Toyota Builds a Supercar, Lexus LFA is Back - Sort Of, First Drive of BMW iX3

Hello and welcome to the AutoGuide show.

This week we finally, finally get that big news from poet at Lexus.

Kyle drives probably the most important BMW in decades and we have Connie back on to

talk about the year that was, but first a word from our sponsor.

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All right, welcome back.

So Kyle, there it is after the strange teasing campaign that Toyota did.

We finally see the GR GT and it's got a big hood.

Yeah, this is the most ridiculous hood to axle ratio of any new car in years.

It kind of doesn't look believable, right?

It looks like there's some weird perspective trick going on, but yes, this is it.

And it pairs with the Lexus I'll Save the Name reveal till later when we talk about it.

But the Lexus Sport concept that I saw in Japan, same platform.

This however is, well, for anybody who thinks that the Supra was too expensive and

too high up there, I've got bad news.

This is a twin-turbo V8 hybrid supercar.

It is an all-aluminum chassis.

The body panels are carbon fiber reinforced polymer or more aluminum.

Toyota is targeting just 650 horsepower, a top speed approaching 200 miles per hour.

This is a super high performance vehicle.

It also manages to evolve the Hammerhead design language in a way that I think kind of works

on a sports car.

The back end looks great.

It's wild.

I can't believe this is going to have a Toyota badge.

Yeah, like the proportions on some small roadsters or compacts in the day, like BMW Zs, for instance.

Yeah, I get it, but it's just this thing so much bigger and stretched and wide.

Yeah, it almost looks like an old timey car from the 1930s when they had massive hood and

a little driver's department in the back.

Yeah, and it's only for V8s, so I don't know, I guess, the hybrid stuff too.

Maybe they'll fit a V12 in there one.

So the thing is, they showed a cutaway and a bunch of technical images when they

revealed this last night and the entire V8 sits behind the front axle, the whole

thing.

So I think maybe the fan is aligned with the axle at the front, but that's it.

And then it's an 8-speed trans-axle, and the electric motor is on the rear axle.

So it is a very rear-biased front-drive platform to the point that it has a 45-55 front-to-rear

weight distribution.

Oh, wow.

So it's like Vanessa, I used to say, they had the mid-front engine cars.

This really is that.

So it's like a 1970s American car where you pop the hood and there's like six feet of

empty space before you hit the engine.

Yeah, you're going to have to lean way over.

It's probably easier to work from the side.

But like you said, with the components, 3,800 pounds, the power and all that, this is easily

a six-figure vehicle, and that's going after, well, I don't know of quite 9-eleven

turbo, but pretty close.

Ferrari's Corvette ZR-06, it's going after some serious performance machines, and Toyota

knows how to make a performance car, but I'm sure they've had to, we saw these things running

around Nürburgring for a while in camouflage, so I'm sure it's going to have the performance

to back it up.

But it's interesting they're going at that spot with Toyota.

But honestly, mainstream brands, sort of like how Chevy does it too, there's enough

history and sort of equity in the name, like it works.

You're like, oh, yeah, okay.

Toyota's playing this field now.

It's not like, I'm not going to name any other lesser manufacturers, but you don't see, it's

not a huge stretch, right?

It's not like you suddenly made a Ferrari competitor.

It's funny because you think that's what Lexus is for, but no, I think there's enough

cachet specifically with the Toyota brand, especially the GR, the GR has made a name

for itself in the last 10 years by having these really approachable performance cars.

And I think that's the key here is, well, this is obviously going to be a much more

expensive model and very limited in terms of production versus other GRs.

The idea is that it's supposed to be friendly and fairly easy to come to terms with despite

having all this power and only powering the rear wheels, no all wheel drive here.

So I'm very, very hopeful for what this will be and of course we should also point

out that there will be a GT3 class racing version too, which we knew about before because

it already went up the hill at Goodwood this summer.

But I mean, that's the thing is you have a tangible race car for the road narrative to

sell this GR GT.

Yeah, Toyota didn't make this because they are like, we're going to make a ton of money

on this big profit center and there's this huge segment need that people want.

This car exists for two reasons and you covered them both.

One, it's the halo for the GR brand.

All the people are going to buy GR86s, you know, at some point they're going to imagine

they're in the GT or that's going to help attract them into the showroom and that's

what every brand needs, right?

It's the trickle down and Toyota, now the Superstead, they don't have a race car and

they need one for especially super GT, which now uses GT3 regulations.

So now they've, you know, got an international racer, a GT3 or 500 racer and something

can sell to consumers.

So it's a modern day HSV 010.

