw is anything.
And the most important thing is it looks less like a fridge.
And I think that's a plus.
Slightly.
Yeah, yeah.
I said less.
I didn't say not like.
Just less.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then the big news is the Reeve.
They need to work on the acronyms.
Yeah.
The range extending setup that we know is coming to the RAM pickup makes
it here first, which I think is a kind of a surprise.
We knew it was going to happen eventually.
They share a platform.
But to put it on your small-scale, fairly niche SUV instead of your
selling-a-ton truck was interesting, to say the least.
It's almost like it might be a test bed to see if it works right before
they go all in.
But, I mean, did we not say that this drivetrain would make so much sense
in a big SUV?
I guess Stellantis agreed with us probably before we said it.
It sounds insanely complicated.
It's like you get a 600-and-something-horsepower vehicle, but there is a
V6 that's running as a generator to power one of the two electric motors.
There's a battery pack that's nearly as big as some EVs, like some
three-row EVs on its own.
It's going to weigh a ton, but I guess that's just what we live with now.
I mean, it's a Grand Wagoner.
It's not like starting with.
It's not like an M5 that's suddenly 6,000 pounds.
It's like, oh, your 7,000-pound car is now nine.
Oh, well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And speaking of giant, heavy vehicles, I believe this is our final story
of the week.
But, yeah, Kyle, you wrote this story.
I'm still confused about what's going on here, so I'll let you just
take it away.
I only have 30 seconds of a teaser video to go from, of which maybe six
of those seconds actually feature the silhouette here.
But listeners may or may not have heard that the Lexus LS is discontinued.
It's the end of the line for the sedan that started it all, except now
there's going to be a six-wheel minivan concept debuting at the
Japan Mobility Show.
Wait, Japan?
Tokyo?
Yeah.
At the auto show in Japan at the end of the month, there will be a
six-wheel Lexus minivan with the badging LS.
That's all we know.
We don't know if it's electric.
We don't know how many opening doors it has.
First off, it's a six-wheeled vehicle.
It is not a minivan.
There's nothing mini about this monster.
It's like a bus.
True.
Yeah.
If those wheels are scale of what a modern wheel is, let's say they're
even 19- or 20-inch wheels, this thing is massive.
It looks like one of those what people would imagine a future
Sakara looked like in the 90s or something.
Some weird, modern, post-apocalyptic video game something.
We'll get to it later, but you're going to be here, so you're going to
get to see it in person, and I want video, and I want scale comparison
of your height beside this thing.
Someone does walk up to it in the video.
It seems like the glowing bits that we see in the teaser aren't the
outer ends of the wheel.
It's just the inner caps.
So the scale isn't quite.
I know, because when I first saw that, I was like, that thing is enormous.
It still looks big.
Don't get me wrong.
It looks way bigger than a Sienna, but it's not like, you know,
18-wheeler kind of big.
Yeah, I can't wait to see it.
I will try and get as much video, assuming that I can, as possible,
because this is wild.
So before we move on, on the AutoGuide show brought to you by
eBay Motors, I just want to say this, and remember your Mercedes
recently did that other crazy van?
If we're getting into the era of super luxury super vans,
I'm all for it.
Let's go.
It's funny you mention that, since I spent a half hour with that
thing recently.
So, yeah, I'm full in ultra swanky van mode.
So, yeah.
It's like people are like, we want super swanky SUVs, but they're
kind of compromised interior space, and someone was like, well,
there's a vehicle that we can get even more luxury crammed in.
And what's more luxurious than a ton of space?
Exactly.
All right.
So like I said, we'll take a quick break, and then Kyle and I will
be back with Greg to talk about some consumer advice through the
means of a fun game.
And then I'll be back with Colm, and Colm will be back to wrap
things up.
So we'll see you soon.
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All right, welcome back.
As I said at the beginning, we are going to give a little bit
of consumer advice.
I think it's some consumer advice as much as it's just a fun game
for us to play.
We have Kyle obviously here with us as usual, but also Greg is joining us.
We are going to pick our best recommendations for three different classes
of vehicles at three price points.
So let's start it off, I guess, at the high point or going down.
Okay.
Let's do that.
The first one is sort of a segment that used to have a lot of choices,
but it's dwindling as cars get expensive.
The best luxury SUV for under $50,000.
Like I said, there's not many choices.
I was looking at some like an X135.
Nope, not going to happen.
A GLA35, not going to happen.
Let's start with Greg.
What did you pick?
