Wheel Bearings Mar 29, 2026

The Darth Vader Edition

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

80:14

Car

Hyundai Tucson

The Hyundai Tucson is a compact SUV, and the speaker uses it as a reference point for how the Santa Cruz feels to drive. This kind of comparison helps listeners understand the Santa Cruz’s car-like ride and cabin ergonomics.

Car

Ford Maverick

They’re comparing the Ford Maverick to another small pickup. The big topics are price, comfort, and whether you care about hybrid fuel savings.

Term

hybrid

A hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. They’re saying the hybrid version is the one that really helps with fuel economy.

Concept

New York Auto Show

It’s a big car event where companies talk about new vehicles. Sometimes they show new cars, and sometimes they just share news.

Term

MHEV

MHEV means “mild hybrid.” The car has a small electric assist, but you usually don’t plug it in like a full hybrid or EV.

Term

Prestige black package

This is a trim package that makes the car look darker and more “blacked out.” It changes a lot of exterior parts to black, while the headlights and tail lights still look like lights.

Brand

Genesis

Genesis is a luxury car brand from Hyundai. Here they’re talking about a Genesis car’s look and performance.

Term

turbo lag

Turbo lag is the “wait” you sometimes feel before a turbo really kicks in. They’re saying this system helps the car respond immediately.

Term

all wheel drive

All-wheel drive (AWD) sends power to more than one axle to improve traction. The speakers mention AWD as part of the GV80’s overall driving characteristics.

Term

hands-on system

A hands-on system means the car can help, but you’re still responsible for driving. It will remind you to keep your hands on the wheel.

Term

driver monitor camera

This is a camera that checks whether you’re paying attention. If your hands block the view, it will alert you to look at the road.

Term

airbag

An airbag is a safety cushion that pops out fast in a crash. If your hands are in the wrong place, the airbag can hit your arms and hurt you.

Concept

safe exit assist

Safe Exit Assist helps stop you from opening your door when another car is coming nearby. If it detects danger, it locks the door until the area is clear.

Term

blind spot monitoring

Blind spot monitoring warns you when a car is in the area you can’t see well. It helps you change lanes or open doors more safely.

Car

Infiniti QX65

The Infiniti QX65 is a midsize crossover SUV. They’re talking about it as a lower-priced way to get into Infiniti, plus its styling and tech.

Term

Qi wireless charging

Qi wireless charging lets you charge your phone without plugging in a cable, as long as your phone supports it. They’re discussing whether this car uses the newer version of that standard.

Concept

entry-level luxury

Entry-level luxury means the “cheapest” luxury cars in that brand. It’s meant for people who want a step up from regular brands without going all the way to the most expensive models.

Term

starting price

Starting price is the minimum price you’d pay for the car when you buy it. It helps you understand how expensive the entry version is.

Concept

third-row delete

They removed the third row of seats. That creates more space in the back for luggage and other cargo.

Term

nameplate

A nameplate is just the official model name the company uses for a car. Saying it’s a new nameplate means it’s a new model in their lineup.

Term

curb appeal

Curb appeal is how attractive a car looks from outside, especially when parked at the street. The speaker says the new Infiniti has “curb appeal,” tying it to feedback from clinics and buyers looking for something different.

Concept

cargo capacity

Cargo capacity is how much room you have for luggage, golf bags, and other gear. They’re saying the design looks sporty, but they worked to keep the trunk/back area roomy.

Term

LS6

LS6 is the name for the new Corvette V8 engine GM is using. It’s basically the next version of the small-block V8 that makes more power.

Term

dual injection

Dual injection means the engine can spray fuel in two different ways. The goal is smoother running and better efficiency/power.

Term

0 to 60 time

0 to 60 time tells you how fast the car gets from standing still to 60 mph. Lower numbers usually mean quicker acceleration.

Brand

Mercedes

Mercedes is a major luxury car brand. In this episode, it’s the company behind the new ultra-luxury van concept being teased.

Concept

minivan

A minivan is a family car built for convenience. It’s usually easier to climb into than an SUV and is great for hauling kids and gear.

Concept

pre-production

“Pre-production” refers to vehicles built before full retail launch—often used for testing, validation, and media previews. Because these cars may be incomplete or covered in temporary equipment, they’re harder to photograph and can look different from the final version.

Concept

refresh (not all-new)

A “refresh” usually means updates to styling and some interior features while keeping much of the underlying platform and powertrain. This is often cheaper and faster than a full redesign, and it can help a model stay competitive until the next generation.

Concept

touch sliders for temperature controls

Instead of turning a physical knob for the temperature, some cars use touch sliders on the screen. People sometimes dislike them because they don’t feel as precise or intuitive as real buttons.

Term

power folding rear seats

These are rear seats that fold down automatically with a button or switch. The episode says the stop-sale concern is related to these power-folding seats on specific trims.

Concept

water absorption

Water absorption refers to ethanol’s ability to pull moisture from the air. The segment ties this to increased corrosion in the fuel system and additional wear, which is one reason higher ethanol blends can be more problematic for older engines.

Concept

flex fuel engines

Flex-fuel engines are built to handle different amounts of ethanol in the gas. They use tougher materials in key spots so the higher ethanol doesn’t cause as much corrosion or wear.

LIVE

Sam Abuelsamid (00:02) This is episode 446 of Wheel Bearings. I am Sam Abuelsamid. My voice is almost back to normal.

Nicole Wakelin (00:09) You almost sound like yourself, Sam. You're so close.

Roberto Baldwin (00:12) This is so long. I'm so, I'm kind of concerned.

weird. When I get one of those colds where my throat starts to get messed up, my voice gets messed up, it does, for whatever reason, it takes a long time to recover from

Roberto Baldwin (00:25) ⁓ You know, there's did I tell you about the singers helper stuff?

Roberto Baldwin (00:31) So if you have like a sore throat or whatever and you're singer, there's a spray you can get and you can spray it in your mouth and you can like just, it sort of coats your mouth so it doesn't feel like all, you know, gravely. Kind of, it's like herbs and crap. But you put it, like I've used it a couple times. Yeah, yeah, so I've used it. It's herbs and crap. ⁓ Where's my?

Sam Abuelsamid (00:42) Sort of like an anesthetic type of thing.

Roberto Baldwin (00:59) I got like 15 bags, one for every thing that I do in my life. But you spray it and then you, yeah, I used it at a big show where I was like really sick. And it was like this really big show. was like two and a half hours of music and three different artists. And then I used it ⁓ at another show where I was so, like my throat was so sore that I had to use it between each song. And at one point I just told people in the audience, I'm like, this is not drugs.

I just have a sore throat and this helps. And everyone's like, okay, we don't care.

anyway, you can, like, I think it's called singer's helper or something like that.

Sam Abuelsamid (01:40) I will look for some of that. ⁓ In the meantime, Nicole, what have you been driving?

We didn't even introduce ourselves. We just went right...

Nicole Wakelin (01:48) got to Sam. I'm Nicole with Test Smiles.

Roberto Baldwin (01:51) And I'm Roberto Baldwin with Singers Helper SAE International.

Nicole Wakelin (01:58) There we go. I didn't even put it in the show notes. what I have this week, but I see you guys just be surprised. I have the 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz, which is, ⁓ about to be the 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz gone. Like it's discontinued. It's the end of the line, which I have to say I was a little sad because having had this now in my driveway for about a week.

Nicole Wakelin (02:22) and driving it quite a bit back and forth. ⁓ I really like this. he's showing us the thing. Singers, singers. It doesn't, it says soothing, soothing throat spray.

Sam Abuelsamid (02:28) there it is. Singer's helper. Singer's professional strength. No, it's just a soothing throat spray.

Roberto Baldwin (02:31) What? I don't think it says helper. I think someone just called it. Just a-

strength because I get paid to sing. This one's probably expired though. It's been in my bag for over a year so I should, I should probably get rid of this. I'm sorry. Sorry to interd...

Nicole Wakelin (02:43) Now it's going to kill him. ⁓ Probably. That's OK.

So Sahandi Santa Cruz, which is their compact pickup truck that never really found its legs.

neighbor bought one and he absolutely loves it. Absolutely loves it.

what I think is going to happen with the Santa Cruz one of my know my expert prediction is that it's going to be one of those vehicles that once it's gone, uh-huh, that people are going to want it, that it's going to be one of those things someone's going to hold on to one or the people that still have them. It's going to be like, oh, have it. You have a Santa Cruz. I love that car. No one's really buying it, but it's such a fun little it's such a fun little vehicle. I. It is.

has someone in his family who has a Maverick and loves their Maverick, but he really, just, it's just like, I like, it drives better. It's like everything about it feels better than the Maverick. The Maverick's more utilitarian and you know, he uses it first for stuff like that, but I think it's just, it's just such a, he's like, it drives so nice.

Like this driving, driving around in the Santa Cruz is like you're driving a like a nice little like crossover or something. It doesn't feel like a stripped down, you know, base. Well, you've compromised because you can't afford a full size truck.

It feels like, no, you want you wanted a smaller truck. Here you go. Enjoy it. And I love its little cover. It has this cover on the top that rolls out and it's a hard cover that rolls out and you can stand on it.