Well, except we can buy this one.

Except you can buy this one.

I'm just thinking about the potential we're in a few years.

We could conceivably have a comparison test between this and the Genesis Supercar.

Just throwing that out there.

And like a Corvette and something from Italy, like it's such a weird, a weird amazing

time to be alive for car enthusiasts.

Golden age.

Yeah.

Maybe all that extra space up front for the electric motors when they make, you know,

the next level up all wheel drive version.

Maybe it's where you store luggage too.

And maybe you also do that in the gas tank is like a weird nod to the GT1 of

Allegation Special.

Yeah.

I don't know.

This is wild.

I'm very much looking forward to learning a lot more about it next year.

And driving it.

Yeah.

Every auto rider and the world's going to be fighting each other to get behind the

wheel and hopefully at some point.

Literally actually fighting.

You and I will have to have a, I don't know, some more rock scissors.

Yeah.

So as you hinted, this was one of three because the race car is another one that

was introduced and hey, look what's back.

Kind of.

Well, I mean, if Lexus wants to put this badge on it, then it's

legit.

This is LFA 2.0.

It is what we previously knew as the sport concept.

And now it is borrowing the name from an iconic V10 powered supercar, except this one

will be all electric.

So I'm sure there's a ton of people who are upset about this.

And I'm sure 99.8% of them are people who've never ever sat in an LFA or will

ever own one because there were only like what 500 of them.

There's a lot of people angry about this that it doesn't impact them.

I understand that it's a big jump.

But the reason I'm optimistic about this one, this is going to appear in a few years.

This all electric sports car and Toyota is also planning on having its solid state

batteries available to customers in a few years.

So I would not be surprised if this is going to be a very cutting edge all electric

sports car.

Yeah.

And this one, like there's no doubt it'll be all wheel drive when you have an electric

platform.

Like why not?

It's no brainer.

You said at the start, they wouldn't have put the LFA badge on unless it lives up to

that.

I think I'd prefer that they'd better live up to that because they've put the LFA

badge on because it is such an iconic car like this, this better be a great

performance.

The LFA was like, it was good on track, especially the Nürburgr version.

That too was a front mid-engine vehicle and it outperforms sort of what you'd expect.

But part of it's allure was that engine and the noise it made.

And this obviously is not going to have that because it's an EV.

I mean, they could make a noise, but so they're going to have to make it for

it in other ways because that, like you said, I've never sat in an LFA, but

I've like a saw one drive by under, under screen or in it.

Yeah.

And it is, it is amazing.

So it needs to be like a wow factor.

But if this thing, like you said, has like 500 miles of range from a solid

state battery and over a thousand horsepower and does this and that.

And it's like, that's why the LFA was so cool was it did all these things

and had such a weird, I don't mean weird, like bad, like just a distinctly

unique style at the time.

And no one expected it.

So yeah.

And I think the thing about the LFA is like, yeah, we remember that

engine because it was incredible sounding, but like it was down on

power versus the Italians.

It wasn't quite as fun to drive based on reviews.

Years ago, as those were.

But I think it's, it's become such a legend because there was so much

effort put into it, right?

Like Toyota or Lexus, like put its mind to it and built like a genuine

supercar and I trust that the team behind this is doing the same thing.

And with electric powertrains, like you get individual wheel torque

vectoring, which is stuff that you can't easily do with a gas engine.

I, I know that Lexus is already doing the fake engine shifts

and paddle shifters, right?

Like we've seen in the RZ, I'm sure that can be evolved in a way that can be fun.

There's a lot of potential with this.

So I'm, I'm definitely not going to write it off based on it.

Not having it.

Oh, no.

Yeah, I think you were right too, but the LFA, like it was an old

school Lamborghini, like a modern take on it.

Because Lamborghini's it's gone into actual like hardcore performance,

but it was the visuals and the audio were amazing.

And yeah, like pretty much anything else as price range would probably

run it on a track, but that didn't matter.

It's like that sort of like a Veyron, right?

Like that's like, oh, that's that thing.

Who cares what it actually drives like.

That's a great point.

Yeah.

And I think the other interesting thing about this that we should

probably touch on is that the interior is way different from the Toyotas.

It's much more paired back and it feels, I mean, you and I will be familiar with this.

It feels like a video game in the coolest sense of the word, where it's got

one screen that just like folds and bends and gives you all the information

right around your steering wheel.

Like it looks like it will be a very focused machine.

And so I'm I'm excited.

Well, two last quick things before we move on.

One is how you said the batteries go in other products

that probably they're developing to use in this, the Toyota we just talked about.