I went with the GLB, which I think is, you know,
kind of attractive crossover that I feel like in some ways it's been a little
underrated with just there's so much going on with the Mercedes lineups,
both like with all the AMGs and things and all the different crossovers,
you name it.
I think this is a bit of a sleeper pick.
It's kind of unique.
It's almost like a little bit of a boxy, you know,
silhouette that reminds me sort of the old GLK,
which I also kind of liked more than a lot of people did, I think.
So I'm down for it.
You know, it comes in fairly comfortably under $50,000.
I know we're going to have some fun with some of these prices,
but this one is about $46,000.
And you're able to add the AMG night package, which is about $3,300,
and that still gets you to well under $50,000.
So I'm at, let me see, where am I?
Oh, actually I'm right at about $50,000.
So, yeah, I think it's a pretty good deal.
You could add, you know,
play around with a couple options and get something that's fairly unique.
I think it's cooler than like an X1 and, you know,
any other of the smaller Lexuses.
So that's my pick.
All right, Kyle, we'll go to you next.
So Greg's going with the compact German.
What are you picking?
I am moving up a size.
Well, not really moving up a size,
coming to think of it because the GLB is pretty right sized.
And I'm going with the Genesis GV70.
I'm going with that because even in base form, Genesis over delivers.
You get a vehicle that if people don't know what the brand is,
they'll get in and be welcomely surprised at just how nice it is inside.
I feel like you get a lot of car for the money.
The four-cylinder is actually my pick for the GV70 gas lineup too.
I think the V6 doesn't offer enough extra power to really justify the price.
And then, of course, you have bigger fuel bills.
So 300 horsepower is plenty.
And, yeah, I just I think it looks stylish.
It's pretty comfortable.
It's spacious.
And I am right up against the $50,000 limit, so I can't add anything.
But, yeah, that's my pick.
Well, I don't think 300 horsepower is enough.
I, as I said earlier, was looking at some performance ones,
and I ended up settling on a vehicle that is pretty much right on the $50,000 mark completely.
It is the Swedish Volvo EX30 plus twin motor.
So I get 422 horsepower in all-wheel drive.
And after destination, I'm basically right on 50 grand.
It's the entry level.
It's not the cross country.
But I get that weird little funky interior and ridiculous amounts of power.
So that'll be my pick.
Yeah, you have the car that was so quick at Test Fest last year that it couldn't entirely break in time to get around one of the corners on the handling course.
Yeah, that is probably the most power you can get for this price, I imagine.
In a luxury, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you have to be very careful with what you pick.
You have to get not cross country, the base plus, no extra colors or extra options.
You can get the motor, and then it's like $48,000 and change plus destination puts it right at $50,000.
Okay.
All right.
So let's move on to, since I'm talking big power, performance.
So performance vehicles under $35,000 was like the sweet spot of the market for a long time.
And the last couple of years, it's gotten out of control.
I mean, the BRZ barely makes it.
The WRX has blown past that.
It's crazy.
Remember the V8 Mustang used to be like $30,000, and it's way past that.
So I guess I'll start this time because I went last last time.
I'm breaking the rules.
I'm going with something that actually costs $35,500 after destination.
So I'm going to have to haggle $500 off or get a gently used executive demo.
But I'm going with a car that I'm actually driving right now, and that is the Hyundai Elantra N.
It is just so much performance for the money.
If money was no object, would it be my first pick in the class?
Maybe not.
But when you throw in price, it is such a good deal, and it is such a fun car to drive.
Greg, I don't know if you can – do you want to go next?
Sure.
Do you have any rebuttal to Mike's pick?
He's disqualified because he picked the pricing.
It actually cancels out.
It makes my upcoming pick look a little bit lamer, as we were sort of discussing here off camera.
But I went with the classics here, play the hits, Mustang EcoBoost.
It's $35,000 right out of the button.
It's actually $35,000 in $10.
Oh, you're disqualified.
I'll give one floor mat back or something.
Honestly, I still think that's a pretty good deal, over 300 horsepower.
The way I spec this one out, there's a little bit of room to run here, plenty of standard stuff.
You actually can't even get the optional racing red paint, or that will put you considerably over the $35,000 mark.
But I went with the classic Oxford white, which mid-'60s Mustangs actually kind of –
you think back to that Wimbledon white color, I think that's a good look for this car.
Pretty classic.
You get the 10-speed automatic, which is actually great.
Again, that EcoBoost 4 is pretty strong.
It's a basic interior, cloth bucket seats, SYNC 4 with voice recognition, so some standard stuff.
Destination fees.
