TFL Car Chat Jan 16, 2026

The BEST And WORST Cars At The 2026 Detroit Auto Show! | Ep. 320

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Car

Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a famous sports car from America that is known for being fast and stylish. It's been around for a long time and is loved by many people who enjoy driving and racing.

Term

zero to 60

'Zero to 60' is a way to measure how fast a car can go from a complete stop to 60 miles per hour. It's often used to show how powerful a car is.

Term

quarter mile

A 'quarter mile' is a distance used in racing that is equal to 1,320 feet. It's often used to see how fast a car can go in a straight line.

Term

all wheel drive

All wheel drive means that the car can send power to all four wheels at the same time, which helps it grip the road better, especially in bad weather.

Term

LT7 V8

The LT7 V8 is a type of engine made by General Motors that is very powerful and is often found in fast cars.

Term

twin turbo

Twin turbo means the car has two turbochargers that help the engine produce more power by pushing in more air, making it faster.

Term

carbon fiber

Carbon fiber is a very light and strong material used in cars to make them faster and more efficient by reducing weight.

Term

159 miles per hour

159 miles per hour is how fast the car can go; it's a way to show how powerful and fast the car is.

Term

10 second car

A '10 second car' is a car that can go a quarter mile really fast, in less than 10 seconds, which is impressive for racing.

Car

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S Plaid is a super-fast electric car that can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 2 seconds. It's known for being very high-tech and powerful.

Car

Lucid Air

The Lucid Air Sapphire is a powerful version of the Lucid Air, an electric car that can go really fast and has a lot of horsepower. It's made to compete with other luxury electric cars.

Term

oil line

An oil line is a pipe that moves oil around in the engine to keep it running smoothly and prevent it from overheating.

Term

crankcase

The crankcase is a part of the engine that holds oil and helps keep the engine parts moving smoothly. It's important for the engine to work properly.

Car

Chevrolet Bolt

The Chevrolet Bolt is an electric car that is popular for being budget-friendly and having a good driving range. The 2026 version is coming back with some changes but is similar to earlier models.

Term

150 kilowatt charging

150 kilowatt charging means that the car can charge its battery very quickly, which is important for electric vehicles to reduce waiting times at charging stations.

Company

GM

GM stands for General Motors, a big car company that makes many different types of vehicles, like Chevrolets and Cadillacs.

Term

starting price

The starting price is the cheapest price you can pay for a car model, usually for the simplest version without extra features.

Term

electric cars

Electric cars run on electricity instead of gasoline. They use batteries to power an electric motor, making them cleaner for the environment and often cheaper to run.

Car

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a small car that's very popular because it's reliable and doesn't cost too much to buy or maintain. It's a good choice for many drivers.

Term

destination charges

Destination charges are extra fees for getting a car from the factory to the dealership. They usually aren't included in the car's price, so it's good to check how much they are before buying.

Car

Ford Expedition

The Ford Expedition is a big SUV that has lots of room for people and luggage. It's good for families and can tow heavy things, making it useful for trips.

Car

Ford F150

The Ford F-150 is a big pickup truck that many people use for work and everyday driving. It's known for being strong and able to carry heavy loads.

Car

Toyota Chr

The Toyota C-HR is a small SUV that looks different from other cars. It's made for city driving and is popular among younger people because of its cool design.

Car

The Honda Prelude is a two-door car that was made by Honda for many years. It's known for being sporty and fun to drive, making it a popular choice for people who like a bit of excitement in their cars.

Car

Honda Pilot

The Honda Pilot is a larger car designed for families. It has plenty of room for passengers and cargo, making it a practical choice for everyday use.

Car

Ford Super

The Ford Super Duty Lariat Tremor is a big truck that can pull heavy things and is also comfortable inside. It's made for people who need a tough truck for work but still want some nice features.

Car

Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is a popular car that many people use for everyday driving because it's reliable and comfortable.

Term

Honda Sensing

Honda Sensing is a collection of safety features in Honda cars that help drivers avoid accidents and stay safe on the road.

Car

Honda Passport

The Honda Passport is a roomy SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff. It's good for families and people who like to go on adventures, as it can handle rough roads.

Term

adaptive cruise control

Adaptive cruise control helps you keep a safe distance from the car in front of you by automatically adjusting your speed. It makes driving easier, especially on long trips or in heavy traffic.

Car

Honda Ridgeline

The Honda Ridgeline is a type of pickup truck that drives more like a car. It's designed to be comfortable and practical, making it a good choice for everyday use and light hauling.

Car

Land Rover Range Rover

The Range Rover is a fancy SUV that can drive on rough roads and also feels really comfortable inside. People like it because it looks good and can handle different types of driving conditions.

Car

Ford Bronco

Car

Jeep Wrangler

The Jeep Wrangler is a tough-looking car that is great for driving on rough trails and in nature. It has a unique design that lets you take off the doors and roof, making it fun for outdoor adventures.

Car

Lincoln Navigator

The Lincoln Navigator is a big, fancy SUV that has a lot of space inside and feels very comfortable. It's designed for people who want a luxurious driving experience.

Car

Lincoln Nautilus

The Lincoln Nautilus is a stylish SUV that feels very nice inside and has lots of space. It's made for people who want a comfortable and fancy car.

Car

Toyota Tundra

The Toyota Tundra is a big truck that people use for work or to carry heavy things. It's known for being strong and lasting a long time, which makes it a favorite for many truck owners.

Car

Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma is a smaller truck that people like for its ability to drive off-road and carry things. It's known for being tough and lasting a long time, making it a good choice for many drivers.

Car

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car from America that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fast and looking cool, making it a favorite among car lovers.

Car

Ford Bronco Sport

The Ford Bronco Sport is a smaller SUV that looks like the classic Bronco but has new features. It's made for people who like to go on adventures and drive on different types of terrain.

Car

Jeep Cherokee

The Jeep Cherokee is a smaller SUV that can drive well on rough roads but is also good for everyday use. It has a nice interior and features that make driving easier.

Car

Jeep Gladiator

The Jeep Gladiator is a truck that can also go off-road like a Jeep. It has a tough look and is great for people who want to drive in nature and carry things in the back.

Car

Ram 1500

The Ram 1500 is a big truck that is comfortable to drive and can pull heavy loads. It's popular because it has a nice interior and lots of features that make driving easier.

Car

Dodge Charger

The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's a four-door car, so it's practical for families but still fun to drive.

Car

Toyota Camry

The Toyota Camry is a popular car that many people choose because it's reliable and gets good gas mileage. It's comfortable to drive and is great for everyday use.

Car

Mazda Miata

Mazda is a car company from Japan that makes cars that are fun to drive and look good. One of their most famous cars is the Miata, which many people love for its sporty feel.