Maybe that twin turbo V8 can find a new home.

Maybe the Tundra needs to start competing against those Raptor

cars and the TRXs.

They've got to they've got to spread that development cost out.

Put the V8 and everything.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Imagine a 650 horsepower Tundra.

That'd be awesome.

Or Tacoma and like go full street truck.

OK. And for this name, I mean, it's way cheesy and I'm happy they didn't do it,

but they could have gone with L.E.A.

Oh, the Lexus Lea.

I mean, you could do L.F.E., but that doesn't work really either.

I liked L.F.R. when people was the rumor.

Yeah, the E.F.A. the EFA.

Anyway, moving on, because this is going to be a long episode,

so we need to get two things.

Kyle, you drove the BMW IX3,

which the brand is not shy about saying it's basically the rebirth of the company.

Yeah, it's it's a very philosophical sort of first drive

because when a brand tells you that everything is new,

we're like, well, this was the BMW anymore.

And yeah, it is.

Or rather, it's what we remember BMW being

like daring, challenging, really fun to drive.

And this isn't even an M product or even diet.

This is just a regular trim at this point.

We got to drive this on the road and track, the new IX3.

And it has no adaptive suspension.

It is just a passive setup.

And yet it was fun and adjustable and engaging on the track.

It's really smooth on the road, very well damped, excellent body control.

It's a surprisingly good vehicle.

And that's coming from someone who knew the specs going in

and knew that this was going to be a pretty big leap.

It feels like a generation was skipped.

So we'll talk about the IX a little later in this show

about the existing BMW electric vehicle.

And that thing is very good and it was updated for this year.

It feels like this is so much further evolved than that.

I genuinely, I don't know how other competitors

are going to match this at least this year.

And also we don't know pricing yet, which is a big tough

question mark, but the range that BMW is telling us,

it's only going to be maybe $3,000 more than an equivalent X3 gas.

And it's like, this is more spacious, more comfortable, more tech.

Like we're getting closer to parity with EVs.

And that erases one other roadblock in my mind.

Well, the luxury space, it's going to be much easier to do.

And when you build a platform like this,

that eventually can also take gas engines and hybrids or whatever.

Then, yeah, I mean, it's just a matter of plugging

and playing different drive trains.

So the cost should be much different.

Yes, I misremembered something when you and I were talking

before we started recording about this platform.

The Noia classic platform is exclusively EV.

Is it? Well, it's not multi energy.

So I guess the existing platforms

that are multi energy will continue on.

But yeah, this this starts a whole new series of vehicles

and they won't just be SUVs and you had limited time with it.

And, you know, you and I both will we can't wait

till we can get it at home and really drive for a week and test it.

Because it's got so much new tech.

And when I was there for the unveiling,

they didn't have pricing obviously then either.

But they did have for Europe and the old IX3

and the new one were almost the same price,

like there wasn't much difference.

So with all this new advanced tech like they are,

it looks like they're trying to make an effort to keep the price reasonable.

So, yeah, I can't wait to try this.

And like you said, it's sort of daring and advanced.

And if it's the right direction with a lot of this tech,

it's going to take the competitors around to catch up.

Not everything is going to work the way they want or not works.

Everything will work the way they want.

And everything is going to resonate with customers the way they want.

But if you get at least 75 percent of all this new stuff

to be stuff that people suddenly want

and you know, aren't going to look for a vehicle without it,

then you're in a great spot.

Yeah, I will say that the again, based on only driving it for a day,

but then the new tech like specifically the panoramic vision display

and the new touchscreen.

As someone who, like most journalists, would prefer physical buttons,

I will say that this setup is probably one of the better ones

if you're relying on a touchscreen.

The vision setup is really easy to see whenever

and you realize how quickly you don't need a central

or like a driver instrument cluster.

It's very customizable.

It's easy to read and yeah, it all worked very smoothly.

All right, well, this episode is going along.

So that wraps up the news and reviews.

It was just three stories.

They're very important stories.

We'll be back on the Auto Guide show by Tima Ibei Motors

in a minute with a returning guest, Connie.

And we have lots to discuss with her.

We'll just have a quick word from our sponsor and be right back.

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All right, welcome back.

We have a special guest returning for her second time on the show.

Connie, for those who missed you the first time, if you just introduce yourself.

I'm Connie Peters.

I have YouTube, Instagram and TikTok do video reviews of cars, new cars.

Yeah, so last time you were on,

we talked a bit about your car history and how you got there.

So we're going to spend a good chunk today talking about

2025 because you drive as many cars as Kyle and I do or maybe even more.