It supports. I don't have the number, which is terrible, but it supports.

Nicole Wakelin (04:14) Like a human can stand on that and it's fine. So it's very sturdy.

it's got the, but when you roll, when you open it up, then there's a little cord there that you can grab to pull it back again.

Nicole Wakelin (04:25) Right. So, I mean, it's, it's just, it's a great, it's a great little truck. I'm sad that it's going. You have, there's, it's available with, you can get it. I have the one with all wheel drive.

You can also get it with front wheel drive. The all wheel drive trims start at about 31,000 front wheel drive 29, seven. So not a huge difference in the starting price there, but it goes up to like, if they have the XRT now, which is the sort of their off-road version of things when they

When Hyundai puts XRT on something, that one's 41. The top trim, the limited is 43,700, which there's your challenge. It's a small truck. There's your problem right there. It's just the price doesn't work for what's available in the market now. And granted, like the Maverick wasn't around when it was introduced. It was, but I think this was first, wasn't it?

Sam Abuelsamid (05:15) came up pretty close at the same time.

They were super close together. Yeah. And the Maverick came at 20,000, so it really just like... It took... Yeah.

Sam Abuelsamid (05:19) Yeah, but like by less than six months. Yeah, it was like within just, yeah. Well, I think the thing that

Nicole Wakelin (05:22) was it six, was it really that close?

Yeah, the Maverick really undercuts the Santa Cruz.

Sam Abuelsamid (05:30) really wanted for the Maverick besides a lower starting price to begin with was the hybrid. And the fact that Hyundai never put that into this vehicle, I think was a mistake.

Nicole Wakelin (05:45) they saw the writing on the walls though. Maybe they were realizing they didn't. Let's see. I'm double checking. Yeah. So it was summer. Okay. According to the AI, my Google foo says that the Maverick came out in late fall of 25. That's not right. What? Wait, what?

Roberto Baldwin (06:00) What? Yeah, that's not true. According

Sam Abuelsamid (06:00) No, no, it was introduced in like October of 2021.

Roberto Baldwin (06:06) to AI, the Maverick came out four years after it came out.

Sam Abuelsamid (06:09) this this is why you never rely on AI for anything.

Nicole Wakelin (06:09) makes no sense. 22. Now I've got one that says 22. Yeah. So I can't even figure it out. I was trying to Google and, AI AI, um, making rude gestures. I just, I was trying to figure out how far apart they were. Uh, I believe you, I just somehow they felt further. They felt like they were more distance, but so honey Santa Cruz.

Fabulous car truck that's going away. It's just gas there. Like Sam said, there's no hybrid. So your base engine, a 2.5 liter four cylinder, 191 horsepower, 181 pound feet, or the turbo, which gives you 281 horsepower. That's a big difference. 191 to 281, significant difference. So if you're going to buy it, I'd buy the turbo because I feel like the base engine is just not going to have the same. If it's got two rows, you've got, um,

seating for five and it feels like a crossover in there. That's the thing that's really nice. Not a super high step up. It's not, it has a roomy back seat. Like other than looking in the back and going, ⁓ hey, it's not a hatchback with a cargo area, little tiny bed back there.

driver's seat, it is literally identical to a Hyundai Tucson.

Nicole Wakelin (07:17) Right? So it's, so it's, I mean, it really does feel like driving a little car and I, I loved it taking into the city. I drove it to the airport and then I parked it in the parking garage, which is always can be challenging because they're very tight spots and that's all that was left.

And when it's, when you get there and it's like the only spots left or a few, you know, it's the one that no one's chosen because there's like an F two 50 on one side of you. And you know, somebody parked right on the yellow line on the other side of you.

just enough room to wedge a car in there. You can still wedge this in there because I did that. So it's even great if you're in like an urban environment because of the sizing. ⁓ It can tow 3,500 pounds with the base engine with front wheel drive, 5,000 if you go up to all wheel drive. ⁓ You know, it has a 12.3 inch touchscreen. The tire trims get a 12.3 inch ⁓ instrument cluster to match. You got USB-C ports.

You have an attractive, comfortable interior. It's quiet. It's a really nice truck. It was fun to drive. I really enjoy driving this. This is the worst season for driving because there's just potholes everywhere and it's a mess. Still great. I nailed a couple of those potholes. Sorry Hyundai, but it was, it's still, feel it. You're like, crud, I did that, but still your, your feelings stay in and they don't like shake right out of your teeth, you know?

So I truly enjoyed driving this and I am I understand why it's going away, but I'm still saddened that it's going away because I think it's a great little truck and you've got that little XRT trim if you want to have a little bit more fun, you know, it's a little bit more like off roadie and has like a terrain mode with mud, snow and sand so you can get a little dirty. Mine is the ⁓ limited. Sorry, took me a second.

Nicole Wakelin (09:10) So it's beautiful. It has all the bells and whistles and everything. It's a lovely truck I thoroughly enjoy driving it but you know again forty three thousand dollars does it feel like it kind of sort of it does because it doesn't feel like a truck it feels like you're buying a top trim of a crossover of an SUV And that's not outrageous

I know from personal experience, you can put at least 15 bags of topsoil in the bed, in the bed of this thing.

an, I did not have a chance to properly truck it with bark mulcher or topsoil because there's still snow on the ground. So welcome to spring in New England. ⁓ so gotta wait another couple of weeks before that's practical.

when the Maverick and the Santa Cruz came out, there's this huge difference. It was like 20,000, like 27,000 I think was the original price of the Santa Cruz. Now, because the Maverick has just creeped up like crazy, I looked to see what the base price for each of them is with Destination. So I've already ruined the Destination game today. But also, Ford has some acquisition fee that they've added to their vehicle. ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (10:09) okay, we won't play the destination.

Sam Abuelsamid (10:14) Well, that's only if you're leasing. If you go

Sam Abuelsamid (10:17) on the Ford configurator and you click to finance instead of lease, it doesn't show you the acquisition fee.

Roberto Baldwin (10:22) Okay, so, you don't, okay, so if you do get the, paid by the leasy, ⁓ sorry. ⁓ If you do it with the leasy, the difference between the two trucks is $665. So if you get rid of the leasing fee, it's like $1,300. Between two different, between the two trucks, one is very, again, they're both capable, I like them both, but in order to get the nicer,

Nicole Wakelin (10:40) Yeah, I'm looking at the Maverick list right now.

Roberto Baldwin (10:52) The nicer truck really, if you wanna drive around. It's only gonna cost you like $1,300 more at this point.

Nicole Wakelin (10:57) Yeah, because you got so the base,

the cheapest Maverick and I'm just like glancing at the consumer site. Twenty one four five and it's a hybrid. The most expensive Maverick is the tremor at forty thousand six forty. But like the I don't know if I was going to buy Maverick. I like that Lobo. I just think it's fun. It looks cool.

the the the big difference between the Maverick and the Santa Cruz was the price and now that really doesn't it's not

Nicole Wakelin (11:21) Now it's not when you're looking at 28 for

one and 29 for the other. It's not. you for that 29, you're getting a much more comfortable, nicer, quieter, smoother riding vehicle in the Maverick. And I love the Maverick. Don't get me wrong. But for that little extra bit, you get a lot more. You get a lot.

Sam Abuelsamid (11:41) unless you want fuel economy. That is the one downside.

Roberto Baldwin (11:44) Yeah, there's the hybrids.

don't get the hybrid. That's where it really, that's the huge, but you get that hidden trunk.

Nicole Wakelin (11:46) You don't get the hybrid. That is the thing. You don't get the hybrid. so the difference.

do. So you know, so it's so I like the Santa Cruz. get why it's going. It makes sense that it's going. Am I happy about it? No.

Sam Abuelsamid (12:03) So according to Wikipedia, production on the Santa Cruz started in June of 2021. And the Mavericks started, I think in November of 21. Because they started deliveries in like December of 21. Yeah.

Okay, so like six, so about about six months apart. Okay.

what was the bottom line on the one that you had? On the limited that you had? ⁓ well I know you don't get monroney's but I figured you had gotten through the work of actually calculating it No, nevermind.

Nicole Wakelin (12:31) you assume I have a monroney.

not crunch the entire thing. I did not. I did not. So we're going with $43,700. It didn't look like it looked pretty close to ⁓ stock. there was something, not stock, but if there was something I missed, a random add-on, it wasn't much. So it's probably around that price, that $44,000 basically. Yeah. Yeah.

kind of a shame that it's going away, rumor has it that there will be something new, a new truck coming from Hyundai. ⁓ That's what I've been seeing online. It could be, perhaps on Wednesday.

Nicole Wakelin (13:16) Maybe it'll come next week. Wait, New York Auto Show is next week. It could be Wednesday, right? They have their,

Nicole Wakelin (13:22) is that when they have their press conference? They don't have a reveal or anything. They just have their standard press conference on Wednesday, Excuse me.

you know, of the time, know, manufacturers will give us a heads up a few days in advance, you know, give us some information under embargo so we can get stories ready and stuff. This time they're not telling us anything.

Roberto Baldwin (13:30) This time it's personal. sorry.