LIVE

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C site for details. Welcome to Detroit. I titled this episode of TFL car chat best and worst of

Detroit auto show. And with me is my friend and also an expert in everything automotive is Craig

Cole from auto esoterica. That's true auto esoterica on YouTube. Did I say that correctly? You said

perfectly. Nice. And when we're here you said best and worst. I think best probably works. No,

I'm serious. No, this man knows so much about trucks and other things. Yes, but this is a car

show. Yes, primarily. So I follow every aspect of automotive, but I'm not as deep into the world

of cars. But what I can get excited by is being here in Detroit. This is your home state. Yes,

you live nearby, right? Yeah, roughly a stone throws away, I would say from the convention

center. And we're here. We want to show you everything that's at the show. But we're starting

here at the Corvette at the Chevy Corvette stage. It has its own stage actually. I mean,

it's an iconic nameplate deserves a stage. I think so. Because Chevy broke some news recently

with the ZR1X because they put it at the drag strip and we're standing next to

an example of this car. I don't know if this is the exact car. It looks similar. I mean,

it probably isn't, but maybe it is. Anyways, they did some insane mind boggling zero to 60

and quarter mile times. Yes, they did. I jotted them down because it's a lot of numbers, but

1.68 seconds, zero to 60. Have you ever scrambled your organs? Because that's what this car is

going to do. I think so. I didn't think it was possible for a production car because there's

certain physics involved, tire technology, grip levels. This car is all wheel drive. It does have

1,250 horsepower. Yes, which is it's a twin turbo. What is it? LT7 V8 at the back here?

It's a really insane engine. You could kind of see it through there. There's carbon fiber bits on

this car. It's got carbon fiber wheels. It's got carbon fiber little bits. And also we can show

you the interior of this car. And then quarter mile, quarter mile was 8.76. Am I reading that?

8.675, I think was the number. Okay. Less than nine seconds in the quarter mile at

159 miles per hour. For a production car, you can drive on the street. Exactly. And

mind blown. So did you watch the first Fast and Furious movie? Many, many, many, many, many, many,

many years ago. It was many moons ago. Yes. But I remember when Vin Diesel would say,

bring me a 10 second car. I'm sorry, that was a bad impression. It was all allowed. It's fine.

But now we're into 8 second cars from the factory. Factory. No work required. No work required. No

need to go to Vin Diesel's shop to soup it up a little bit. Well, the only work is earning enough

money to write the monthly check for the payment, which I'm sure ain't gonna be cheap. But this

is cool. This is the quickest production car currently speaking this day today. Because

like a Tesla Model S Plaid or any other Plaid for that matter, can't match this performance.

Neither can, even the Lucid air sapphire, right? Yeah. I think that's 1,234 horsepower. Only.

Only. Yes. But like 0 to 61 point, was it 8, 8, 9? Yeah. I mean, we're going to the 100th place.

At that point, it doesn't matter. It's fast. Yeah. Less than two seconds. Yeah. Which is just

insane. And it's, I would, but this is quicker. Well, I don't know if we, this is the beginning of

our episode here at CFL Car Chat. So I don't want to call it a day and say this is the best and walk

away. But this must be a highlight of the show, right? Absolutely. I mean, we're going to have a

hard time topping this today. But we can. We can try. We can try. How about this concept? The CX

This is the CX. This is actually the first time I'm up close and personal with this concept,

because I know it was shown in Los Angeles, right? Yeah. A few months back. Yeah. Earlier.

But this is striking too. And you can kind of see an image on the, on the wall with a

shell opening up, right? Yeah. That's not a very efficient door opening, but it's a concept. So

I'm not going to. Do you think that would work? It's snowing outside right now. Do you think that

would work in Detroit snow? No. You park it outside and it gets crusted in ice. You got to lift

the whole roof up? No. That's not going to work. But it's a concept car. We see concepts with all

kinds of crazy stuff that are never going to make it into production. So designers like to have a

little bit of fun. And I think having the whole top of the car open, that's kind of fun. But we're

talking about C8 Corvette, which is the eighth generation of Corvette, right? Yes. And this is

a Z06, another example. By the way, Roman recently purchased one of these. Did he? Did you see that?

I did not. I know he had the ZR1. What is it? Like an 88? 89? Early 90s? Like in 1990? It was red.

Yes. They drove it from like, was it Utah or something? I watched the video. I don't remember.

I'm a little murky on the details. It's okay. But that was a sweet car, although the oil line

burst. You know, and I want to ask you about this because of auto esoterica. Yes, sir. You explore

different aspects and history of vehicles. Yeah, yeah. We like older stuff. And so what happened

with this ZR1? This was a 4th gen. What happened was it was a low-miles car that sat around a lot.

Yeah, yeah. And here it is. It's like a horse that's been in the stable for many, many months. And

then you ask it to run a marathon the next day. Yeah. And the oil lines went on the scent. Yeah.

So, I mean, luckily, the line blew off. They were in the parking lot or very close to a parking

lot. Yes. Everything gushed out. Yes. But they were able to find a guy like a passerby that was

a mechanic, right? He was able to help him patch it up. Yes. Fill the crankcase with oil. And they

kept driving. He fired it up. There was a little bit of a tapping I heard in the mic right as he

started it. But that went away immediately. So I think they got so lucky. But then they had Chase

bring the trailer. Exactly. And then he helped them out. I think they could have made it back to

Boulder, back to the Denver area. If they had Cajones, I think they might have. No, no. Are

you suggesting your boss is not capable? No, I'm not saying that at all. And you might be wondering

where's Roman? Where's Nathan? Where's Tommy? Where is anybody else? I mean, you're stuck with me.

I'm sorry. Well, because they're not here. I know. And Ford is also having some news at this show.

So let's keep walking. All right. What's next on you? What is caught your eye? Ford is next door.

Oh, wait, we cannot leave the Chevy area yet, because I really want to check out the new bolt.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. So let's move along. But Andre, is it new or is it new? Are you using air

quotes? Yes, I'm using air quotes. Okay. Oh, I almost fell. I'm going to help the camera. It's okay.

And also Chevrolet people, you know, don't know nobody's worrying.

So you're referring to a bolt that existed before? Yes, basically coming back without

a lot of visual changes. Is it the same platform? Yeah. So it has some visual changes. But you know

what? I want to ask you about this because this year, 2026, I was getting a little bit excited

about this year because more affordable electric cars are finally coming. Yes. You know what I'm

saying? Correct. So let's take a look at this 2027 bolt RS. When I say carry over platform,

I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way. They've updated so much technology on this vehicle.

And but using the core components that don't really have to change, right? The vehicle was very safe

before. You don't have to completely re-engineer the architecture. And the body itself, the

unit body, right? Correct. The construction of it. And the interior was spacious and

reasonably comfortable. Yes. We can show here. So there, when I say you carry over components,

it's not a bad thing. I knew what you meant. Yeah. But thank you for explaining it because

not everybody listening and watching me understand it as well. Because they updated,

it has pretty good range. It has better charging than before. Yes. 150 kilowatt possible charging,

which is right in the range you want it. That's not by no means the fastest DC charging speed,

but that's a very good performance, especially for the price. Because this thing's going to start,

supposedly less than 30 grand with delivery, which is another like 1200 bucks or so. Yes. I believe,

and you know what GM and Chevrolet is one of the only companies when they show a price on their

website. It includes delivery charges, which a lot of other, or most other manufacturers don't do.

They hide it. And also, they hike up those prices, right, recently. But GM is not one of those

companies. And this is under 30K starting. I believe it's about 29 actually. Yes. And then they said

the release I just looked at before we came out on the show floor, they said there will be another

model that's going to start around 29. So a thousand dollars less. That's maybe what I was thinking.

Yeah, yeah. That's maybe because this is an RS, which is a little bit more spicy.

A little spicy. That's a very good word. It's also a spicy color, right? Oh,

this is like a, what would you call this? A crimson. Oh my gosh. Habanero orange. Habanero orange.

See, we were right on the money with this thing. But you know, 262-ish miles of range possible.