We're talking just about how expensive everything is.
Destination fees are $19.95.
And then there's some shady acquisition fee on here.
Take that off.
Oh, yeah.
You're under the limit then.
You're not disqualified because we don't count that as an acquisition fee.
Okay, fair enough.
So I can take that off, and that does get me comfortably under –
and actually Ford was kind enough to tell me my payment would be a pretty reasonable $364.
So that's not bad.
That's going to be a lot of car here.
It's a good-looking Mustang.
Two things.
A 350-horsepower rear-wheel-drive pony car isn't exactly lame.
And it's funny hearing an American complain about a $1,900 destination charge.
That would be a dream of yours.
Yeah, fair.
Yeah.
I should say this.
We still have a few 18s.
It's 315 horsepower, just to be clear.
315 and 350 pound-feet of torque.
But that's still a good deal of horsepower for a car that's relatively light, rear-wheel-drive.
That 10-speed is a great gearbox.
So, yeah, it's all you need.
Yeah, yeah.
So my pick – I'm playing to the hits too, and I'm going with Miata.
Miata was actually – probably a few years ago it was the only thing you could really buy –
a convertible you could buy under $30,000.
It is no longer the case, but it is still comfortably under our self-imposed limit enough
that I can move up to the mid-level club trim, which means that I get the 17-inch wheels.
I get the Bilstein dampers, Bose sound system.
I get a pretty good-spec Miata, really.
And I could add the other stuff that would take me over the limit,
but I don't feel like I'd be missing those things.
The Miata is still such a sweet darling of a car that there's nothing else like it in the market.
So that's my pick.
It has less power, but I think I'd be smiling most often.
You and I would be ripping around a track having a blast with our grippy, well-balanced cars
while Greg's flying down the straightaways and just praying it'll brake and turn
with those all-season tires and standard brakes.
True. Very true.
I mean, they're all good picks.
I would easily take any of those three.
I've driven them all.
They're all great.
So now more consumer-focused, I guess.
There isn't much under $25,000 anymore.
Again, this used to be basically every compact car and even some entry-level SUVs,
but now it's few and far between.
So we'll help people sift through the limited choices
and pick what would be the best choice under $25,000.
I guess, Kyle, you haven't gone first yet.
I have not.
So I just want to add the things that I couldn't pick because, like you pointed out, Mike,
there are surprisingly few choices under $25,000.
My original pick was going to be the Corolla Hybrid
because get the lowest trim for that.
It's a Corolla.
It'll last forever, and you get great fuel economy.
So that was going to be mine, but it starts at $25,000 and a bit before destination,
so that's out.
My pick is the Chevrolet Trax.
It's a good vehicle.
It's basically a car because it's front-drive only.
It's spacious. It's stylish. It's well-equipped.
You can't get the top trim for $25,000, but you have choices,
and so that would be my pick.
It's a really good and actually a little bit fun-to-drive car.
Yeah, it's sort of my always go-to choice when people ask me.
I need a basic car to get around, or my son or daughter needs a car or whatever.
I say, look at the Trax.
It's the money for the space for everything.
It's a good deal.
Yeah.
Excuse me.
All right, Greg, I'm just checking my pricing to make sure,
so I'll let you go first just to make sure I don't go over again
because I'm getting in a lot of trouble.
Do some negotiating, see what you got to do to get that down.
You can, you know, however that works.
For under $25,000, and this is about $500 under $25,000,
I'm going to go with the Hyundai Elantra.
This is the SEL Sport, so not the amazing N-line that you went with,
but I think that's actually a great pick at the higher, sporty price point.
And I think the same holds true for this, for the lower price point.
The Elantra, I think, is really well-rounded.
It's a real car.
I think it looks good.
I've really enjoyed Hyundai design for the last, I mean,
really close to 15 years.
I think they've taken some risks.
They haven't landed every single time, but more often than not,
including this time, I think their cars look good.
You can get a fair amount of car for this.
You know, it's 34 miles per gallon combined,
just a respectable 147-horsepower, you know, four-cylinder.
I kind of like these 17-inch alloy wheels.
You actually do get some things like a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
So it's, again, with Hyundai, they're going to chase value all day.
They're going to give you a little bit more, maybe,
at different, I think, price points than some, you know, some brands will.
And I think you're not going to go wrong with this.
You know, I think it's a pretty solid vehicle.
It's funny how Kyle's trying to get in that class,
and you chose that class instead of going for the little guys,
like the Versa or anything.