Everybody keeps asking me like, you know, have you heard it? What's I'm like, no, nobody knows. It's a giant mystery. None of us know what's happening. None of us have any idea. And I can't it's like random texts.

Sam Abuelsamid (13:53) According to Chris Pockert, he said, they're

Nicole Wakelin (13:57) I can't remember the last time there's been a reveal at an auto show that nobody knew about. Like, you're like, I don't know what it is.

while. I hope it's not more robots, because it is, I mean, at CES, like, hey, we did robots. We're like, yeah, okay, cool, but this is an auto show.

of disappointing. It's CES. mean, like it was cool, but I was also like, this is, this is a Boston Dynamics press conference is what it felt like.

Yeah. You're like, okay, for CES, you can do kind of do whatever you want when it comes to technology, but this is a car show. So it better be some sort of car. Maybe it's just a new Santa Cruz.

Nicole Wakelin (14:25) better be a car. Something well

Sam Abuelsamid (14:26) Something with wheels. Maybe

Sam Abuelsamid (14:28) there's a version of the Boston Dynamics robot with wheels.

Roberto Baldwin (14:32) Maybe, maybe it's a truck. It's a tiny pickup robot.

Nicole Wakelin (14:34) Now they just got finished showing

us all the hand motions. I can just remember them having the Boston Dynamite, like the humanoid one. And it was like, look at all these things. And I'm like, he's,

It'll be a new compact pickup with hands. So it can load the bed by itself.

Nicole Wakelin (14:48) With hands on the back, they'll just be a little robot

of you loading your own bags of mulch or topsoil into the bed, an arm will just reach out, grab them off your cart, and pack them into the bed of the truck. Yeah. So the ultimate combination, know, physical AI and automation and everything. All right.

We'll see. That'll be the big news. We'll have to see next week what was revealed in New York.

Sam Abuelsamid (15:21) Yeah. All right. Well, I also had something from the Hyundai Motor Group, but from the other end of the spectrum, ⁓ I had the ⁓ the Genesis GV80 Coupe Darth Vader Edition, ⁓ which is not the actual name. I call it that. It was actually the ⁓ the GV80 Coupe 3.5T ESC MHEV black all wheel drive with the the Prestige black

package. And basically on the Genesis models with that have the prestige black. Basically it means that like literally everything. The only thing on this truck that was not black was the lights. So red red red dual dual line tail lights on the back red you know white headlights on the front. Everything else was black. The grill was black. The wheels are black.

Nicole Wakelin (16:08) And if they could have figured that out.

Sam Abuelsamid (16:17) The badge, the winged Genesis badge on the hood was black. Inside, everything was black. The wood trim was open pore black wood trim. It looked really cool, but it was very, very black. Very, very black.

Nicole Wakelin (16:30) Yeah, but it was very black.

When the phrase is it, what's the only thing it's murdered out. Isn't that what they say when someone does that to their vehicle, it's murdered out.

So with the Prestige Black, with the 3.5 twin turbo V6 on here, it has what they call a 48 volt e-supercharger. So basically what this is, essentially it's got three turbochargers on it. There's two exhaust driven turbochargers, and then there's a 48 volt.

turbocharger that instead of a turbine that's driven by the exhaust, it's got an electric motor, 48 volt motor on there. So it can spin up almost instantaneously. So you get essentially no turbo lag from this thing. So you got the compressor side of a turbo hooked up to an electric motor. so this, you know what, I don't even know. It's got, it's,

Nicole Wakelin (17:30) Robbie and your ice cubes. All I can hear is ice cubes going clink clink. ⁓

sorry. I should have, yeah. Turbo lag, no more turbo lag.

power. And I will look up while I keep talking about this, because I can't remember how much power it has, but it has a lot of power. Yeah, and so this, that sounds right, yes, 409 sounds right. Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (17:48) Mega power, the mega power genesis.

Roberto Baldwin (17:51) 409, is it 409? There we go.

Nicole Wakelin (17:55) I'm looking it up. I'm looking it up right now.

I'm going to look up the mega power super power Genesis. Keep talking.

So, the coupe, the regular GV80, of course, is a three-row, more wagon-shaped crossover. The GV80 coupe, ⁓ like something else we'll talk about in a few minutes, basically slash the back part of the roof off, make it look slightly coupier, ⁓ and get rid of the third row. And really, this is probably what Mazda should have done with the CX70, when they got rid of the third row from the CX90.

did you say for horsepower Sam? What were you coming up with? 409 is correct with 405 pound feet of torque. Go Robbie. I have confirmed. Oh.

Roberto Baldwin (18:37) I shouldn't I mean I just looked it up

Roberto Baldwin (18:44) I can't keep that much that as I Remember when I was young and before I was a tech journalist like I would have like the names of every processor Available and then the names of every car stereo and their skew and then the names of every like car that I liked and their their their engine code all smashed into my brain and then as I've gotten

Nicole Wakelin (18:47) that much data in your brain.

Roberto Baldwin (19:08) Yeah, back in the olden times, but then as I've gotten older and I have to shove even more information in there every day, like I've given up trying to like, oh, let me remember the specs for this car. I'm like, that's not... Yeah, all that stuff's gone. It's all gone. Alpine made car stereos, I assume, in the 90s. That's all I can remember now at this point.

Sam Abuelsamid (19:15) It's it's first in, first out. know, the oldest stuff gets ditched. Yeah.

Actually, I think they still do. think they still sell those at Best Buy. ⁓ But anyway, eight speed automatic all wheel drive. You know, this has all the characteristics that we've generally liked about the GV80. You know, obviously quite a bit larger than a GV70. So, you know, the back seat is roomier. So you get more leg room, more head room. ⁓ You you can fit three in the back, although two will be much more comfortable in the back.

Sam Abuelsamid (19:57) Three zone climate control, ⁓ heated and ventilated front seats. It's got those ergo motion seats so after you've been driving for a while, it automatically starts to massage your back, work your lumbar so you don't have to squirm around in your seat when you're on a road trip. The seat does the squirming for you. So you don't have to squirm. ⁓

Sam Abuelsamid (20:26) You got all the usual array of driver assist features that you get on Genesis models, the highway drive assist too. So it's a hands-on system. You can take your hands off for about 30 seconds or so before it'll start to pester you to put your hands back on the wheel. But really, just keep your hands on the wheel. ⁓

Sam Abuelsamid (20:47) Yeah. But, you know, it also has the driver monitor camera on there. And so if you if you like to drive with your hand on the top of the steering wheel, that will tend to block that and you'll get alerts to, hey, I can't see your eyes. Pay attention to the road. So you might want to like, you know, move your hands down to the side of the steering wheel, which is frankly where they belong on modern vehicles with airbags anyway. If you have an airbag.

Roberto Baldwin (21:15) Knits a change from 2 to 10 to 9 to 3 because of airbags.

Roberto Baldwin (21:20) for the kids. I don't know.

and if you have an airbag, don't put your hand on the top of the wheel.

Nicole Wakelin (21:23) It's really for the adults. They're the one who needs to know.

Like they teach the kids to keep their hands lower now, but adults are still doing it the old way.

Sam Abuelsamid (21:31) Yeah, well, mean, you know, get stuck in your ways.

if I'm driving, I guess aggressively, it's always nine and three. But if I'm just cruising, it's two and 10 still. I don't know why.

you know, two and 10 is generally going to be fine. Yeah, it's but it's when you put your hand on the top of the wheel, when that airbag goes off, you're going to see your forearm come straight at your face and it's not going to be fun. Yeah, you're going to going to you're going to hit yourself, probably going to break your nose, probably going to break your forearm at least. And you're not going to enjoy it. So keep your hands on the side of the wheel where they belong. Yeah.

Why you yourself? Why you hitting yourself? Except only once.

Sam Abuelsamid (22:12) When they did the refresh on the DV80s a couple years ago, they went from ⁓ two separate displays for the infotainment and the instrument cluster to just one big 27 inch OLED instrument cluster panel. And it's not even like what you find on most Hyundai's where you've got one sheet of glass that's actually got two separate displays under it. This is just one big sheet of OLED display under there. And it looks really nice. It's got all the usual features.

This is a, know, for if you're looking for something, you know, that is very premium feeling, very murdered out feeling, you know, then and, you know, fairly quick and surprisingly fun to drive for a decently large ⁓ SUV slash crossover. You know, this is definitely something to consider. The yeah, the only option on this one ⁓ was that ⁓ the black paint.

which was 650 bucks. So the grand total on this, which is the one downside, $91,545. Yeah, so that's a bit of change. You wanna take guesses at the destination?

Sam Abuelsamid (23:36) Robbie gets it, it was $14.95. Yeah. Yeah, so, you know, it's a very comfortable, very smooth car to drive. you know, when you put a seat cover on the back seat, couple of Corgis will be very comfortable back there when you go to pick them up from the groomer. So, yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (24:05) So I sent Sam video the day of a picture of a corgi being a corgi. And now, and I'm not mad about this, all I've got in my little Instagram feed is corgis. Like I said, one corgi video comes up. I said it to Sam, corgis forever, yeah.

Roberto Baldwin (24:21) You slow down, you watch, share anything on anything, and boom, that's all you get for like six months. All right, well, there we go.