And under 30K. And this is what I wanted to ask you about, because so far up to now, for the most

part, electric cars in general, end trucks, have been way more expensive there than their combustion

counterpart. Absolutely. I looked up a price of a Corolla hatch. We might see it over here,

because Toyota is here too. Do you want to swing by and see if they've got one?

Sure. Illustration purposes. I saw that at about $26,000, so it's starting. So we're getting within

10% electric car versus non-electric car, so to speak, roughly speaking. And I think that's

important. That's critical. And that's with no tax incentives, right? So it's competing

on a level playing field at that point. Like oranges and oranges. Correct. Not apples and

oranges. Or bananas and oranges. They're picking other fruit. But yeah, like within three grand,

somebody that would shop for a Corolla and was considering maybe going electric,

the bolt would be a great option. And also Toyota will also have an electric car,

compact electric car available also. So for example, we found a hatch. Look at this.

Beautiful, beautiful hatch. The Corolla. Yes. Look at that.

This is the... That is a spicy red color as well. That must be a trend. Let's see what it's called

if they've listed it here. Corolla hatchback SE, line red. Yes. But this one has a few options. Yeah.

And it has a destination charge of about $1200, $32,000 for this particular one. So actually,

remember you mentioned about $30,000 over there with some options and $30,000 over here with some

options. Yeah. Even though it's... By the way, this does not include destination. Of course not. Oh,

no. Shake, shake, shake of the finger, wag, wag. Andre does not approve. No. So... Stern

wag of the finger, there. Yeah. But yeah, like that's the pricing game they always play. You've

got to pay for the delivery, but they're always trying to sort of hide it and slip it in somewhere

you don't see it. And we're not just picking Monteiro up. Oh, no, definitely not. Everybody's

doing this. And the price you pay for delivery always goes up. Isn't Ford charging something

almost $2,000 now on some trucks or close to it? It's way more than that. Is it? Full-size pickup

trucks and SUVs like a Tahoe or an Expedition. Yeah. $2,595. $2,600? Yes. That is insane. I

knew they were expensive. I didn't realize they were $2,600. So it's a... I live in New Denver,

Colorado, which is 1,200 miles away-ish. You live down the street from the F-150 factory.

Yep. So in order to move that truck a couple miles to your house, that will be $2,600. Yep.

That's how it works. I don't get it. They average it out, I guess, across the country,

so everybody pays the same. But it's also like... I don't get it. It's just another way to make

another couple grand, right? I don't get it. For the automakers. Yeah, so... I digress. Everybody

does it. Exactly. And also the CHR will be the electric car that Toyota is going to be launching.

So I'm really hoping it's coming sooner or later. There may be a little bit of slowdown

on most manufacturer's sides, right? Because electricity is not, I guess, prime on our mind

right now. So that's kind of where it's at. Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting. The shift,

new administration, completely new rules for everything. And it does affect,

well, also tariffs. That too. Yeah. There's a whole other... I really wish, and I'm not an accountant,

an automotive company, because if I was, I think I'd be pulling out all of my hair.

I can't... I cannot disagree. Just keeping track of all of that is nearly impossible.

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sponsoring us. So I wanted to stop by Honda because Honda also has a very big presence here at the

show. So if you're interested in anything, including the prelude, which we'll see in just a second,

this is a little refresh on the pilot. And Tommy saw this in Los Angeles,

and he did a video specifically on this. And people loved it because it's a minimal change,

right? The change is not dramatic, but this is one good-looking SUV, I think. I think it's very

handsome. Although this, that's getting a bit big. They're following the Ford Super Duty strategy

of supersizing the badge. The Ford badge started, you know, this way. And it's growing, growing,

growing. Eventually it's going to pop. But you know what? I think there may be a radar hiding behind

the badge. Often they can do that. And I think that's a better solution because sometimes,

on the older Honda, like the Accord, they had a little black box down here. It said,

I think, Honda Sensing. And they just, they didn't try to really hide it. But this is a good place

to put it. I think there's another example right there with the passport. Yes, yes. So that might

be exactly what I'm referencing. Yeah. So the badge is up above, but there is a little area

for the radar down below. And look, the camera has a little squirre. That's super nice. Yes.

Especially if you're actually off-roading. Exactly. You get a splash of mud on there.

Because also, I was, we actually had a longer term loan of a passport trail sport. Basically,

this auto, except it wasn't in a different color. And I was driving through a bit of a

snow storm. It's been a mild winter, shall we say in Colorado. Yeah. And some ice caked on this

from the snow. And I lost my adaptive cruise control system. You can drive like a sucker

again, do the steering and braking yourself. Actual steering, yes. That might be outraged.

But I was able to squirt it up and clear this area. Can you see? Yes. They thought of everything.

Yes. But that's just a really good feature to have. I'm excited. So we're going to see,

I think, the pilot in its refreshed state. We can drive it soon. But I want them to refresh this.

I know this is not a truck show, but I think... Well, that's the beauty of

this, is that it splits the difference, right? We're looking at the ridgeline. Yes.

A ridgeline, but it has an older face still. And I want them to make a hybrid ridgeline

with a pilot face, make it more square and just macho. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Personally,

though, I find nothing wrong with this Honda. It is fantastic. It's efficient and dry as well.

It's also locked, so I can't open the door. Why do they lock things? Because this is not a brand

new model. It is not. But it's still fantastic, though. Yes. For probably what like 75% of people

actually use their trucks for? Ridgeline. I wouldn't disagree. Normally, on our truck channel,

people would be outraged and they would be saying it's not a true body on frame construction. It

doesn't have solid axles. It doesn't have locking differentials. It doesn't have low-range gearing.

But you know what? Like you said, for a lot of people, it has great payload, about 1500 pounds.

And also, well, not great towing. No. You know what I'm saying? But for going to the beach,

for picking up flat-packed furniture at Costco or Ikea. Look how wide that is. It's really nice.

You get, it may not open. There's a little trunk in there. Yeah. Weather tight. The tailgate drops

down. And if I remember correctly, there should also be, is it on this side? Yeah. The tailgate swings.

So it's super versatile. That's a lot of clever engineering and honestly cost to make something

like this. But it's great to have because now I can step here next to the bumper and reach things

that are in the bed without the tailgate being in the way. And if I'm loading something or you

want a haul longer cargo, you can drop the tailgate down like you normally would. And you're good to

go. And this has been around, this design they introduced in 2006. 20 years. That's pretty neat.

Has it been that long? I feel old now. Yeah. Ready for the grave. It has been,

all right. Dude, I want to, so Kia is here. Yes. So I want to walk through Kia because

I haven't spent a lot of time next to the Nutella ride. Okay. And I really want to see,

see it in person. I think there is one version of it here. Yeah. There might be another version of

right down there as well. There must be. There has to be. It's one of their top selling models.

Yes. We're kind of on camera. I appreciate it. What's your name? My name's Craig. How are you?

Nice to meet you. His name is Craig. Nice to meet you, Craig. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for watching.

Appreciate it. What are the chances? What are the chances that we find another Craig?

It's not a very common. I mean, it's not rare. Well, it's not like super common, you know,

you see that every time you go to the grocery store down the liquor aisle. Smirnoff. Yes.

Dude, what do you think about this? Because I think this has been a little bit controversial

because people are attached to the older generation Telluride. Fantastic vehicle too.

Fantastic vehicle. One of my neighbors has one, like somebody down the street has one.