I, too, Kyle, was trying to go for the greatest hits,
and I looked to see what an entry Civic is,
and it starts just under $25, but once you throw in destination, it's gone.
So I went with one of my favorites in the class,
and again, I'm $200 over, but I can find $200.
That's not a big deal.
So for that price, I'm getting 16-inch alloy wheels,
so good you went up to me, but I get a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
I get rain-sensing wipers.
I get an 8-inch infotainment system, an 8-inch digital cockpit,
158-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine,
going with the Volkswagen Jetta S.
Got a lot of car for the money, too, because it's a big compact.
Yeah, it's a good pick.
It's $25, too.
I can get $200 off.
If I slap $25,000 in $100 bills on the desk,
I don't think they're going to say no to me.
One of those December, you know, sell-off type of things.
You can do it.
Volkswagen, what is it, sign, then drive?
You know, that's the thing.
I don't have that up here.
Oh, okay.
Well, then you got, I don't know.
The downside to my choice is I get –
well, I get a choice of four colors.
Never mind.
I get gray-gray, black, blue, and I think one of them I can't afford.
Oh, and white.
So I get a bunch of shades of blue.
So there we go.
That's not a bad pick.
I mean, that shows just how much car you can still get for $25.
I know the pickings are slim,
but those are all really good cars that we wouldn't feel like we were getting
punished for being in.
Well, like you and Greg were able to go up a couple trims, and I can't.
But still, they're all coming with decent equipment.
You're getting, like, digital dashes and not getting, you know,
urethane steering wheels or wheel covers
or some of the stuff that used to be the trademark of getting an entry level.
And I think that's partly because cars are so expensive.
They have to sell them at a higher point,
so they're just putting a couple more features on,
so it kind of seems worth it.
There's no more, you know,
strip it out and sell it cheap because it doesn't, I think, save much.
So, yeah, I mean, there is choices out there.
It's just things have changed,
and they're going to probably continue to over the next couple of years.
And I don't know when we'll get stability, but hopefully soon.
I'm not looking forward to the day when you can't get, like,
a Civic or a Sentra for under $30,000.
But that could be happening soon.
Yeah.
Yeah, the prices are rough all around.
It seems like every segment, but the content,
which I think is sort of in our business, to use one of our buzzwords,
I wouldn't say it's never been better, but, I mean, to your point, Mike,
like at 25 grand, like most of these things have digital screens.
The one I picked had a leather wrapped steering wheel.
Like these are cars with respectable horsepower.
It's not like it's here's some wheezing 99 horsepower, you know,
whatever hooked up to a five speed manual.
Like these are legit cars.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Nobody picked the Mitsubishi Mirage.
It's because it's dead.
Oh, poor Mirage.
Yeah, no, this was fun.
This was a good little challenge.
All right.
Well, we'll do some other segments in some future weeks, I am sure.
We'll try to find some more that maybe like best hybrid under a price,
or mainstream SUV, or luxury cars.
There's lots.
So, until then, we will take a quick break,
and I'll be back with Collin to talk F1,
and then Kyle will be back to wrap things up.
All right, let's welcome Collin Wood back to the show
to talk a little Formula 1.
So, this weekend, well, we'll have passed by now,
but big race in Austin,
but we always have other stories to talk about first.
We do.
This is an appropriate Austin weekend,
because the first news is that the Americanization of Formula 1
is like almost complete here, right?
So, this morning, as we're recording this,
Apple TV announced their deal with F1.
So, they will be, in the United States,
the exclusive media partner for the next five years,
and it's something along the lines of,
I don't know if the exact numbers were released,
but something like $160 million a year is what Apple's paying for those rights.
So, it will be, you know, all Apple all the time.
I'm a huge Apple consumer.
Like, I have owned iPhones for probably 20 years now,
and we're talking on my Apple Mac.
Yeah, family all has Apple.
Like, I'm a big Apple supporter,
but Apple TV and sports, oh, man.
I don't know.
It's no secret I'm a giant baseball fan.
Whenever an Apple TV baseball game's on,
everyone cringes,
and I'm not talking about my region and my fans.
Like, everyone.
Like, their visual coverage is okay,
but, oh, man, it's just, it's terrible.
Like, the announcers are doing their best,
but they're not like the top tier guys are doing,
like, playoffs that kind of know everything,
and they obviously don't know the teams,
and it's just, and you're locked into having that Apple TV for it,
and I know they do hockey.
I mean, you're more of a hockey fan.
I don't know what those games are like,
but if it's anything like the Apple TV baseball,
this is going to be terrible.