Nicole Wakelin (24:27) That's all it took. I'm like, gosh, apparently corgis for the next

Nicole Wakelin (24:35) I could do a lot worse for sure.

Yeah. One of the ⁓ neat features that the GV80, like a lot of its ⁓ siblings from the Hyundai Motor Group has, is the safe exit assist. ⁓ So they've got radar sensors in the roof, in the rear passenger compartment, so on either side. And there's also the outside radar sensors for the blind spot monitoring. ⁓ If the... ⁓

If the outside sensors detect a car, like if you pulled over to park ⁓ and you pulled over, you stopped, and the sensor on the left-hand side detects a car coming up in the lane beside you, ⁓ if you go to try to open the door, the door will not open. It'll lock the door ⁓ because it doesn't want you to open the door in front of a moving car. ⁓ And then once the car passes, then it'll automatically unlock and let you open.

Sam Abuelsamid (25:36) So Safe Exodus Assist is a very cool feature. Yeah. All right, let's carry on. ⁓ let's see. ⁓ Nicole, you went to New York the other day.

I did go to New York the other day. I got to see the Infiniti QX65, which is their new midsize crossover, I guess. It's very coupey looking, as you were talking about vehicles that are coupey. It has a coupe styling to it. I like it. I think it looks good. ⁓ It starts at $53 and change, I think was the pricing on it.

So they're sort of considering it their new entry level-ish vehicle. If you happen to be looking for a Genesis that's a little bit more affordable. Wait, what happened? I just.

Nicole Wakelin (26:35) Yes, exactly. So the QX65 will be the entry level one. ⁓ It looks beautiful. I mean, it looks very infinity. They have the autograph trim on display for us in New York to take a good look at. And it had that red exterior that is just absolutely gorgeous. Sunfire red, which has like flecks of gold. It's their sort of signature color for this vehicle. It gives that...

It gives Mazda's Crystal Soul Red Metallica run for its money, but not quite. So it's a beautiful paint. Inside it has a red interior with all the... In the autograph, it looks like the typical autographs. It has the quilted stitching and there's, you know, leather trim on the door panels and on the center console and on the dashboard. ⁓ It's beautiful. It has Eclipse audio system that you can get. I think it's 20 speakers. It has... Okay, now I have a question. I wonder if you... So...

It has Qi wireless charging. Is it Qi 2? Is that what we're calling it now?

Sam Abuelsamid (27:35) Well, Qi2 is the new version of it. That's the one where they've basically integrated the magnets that, know, when Apple brought out MagSafe on the iPhone a few years ago, and they basically contributed their spec for that to the Qi. Qi is an industry standard. They contributed the magnet spec to that. So they've integrated that into the Qi standard. So Qi2 means you get a, it's also higher power.

Is that all that the Chi-2 is? Is it just the magnets?

It does do higher power. I was trying to find that out. That was something I hadn't had a chance to look up and I was wondering if it was just, okay, so the magnets now in the high, so it has Chi-2, which sounds like a, like a, like a move Chi-2. Anyway, so it has a 12.3 inch displays instrument cluster and for the touchscreen. ⁓ It looks beautiful. We didn't get to drive it. Of course it has a really big cargo area.

Sam Abuelsamid (28:04) Yeah, it goes up to think 25 watts now.

Nicole Wakelin (28:26) There's 67.7 cubic feet when you fold the rear seats, 35.8, if you don't, it looks cavernous. In fact, I was doing videos of it and I popped the lift gates so that I could see in the back and they had a set of golf clubs, you know, lengthwise across the vehicle golf clubs fit in there.

They have like four sets of golf clubs and then, and then they threw like a carry on roller bag, like on top of it to prove like you can smash anything in there. ⁓ so it looks really good. They're very.

Of course, they're very excited about it. had, you know, a lot of their executives, they're talking about it. ⁓ and the idea is they think that it's, it's, know, it's, it's going to be an entry level vehicle for people who want to get into infinity.

It still does all the great infinity things. They're releasing a lot of cars. They have a lot coming up in the coming years. so they're really trying to reinvigorate and there was sort of a, you know, at one point, and I can't remember who was saying this, but you know, like,

Infiniti and Nissan, need to exist together. You know, they're the, I know they're the same company, but they're both important for both companies to succeed. And they think they've delivered the right vehicle for the right moment. It's such a popular segment. ⁓ and this one has the luxury reportedly it has the power and is, is wonderful to drive according to, ⁓ their executives who spent some time already driving it. they say it's great. How do we know the executive said it was awesome.

Roberto Baldwin (29:46) The executive said it's awesome.

Nicole Wakelin (29:51) Um, but it does, I mean, in terms of what they showed us there, seeing the styling, seeing what they did, the quality of it, they did a good job. So if the drive lives up to that, I think this could be a very, very popular vehicle. And at a starting price of 53, 990, it does make it achievable. The, the, um, autograph, which they had, was what they had there. That one starts at 62, 590. So, you you're looking at an extra $10,000, but just

Looking at that price and what I saw, it fits, it matches. You don't look at it and think, oh, that should be, that should not be almost, you know, $62,000, $63,000. Nope. It looks like it, it, it, pricing fits the styling and the quality of the vehicle. So I think it, I think it was pretty, pretty neat. I think it was pretty cool.

Sam Abuelsamid (30:42) Yeah, I mean, you know, like the GV 80 coupe. Yeah, this is basically a QX 60 with the back part of the roof chopped off to coupify it. And from the driver's seat, it's identical to a QX 60. Yeah. And but and the reason why you have so much cargo space is because with the roof chopped off, they ditched the third row. So you have all that room that used to be used for the third row is all cargo now. So. Mm

Right. So it's, which is a clever thing to do because you

know, if you wanted to, you, you, when you get that coupe styling, can really eat into your cargo space. So by how they design this, you still get the cargo room. You don't have a third row, but if, right. So if you don't, yeah. So it is a best of both worlds thing. I really liked it. I thought it was great. I'm looking forward to driving this. The first drive for this is later in April, I think is when the drive for this. So in about a month.

Sam Abuelsamid (31:19) It's still the same size as a QX6, same length as a QX60.

Nicole Wakelin (31:35) We will know if it drives like the executive. So we'll see if Brian lied to me. I'll call him out and like Brian, you liar. This drove terribly, but we'll see. Yeah. Uh, no. Um, the Brian whose last name I can't say, right. Who is in the interview that I think you're putting into the show. Moran. Yo, thank you. Because it's not spelled that way. And so now I have it in, I mean, you say it looks like mirror, mirror. has a G in it. My brain wants to give it.

to, it has to, I look, it doesn't look like it should be pronounced the way that it's pronounced. And now I want to pronounce it like the letters, not like he said it, ⁓ but, ⁓ yeah. So we'll see. So we'll see. I think it was, I thought it was an interesting vehicle. I think they've did a good job. ⁓ you know, they've, they've, it could be quite successful for them if it drives as nicely as, as Brian says, it's all on Brian shoulders now, ⁓ no pressure. ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (32:37) So first tell me your name and your title so I have it officially.

Maragno the Director of Product Marketing at Infinity USA.

Brian Maragno (32:51) It's an all new nameplate for us. It completes our trifecta of SUVs in the lineup. And it offers a bold two row SUV with a lot of sporty influence to complement the QX60 and QX80. ⁓

One of the reasons we even came out with the car is because of the segment opportunity. It's a very large segment. About half a million units a year. So I think we're coming into a segment that's right for opportunity and we're offering something that's a little bit different. ⁓ The boulder and design, 21 inch wheels on the autograph. ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (33:29) and gets what makes it different.

Brian Maragno (33:37) You saw the Sunfire red color. Beautiful color. it has something, I think it has some curb appeal. It's maybe a little bit bolder for people that are looking for something a bit different. That's the feedback you got from clinics and things. We're excited about it from that standpoint. Coming into a, let's face it, half a million units a year. That's an established segment. with an all new nameplate. So I think we came out with the right packaging.

Nicole Wakelin (34:06) Now who do you think is the person who's going to get this? You know, I the QX80 is the great big one. Where does this fall? Who is the person this is targeting?

Brian Maragno (34:14) Yeah, so there's really kind of like two prior fire profiles client profiles that we're looking at You've got and we're thinking might skew mail actually ⁓ But in terms of life phase you've got some that are maybe in their Mid-30s they're stepping up from mainstream vehicles Don't have a family yet. So don't need to have interior space for people need a third row ⁓

looking to reward themselves, kind of moving up in the world. And then the other side of that, people that are maybe in their mid-50s or older, kids have left. They don't need to accommodate that anymore with a third row. And they too are looking for something that's a little bit edgier, reflection of themselves, little bolder, and then rewarding too. At the same time, I to make sure I point out, these are people that are active.

I saw the one that you have on display here, you have it, I would take pictures of Cardiner and there's like golf clubs in the back, like a suitcase on top of it. this isn't just a cruising around looks pretty, you expect people to be doing stuff with us.

yeah, it's not a car of compromise. so, yeah. And we did that with the golf bag, especially, just to, talk about cubic feet, availability of space and all those sorts of things, but you've got to make it connect and make it real. So you put four golf club bags.