So sort of our our surprises or highlights, maybe some low lights.

But first, you were just

out somewhere in a desert, it looks like, according to all your photos.

Yeah, I was covering the last couple days of the Ravel rally,

which is a women only 10 day off road rally, Nevada and California.

And it's 2,800 kilometers.

I think there was 65, almost 65 teams this year.

So there's their teams of two, one navigator, one driver.

And I just got to be on the ground,

you know, with the media, but getting driven around by their

pro drivers, part of the crew, the team to see the action.

And it was epic.

Got to ride in a what is a razor called like a little side by side.

Yeah, in the dunes, in the Glamis dunes, Southern California, right on the border.

And watching these teams navigate, they have no GPS, no phones.

They're navigating with, you know, old school compass and maps.

And that's it. And like bare bones maps.

We're not talking like typical maps. They're like terrain maps.

Anyway, watching these women navigate their way,

getting stuck so many times in the dunes,

because these are everything from like a bone stock BMW X3

to like a totally kitted out off road,

you know, defender, like totally kitted out for for this, you know,

terrain and they have to find these different checkpoints.

And it's it's kind of a race, but it's also

it's also about meeting, getting to the checkpoints.

Anyway, it was fantastic.

It was epic watching being at the finish line, being in the dunes,

watching them get themselves out like in stuck situations.

You know, they'd be trying to dig themselves out for a while

and then they can call for help.

If they do call for help, they lose some points.

But I watched multiple recoveries.

I watched these women, you know, getting themselves unstuck,

driving over dunes that we were like, you can't see over these dunes.

It's so it was so crazy and such an epic experience.

And I really think those women, the teams that are competing

in the whole rally itself, like the the crew and the the recovery teams

and the medic and all the staff.

It's it's really quite an amazing production event.

It sounds like you're ready for next year.

Karani, who are you going to drive with?

Yeah, they've been bugging me like a couple of times.

I've had it and Jill Simonillo, who I know well, is one of the navigators.

And she was already kind of poking me like, hey, you want to drive?

I'm like, I don't think I could do it.

I don't think I could do 10 days camping every night,

pitching your own tent every night out in the middle of nowhere.

As it was, I camped the three nights that I was with the crew.

And that and I didn't have to put up my own tent.

And the last nights were like glamping in a yurt.

So that's about as as rough as I can.

I could do the driving.

I know I could handle the driving.

It's all the other stuff that I.

Yeah, I don't think I mean, as long as you drive

one of the bigger vehicles, you can just sleep in the back of it.

True, actually, you're not allowed.

They're not allowed near their vehicles at night.

Their vehicles get, you know, put over here

and then they go set up their tents over here kind of thing.

And there is actually someone watching the cars at night.

And if you forget something, like you forget your glasses

or a water bottle or something in your car, they actually have to pay

the person to access the cars because it's again, they don't want anybody

tampering anywhere. There's all there's a lot of rules.

I mean, that sounds fantastic.

It would all be for the I'd be for the driving and the camping.

I'm just obviously not qualified to be able to enter,

but it does sound like an amazing event.

So does anyone get lost?

Like, do they have to go over people in the dark that just are completely

because I don't know that they've had to recover people in the dark.

But I do know that they do get lost.

Some days are much longer for the crew and the teams than others

because of those situations where they miss a checkpoint or they go the wrong

direction. But what I thought was really interesting, too, is that

every car is I don't know the correct term for this, but they're they're

tracking every car. So all the crew sees all where all the vehicles are

in their maps and on their apps.

They have an app they have, you know, so they know where everybody is.

Nobody's going to go get lost in the end.

Yeah, I do far less intense charity road scavenger type rallies, too.

And same thing, my friend that runs it, he has us all have an app

so you can see. And then, yeah, someone might get a gentle phone

call being like, you might not want to continue where you're going

because you're going the opposite way of where you're supposed to go.

Yeah, yeah.

And it was quite interesting to watch them in the morning

leaving from the first checkpoint on the very last day.

You know, they don't all go off in the same direction

and seeing them how they figure out where they're going next.

Anyway, it's fascinating. It was fascinating and wild.

And I think those women are crazy, but very, very cool.

Yeah, that's a lot of sand.

Yeah, it was a lot.

I feel like people can go and check out

some of the footage or some of the coverage at the official site.

But I'll keep thinking every time that we've had you talk about this now.

We had Emmy a few months back talking about it before she competed.

I feel like this is right for some sort of streaming documentary series, right?

Like, I just we've had it before with the Mazda MX five cup

and obviously drive. It's like Netflix should do it.

Yeah, yeah, it's so fascinating to watch these women.