Yeah, it's actually, I,
it tends to be actually hockey on Amazon Prime,
and they've actually done an excellent job.
They do a good job, but here, I'm nervous about,
so, like, they actually haven't said who we're going to get.
Like, will it be Brundle and Crofty?
Because ESPN, who broadcasts it now in the States,
they really just borrow the Sky guys and the whole Sky package, right,
which is what TSN here in Canada does as well, right?
I actually have the app,
and because I'm in Canada,
I think I will continue to just use the app and get my Formula 1 that way
and still get Brundle and Crofty, so.
Yeah, like, I watch it on TSN,
and I'm sure they'll still get the Sky.
If it's just restreaming Sky, great,
and you just have to log in to access it,
but knowing Apple, no,
they'll want to own all the rights to everything they're shooting,
so, and recording, so.
I mean, they could get great commentators,
and it could be great,
and just keeping my expectations very low,
because they did do hockey a long time ago,
and the baseball, no.
So, let's just hope they keep Sky,
or they, I don't even know who they'd hire,
but they're going to hire American commentators, right,
because they're going to probably think,
oh, there's British accents,
or viewers can't understand them sometimes.
Yeah, well, because I read all the time,
and I find this funny that apparently,
like, if you go on Reddit,
there's tons of Americans who complain about who are these guys
and what the hell are they talking about,
because they use all these weird British jargon,
and I'm like, I just find that so, like, cute and interesting.
I'm like, oh, what are these funny, like, these guys,
and they just seem so, and like,
like, Brundle's just so authentic.
You just, he's older now,
but he's still stayed, like, in touch with the modern technology.
I think there's good stuff.
Who knows?
Maybe it'll be a full-time Jensen button,
or, you know, because they also,
Americans love British accents,
so maybe they'll try and, like, do that tactic,
but there's some interesting stuff there.
There's some fun other things I was looking through
that apparently it says,
I'm reading the pressures.
In addition to showing F1 on Apple TV,
Apple will amplify the sport across Apple News,
Apple Maps, Apple Music, Apple Sports,
and Apple Fitness Plus,
so, like, can you, like,
are you a workout with Lando Norris or something?
I don't know what that really means,
but they're going to apparently just go full in, so.
Well, it's going to be Danica Patrick
and one of the Walter brothers commentating or something.
The other thing that I thought, actually,
that becomes an interesting storyline here is,
what do they do with Drive to Survive?
Because there's no way Apple is going to want Netflix in there,
you know, getting a piece of this action,
so I could see,
I don't know when the Drive to Survive, like,
contract goes until or whatever,
but I could see that becoming an issue of concern in the future.
I don't know.
I think, I don't think they'll,
I mean, it could be an issue,
but I don't think it's going to be something they have any pull.
I mean, I'm sure Sky's never been happy they're there,
but F1 is such a juggernaut of a force,
they could probably care less to say to Apple,
well, we'll go settle with someone else,
and they'll get all the money from the sport,
but it is a good point.
Like, maybe Apple tries to take it, but.
Yeah, and also,
and the Netflix thing is global,
and really,
so this deal is just in the U.S. for Apple TV,
but they've also hinted that it could expand elsewhere in the future.
So, and you can see that coming,
like, they're probably going to want,
like, global rights,
or at least rights anywhere where it's very profitable,
right?
So.
Yeah.
Bell Media,
TSN,
stay strong,
keep Sky Sports stream,
please.
I just,
I like my app.
All right.
Moving on.
Next story,
next story.
You're looking at a photo of what Mika Hakkinen says might be the first female
Formula One driver.
She just happens to be Ella Hakkinen.
So she's a,
she's a carding driver.
So,
but there was an interesting quote recently where he basically came out and
said that he thinks that his daughter could be a future Formula One driver,
which is very interesting.
He said her motivation is incomprehensible.
She wants to be a racing car driver at this point.
She's a real badass.
So,
so we'll see.
He seemed to think that actually,
if it wasn't her,
it's still going to be somebody within the next 10 years.
So there aren't,
there aren't a ton.
And the,
the sort of lower series don't get a lot of publicity and stuff like that.
So,
and I also think like,
I don't know,
come from a sports car background or something.
It may not,
it may not be like,
you know,
from single seaters.
There's a lot of like an endurance racing.
Like even the,
like all female teams and stuff like that.
So we'll see.
It's interesting.
Yeah.
I think if everyone's wanted a female driver for a long time,
and there's been some that you thought might make it,
but I think now,
like there's so many women in motorsports and a lot of them are better than
the men they're racing against.