It's been a very popular SUV. What do you think about this update? So I am mixed because I think

they did a lot to improve the usability of the vehicle. It's a little bit longer, I believe,

a little wider, more space in the third row. Yeah. I believe more cargo room as well.

They made the interior super nice. Cabin quality was not an issue with the outgoing Telluride,

but this I think is even better, especially in higher-end trim levels. However, I think they

kind of dropped the ball here. What in the front end? The front end. It's just super squared off.

It's very boxy. We've got these sort of chicklets that are made of plastic for the grille insert,

and personally, I just don't think it looks as nice as the outgoing model, but they made a

lot of great changes, and there's the hybrid powertrain available as well. Well, it's very

subjective, I guess, right? Totally. If you like one of these, go get it. You won't be disappointed

at all. I appreciate this. I'm on the other side of this because it looks large and in charge.

It's just like, it reminds me of a giant heavy-duty truck. Yeah. I know it's not a heavy-duty truck,

but it reminds me of that. It's got that little bit of that flavor. Yeah, it's got this size.

And look at this. This is their X-Pro off-road edition with a really beefy tire, so I really

appreciate that. It's also locked. What does it deal with this? I don't know. I guess they're afraid

that... I'm just looking, is there another one somewhere that we can show you the interior,

because it's really nice, very well done, and I would be shocked if they didn't have one,

because again, this is one of their top-selling models. Exactly. So we might be able to sneak

up here if we're very nice, and if we ask... Ask nicely. Yes.

Could we show on camera the interior really quickly here? Yeah, just watch your step when

you go to the bottom. Ian, would you mind stepping up, stepping up? We're getting onto the stage

with a Kia Telluride. Oh, thank you, Craig. This is a hissing sound like a science fiction movie,

but there you go. That's the interior. Yeah. Nice chunky grab handles on the center console,

beautifully laid out dashboard. There's two big screens. Yeah. But nicely integrated, I think.

And the center console looks functional, yet stylish and new. 100%. It's not a copy of

something else, you know what I'm saying? No. And one other thing I noticed, if you look at the

interior door handles, these are just like Ford did on the Mach-E, but actually a little bit nicer,

because the lever here is quite a bit larger, so you've got a little bit more to grip when you

go to open the door. But I thought that was an interesting touch, because I don't recall seeing

any other door handles like that. Not recently, at least. Not recently. I can't recall any,

so there might be some out there, but yeah, they've left my brain. I would have to dig deep

in my brain. Tommy would know. I was just going to say, he's got the photographic memory. Yeah,

we could call Tommy. I think he's actually at the Kia event right now, driving the K4 hatchback.

We'll call him right now, get him on the line. He's with the experts. They would know too.

Yes. No, anyways, I think I appreciate it. Also, the back of the Nutella Ride,

it looks a little bit more premium. It almost reminds me of a Range Rover.

Absolutely. Do you see that? In fact, that's what I was on the, I think the event with you,

out in California, their design studio. Yeah. You might have been on a different

session that day, but very Range Rover-like for the tail light design and the rear of this vehicle,

which they didn't necessarily copy the Range Rover, but I'll tell you, there are way worse

vehicles to resemble than the new Range Rover, which is stunning. Yeah, because that's a very

premium vehicle and it's very nice. But yeah, the back end is super clean, attractive, and they

knocked it out of the part with the interior, which is no surprise. So part of the show floor,

let's just walk this way. Be very careful stepping off the stage, so I don't follow my face. Can I

You might be able to. There is a lot of driving areas here at the show, so you can go for rides

in any of the new vehicles, right? So there is at least two of those, and also there's off-roading

with Ford and Jeep, where you can, in the Bronco or Wrangler, you can go up and down.

Do they get along? Are they playing nicely together? Well, they're in Jeep. Well, they're

next to each other. Yeah. I mean, there's gotta be some. Yeah. Well, actually at the show last

night when they were unveiling a new Bronco RTR, they said something. They took a couple of jabs at

Jeep. They said Ford has the most 4x4 registrations in the country. Interesting. So they pulled some

data. So does that include like F-150s or something? Probably. That's a number. That is a real number,

I'm sure, but it's also like, how did you bend the figures to fit? Well, I'm sure some data

analysts did that. And they also said that Bronco had more consumer sales than the Wrangler,

not including fleets. So they had a couple of jabs that they were coming in with. Well, there,

I mean, the Bronco's been around as a nameplate for decades, but Ford was out of that market for a

long time. So they're kind of a challenger. And Jeep's been around longer too. I want to show you

one of my dream cars. Can I do that? No, I'm not going to allow it. Just kidding.

What do you got? What's caught your eye? A 55. Tri-5 Chevy. Very nice. But specifically,

this is a 55, isn't it? By judging by the rear tail. You should know if it's your dream car on.

I think it is. Let's see. So the Tri-5 Chevy. Let's see if they say. Yes, it is. And it's got

a modern engine. LT4, the supercharged V8. Oh my God. That is a death wish in a car like that.

Oh my God. So I stand by what I said. This engine in this car with this chassis,

slightly lowered in red and black, which is TFL colors, by the way. This could be my dream car.

And there's a segway here. Okay. I'm going to try to make a segway. Okay. We were just in the

Kia booth. So why the Tri-5 Chevy is called Tri-5? Because it's 55, 6, and 7. But they were a little

different each year. A little bit different. Yeah. Kia makes a lot of style changes on their cars.

Sure. And that's how I bring it around. So they might have a model, a refresh,

in a new model, and that could be the Tri 2025. Tell you right. That's where I'm going. Yeah.

So that's back in the day when every model year they had to like, I don't know if they had to,

but they did make substantial changes just to try to outdo each other. Super competitive.

Yeah, exactly. Super, super competitive. But 55 was the first year of memory service

for the small block Chevy. Ford had a V8 with the flathead since 32. They were the first

mass produced. Isn't that what you had? That's what I have in my car. Nice. 36 Ford. Yes. Then Ford

came out with their Y block in 54. So they beat Chevy by a year. But then the small block Chevy

was much better. Yeah. Was way better. And then they kept it in production for decades. And the

Y block was done much, much, much sooner. It had some oiling issues and other problems. But

small block Chevy legendary engine. I think I saw a spec last year or some information that

GM sold over a hundred million V8 engines or some insane number. Yeah. I mean,

they've sold a lot of similar engines to that. But the funny thing is, too, there's this,

they have the small block and the big block Chevy and a whole bunch of variations of those.

But then each division at GM had very similar engines. So you had a, the big block Chevy was

commonly a 454, but there was like a 455 Oldsmobile, I think, and like a Pontiac of nearly

the same displacement. But they're totally different engine family. So none of the parts like swap

over. No way. It just happened to be almost identical in displacement, which I just thought was

kind of funny. But at the time, those GM divisions were functionally like different automakers.

They were under the same tent, but they kind of had their own autonomy. So I would say they

weren't taken advantage of the synergies. Correct. I'm sorry. I'll stop. I'll stop using those words.

No, that's fine. In this case, it's the perfect word. Yeah. Yeah. So, so if you're into a little bit

of a classic rest of the scene, there's also an exotic car section here at the show, which is

a little bit behind, kind of similar to that over there by that stage. But you and I are not

necessarily Ferrari experts, right? I know next to nothing. And the same for me with racing. I've

never gotten into racing. So I don't know anything about the series or the cars or the changes.

It's just or the people or the drivers. I like working on cars, fixing them. Come on,

Max Verstappen, you know Max. I know that name. Okay. But that's about it. All right.