And like I was watching this and the drama like would be so there

because a few times we as like I was with a pro driver

as part of the crew and media.

And then in my car, too, was like a photographer and a videographer

because they have a huge photo video crew, huge.

Go watch their YouTube videos.

They're epic. They're amazing.

All their photography is amazing.

They do an amazing job at that.

But we would be like cruising around and then we see a stuck car.

So we go watch them for a while and you could see the frustration in the team

where the drivers only allowed to drive and the navigators only allowed

to navigate. So they're trying to unstuck the car.

Like they're physically digging the sand and this driver keeps trying

to get unstuck and the navigator is like standing off to the side.

And she's like, you know, she's getting so frustrated

and then she would get stuck again and then they would be digging out again.

And finally, like we just left because we were feeling guilty.

Like just left.

Like we were just adding to the stress of being standing there

watching, taking photos and like video and everything.

And so I think I mean those women when they're doing it,

they know they're being documented the entire time anyway.

So I think it would make an epic show. Mike them up.

I want to hear the frustration.

I want to hear the the, you know, yeah, frustration with each other,

losing patience, all of it.

I think it would be amazing TV.

Yeah. Yeah. And then like the payoff too, right?

Like that's the great thing is you'd see the two extremes.

You see the frustration that you'd see, like, you know, making it

like as the sun setting, like getting to where they need to be.

Like I feel like it just makes really compelling TV.

I agree. Good idea.

I think it would get a TV MA rating.

No, it depends on the season.

All right. Well, that's that's awesome.

And now completely changing seasons as we're getting ready for winter.

I mean, it's already hit us here.

We, Kyle and I were shooting all week,

which we'll talk about a bit later and freezing.

But it is almost the end of the year and you drive a lot of vehicles.

Kyle drives a lot of vehicles.

And guess what? So do I.

So we thought we'd bring you on to to talk about

what's really impressed you this year or surprised you in a good or bad way?

Any like standouts that come to mind right away?

Well, this is not a surprise at all.

But I drove the Defender Octa, which is like the Octa,

the Defender on steroids, like it's crazy, suspension, everything.

Like it's completely different.

It's on another level.

I drove that in Western Colorado, both on a Baja track,

like a rally track, jumped it, had a pro race driver with me.

And that was amazing.

And then we drove it off road, like off pavement for a good eight hours

from Western Colorado to Moab and back in the same day.

And that thing can handle anything like they were.

We had, you know, the pros with us, obviously,

and we didn't even air down the tires.

We're just like rock crawling that thing can do anything.

So no surprise to me, but it was kind of like that.

That sounds cool, but I get it next week

and I get to know the suburban streets of Toronto.

So you want to know who's really getting the adventure.

There has to be some trails that you can take it on.

There has to be, you know, there there are,

but they're all like at least two hour drives.

So I don't even know if I've got a chance to do that.

But if I go, I just need to go north down.

I'll get in snow, at least.

So I just I also want to clarify,

since we have Connie here as as a witness,

that was originally booked for me.

But I'm going to be gone for most of the week on a trip.

So, Mike, maybe, you know, when I come back,

I could take it for a day.

I think it'll be somewhere missing.

Sorry.

You just abandoned it.

You're like, I did find something that I couldn't make it over.

When I get that at home,

I've definitely taken on some trails.

We have some great trails.

I mean, it is not close for me either,

but I just took a Bronco,

I just took a Bronco off road recently

and I just posted all that content this week.

So if you're interested, that was I took it on some BC trails up

some up here, we just go up some Forest Service roads

and then there's trails and you can.

Nice. Yeah.

Yeah, you guys are kind of spoiled for for good trails.

Yeah, I think we probably do.

I mean, I grew up in Manitoba,

so I know I'm spoiled in BC.

I know.

Well, I mean, the advantage of living in Manitoba

is you can see where all the trails are without having to go anywhere.

But there's no there's no mystery around any corner.

Yeah.

Whereas here, you got to get out and look sometimes,

make sure it's safe to go over the hill or around the corner.

I kind of go test this at an elevation.

Well, I can test it at one elevation consistently.

Yeah, that's just pretty cool.

That's obviously the extreme high cool

and anything more regular, sort of practical.

The Prius.

The last time I covered the Prius,

I only had it for a day, just time constraints.

So I didn't really get to spend enough time in it.

And this time when I had it, I drove it a lot.

And when I filled it up to bring it back,

it was $14 in gas.

Like I was, I was like, what?

Usually I'm used to spending $100 a week or more on gas

because, you know, we're always in SUVs

or luxury sedans.