So it's just,
you're right.
It's an inevitable.
It's just,
when's it going to happen?
Who's it going to be?
And she's still pretty young.
I think she's like,
she's definitely a young teenager still.
So there's years for develop.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So she has years to get there.
And although some kids at 14 are already in like formula two at this
point,
but it's,
it's,
it's wild to see when they,
I saw something the other day,
it was like a random thing about a kid who had moved up to formula three
or whatever.
And I'm like,
this,
this is a baby.
I'm like,
this is like my,
my son's 15 and he races like slow gook or like Briggs and Stratton
engines,
not these like crazy two stroke monsters.
So I can't imagine.
Yeah.
Just moving into that speed.
I had,
I had a funny,
my,
my real estate agent last time I sold my house that she,
her son went and raced in formula four.
I think he went from carts to formula four and like they're doing 120
miles an hour in formula four.
Like they are,
they're moving.
So she said that was a,
even a,
like it was fine for him.
That was more of a stress for her to get over.
It's like,
Oh,
now they're going crazy fast.
Well,
I mean,
I don't think there'd be any like favoritism because her dad's Mika,
but the nice thing is he would keep doors open that otherwise might not
have the ability to.
So she has the skill.
I think she'll get a full shot of this,
which is nice because I'm sure there's been plenty that have had the
skill as many that are on the grid now and they just didn't get the
opportunity.
So yeah,
it's not just about skill,
right?
You need the connections.
And the fact that,
yeah,
having your dad like that first happens,
dad was a formula race driver.
You know,
this is,
this is how it happens.
You need those connections to get in and you need those connections
to bring in the sponsors so that you can even continue up those ranks.
Right.
Cause it costs so much money.
So.
Yep.
Well,
all the best hope she makes it.
And yeah,
I guess she's,
she's carding now.
She's gonna have to move up pretty quick because it seems like these
days,
if you're not a prospect by 18,
you're done.
Yeah,
I totally agree.
But I do think you can like,
they tend to jump now pretty dramatically from like the top level
carding to even like,
was it,
was it for staffing a guy that actually went to like formula two right
away?
Like he never even did formula three.
There was,
there was some weird combo like that,
or,
or he did formula three and he skipped to F1 and he didn't do F2 at
all.
There was some weird thing like that.
So if you're really good,
you can sort of like,
it's like the,
the kids in school who are so smart,
they jump grades,
right?
That's,
that's how it works.
But you also talk about for staffing.
He's an alien.
He's not actually has reactions that,
you know,
don't exist on this planet.
So,
uh,
all right.
Last bit of news.
Yeah.
Last bit of news.
This was like kind of,
I guess,
uh,
everybody kind of knew what's happening.
Russell Antonelli signed for Mercedes official,
right?
So,
um,
although I still haven't,
I actually,
I haven't paid enough attention to know,
but I think it's still just like one year contracts for both.
So,
uh,
nothing super great for either of them.
I think the bigger story maybe is that now we're,
we're closing in on the remaining seats left for next year.
Um,
and the,
the remaining seats are there's one seat open at Alpine.
Um,
and there's one seat open at Red Bull.
And of course there's both seats open at racing balls.
So,
uh,
Red Bull just can't seem to sign drivers.
So they've got three open seats amongst their two teams.
I think it's maybe not necessarily just three open seats.
They just always seem to not sign till last minute.
It's like you're on,
unless you're ever stopping your own short term contracts,
like out of the three seats,
I would expect at least one of those guys would be back.
Maybe two,
but Alpine's interesting because yeah,
I don't know.
I don't know what they're going to do.
Like,
are you a rookie or are you now trying to get someone else?
And yeah,
this Mercedes thing,
um,
kind of makes sense because it's roughly said so many times,
there's a whole new world next year.
And I wonder if it's a combo of the drivers and the team are both
like,
we want to feel each other out.
So the driver's like,
well,
if your car sucks,
we might want to go somewhere else.
And the team might be like,
you guys are not that good in a new car.
We don't want to keep you around.
And,
you know,
maybe Oscar's free after next year and some other guys.
So,
yeah.
Yeah.
Well,
there's always been those rumors.
I actually wonder if we're going to get to,
uh,
I haven't looked,
but what does the,
what does the contract situation look like at the end of 26?
So like there is obviously that's what we said,
like everyone kind of wants to figure out who's got the best car.
Who's got the best engine at the end of that year.
Right.
So we'll know.
And then I'll have to look at like what that winds up.
Like it's like half the field going to renew again.