Lando Norris, no? I don't know. Okay. Lando Calrissian from Star Wars, but not Lando Norris.

That's great. Okay. There is a big presentation happening. So we need to move away from

I think that was a six pack. Maybe. Charger. That was that was wild, dude.

That was louder than I expected because we're not close to that thing. It's way over there.

So let's walk into a Cadillac booth for just a second because they're unveiling a Formula

1 car, something you know a lot about. Oh, I sure do. Right across from the Lincoln display.

Yes. Very warm and glowing with the sort of gold color. So the navigator is refreshed with like a

year ago. Yes. So I think it's quite stylish, but it's mostly a truck because it's kind of a frame

underneath. Yep. But I think the Nautilus is also newish. But in the last couple of years,

they've got a hybrid and a standard gas engine in that. And I drove one maybe six or eight months

ago. Very impressed. The interior is super nice. It was nice. It wasn't great to drive. I thought

the chassis could use maybe 20% more tuning work, but it was a very nice vehicle. Wait a minute.

We have to stop here for a second because this car looks very attractive.

Yes. Is this the Blackwing by chance? CT5V Blackway.

But I think it's going away for a little while. Maybe. I hope not. I hope not. Because this is

a spicy car and it looks amazing, I think. It does. It looks amazing. I love the color.

This is sort of a light bluish gray. What do they call it? Drift metallic. Drift.

Because you could drift this car. I would hope so. Oh, anyways. But oh, wait, this one says,

hold on, standard features. But that must just be, okay, I'm looking at the V. Blackwing. The V.

Because the Blackwing has the Supercharged 6, too. Yeah. Because the first thing I saw was here,

was three-liter two-turn. No, no, no. Don't look at that. Don't look at that. We don't want that.

No. We want this, which is what this car is, 668 horsepower, Supercharged V8. This is proper.

Yeah, because they flipped, like, these should be flipped to match. Yeah, anyway. Whatever.

You know what? I changed my mind. That 55 Chevy was not my dream car. I think this might be.

And look, what other large luxury sedan anymore offers that? Right there. Get in there.

Those hooligans at Dodge, I swear.

Manual gearbox. That alone is the reason. In the luxury sedan,

actually, would you excuse me? I need to sit in this car. Please. It's your show, sir.

I can't give you permission. Oh, wait, somebody moved the seat all the way up.

He's a very tall man, folks, if you didn't know. Andre the Giant. That's what they call me.

Alcantara on the wheel, it looks like. Look at my three pedals.

Look at this. Wow. Look at this. But you only have two feet. How are you ever going to drive it?

I don't care. No. No. Oh, Craig, have you driven this car? I have not, but that's probably a Tremac

TR 6060, I'm guessing. It feels good. Very stout gearbox. Very stout, but also short throw.

This, I think, you know, what is this, $100,000? Easily. $100,000. Starts at $101, $625.

Only. Undoubtedly without delivery. Really only $101.

Craig, if we're going to start a GoFundMe for Andre, he can go and buy one of these cars?

Craig, you have to take a quick seat. I'll sit around here. Quick look seat.

Move your seat a little. Here we go. Oh, yeah, that feels fantastic.

Is that good? Yeah. So just imagine, you have 668 horsepower at your disposal.

You are going to be flying. And that clutch is quite heavy. Not surprising for the amount of torque

it's handling. Yeah. But what matters more than the weight is the engagement window, right? And look,

red seat belt. Sorry I interrupted you. No, no, that's totally fine. What matters more than the

weight, I think, is how broad that engagement window is. So when you go to shift gears,

you can do it smoothly. Because the last thing you want is a clutch that's like a light switch.

And then you're going to be burning the rear rubber quite often. And I bet these Michelins

are not cheap. No. Like me, I'm cheap. So there's something else happening here because

the big three automakers are really entering the world of F1 for the supplying powertrains to

Red Bull Racing with Ford Racing and Cadillac Formula One team is here. So this is their latest

livery. So they're basically unveiling kind of their test look of the test car. And I have to

admit, I'm also not an expert in F1, but I've watched enough Netflix and I've followed Formula

One's, you know, my early childhood. So it's cool nonetheless, you know.

It is. It looks like a spaceship. That's all the aerodynamic add-ons, the suspension components,

the safety equipment. Very cool stuff. Very neat. All right, let's keep moving. Maybe we can even

end up at the Bronco. There's a V-Series, yeah. Oh, another supercharged SUV. Yeah, this is nice.

They're getting their mileage out of that 6.2 V8. They should. I mean, have they fixed the issue,

though, because they did have that problem that they were recalling it for, right? I think the

jury is still out, as far as I'm concerned, because they did have a recall over a service bulletin.

I mean, they had some problems, which is unfortunate. It's so sad. But they're selling more of those

truck engines than ever before. Really? I'm not trying to make any excuses or anything like that.

Totally. But I think, obviously, I want them to be successful, but do it with quality, right? Don't

jeopardize quality, I would say. That's, and speaking of quality, that's for me a big issue in

the industry. Like Toyota and Honda are always known for quality, but I feel even they have maybe

slipped in recent years. But they're not immune from problems. No, I mean, nobody is and nobody

ever has been. But I feel there's such relentless competition, and particularly with the American

companies, they're always worried about the next financial quarter and providing a higher stock price

or a bigger dividend to the investors, which is fine. I totally get that, but it often comes at

the expense of testing and component quality, I feel. Yeah, I see that with some of the Tundra.

Now I'm entering my truck world, right? Sure. Toyota Tundra engine recall. Tacoma has had

several recalls. Honda has a couple of recalls with powertrain in certain elements of it. So

we see that a lot now with every manufacturer. With those are a lot of powertrain issues you've

mentioned. They're using smaller engines and expecting more out of them. So you have a big

Block 464 back in the 60s or 70s or whatever. I mean, that's a pretty mechanically simple engine.

It's cast iron everywhere. It's heavy and big, right? There's a lot of margin, right? So there's

a lot of extra wiggle room for stuff. Let's walk by the Bronco display and I want to go to Jeep after

that, okay? Sounds good. But you have a downsized turbocharged engine. It's running a lot hotter,

it's doing a lot more work and it's not surprising you might have more problems.

Well, yes, but also I keep hearing, because I interview a lot of engineers too at all these

events that you and I often visit and they pride themselves on using the toughest alloys and the

best materials and designing everything in computer simulations and running millions of test cases,

right? They pride themselves on all the stuff, but I think the devil is still there. The devil is

in the details still. I mean, there's only so much testing and validation you can do virtually

and you can't really simulate like 10 or 15 years of real-world use in a few months. I know they try

and I'm sure they do a pretty damn good job, but still like 15 years is 15 years. You can't just

and they're showing some of their testing facilities hardware in the loop,

which I like because they're using like steering components and braking system components.

There are actually production parts on these test benches and running a lot of simulations

through every component. So that makes a lot of sense to me where you can run a lot of braking

applications and steering applications, you know, and test all of those things, which you've got to.

You've got to. Yeah, just how long do you test it for is the question too, but you wanted to see

the Bronco and also the Mustang. Yes. So we have a couple of Mustangs here at the Ford booth, which

is also giant. We have an RTR Mustang and Ford is doing this thing where RTR is an aftermarket

company and now you'll be able to buy certain models from the factory with RTR parts. So that's

really neat, I think. Absolutely. You get additional style, maybe some extra performance with factory

build quality and a warranty too. Exactly. And I was talking to some of the folks from RTR yesterday

and they were talking about because Von Getten, Jr. is behind the company and the brand, right?