I have the G90 this week.

I'm sure that's not going to be cheap to fill up either.

But yeah, and I liked the car.

Like it was peppy.

It was not like, you know,

some economic cars are really boring to drive.

It wasn't boring to drive

and it was really, really efficient.

And it looks really good.

Like the new Prius looks really good.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's one of the most impressive vehicles.

I've driven it every year since it came out

and every year I'm just like,

yeah, this is still great.

It's pricey, like most Toyotas.

Yeah.

I can't think if I drove it this year.

I probably did.

We did it at the beginning of the year.

Like we just sent it to Harrison's.

I forget what we included in them half the time.

And that's the, yeah, we drove it

with the Civic Hybrid head back.

That was just the start of this year.

Wow.

That was the start of this year.

Yeah, so long.

All right, well.

What about you guys?

Well, yeah, I was going to say,

so one I've driven, and I want to see if you drove it,

that Kyle and I have gone on about many times on the show

is the Maverick Lobo.

I love that.

Did you get to drive that?

I thought it was really cool,

but again, time constraints, I only had it for a day.

And I do need to rebook that.

I do need to spend, it made me laugh.

Like the second I got in and I put it in Lobo mode,

I think it's called Lobo mode, right?

The driving mode?

Yeah, yeah.

And I was laughing like out loud as I was driving

because it feels like it's like a totally different vehicle

than a little pickup truck, right?

And it's getting the T300 or whatever they call it next year

from the factory, where you can get 300 horsepower

if you want to pay a little more.

So honestly, all it means, more is always better.

I feel like Mike likes it more than I do.

I liked it, but I'm still just,

I'm enamored with the regular Maverick, right?

Like I think the regular Maverick is such a good vehicle

for so many people.

But the Lobo to me is the one where I'm like,

this or WRX, I'd probably take the Lobo.

It's a little more, it's a little more,

what is the word I'm looking for?

It makes sense because you can use it as a truck

and you can drive it like a little sporty car.

Yeah.

See, Kyle's not in the same situation you and I are

and that's why I love it so much is I get my sporty car

but I get my suburban house family car as well.

It's like an SUV, it can take stuff for the garden.

So it's just one of those.

That's why I love the CTV Blackling so much too,

CTV Blackling.

Yes.

It too, I love that.

I know, but like I like it more than a lot of sports cars

because it's like, I can take the family

and still have a sports car.

Like for the price, it or, well, I was gonna say 9-11

but those are so expensive now.

Gaiman, I'm gonna take the CTV 5 because,

or sorry, 7-1-8 because 7-1-8 I could drive by myself

like on the weekend if I'm lucky.

Yeah.

What about you, Kyle?

What impressed me?

As a general category, the three RO EVs this year,

they've all been really impressive.

I drove the Buzz

because Mike, you had it last holiday season

and I took it for a few days.

I still really love it and whenever I see one

on the road, especially when I'm with family,

they're always saying, oh my God, that's so cool.

I didn't know that was out.

The problem as we've talked about is that it's pricey

and its range is not great.

The Ioniq 9, super impressive.

Definitely a vehicle that feels like it should be put up

against premium products, like an Acura MDX or something

instead of a regular mainstream model.

The Vistik was good.

The Lucid Gravity is probably the most impressive family

vehicle I've driven all year with a price tag to match.

Like I just, all of them-

I can't wait to get into that.

I have never been in the gravity.

It's deeply impressive.

There were some slight software issues

when we were driving them

because they were early pre-prod's.

But it's great and it's so spacious.

I've been really impressed by all those,

which I mean, is a little funny because yeah,

like Mike kind of hinted, I don't need the three row.

I don't need the space.

We live in the biggest city in the country.

Yeah.

But I mean, there's a demand for them, right?

A three row family EV.

Oh yeah.

And we just got out of one of our favorites this week

in our comparison.

We had the Santa Fe.

And that's like, Mike and I have both said,

that's our default suggestion when people are like,

oh, I'm looking for an SUV for the family.

What should I get?

It's like Santa Fe.

Get the Santa Fe.

It's the right size in case you need a third row.

It's there.

You'll find when you want hybrid off-road,

fully loaded base, like there's lots there.

Yeah.

All right.

So we've been all cheery and positive in the holiday season.

Anything that surprised you either,

we'll say in a good way or anything that you didn't not

like just kind of, you were like, oh,

this is it like you're expecting more.

Who's getting the call?

Yeah.

The only thing is I have the Stelvio right now,

Alpha Romeo Stelvio.

And I've had this with almost every Alpha

is just a little glitchy in the software.