Um,
and then it'll just be this free for all of,
uh,
new drivers,
new everything.
So,
yeah,
I don't know.
I don't think,
but that'll be,
it'll,
it'll be exciting all around.
So.
Yeah.
So I'm just looking,
it's looks like,
uh,
Oh,
it looks like Oscar's actually locked up to the end of 2023 season.
2027.
Sorry.
But oh,
is he okay.
Lando's at least the 26,
but yeah,
I imagine they're going to keep him around,
but yeah,
like I think.
How was Louis three years.
So he's,
uh,
no,
I thought Louis was just a two.
So,
so he's he's that's open at the end of next year.
Yeah.
I mean,
obviously both the Mercedes are,
um,
for staff is locked in a long time,
but who knows who his teammates going to be.
It seems to be someone different multiple times a year.
Uh,
yeah.
So there could be a lot of openings and I believe Alonzo is only one more year,
right?
Like he said,
just kind of stick around for the.
Yep.
And you've got a six stroll is going to be done eventually.
Like he's just going to have to pack it in.
So,
uh,
after Martin has a lot of seats opening up potentially.
So maybe I'll bring it.
I think as long as,
as long as his dad's running the show,
if he wants to raise,
I think he'll be fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think as long as,
as long as his dad's running the show,
if he wants to raise,
I think he will.
I mean,
it's not like there's been terrible racers.
I'm not going to name some names,
but you know,
like perennially,
I said that word,
but always in the back or always crashing.
Yeah.
I mean,
people can stroll a hard time,
but when the car is decently competitive,
he's good.
Like I think pretty much outperformed Alonzo this year points wise.
And he's been up there.
So it's not like he's wasting a seat.
It's just,
I like to see what he could do.
If the car ends up being one of the top four,
because I think he's surprising people.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I,
I don't have a lot of faith.
I think he's,
I agree that he's better than sort of the hard time we give him,
but he's,
he's not one of the top 20 drivers.
No,
but you could,
I bet you could find a hundred drivers in the world who could drive that car better.
Like,
but I think that's probably true of like half the field,
right?
Like you said,
it's not always an opportunity.
So if you consider a good car,
you can suddenly be a lot better than maybe your ability because your car's so
good.
No,
I totally agree.
You're not wrong there that yes,
that you could,
you could find a lot of people who that's what we've seen.
I think this year with all these rookies,
we brought them all in and we thought it's going to be crash fest.
They're going to be terrible.
They're going to be over.
Most of them have been super impressive.
Like there's been some,
this is a really great crop.
And I think that's where it's like,
okay,
it's not such a bad idea to churn guys quickly.
I mean,
it sucks because you want people to,
some people do take time to learn,
but,
but yeah,
it's been a good year for the rookies all around.
So,
yeah,
I mean,
it's not to be overreaching and super generalization,
but it seems to be something in sports lately where a lot of philosophies are
changing,
where it's just because someone's established or they had great success or
there are no name,
keep them around.
Like again,
go back to my baseball.
There's a huge push now where these unknown rookies come up and dominate
because we give them the chance as opposed to the,
you know,
the 35 year old,
well,
he's been here forever.
We should keep him going.
The,
the culture and thoughts are changing.
And you,
like you said,
an F1,
all these rookies came up that proved they were really good and they might
not have got the chance 10,
20 years ago.
So yeah,
yeah,
no,
I think it's great.
Give,
give a young guns a shot and see what happens.
Make it,
make it more interesting.
So,
yeah,
well,
that's all the stories.
We went a bit long with this this week,
but there's lots to talk about.
We'll see what happens in Austin.
Um,
we'll have happened by the time people hear this,
but code is usually pretty fun.
Uh,
I'm hoping for a good race.
We did some unexpected,
uh,
front runner.
So yeah,
hopefully it's a good race and it's not a boring one.
Like the last race and the season is winding down.
It is awesome.
Mike,
we'll talk soon.
All right.
See it.
Yeah.
Okay.
So that just about brings us to the end of the auto guide show.
Brought to you by,
by motors.
We'll just quickly cover what's gone on this week and what's coming up.
So,
uh,
you had a lot more going on,
so I'll just quickly talk about what I did.
This week I've been driving the Hyundai Elantra and TCR Americans may be
confused.
Well,
it is a Canadian only special edition,
which is pretty cool.
Um,
there's one aspect to it that I could do without and it's a little
embarrassing,
but we'll talk about that on a future show.
Um,
I have never driven the end since the facelift and it is so much better
and it is so good.