Nicole Wakelin (35:46) there are four in there? I just saw the one in the front. It'll fit seven altogether? Okay, because right now there's, well, I could see there one in the front and then like, like.

is a bit of an education piece that we talk about the design as being kind FX inspired but one of the shortcomings of FX was that raped roofline it did impact on cargo capacity. What the design team have done a really great job of is managing to maintain that kind of fast back line but you saw for yourself no compromise to

huge cargo area when you open that up, which is impressive. So for the infinity customer, because like you're saying, these are people who are moving up, you know, not generally selling these to.

So getting the moving up buyer, like how are you making, like that's a hard buyer to get because it's the first time that they've ever got a luxury car. say they're just, have their, the world is their oyster. What about this do you think is going to make them say, I want the infinity versus Alexis versus whatever other premium brand they could make?

⁓ I think for us, I go back to what I mentioned earlier, we're coming out of the vehicle that's a bit different. ⁓ Yeah, it's got the same kind of exterior-wise capacities, right? We'll get the spec sheet.

But from a design perspective, we're looking at something that is a little bit edgier, that stands out a bit more. And we're going to bring people in that are looking for that. And that's kind of who we've always attracted as a brand. We always come out, you mentioned the FX earlier. This vehicle is, fact, like Dom mentioned, it's inspired by the FX. ⁓

That's our heritage and we kind of look at some of those out of the box sort of executions and that's who we built our brand off of, those that we're with, those clients coming in. yeah, I'm not concerned about it. somewhere around 20 % of our buyers, depending on the model, come from our Nissan. ⁓

So ⁓ we've got a, the data tells us that and we've got a history of that and we don't go out there and try to get these on customer pillage. But there's people that are, look if they're going to stay in the family, that's a good thing, right? Rather that than they go elsewhere. So we're pretty confident that getting the move ups isn't going to be an issue for us, especially with the price position.

the price is good. As far as the engine that's in there, you have the DC turbo, sounds like decent little horsepower numbers on there. Why the choice to go with that engine? Like there's, there's, you know, hybrids and maybe some people are still doing electrics and back and forth. Like what's the choice between with choosing that?

Brian Maragno (38:36) Well, where it really came from with that engine, first of all, we were looking at power training options. ⁓ That was one we have in the family, it was a QX60. And we sat back and said, all right, well, if we were to put it in this vehicle, we need to make sure that we can get it tuned in such a way that really complements the way the vehicle looks from the exterior, from the design. It has to kind of go ahead.

So the powertrain engineers got to work on doing just that because they understood what we were talking about. It looks like it is a sporty SUV. ⁓ And they executed it perfectly. They've driven the vehicle many times, many times. And ⁓ the acceleration is confident. It's fun. And I'm talking about everyday driving too.

city and I'm coming on making a left turn at an intersection I reaccelerate it it moves merging onto the highway

real push to the vehicle. So they did a great job tuning the powertrain to get it to where it matches exterior design execution.

Nicole Wakelin (39:53) talking about matching the inside, like when you open the door, fabulous interior. that one, like there's just this red leather everywhere and it's quilted and it looks like a luxury, it's like a gorgeous interior. You see pictures and you're like, yeah, okay, but sometimes you open it you're like, this is really good. So that's part of trying to make it match. I feel like this interior is leveled up compared to other infinity interiors.

it's funny you say that because on the autograph, yeah, you're seeing here hits its its I would say inspired by that it matches the specifications on our autograph on QX 60. Okay, maybe it's the red But it's the Semi-in-a-line leather interior is this and and it has a different stitch pattern, but it does have the quilting Yeah, it's like a symmetric in this one, which I've seen how Fonz's head is inspired by the way that a kimono

Nicole Wakelin (40:30) Maybe the **** just like pops.

Brian Maragno (40:49) But the, you from the open pore wood to the quilting semi-aniline on the instrument panel, passenger side, those all, you put QX60 and QX65, again, different execution in terms of how it's stitched and you have different color options, but the premium quality is there. It's still there. To have an autographed name for our brand, it has to be special and the interior is where it really has to shine.

So this would not be, we wouldn't have called it an autograph or top trim. Okay. It didn't meet those specifications and they're very similar to QX16.

really gotten its feet under it as being like a premium trim within it because you know other like there's Denali and things and different brands that are their premium that are really recognized. Do you infinity customers recognize that autograph?

Brian Maragno (41:35) And I think, you know, part of it for us is what you've noticed, people are taking notice of the interior and then some of the other components too, where you get the Glips system, you got 21 speakers in the vehicle, two of them in the headrest. There's certain pieces of the execution of autograph that are really starting to get attention.

attention of not just media but also obviously customers as well. So but the proofs in the numbers right so QX80 is an example 25 % of our sales mix right now is the autograph on QX80. And it's around 22 % on QX60. We expect that maybe even higher on QX65 so that we're seeing it in the mix right it's grabbing its unfair share and we're really excited about that.

Nicole Wakelin (42:33) products to fill out the lineup. ⁓ Autograph will be part of that story. And if you had to pick one thing, just one, that is your favorite feature of the QX65, you can't say everything, you have to pick something that you think is your favorite feature, what would that be?

Brian Maragno (42:50) really love the acceleration and the drive feel. It is a lot of fun to drive. ⁓ For me, it's like if I'm driving a car and I'm kind of, especially the first time or first few times, and I'm really enjoying putting it through the paces, ⁓ I start finding myself smiling and those sorts of things. And this car did that and I'm so pleased about it. And we're really proud about it.

is just the work that went into it to get everything done. You know, there's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but at end of the day, how does the car drive? And it's really important. We like to consider ourselves a driver-centric brand, and part of that is just the way it drives, you know, performance. It can have all the nice accoutrements, right, and all those things, great sound systems and everything, anyway, how does it drive?

Nicole Wakelin (43:42) and I'm really proud of that, I really enjoyed it. Excellent, thank you.

Sam Abuelsamid (43:45) ⁓ All right, ⁓ well, let's see, ⁓ where should we go next? ⁓ Yeah, no, I'm not doing things in order. Let's go to Corvette next.

Nicole Wakelin (43:51) He's bouncing all over the place. He's not doing things in order. Where next?

I'm looking at what he's highlighting. I'm like, where's he going? Okay. Corvette. Okay.

the other day Chevrolet announced the twenty twenty seven Corvette Grand Sport. ⁓ And this is it's yet another trim level of the Corvette. It brought back the Grand Sport. This is the fifth time they've done a Grand Sport version of the Corvette. So this sits above the base stingray. So you get the stingray is the entry level Corvette, then Grand Sport and then zero six zero one zero one X.

And there's actually two Grandsport now. used to be just one. Now there's two. There's Grandsport and Grandsport X. And the X means it's a hybrid. that. Well, it's that too. is also super fast. So the Grandsport X basically replaces the e-ray in the lineup, the Corvette e-ray. ⁓ So the thing about the the Grandsport and also the Stingray.

Nicole Wakelin (44:36) Dun dun dun, that sounds cool.

Nicole Wakelin (44:41) I feel like the X should mean it's just super fast or something. Also super fast, okay.

Sam Abuelsamid (44:59) is they are the first vehicles from GM to get their new sixth generation version of their small block V8, which they're for the for the Corvette, they're calling it LS6. So for the last 20 ish years, apart from the the Z06 and CR1 currently, which have a 5.5 liter V8, all the Corvettes have had 6.2 liter V8s.

So now they're going up to 6.7 liter. So basically, it shares the same bore spacing that every small block V8 has had since 1955. Camp shaft is still in the same place. Pretty much everything else has changed. They've got a longer stroke now than they had before. So that gives them the extra displacement from 6.2 to 6.7 liters. So the LT-

Sam Abuelsamid (45:57) 2 which is what was the and the base engine in Corvette before it's 490 horsepower or 495 if you got the performance exhaust now the performance exhaust is standard and you get 535 horsepower and 520 pounds feet of torque with the LS6 and then if you get the this the Grand Sport X with the hybrid it's 721 horsepower so the

The Grand Sport, the big difference between the Stingray and the Grand Sport, the Grand Sport gets the wide body look that you had on the e-ray and it's on the ZR1, Z06. So you got the wider rear fenders, bigger wheels and brakes, but same amount of power as you get in the Stingray, at least for the base Grand Sport. And it's got the upgraded interior that they brought to Corvette last year, so you got rid of the...

The row of buttons along the center stack, those are gone. Those went away last year.

So you got a little more power. this engine, there's some other things that they changed on here. It's now got ⁓ dual injection, so you got both port and direct injection in there. Better combustion. ⁓ It should have better drivability than the 6.2 liter did, which was already really good. ⁓ So they're not revealing.

full performance numbers yet, but with the 6.2, I think the last time I drove one of those, I got something like 3.4, 3.5 seconds, 0 to 60 time, and the e-ray was 2.6, 2.7, so now you got a little more power in both of those. One other change with the hybrid that they brought over from the ZR1X, when they did the ZR1X last year,

They, it's got the same battery that was in the e-ray, but they're using more of it now. So they got a little more voltage from the battery, which means they also got a little more power from the electric motor that's driving the front wheels. And so you get better, a little better acceleration off the line, a little more sustained power because you're using more of the battery. And should be, should be quite enjoyable to drive, I think.