And then I loved the Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

I think I had it four or five years ago

and I loved it so much.

So I had like these high expectations

for the regular Stelvio.

And obviously it doesn't come close.

It's still nice to drive,

but it feels a lot like underpowered.

It feels a little bit underpowered.

But maybe that's just cause I love the Quadrifoglio so much.

Yeah.

It feels less stand out, right?

Like less special.

Yes.

Definitely.

Yeah.

Whereas the Julia in the Valace

and those trims still a really good car.

Yes.

Yeah.

When it works.

Really trying to drive more dynamic.

Yeah.

When it works.

My last one didn't work,

but I'm getting redemption booking soon.

So we'll see how that goes.

Yeah.

I've noticed Glitchy,

I had a Julia,

I don't know, two, three years ago

that the infotainment would just shut off completely.

And I would have to restart the car.

It was strange.

Well, at least that worked.

I had no center console buttons the entire week

I had the car.

The infotainment worked,

but I couldn't change anything.

I decided to play pretty much.

But for me,

it's short-term memory for sure,

because like I said, I already once,

like I can't remember a lot of stuff I drove

in the spring and summer.

It's been so long.

So more recent,

it's a reflection of the industry as a whole.

But last year I drove the kicks

and what it,

like the new kicks compared to the old kicks

and what they did with minimal changes

just with styling and all the time.

Like it was such a great improvement.

And then when it came to the car this year

that hardly anyone's buying with the Sentra,

I was just hoping for more.

Like it's got new style,

but it didn't really change otherwise.

And it's not a bad car like we said many times

on this podcast, it's still a good car.

It's just, they could have,

I was just hoping they could do a bit more,

but I know you're not gonna put big investment

in something that doesn't sell like it used to.

That's a fair point.

And I mean, you know,

we're seeing the road plug in

talking about not a lot of investment.

It seems to be saving its money as best it can.

What about you, Kyle, anything?

Yes.

The Cadillac Escalade IQ.

That is the vehicle that just did not hit for me.

I appreciate what it is.

And I will argue that it makes more sense

than the gas model in a lot of ways

because a luxury car should be quiet and smooth

and it rides well enough.

The problems that I ran into it are like we're saying,

glitchy software, a lot, it's way too happy.

I can't get past the idea that it's 9,000 pounds.

Like I just, I feel like that's not a solution, right?

Like I'm hoping for cleverer solutions,

whereas GM's approach with its big EVs

is just we're gonna hook a huge battery pack at it

and hope for the best.

And also the quality wasn't there.

That's a $200,000 car in Canada

and what, $180,000 in the U.S.

And there were creeks and rattles everywhere in the cabin.

So I didn't like that.

And the weird, the executive seating

or luxury seating or whatever for the second row

means that you can't access the third row.

But they kept the third row.

Like I don't know why they didn't just get rid of it

like a Range Rover would

when you get the autobiography or the SV.

Like I don't, it doesn't make sense to me.

The vehicle as a whole.

Could hook the kids back there over the seats.

So yeah, you're gonna have to launch them.

Yeah, so that's the thing is like the Vistik

is a really good electric three row Cadillac.

So I don't really get what the point is.

Did you drive it?

Pardon?

Did you drive the IQ?

I did.

Yeah, I agree with everything Kyle said.

I mean, I didn't have any glitches,

but yeah, I just feel like it's too much.

Like it's too much and it's a bit unnecessary.

And I mean, yeah, I love the Vistik though.

Yeah, Vistik, fantastic.

I didn't drive the IQ when Kyle had it,

but I this right around the same time drove the Escalade,

just the regular one.

And I think that's my problem with the IQ is

the Escalade sort of what it's always stood for

in the customer base and what it does,

it still does all that really well.

Like it was still a great big truckish SUV,

probably the best one out there

in that weird sort of small segment

because it's like it and the navigator

with the Grand Wagon here

and then you got a couple from Japan,

but like the Escalade is the Escalade

and they still do it well.

So it's sort of like,

why do I need another Escalade

that's nothing like this Escalade?

Like they could have given it one of its IC names,

like I haven't up to it, Vistik,

like give it a different name

and position it as like a more of an electric range rover

than an Escalade, but it just, it seems, yeah.

Like the regular Escalade is so good

and you're not gonna, I think convince

a regular Escalade buyer to switch to the big EV.

So you're clearly going after a different market with it.

So why even use the name?

Yeah.

Yeah, that is like the catch point too, right?

Cause like I can understand wanting to use the name

because it has so much recognition.

But like you said, people who are repeat Escalade buyers,

like they want the Escalade

and only that exact version of the vehicle.