And he's known for precision drifting, racing and off-road racing. And, you know, he can dial in,

you know, they're talking about bushings and spring rates and shocks. You know, they're very

precise. We would never know the difference practically. Yeah, I'm like, is that bushing really

new or is it old? Oh, I can tell just on the steering wheel. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, but I can't.

So then the Broncos, they have several here. Oh, there is another one. There's a Bronco over there.

I think they call it, which is, I believe this is a mid-engine one. This is bonkers one. Yeah.

But for me or what, $300,000, you could be a customer, a racing customer. Uh-huh. And you could

buy one. Only $300,000. Gosh. Makes the CT5V black wing sound like a steal. That's a base price

because there's also the mechanics you have to hire and the trailer. Extra tires, you need the trailer.

Tires. Oh, man. Oh, this is cool. A two door. What have we got? Yeah, you don't see those. Does

it have the manual? Let's see. Let's see. What are your guesses, folks? Do we have the manual or not?

No. This is, but they do offer that still. Good for them. That's the way I would get it. Yeah.

Yeah. I think it's getting rarer and rarer. I was just doing a truck podcast with Sam Abel

Semed. Oh, yeah. He's fantastic. You know Sam, right? Oh, absolutely. He's great. And we're talking

about that Tacoma is now the last pickup truck with a manual transmission. It's so sad. Right?

I get it. The automatics are, everybody buys them and they're more efficient. They shift faster.

They give you better performance, but I don't care. I still want a manual. How awesome would it be

to get the regular cab, short bed, four wheel drive F-150, Coyote V8 with a manual?

I think you and I would love that. But I think you and I are the only people who would love it.

Maybe, but okay. I know it'll cost way more to like validate that vehicle for like

quality and efficiency and everything. Everything we just talked about. Yes.

Just charge the customer more if I want a manual. Okay, maybe it's five grand more,

but how cool would that be? It would be neat. You know, a case on our team would have really

appreciated because he has a single cab dodge truck with a manual transmission. Nice. What engine

does he have? Cummins. Cummins. Of course it's the Cummins. It's the only way to be. I know you're

going to say like slant six or 318 from the, what is it, the old D series? We're fans of straight

six engines. Oh yeah. You're probably also, right? They're very smooth. Many of them have a very good

reputation for reliability. The slant six is legendary. The Chevy version is legendary or the

Chevy straight six and the Ford 300. Straight six. Just bulletproof engine. It was a dump truck engine.

Literally. Can you believe that? Yes. This is kind of cool though. Bronco Sport, which is a smaller

Bronco. Badlands Sasquatch with steel bumpers and a push bar right there. What do you think of this

Andre? Are people going to use this? Or is this just for show? So we're looking at the front

brush guard, kind of a bull bar on this. I don't, I think it's removable on purpose. So you have

four bolts in the front. So when you tap the other vehicle or the garage wall when you're

parking and it smashes the grill when it bends, you can take it off easily. I'm being facetious.

I know. I know. No. I don't know. The stylistically. It looks nice. I like it. But it covers the

Broncos sign. It does. But I appreciate that they have, like, they baked in a lot of off-road

capability into a small vehicle. Yes. And it is not super cheap. I mean, it's $45,000 for

this particular version. But what's the average transaction place? 50. It was north of 50 a few

months ago. 50 grand. Oh, for any car, right? Yes. So we're still, we're beneath that here.

But you're getting the highest level of a Broncos sport capability for that price. Yes, sir.

That's pretty neat. Speaking of small off-roading vehicles. I think I see what you're, what you're

thinking. But there's also this. Where do you want to start? Do you want to start at Cherokee?

Let's do the Cherokee. I think I want to swing to the left there. Cherokee is an iconic name. Come

on, man. It is. Yes. And it's coming back. And you know what I can't believe? I can't believe it

went away. Yeah, they, I mean, when they got rid of it, like, kind of initially, they brought the

Liberty out, which had these round, smiley-looking headlights. So they tried that. Yeah. And then

again, recently, what, two years ago, it was discontinued in the most popular segment in the

country, right? Which is a compact crossover. Yeah. But now I'm glad it's back. Well, it's,

if the segment is huge, there are probably dozens of vehicles playing in that segment.

Well, the RAF4 is not the best-selling car in the country. The top in the F-150. Yes. Yeah.

Ford doesn't want you to say that. But it's true. I'm sure I'll be quiet. It would beat the F-150.

It's true. We looked at the numbers. Yeah. Which four doesn't break them out?

No, they don't. So are you going to, like, analysts to get their data?

Exactly. Like, for example, Sam has some information around this. Because, well, you could look,

you could buy that data because it's registration-based data. So you can actually kind of look at that.

But RAF4, yes. But now this, they're coming back with traditional powertrains and a hybrid as well.

Yep. Do you prefer this or the Bronco Sport? Well, I haven't driven the new Cherokee.

I drove the new Bronco Sport. You know what I am not... This looks bigger than the Bronco Sport.

Yes, it does. You know what I'm not crazy about is the ground clearance doesn't look tremendously big.

Yeah. This is not a very high off-the-ground vehicle. And maybe they're going to offer

a, like, the equivalent of a Sasquatch package or something. That's a bit more for customers that will go off-road.

Yeah. But yeah, it's a handsome vehicle. The interior looks great. And it's spacious, too.

Yeah. Let me jump in here on this side. He's doing the TFL patent-pending seat test.

Seat test? If Andre fits, he sits. I do fit and I do sit. He's just tired of standing, folks.

Oh, I think I walked 15,000 steps already.

You know what? I'm glad it's back. People might say, oh, there's too much technology in here,

but I think every vehicle... You're not getting away from that.

...is becoming this way, right? Yeah. So I'm really super psyched. It's an iconic name. It's an iconic

vehicle. And now there's a new iteration of this vehicle. And it should be successful, I think.

Oh, and I think everybody loves Jeep. It's a well-known nameplate. It looks like a good product.

Almost. I would wager it could be a homerun.

Not a touchdown though. We'll know next year. When I see you here next year, we'll check the

numbers and we'll see exactly how the Cherokee is doing. I look forward to it.

But what do you think about this? This is an enigma. Okay. We're talking about the Recon

all-electric off-roader. Because it's expensive and it's got decent range. It's...

But not great range. It's... I gotta jot it down because, again, memory. 230 miles maximum, right?

Something... 250, I think, was in the press release, but maybe they've had enough...

Well, there are a couple of models. I think one is 230 and one is 250.

Yeah, yeah. 650 horsepower, 620 pounds of torque.

Wait, this has as much horsepower as a black wing, almost?

I believe so. That's why I jotted down.

Yes, no. You're not wrong.

But yes, to your point, 0 to 63.6 seconds. But do the hard-core off-road Jeep enthusiasts...

What? You're laughing at me. What did I do?

No, I'm laughing at your question. Because you were going to say,

do they care about 0 to 60 times? Is that what you were going to say?

I was going to say, do they want an EV even for off-roading and trail crawling?

Well, I would wager. I would wager, they might.

Because we off-roaded a plug-in hybrid Wrangler, which is now discontinued, by the way.

Yeah, very recently discontinued.

But we've off-roaded a Wrangler plug-in hybrid 4xE on electricity alone.

And the experience of being quiet and hearing the sand underneath the tires...