Nicole Wakelin (48:29) sounds like it. The pictures look fabulous. I love the photos, the engine. That just, that's wild.

And then a version of this engine is going to be going into the full size pickups for 2027, which are coming. They'll show those later this year, the Silverado and the Sierra and then the SUVs, the full size SUVs will get it as well. So this will be replacing the six point two. And rumor has it that the five point three liter that they've used in the trucks is going to also bump up to five point seven liters. So, again, same kinds of changes. ⁓

So even while they've been working on EVs for years, they've also invested a bunch of money into the small block to keep it relatively relevant.

Nicole Wakelin (49:17) Do you think they'll sell a ton of them?

Roberto Baldwin (49:22) Corvettes or the trucks. I mean the Corvette doesn't the Corvette

Roberto Baldwin (49:25) sells well for what it is it but it's it's you know It's a it's no Mustang. It's not gonna. You know, it's

They sell about 30,000 Corvettes a year, which is actually really good for this type of vehicle. Yeah. ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (49:34) Is that how many this earlier?

Roberto Baldwin (49:39) hair were gray, I'd be interested.

Nicole Wakelin (49:43) You don't have quite enough gray hairs, not yet.

have enough gray hairs yet. As soon as I get into like World War II documentaries, then I'm like, woo, let's look at this corvette.

Sam Abuelsamid (49:48) ⁓ Yeah, you know, and I'm sure the

Sam Abuelsamid (49:54) I'm sure the price will go up a little bit. The current Stingray starts at about $73, so it'll probably go up to about $75 or something. Given the performance that this thing is capable of, when you compare it to Porsche 911s, Ferraris, McLarens, it's still a bargain. It's still way cheaper than any of those cars. You get a lot of bang for your buck. I added up the numbers the other day.

Sam Abuelsamid (50:24) Corvette only amounts to about less than 1.5 % of Chevrolet sales. it in and of itself won't matter much, but Corvettes draw people into showrooms and then they end up driving off with a Trax or an Equinox or a Silverado or a Tahoe. Yeah.

Roberto Baldwin (50:52) or chevette. Bring back the chevette.

Nicole Wakelin (50:53) My best friend in high school had a chevette.

Roberto Baldwin (50:58) It's like a Corvette, but for shoving things. ⁓ Because of last couple letters.

Nicole Wakelin (51:00) But not at all. It's like a corvette, but not.

So ⁓ Robbie, tomorrow you are flying off to ⁓ Alabama to visit the Mercedes factory there. ⁓ I don't know what they're gonna show you, but ⁓ this week Mercedes teased out something called the all new Mercedes MyBach VLS. ⁓ And basically from what we can see in ⁓ the teaser image,

Sam Abuelsamid (51:36) This looks like a Mybok version of their new midsize van.

Nicole Wakelin (51:40) Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It's exactly what it looks like. Yeah.

whatever trim level you get, whether it's just, just need a van or I need a fancy van, it's pretty rad. So if they're going to do a MyBOK version, that makes a lot of sense. I'm all in. Well, it's very, it's interesting because in other countries, like that's the sort of fancy limousine because they're really easy to, yeah, especially in Asia. If you take a, if you have a chance, if you visit Asia and you're like, I want to treat myself to a, you know, a car service.

Nicole Wakelin (51:53) You're all in on this idea.

Roberto Baldwin (52:11) get a van. We used one like when we left Japan, we got windows getting a van to the airport. We're like, ooh.

Roberto Baldwin (52:21) So yeah, if there was a MyBOK band, that's yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be quite.

Nicole Wakelin (52:24) That would be pretty slick. Yeah, that would be amazing. That's exactly

what it looks like from that one little piece that you can see the back of it. looks like that, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep, yep.

Sam Abuelsamid (52:30) Yeah, I they show you like the rear corner window.

Roberto Baldwin (52:33) Yeah, that's the that's the taillights of the van. So.

So it's going to be interesting to see how these luxury vans do in the U.S. market. You know, like you said, in Asia, you've got stuff like the Volvo EM 90. There's the Lexus LM, which is the Lexus version of the Toyota Alphard. And there's a ton of these in China, especially. They make a bunch of different vehicles like this in China.

And then of course, Mercedes will also be competing with the the Faraday FX Super One.

Nicole Wakelin (53:13) It's definitely happening. Totes. Totally.

Roberto Baldwin (53:19) It's, it's, you know, they're,

you know, they're trying not to use the word, ⁓ van too much. I think just because there's just this weird anti-van sentiment in the United States still.

Roberto Baldwin (53:36) Yeah, all SUVs are just minivans that are tougher to get into. That's it. Yeah, it's just like a worse minivan. That's what it-

Nicole Wakelin (53:40) They don't have sliding doors. It's the slide. Nope. It's different vibe. They do feel

different in the front though. Like the minivans, it's the windshields are different. Like there's, they're so long. I don't know. Minivans have a different vibe in front.

Roberto Baldwin (53:53) They're easier to drive. don't they feel more like space. Yeah, this one doesn't really count for the front, but.

Sam Abuelsamid (53:55) This is more of a vehicle to be driven in than to drive. This is for getting

Sam Abuelsamid (54:02) out on the red carpet at the Oscars. with the sliding doors and everything, it's much easier to get in and out. You get the nice big reclining seats in the back.

Roberto Baldwin (54:05) Yeah. So, so yeah, it'll, it'll be interesting.

Nicole Wakelin (54:05) There you go with your big puffy designer gown.

Roberto Baldwin (54:16) The people that end up buying minivans, end up loving their minivans, they're just like, I can't believe I was gonna buy an SUV and I bought this and now I can take my kids and I also ride bikes and I also camp and I also this and all that I can do in my minivan and it's amazing.

loves it. true, you know, good point. I've literally never had known anyone who had to mini van is like, they just have to hide.

Sam Abuelsamid (54:36) They just don't want to be seen in it. They love it. They just don't want to be seen in it.

Roberto Baldwin (54:39) Either well, then they become some

of them become like, you know, they become ambassadors for the minivan. They like they're at their friend's house. They're like, well, you got a Tahoe. Cool. Look at this. I can actually put. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (54:49) Look at how cool my thing is. My thing is cooler.

Sam Abuelsamid (54:53) I can just press a button, the doors open up. I don't have to worry about the kids slamming the doors open and ding-ding other people's cars in the parking lot.

are your car in the driveway you know you have the minivan then you have the night you know the the the you know the halo car your driveway maybe and there's next to your corvette you have a minivan in your corvette and you're like your kid just open the your your suv right into your brand new corvette ⁓ kids kids that's why you get the van there's jump in

Nicole Wakelin (55:07) Right? The halo, next to your Corvette.

Sam Abuelsamid (55:29) ⁓ So, yeah, I can't remember. Did they say which when they're actually going to reveal this thing? think it's coming up pretty soon. It might even be this week. They start. Yeah, I mean, they've already shown the VLE.

Nicole Wakelin (55:48) Right, so it's basically a fancier version of that.

Sam Abuelsamid (55:50) Yeah. And they've shown the last year they had the Vision V concept, ⁓ which is basically the direction they're going with this thing. So this, yeah, this, this will be, you know, this is absolutely a car to be driven in, not to not to drive.

Roberto Baldwin (56:09) Yeah. Maybe someone will drive me around.

Nicole Wakelin (56:11) and some lucky guy is going

to be the driver. Like, I feel like that would be if you're going to have to cart somebody around as a limo driver. If like, we need you to drive this and be like, all right, sure. I'll suffer through and I'll do my job. If I must.

the minivan? I did like in a parking lot like doing circles because it was all wheel steering and it has auto parking stuff and yeah, yeah, it was pre-production. It had stuff all over the place so I couldn't take pictures inside the van. Even though I was just inside the building, I was just inside the building with the vans because it was outside the building. Yeah. Yeah, they have to, yeah.

Because then they have to hide it from the public. can't have anybody seeing it. It has

Roberto Baldwin (56:55) especially if everyone knows it's big Mercedes Benz logo in front of the building. if you're a spy photographer, you're like, well, I'll just hang out here.

Sam Abuelsamid (57:09) ⁓ On the not so secret side is the the 2027 Nissan Sentra No, not Sentra Versa the Nissan Versa Yeah, yeah, well the little Sentra is I mean we do have a new Sentra ⁓ But but we're but the Versa is something that we're not getting here in the states Because we can't have cheap stuff ⁓ So the the verse the verses made in Mexico ⁓ customers in Mexico ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (57:17) What? I was like, that is a secret if it's back.

Sam Abuelsamid (57:39) already started getting deliveries. ⁓ Basically, this is just a refresh of the Versa. It's not really all new. It looks like mostly carryover powertrain. ⁓ They've got a new front end on it that looks kind of like the new Murano. So it's a little different look on the front end ⁓ and an updated interior. That's about it.

Nicole Wakelin (58:06) That's it. That's another one. That's like the Santa Cruz. I'm sad it's gone. I mean, it had its little place, those nice little affordable vehicles, but.