And I'll just leave it there.
And I also,
as I mentioned was at the grand opening of,
um,
Rolls Royce and Oakville,
which is their latest store in North America,
latest store in the world.
And we got to talk to basically the president of North America and the
global head of product and marketing and got some interesting tidbits,
which again,
uh,
I was planning to talk about this week,
but we'll talk about next week.
Cause there's some stuff that's interesting.
Uh,
Kyle,
we've been up to this week.
Uh,
I've barely been home.
Uh,
so I drove the Toyota RAV4,
uh,
to start the week off.
Um,
I did that last week too.
It turns out it's kind of an important vehicle.
So,
uh,
I had to do it twice.
And that also included the plugin hybrid.
So that's an interesting thing.
And we'll talk about that on a future episode.
Once the embargo lifts.
And now anyone who's watching the GERSport,
anyone who's watching,
we'll see that I am currently in a vehicle and it's actually a RAV4,
uh,
because I am at the annual AJAC test fest here in Canada,
where Canadian journalists from all across the country come together and test
vehicles.
It's just about the end of the day.
And I thought I would wrap up in something I haven't driven recently.
Uh,
and it's also made in Canada.
So it seemed like a nice little,
uh,
way to end everything,
but yeah,
I've driven a bunch of cars here.
Some of which I actually can't talk about yet as well,
which is a nice,
uh,
catch for us,
but yeah,
I,
uh,
I will have a lot to talk about.
And then next week,
um,
we're driving a pair of Jeeps,
which will be interesting.
Hey,
we're driving this wagon here that we talked about and the grand wagon here,
but probably not the refreshed one,
which is interesting.
Yeah.
But it's the Overland,
which is a new trim,
which is like an off-roady version.
And I'm all for the off-road SUVs because they always drive better.
Um,
just quickly,
I haven't been in or really saw the new RAV4 in person,
but that side window is massive.
Yeah.
For all that air and space to get in there.
They,
they specifically called out the fact that there is a bigger,
uh,
rear window and side window.
So visibility is better.
All right.
Well,
um,
also next week at the end of the week,
I will be traveling to drive the new Sentra,
which,
um,
may not sound exciting,
but you and I are both pretty excited to try out this new car.
So I'll have a full details on that once it lifts.
And I probably won't be on the show next week.
So it'll probably be Kyle with Greg,
but I will be back soon.
And that just about wraps up another episode of the Autoguide show.
Yeah.
So,
uh,
until next week.
Yeah.
And two weeks for me,
maybe.
Yeah.
All right.
So long,
everybody.
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Okay.
About this episode
Exciting developments in the automotive world take center stage, including Subaru's teaser of new STI concepts and Toyota's GR Supra Final Edition. The episode dives into a first drive review of the GR Supra, highlighting its performance and unique features, while expressing disappointment over the horsepower differences between regions. The Range Rover Sport SV Edition 2 is also discussed, boasting 626 horsepower and luxury features. The episode wraps up with consumer advice on vehicle choices across various price points, emphasizing the changing landscape of the automotive market.
4.4-liter V8
all wheel drive
collector's edition
dual clutch
EV
flat plane crank
GT race car
hatchback
horsepower
Mark 4
Acura NSX
Alpina B8
Audi A8
BMW M2
BMW M5
BMW X5
BMW X6M (E71)
BMW X7
Buick Century
Cadillac CT4
Cadillac CT5
Cadillac Escalade
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet Trax
Dodge Ram
Ford Mustang
Genesis GV70
GMC Yukon
Honda NSX
Hyundai Elantra
Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Grand Wagoneer
Lamborghini Urus
Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Lexus LFA
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Mercedes-Benz GLB
Mitsubishi Mirage
Nissan Altima
Nissan Sentra
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Subaru Solterra
Subaru WRX
Toyota 2000GT
Toyota Camry
Toyota GR 86
Toyota GR Corolla
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Supra
Volkswagen Jetta
Original notes
This week is all about editions as Kyle drives the GR Supra Final Edition and Mike takes a spin in the Range Rover SV Edition 2. Subaru teases not one, but two new STI concepts and Lexus has a crazy new LS concept that is very different fro the old LS.
We also talk about Cadillac killing off some sedans, Toyota targeting Rolls-Royce, and Jeep updating the Grand Wagoneer. Later, Greg joins us to discuss our best consumer choices for vehicles at certain price points.
Finally, Colum is back to discuss Formula 1 news and rumors and then Mike and Kyle take a look at what's next.
The AutoGuide Show
By AutoGuide.com
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