...and the rocks and being part of the environment is fantastic.

You can remove doors on this puppy, this recon.

And the glass comes out and the roof retracts.

But do they care about 0 to 60 times?

I mean, that's a fun novelty a few times. And then you're like, okay, the car's quick, great.

I'm not using that every day on my commute to work.

But with, oh, I'm going to make air quotes here.

Only, let's say, 250 miles of range.

That's still going to get you damn far out on the trail.

Because I imagine a vehicle like this, if you're climbing hills, going up and down mountains,

you're going to be very efficient because you're not at high speed where there's a lot of wind

resistance that's going to eat into that efficiency, right?

Yeah.

So maybe on a trail, that number is going to be even greater.

I would be a tiny bit nervous because I've uprooted in, you know, I'm from the West.

Did you know that?

The West?

Well, the Colorado Plains and mountains.

Yes, yes. You're from America's heartland.

If you say so. But distances are vast over there.

And when you're in the middle of Moab and you've been uprooting for like four hours and...

You got to get back to the camp.

And you got to get back to the camp and then we're looking for a charger.

That might be a little bit questionable.

So I don't think that this vehicle is for that.

But I think I just wish it was more affordable, you know what I'm saying?

$67,000 to start.

That's including destination.

That's 65 without destination.

Yeah, I think that's without.

So, dude, I was so psyched about this Moab addition of this recon.

But then I saw the $67,000 price tag.

And you had to sit down and get a glass of water because...

I had to do a breathing exercise.

So, you know what I'm saying?

So I know there'll be more affordable versions of this coming.

But I think if they threw in maybe in a couple of years they can, you know,

change the battery chemistry, improve that and just make it better and more affordable.

And I think it'll be super exciting.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's handsome vehicle too.

I wouldn't personally take the doors off if that's just me.

Really?

Why not?

Maybe if I'm on the trail or something.

But I see a lot of folks driving their Wranglers in the summer just on the streets

with the doors off and I'm like, I wouldn't do that myself.

But would you try it?

Have you tried it?

No, but I'm one that I don't care for convertibles or like even sunroofs.

I don't like them.

The glare bothers my eyes.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I liked you a lot more just a couple minutes ago.

Are you a convertible fan?

Yeah.

I'm sorry, it's okay.

You can be wrong.

That's fine.

No, I just I just have never cared for drop tops.

I know the structural rigidity can be compromised when you take your top down in your car

or or a SUV for that matter.

But let's let's walk around this way.

What's next on your list?

But no, I want to hit this point home.

Okay.

You should try being an arrangler with no doors because you're kind of like inviting

that once again, you're inviting the environment.

I don't care which environment you could be inviting the Woodward Avenue inside

or inviting a trail off road trail doing it off road properly off roading.

That would be probably pretty sweet.

But I see a lot of folks driving around like commuting to work with the doors off

and I'm just like, I don't know.

I don't want to bother with that.

You're also more lightweight without your doors.

This is true.

And then you could be faster and more efficient while doing.

Actually aerodynamics might be a problem.

Yeah.

But but you could look they took the doors off the gladiator too.

So it's pretty cool.

You guys did a big comparison test with the midsize trucks a while back.

We did.

I'm trying to remember I think the Ranger was the quickest.

You know the Ranger especially with the Ecoboost especially the 3.0 in the Raptor.

That's a bonkers powertrain for that.

This is still the Pentastar.

Yeah.

That's it's adequate but there are faster offerings.

What really impressed me though, you guys did a test with the Ram RHO

with the high output three liter hurricane straight six.

And then like there was a Raptor F-150 and then a Raptor R.

Yeah.

The Ram handily outran the Raptor.

The standard Raptor which I was very surprised by because I expected the Ford to be a little

bit quicker based on the numbers and like the weight and everything.

But the Ram was like boom gone.

Well because the Ford is aluminum body.

Yeah.

It's a little bit lighter and then the RHO is not.

But the RHO does have the power advantage in that equation.

So that was interesting.

I'm you know what I wonder.

I wonder if what Ford answer they've seen.

Shoot let's go to trucks.

I don't care.

I've piqued his interest now.

You want to go to the Ram the reborn TRX right?

Yeah because TRX has triple seven.

Triple seven.

It's like a Boeing.

Let's not bring Boeing into this.

No I'm trying to joke or get around.

No what I'm saying is the Raptor R 720 horsepower.

The new TRX 777 the new RHO 540 horsepower.

The regular Raptor 450 horsepower.

So what is Ford's answer to this?

It's a good question.

All they have to do is turn up put a smaller supercharger pulley on it.

Probably right.

And turn it up and there you go.

A little more boost how much power do you want.

Because you can get people don't think you're like a thousand horsepower

from Coyote the five-liter Coyote.

You can pretty much stock internals.

Maybe upgrade the oil.

I wonder if warranty will suffer when you do something like that.

Oh definitely.

So they may have to do something extra.

Yeah but but the new TRX is here.

I actually did an interview with Tim Kuniskes.

Believe it or not.

He's a very animated executive.

Can you believe they let me interview a CEO?

Of course I can.

You're one of the most respected truck journalists in the business.

Thank you.

And I'm not just saying that to be nice it's the truth.

Thank you.

Yes so yes.

Of course you could interview Tim.

By the way if you don't care about off-roading they have a street truck over here.

The 650 Hemi what is this?

I'm not familiar with this.

Oh dude it's all about this number.

It's this horsepower.

Herspers a 650 horsepower.

This is a Whipple supercharged that you could do at the dealership.

Not at the factory.

Yeah yeah.

So it's an option at the dealer with the Hemi I'm sure yeah.

Yeah there it is.

Yeah and it does have an e-torque system.

Supercharged and they kept the e-torque.

Well it's so integrated into the rest of the powertrain.

I know it handles like transmission shifting and stuff.

And it's also does it's a starter motor.

Oh yeah yeah yeah.

So it's also so you see the alternator in the starter.

It's almost interwoven into the engine in such a way.

And actually Sam explained this to me because this made no sense to me.

Uh-huh.

Because he said Andrea this is less complicated.

I'm like what?

Because to undo this you have to go back to the other system right.

So that's why it's less complicated.

Yeah look at that a four and a quarter inch pulley.

You want to go faster put put a good one on there.

We're looking underneath a hood of this Ram 1500 650 Hemi.

Yeah this is the pulley size.

So it just basically matters how fast the supercharger blades are spinning versus

the engine speed right.

Yep yep.

So that's kind of.

And I'm sure there's a lot of tuning work and optimization.

You can't just throw a smaller pulley on and expect to get more.

You've got to make sure there's enough fuel to go with the air or things are going to go kaboom.

And that's bad.

But look it's lowered it's got a chin spoiler.

It's extremely nice.

They make a damn fine truck.

It's it's hard to pick the best full-size truck right.

Now let's bring it back because I'm kind of going off the rails here.

Well that's your little treat for yourself.

You're the truck guy.

Yes we have to work that in a little bit.

Let's bring it back into the car world as we close.

By the way we almost walked everything.

Almost every square inch.

We didn't go into the off-road area.

There's a little bit of trucky off-road area.

Well if folks want real off-road they're going to just go to the channel and watch

your full reviews in Paris.

That's the only way to do it now.

No actually if you're in the Detroit area I think it's probably still worth coming.

Would you say?

To the show here?

This show is not as anywhere as big or as news-laden as it was.

No definitely not.