Roberto Baldwin (58:15) They got the kicks, they're fine.

you know, the thing the thing with the Versa is, know, you could you know, it was available for under twenty thousand dollars. It was the last car in the U.S. It was under twenty thousand dollars. And it was not a bad car. I mean, it's not a great car, but but you know, it rides and handles decently. It's reasonably roomy, you know, and you know, like like the ⁓ Maverick, you know, the you know, it's not fancy materials inside, but

Sam Abuelsamid (58:44) Everything was put together nicely. It works. Even a loaded.

literally the perfect starter car. You just need a, you need, or like if you're just a commuter, just, I just need something that I can, I don't care. I want it to be cheap. I'm going to put a million miles on this thing. I just need a car that's, okay, there you go. Here's your car.

Roberto Baldwin (59:04) Nissan makes a really good, inexpensive car. Not cheap car, I don't wanna call them cheap, because they don't feel cheap for the price. They make a really good, inexpensive car, which to be honest, is way tougher than making a really nice luxury car.

Because a luxury car, you can just keep adding prices to it. Because they're like, well, we can just put everything we want on it. Just keep making it more expensive. It's luxury. But making a good, inexpensive car is really, really difficult.

Nicole Wakelin (59:08) Mm-hmm. Right, you're right.

It's not an easy thing to do because it doesn't, it's so hard to make it not look cheap. Like you said, Robbie, to make it just look like a car you want to drive and that you enjoy sitting in and you're not thinking, gosh, I can't wait till I can get to another car. That is not an easy thing to do. Like a lot of times a car that's inexpensive, you sit there, you're like, ⁓ yeah, this is why that price is that price.

the automakers, know, the amount of money they make off the profit margins on these are smaller than say, you know, a big truck that's just a truck, but they put luxury items in it. Yeah, no, it's, you know, people should buy these, but they don't. It's a whole weird thing. We're very weird country.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:00:24) All right. Audi 20 years ago ⁓ was really starting to make a big push for clean diesel. And of course, we know how that turned out, which is to say not well. ⁓ But along the way, they had some amazing success with putting diesel engines into race cars and winning the 24 hour Le Mans. Six, five, six times.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:00:53) with diesel powered cars. And then they decided, you know, we should build some high performance diesel road cars too. And they did some really interesting stuff. Like they built a version of the Audi R8 with a 5.9 liter twin turbocharged diesel V12 that they, as you do,

Sam Abuelsamid (1:01:23) 493 horsepower and twice as much torque as the V8. So I think it was somewhere around 800 or 900 foot pounds of torque compared to the V8 engine that was also offered in the R8. And they worked on it for several years. And unfortunately, oh here it is, 738 foot pounds of torque, which is just bonkers.

And they said they're going to put it in production and they kept saying they're going to put it in production and it never quite made it to production, unfortunately. ⁓ And at around that time, know, ⁓ companies like Bosch and of course, you know, Volkswagen Group and others were really promoting diesel, you know, they wanted to bring diesel, more diesel vehicles to the U.S. ⁓ Bosch had a fleet of vehicles here.

And so did Honeywell too, because they were doing the turbochargers for a lot of these of European diesels that they brought over here for for journalists to evaluate. And I got to spend a few days driving a European spec ⁓ Audi Q7 with their four point two liter diesel V8, which they never sold here. They only sold the Q7 with the three liter V6 diesel here. But the four point two liter diesel, ⁓ man, was that sucker surprisingly quick. ⁓

Sam Abuelsamid (1:02:49) And they did actually, while they never built the production version of the R8 diesel, they did put that 5.9 liter V12 into a limited run of the Q7s. So they built about 500 or so of those Q7 V12 TDIs, which never had a chance to drive one of those, but that would have been nuts to drive that thing.

Roberto Baldwin (1:03:15) You could tow the truck that's towing your fifth wheel with it.

Roberto Baldwin (1:03:23) you doing with your Q7 this week? Well, let me tell ya. This is a TFL video. Hold on, let me call Roman. Get one of these, get a truck, get a fifth wheel, see if you can tow the truck with the fifth wheel with this.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:03:37) All right. ⁓ So a couple of weeks ago, ⁓ Sony or Sony Honda announced that they were ⁓ canceling all their North American EV programs. And, you know, when they when they made that made that announcement, I reached out to a feel at the time and they gave us a statement basically saying, you know, Sony and Honda are in discussions about the

Sam Abuelsamid (1:04:06) fate of the Fila program. ⁓ It sounded from the statement that they gave us like Honda did not give them a heads up that they were canceling the zero series. ⁓

Nicole Wakelin (1:04:18) Can you imagine that? You're like,

if Honda was like, if we tell anyone at Sony, they're gonna leak it. We can't tell these people. These are not serious people.

stairs. These people. I wouldn't be building a car.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:04:29) Well, if they were serious people, they wouldn't be building a car.

Roberto Baldwin (1:04:32) They built a- they're build- they're trying to build a PlayStation with wheels.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:04:35) Yeah. So two to two weeks after that announcement, a Fila finally announced, yep, we're canceling the development and launch of the Fila one and the the second car that we were that we just showed a concept of two months ago at CES. So if you were waiting for your Fila one.

Roberto Baldwin (1:04:39) That's all it is, it's just a-

Nicole Wakelin (1:04:58) They just really truly they just showed that it's just amazing. I know times and industries and whatever stuff happening, tariffs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But still, it's like, wow, like everything you can't even what we could be saying on the air right now in two months. Lies, lies, damn lies. Like everything is wrong. Everything we say is a lie.

Roberto Baldwin (1:05:21) Everything we say now is a lie. did talk to

Honda about, because I was wondering about their solid state plans because they have a pre-production line going right now with solid state batteries. And yeah, they're still doing that. They're still working on solid state. They're like, well, the news is for North America. We have joint ventures in China. They have like Honda sort of divisions in China that

Sam Abuelsamid (1:05:41) Yeah, they're still building EVs in the rest of the world.

Roberto Baldwin (1:05:49) they're building EVs, you know, they're, you know, they have EVs in Japan, you know, I think they want, you know, expand EVs in other parts. They were just like, yeah, we're just not going to do this now. Which I, ⁓ I think I really think the Honda brand like really would have carried the sales of these like the prologue. ⁓ But I don't work in Honda, so it's not my decision.

Nicole Wakelin (1:06:01) Like, no, you know what, not worth it.

Roberto Baldwin (1:06:17) but they're still working on solid state, which is good. The more

people that are working on solid state, the more companies. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (1:06:21) I mean, that's good at least, because that's actually really cool. I'm

excited for that. So please don't discontinue that too,

Sam Abuelsamid (1:06:30) potentially see is ⁓ at the Japan Mobility Show in October, they showed a concept called the Honda Zero Alpha, which looks a lot like the Honda Zero SUV that they were gonna sell here, but it's a little bit smaller. But that one ⁓ is actually on a different platform, different hardware. I think one of the reasons why they canceled the Zero series is I think it was just gonna be too expensive. ⁓ And the Zero Alpha,

Sam Abuelsamid (1:06:59) was designed for markets in Asia and India where it was gonna be sold at a lower cost. Maybe we'll see them bring that vehicle over here, bring that EV platform to North America. I think.

Nicole Wakelin (1:07:15) You really think so? You think it could happen?

Roberto Baldwin (1:07:18) If they can make money selling it everywhere else and it's not too, and if they're already thinking about homologation for the US with this vehicle, just in case, then I could see that. Because I think, you know, the Honda E was killed because one person said, hey, don't make this for the US. It was killed for US market and then we all lost our minds because we really wanted it. And they're like, no, you can't have it because it's not.

Roberto Baldwin (1:07:44) We can't start over. We would have to start over in order to make this vehicle for the US market. And we shall not do that. it'll, it's Honda's, ⁓ yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (1:07:48) And we shall not do that.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:07:57) So we'll see what happens. ⁓ Let's see. ⁓ Volkswagen's ⁓ current boss, Thomas Schaefer, did an interview with Top Gear Magazine. in ⁓ there, basically, a lot of people have complained, including us, about the recent Volkswagen vehicles and the sliders, the touch sliders for the temperature controls and.

assorted other things. And ⁓ what Schaeffer said was that proper door handles and buttons are non-negotiable for me. He basically threw Herbert Deese, his predecessor as CEO of Volkswagen Group, directly under the bus, drove over him and then drove back again just to make sure. Yeah.

Roberto Baldwin (1:08:49) Listen This is what you need to do as an automaker You just have to come in and say, you know We made mistakes and we're gonna fix them and that's what we're gonna do I mean Nissan did it in a very nice way compared to this ⁓

Sam Abuelsamid (1:09:06) Yeah, Schaefer said, there was a spirit of iPhone-ish kind of design and utilization that you could see coming through in many companies, he said. It was a little bit difficult to get the designers off that idea. You know, it's actually not that hard. All you got to do is just say, no. Just say, no. That's all you got to do. And finally, ⁓ Deese apparently never did. Schaefer said, no.

Roberto Baldwin (1:09:23) We're not doing that anymore.

Nicole Wakelin (1:09:24) ⁓ Stop doing it, we're done.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:09:35) And so now all the new VW cars are getting proper buttons and switches and door handles. So, yeah.