Absolutely it's a shadow of its former self but for many complicated reasons for that.

But yeah if you're a consumer and you're shopping for a new vehicle of course

come on down to I always want to call it Kobo Hall but it's Huntington Place now.

And you can sit in the vehicles, you can look at them, you can poke around

and get an idea of what you might want for your next car without like a salesperson there.

Well a person like maybe my parents right.

My parents are retired now recently and they're looking at different SUVs to travel the country in

you know kind of see places.

This would be a perfect place for them to come and sample different vehicles without the sales

pressure.

Correct.

You know there's nobody buy buy buy now now now.

And you can't look at the Dodge Charger here and and then immediately walk two booths over

and look at the Bronco Sport or something.

You can't generally do that at dealerships.

Yes there are dealer groups and some of them are like next to each other but it's super easy.

I wanted to see this.

Wander over there, check out a Bronco, check out an F-150 or a Camry or whatever.

It's all in one place.

Or I want to go for a ride in the Bronco on some bumpy terrain.

You could do that as well right there.

Yeah.

Where's the iron choker they have at the Mercedes display?

Only for G-wagons.

But I want to finish with this blue SUV here.

All right.

Because I've had some experience with this recently.

Well recently.

I went to Vegas.

Okay.

This is one of my favorite places actually.

Was this for CES?

No.

I missed CES because there was not a lot of automotive news at CES.

Let's face it.

There's a lot of supplier stuff and you've got to talk to,

oh, we've developed a new chip that controls suspension dampers or something.

It's important, but it's like, how do you translate that to consumer?

Exactly.

It's hard to imagine a vehicle around it.

But no, in December, Dodge had a program in Vegas.

Because it was also the last race of the year for the NHRA drag racing series.

And they had us drive this, the jailbreak edition of the Dodge Durango Hellcat.

You know, they have the coolest names at Stellantis, don't they?

Yeah.

They're very good.

Stellantis is very good at marketing.

Also, when they don't have the freshest product,

which the Durango is a very old vehicle,

but they're very, very good at keeping things updated

without making big substantive changes, right?

So did you know that if you went to the configurator on the jailbreak edition of the Durango,

there are seven million combinations of what you could choose.

So you may have one-of-a-kind built combo.

Yeah.

And if you order a paint to sample, they kind of have a program

where you can tell them a custom color.

You could have one-of-one potentially.

That's crazy.

And that's very uncommon for a mass market vehicle like this.

You get Porsche offers a paint to sample or Rolls Royce.

You can match whatever color you want.

But for a Dodge, that's very unheard of.

Yeah.

And a couple of things are like exterior colors, brake caliper colors.

There's also interior colors.

They have like five different seat belt color options.

Yeah.

And also just small things, right?

Small things.

But this SUV platform is 15 years old.

Can you believe that?

It's old.

But they've kept it.

They've done a good job of keeping it fresh without completely redesigning it.

And you know what does not get old?

What?

The sound of a supercharged Hemi going down outside of Vegas and just legally hauling some butt.

Legally.

Just got the speed.

We never promote anything dangerous or illegal.

I would hope not.

This is a family channel.

Yes.

This is a family show.

But what is the output of the jailbreak edition?

I don't remember.

It's the same.

It's 710 horsepower.

So you would think that at that point you've got plenty.

Well, it's not a triple sevens.

But it's enough.

It's just you've got enough.

It does weigh 6,000 pounds, this thing.

But it's motivated by that power in a proper way, I would say.

So it's pretty good.

Oh, undoubtedly.

I think we've reached almost the end of this show because we have Alfa Romeo.

I mean, every brand of Stellantis is here.

So you could basically visit all of them.

All in one corner of, I keep wanting to call it Kobo.

It's Huntington Place.

I think you could call it wherever you want.

You've lived here long enough.

I've earned the right.

You've earned your right to call it wherever you want.

So well, I really appreciate your-

Thank you.

Do you have any taste of what's coming up at Aro Esoterica here?

So what we cover-

Do you have a little taste for us?

We've got some features we did with Jim Hall, if you guys know Jim Hall.

Do you know Bob Hall?

Bob Hall is considered the father of the Miata.

He doesn't like that title because he's very magnanimous.

He was part of a team and he's like, no, we developed the Miata.

It wasn't just me.

That's a very proper thing to say.

It's a very polite thing to say.

So Jim is Bob Hall's twin brother and we're very fortunate enough

to work with Jim because he's local in the Detroit area.

So we've got a-

He's so smart.

Super smart.

Great analysis for all sorts of topics.

So we've got a number of videos in the hopper with him.

We also do some design-focused features because we work with a former car designer.

He's now a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

His name is Jason White.

Great stuff with him.

And then we focus on classic cars as well.

So I got my 36 Ford.

Do you do kind of a series with that or-

Because you've done several videos with your Ford, right?

Yes.

Those are my favorite.

But also, well, actually a lot of your videos are my favorite,

but you've never taken me on a ride in your Ford.

Well, the next time you're in Detroit in the summertime,

if you're here for Woodward or whatever, let me know.

You can drive it.

You know, one of the issues-

And I took Roman for a ride once.

And I think he was, this is maybe eight years ago.

I missed it.

You know, I've been to Woodward only once in my life,

the Woodward Dream Cruise I'm talking about.

Because the timing of it is just, I don't care about pebble as much.

I don't belong there.

But, you know, with the school starting and the kids,

and the time of year, it's just-

Late summer.

It's just kind of, there's a lot going on there.

And I've never kind of made it.

I would encourage you to take a couple vacation days.

It's the, what is it, the third?

Like Saturday in August.

It's supposedly the single, the largest single day car event in the world.

And I forget how many million people show up in like 40,000 vehicles.

But you bring a bag chair and a cooler, you sit yourself down on the sidewalk,

or in the media, and you just watch the cars go by.

You'll see everything.

And if you're not, if you're not from here, Woodward Avenue,

it goes, I don't know how many miles long it is.

About 20 miles.

It's insanely long street that crosses a bunch of towns.

I mean-

Yeah, it runs from Detroit.

Downtown Detroit up to Pontiac.

It actually loops around at Pontiac and comes back southeast.

But it runs through like Royal Oak.

There's Huntington Woods, Berkeley, Bluefield Hills, Birmingham,

a whole bunch of communities along there.

And it's just, I think it was the very first mile of paved road in the country.

I think that's what Woodward Avenue was.

Don't quote me on that though.

And also, isn't quarter mile significant because of Woodward Avenue

or am I hallucinating?

That sounds familiar.

I think I've heard that before.

Because I heard some, and please Google this, because I'm not certain,

because the distance between certain traffic lights was about a quarter of a mile,

which is where the quarter mile is supposed to come from.

So please verify that.

Verify, that sounds familiar, but I also, I don't know either.

Okay, but I'm sure we will after this show.

Your audience will know.

Somebody's going to leave a comment.

Somebody's going to call me dumb.

I'm pretty sure.

Pretty sure.

We'll call.

They wouldn't do that.

Craig, thank you very much.

Thank you.

A pleasure as always.

Great to see you guys.

Oh, and we end on the Hellcat.

It's going to hell, folks.

Quite literally.

With a Hellcat, supercharger wine and burning.

It's a meow.

It's a supercharger.

Meow and a tire burning.

Very, very cool.

Thanks for joining us.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

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65:36

The BEST And WORST Cars At The 2026 Detroit Auto Show! | Ep. 320

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