Roberto Baldwin (1:09:44) some door handles on cars, my god, people.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:09:47) Hopefully they will put those in new Atlas too.

Nicole Wakelin (1:09:50) Hearing you say that though, Robbie, how ridiculous. Like, please just store handles such a simple thing. Like, and you're begging for it.

Roberto Baldwin (1:09:55) just because everyone was

like, well, the turbulence and, and, you know, drag coefficient. I'm like, so you're trading two miles of range on an EV for an annoying door.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:10:06) that you have to live with

makes you want to scream every single time you open it.

I think people are fine with losing the two to five miles they're gonna

Sam Abuelsamid (1:10:15) And ⁓ then, I've got one in here that I've got labeled as don't be a jackass. I actually saw this video pop up a couple days ago of some bonehead driving a BMW in California in the bike lane behind some cyclists, like fully in the bike lane, which is.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:10:42) kind of ridiculous because the bike lane is actually narrower than the car. So he was even.

Nicole Wakelin (1:10:45) I was gonna say, how's he

fitting in there? I feel like that's dangerous for your car as well.

And he's honking the horn and everything. And he almost ran these guys off the road. ⁓ And so one of the guys was shooting, shot some video of this. So they got video of the car. you know, one of the cyclists, you know, did, you know, was kind of a bonehead to, you know, he squirted his his Gatorade from his drink bottle on the on the car. And then the passenger in the car threw something at him.

and then they took off, but they got video of the car, got the license plate, and ⁓ yesterday the police in, I think in Newport Beach or somewhere ⁓ went and they arrested the guy ⁓ and also impounded his car. So, you know, it's like, you know, just don't be a jackass, you know? Just stay in the car lanes, let the cyclists have their bike lanes.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:11:48) You know, don't don't do stupid stuff like that.

like someone's squirting your water bottle or gate right out of the car. ⁓ The person is trying to, the person had already instigated trying to kill them. The loser in this situation is always, you're in a big metal box. This person's on a tiny little metal and rubber machine. Like if someone tries to kill me, my initial reaction is like, F this guy. Because that's literally what this person's doing. This is like an almost attempted murder, essentially.

Roberto Baldwin (1:12:22) because car versus bicyclist is a car always wins car versus pedestrian car always wins. So, and I lived in Orange County and let me tell you, there's a lot of a-holes in Orange County that drive like this. I'm sorry. They're very, very, ⁓ yeah, it's, it's a, when you talk about the BMW driver, Orange County is just like silly with people like this who, who, who believe that they are, ⁓ above the law. I don't know what their deal is. It's,

Nicole Wakelin (1:12:55) Don't do that. Don't be jerk.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:12:58) ⁓ and then Jose Munoz ⁓ had a talk the other day and announced that by 2030 Hyundai is going to launch 36 new or significantly enhanced models in North America. 36 over the next four years.

Just Hyundai, not even Hyundai Genesis, just Hyundai?

Sam Abuelsamid (1:13:25) Well, it's Hyundai and Genesis.

Nicole Wakelin (1:13:27) which is only slightly less crazy, but still.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:13:32) I don't think Kia was included in this.

Nicole Wakelin (1:13:36) This is just Hyundai. Yeah.

Hyundai and Genesis, yeah. Yeah, it's just Hyundai and Genesis. Yeah, and most of these, 80 % of these models are gonna be produced in the US, and they're gonna have 80 % local US parts sourcing. So this kind of goes along with what they had announced last year, $26 billion investment in the United States. This is the next step in that. So they're...

Nicole Wakelin (1:13:41) That's a lot of vehicles.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:14:06) They're to be building most of what they sell here is going to be built here from parts that are also sourced here Not necessarily from American companies, but you know from from their suppliers that build their plants in the US

Roberto Baldwin (1:14:22) I mean, it's also enhanced. So how many cars is Hyundai and how many models are they got? They got a lot of

Sam Abuelsamid (1:14:26) Yeah, it's gonna be Canada, US and Mexico. So there's a few of these models, for example,

will probably only be for the Mexican market. ⁓ Yeah, but ⁓ it's still a lot. Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (1:14:33) Right, that we won't get, yeah.

like 11 cars. I think they sell 11 cars in the US right now, roughly. That's not talking Genesis, so yeah. No, this is, it sounds like a lot, but if you like, okay, well there's 11 of these and then maybe there's...

Nicole Wakelin (1:14:54) they refreshed everything, that's 11 refreshes.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:14:55) four years and most of Hyundai's stuff goes on a four year product cycle.

Roberto Baldwin (1:14:59) Yeah, so most of this stuff will be refreshed. So there's that. And then they'll, yeah.

Nicole Wakelin (1:15:04) I get 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 if I'm just counting the consumer page.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:15:07) So we're gonna get a new Tucson probably before the end

Sam Abuelsamid (1:15:11) of the year. ⁓ We're gonna get ⁓ new Elantras coming up soon. ⁓ Sonata is due for a redesign. ⁓ The Santa Fe is probably gonna get updated maybe next year. ⁓ So that's a bunch of them right there. We're gonna add some more models to the Genesis lineup. So gonna be interesting.

there's whatever it is they're going to show us on Wednesday is part of that too. So.

Nicole Wakelin (1:15:41) is one of them. While we're talking about, cause I didn't, this isn't your show notes. don't think, wait, diddly doo, diddly doo. It's not. Remember a couple of weeks back, ⁓ maybe not even a couple of weeks, we were talking about the Hyundai Palisade having a stop sale because of, now they have added the Telluride to that.

So I felt like I wanted to mention that for anybody who might have purchased one or whatever. So the top trims of the Telluride also have the same issue, which we were kind of debating. Like I kind of the same like same company.

Nicole Wakelin (1:16:09) So they've stopped sale that guy too, just in the Essex Prestige and X-Line trims.

are the only ones that have the power folding rear seats.

Nicole Wakelin (1:16:20) Right, right. So also stop sailing then. You're fine. It's just the power seats that can be an issue. I felt like we should mention that because it popped into my head.

Sam Abuelsamid (1:16:22) The ones with the manual seats are fine. It's just the ones with the power seats.

All right. And then I think the last thing I want to touch on is the E15. The EPA this week approved nationwide deployment of E15, which means that you can, your gasoline, when you go to the gas station, up to 15 %

of the fuel that gets pumped out of there into your vehicle can be ethanol. Currently, most of the gas sold in the US is E10 or slightly less, so up to 10%. They're raising that to 15%, ⁓ which means that you probably won't be paying any less for your gasoline, although theoretically you should because the ethanol is cheaper, but gas stations probably will not reduce the per gallon price, but you will get less fuel economy.

So you will have to buy more E15 and your engines will make less power. So there's that.

Nicole Wakelin (1:17:32) essentially just watering it down to extend our gas supply. Is that what I'm hearing? Okay.

Roberto Baldwin (1:17:41) Yeah, because E50 in the winter, it makes a little bit more sense. In the summer, it's just like, we're just going to evaporate your gas.

You know, and you know, the thing about E15, I did a study ⁓ probably about seven or eight years ago for ⁓ the ⁓ American ⁓ Fuels Institute, I think. And it was, you know, we took a look at ⁓ E15 and E20. ⁓ And the thing is, if an engine is actually designed to run on those higher ethanol concentrations,

then you can actually get better efficiency if you design it because the ethanol raises your octane level. So you can actually get better efficiency if you design the engine for it. But just throwing more ethanol into older engines, not gonna help. It's gonna make things worse, not better.

Nicole Wakelin (1:18:36) Does it matter how old your engine is? Like put on your engineering hat, Sam. Like if it's certain, is there a certain point where you actually have to worry about that?

Yeah, know, part of the reason why they, you know, they limited to E10 right now or have limited it to E10 ⁓ is because that's a low enough concentration that it doesn't really cause problems with older engines. ⁓ know, and the problem you have with ethanol in engines is ethanol tends to absorb water from the atmosphere, which means that you tend to get more corrosion.

in your fuel lines and things like that and more wear on your valve seats. ⁓ And so, you know, when you get like flex fuel engines that are designed to run on up to 85, you know, they've made some the basic design is the same, but they have upgraded the fuel lines and valve seats and things like that to withstand that extra corrosion. they don't have a problem with that corrosion. So this. ⁓

this could start to cause a problem with some older engines ⁓ if you're running them on E15.

⁓ And see I think that is it for this week so we can let Robbie go because I think you have to go somewhere so Thanks everybody for listening and we will be back next time. Bye

0:00

80:14

The Darth Vader Edition

Hyundai Tucson

Ford Maverick

hybrid

New York Auto Show

MHEV

Prestige black package

Genesis

turbo lag

all wheel drive

hands-on system

driver monitor camera

airbag

safe exit assist

blind spot monitoring

Infiniti QX65

Qi wireless charging

entry-level luxury

starting price

third-row delete

nameplate

curb appeal

cargo capacity

LS6

dual injection

0 to 60 time

Mercedes

minivan

pre-production

refresh (not all-new)

touch sliders for temperature controls

power folding rear seats

water absorption

flex fuel engines

About this episode

Original notes