So, huh.

Well, anything surprised you in a good sense?

Not something that you like,

but something you went into thinking like,

ho hum or last time I drove one of these, it wasn't great.

And then you're like, oh, this is actually surprising.

Probably the Prius again, like I was, I was like ho hum.

Oh, I have a Prius next week.

But yeah, like I drove it a lot

and I was pleasantly surprised

at how much I enjoyed driving it

and how efficient it was.

And then how kind of quirky it is in a good way.

Like I like how they put some weird, funny Easter eggs in it

like underneath in the wireless charging pad.

It says hashtag wireless charger

inside the glove box in the back.

It has to be empty if you pull your stuff out.

Hashtag glove box under the center console.

The, there's like a little pocket or container.

And you, if you lift the cover,

it says hashtag hidden compartment underneath.

And I think those kinds of things are fun.

I like that more brands are doing stuff like that,

like little Easter eggs.

Cause it's like, yeah, it just,

it helps create a positive ownership experience, right?

Like you can point out your friends,

like it's just makes you smile.

Yeah. And speaking of Easter eggs

and more of them, the charger,

the electric charger has a lot of them in them.

I was very surprised.

And I was lucky I'm one of the designers

for Solantis follows me on Instagram

and will sometimes comment and message me and stuff.

And so when I had the charger,

he worked on that charger specifically.

I said, Hey, yeah, you want to share any Easter eggs?

You want to share any inside stuff with me?

And it gave me like a whole very detailed list.

So this is very cool.

That's handy.

Yeah. Yeah, it was totally.

Like I would have never guessed

that their head of design, his Ralph Jill,

I'm going to say his last name wrong,

but his initials are on the back

of the infotainment screen.

And like you would never think,

like I even thought to myself,

how am I going to get this on camera?

So I'm like in the car and like, you know,

you got your gymnastics on the dashboard

to try to see behind the infotainment screen,

but sure enough, they're there.

So, and there's a swear even in the center console,

again, the little cover of your little cubby area.

If you pull it off, you have to really pull it

because it's like sectioned in there or whatever.

If you pull it off,

there's like a word search kind of thing on the back.

And there's a swear in there.

And then there's some of this.

Oh, it's the swears in the Morse code.

Sorry, I forgot.

There's a Morse code thing.

Anyway, yeah.

I think those kinds of things are fun.

Yeah.

Sounds like Connie had a set of screwdrivers and ratchets

and she was taking this car apart.

It just lead me with it.

No, it was pretty.

Yeah, anyway, it was cool.

I like that kind of stuff.

Yeah, I like this.

It's like how Volvo and Polestar in their SUVs

sometimes will have what fits in the trunk, little pictures.

Oh yeah, in the plastic

or the public measuring tapes in there and stuff.

Oh, I'll have to look for that.

I didn't know that.

Yeah, yeah, that one's a fun one.

I also like in Polestar, on the two anyway,

that the logo is reflected onto the glass roof.

Oh, yes.

I like that.

Yes.

Just little things.

Little things, but yeah, you're right.

Like the ownership experience, I don't know.

It maybe gives you a sense of like,

I'm cool because I have this feature.

I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, like you're in the know

because people who only know of the car

probably don't know these things.

Yeah.

And that's a big part of car ownership.

I mean, we've said a million times

if we all were rational car buyers,

we wouldn't buy anything that's on the market today.

We'd all buy a bare-bone work truck

if you have to use it for work

and that's supposed to be in these personal transport pods.

But so I got a question for you.

Did you drive this year either the new Equinox or Terrain?

I had the new Terrain, not the EV though.

No, that's it.

Yeah, did you have the Denali?

Yeah, I thought you were referring to the Equinox EV.

Yes, I had the GMC Terrain AT4 last week

or the week before.

Come on, let's go.

Oh, you had the AT4.

Okay, I had the Denali,

and I think it's Denali-specific,

but the infotainment system and that blew me away

at just how simply clever it is and well laid out.

Like, you know, we get into these screens

and you get stuck with what's on your screens or whatnot.

And this one, I don't know if the AT4 is the same,

but the main screen, which is a vertical screen,

but integrated so it's not sticking above the dash,

which is nice, would have three sections.

And I could put carplay on one section,

audio say on the second,

it's still the third for whatever

and they're all very visible

and I could customize whatever I want.

And then I also had my driver information center

to customize.

And there's a couple of cars

where if you have car player or Android Auto,

there's a bit of information,

but this was one where they people thought like,

you know what, people want to use this

and other things at the same time.

And they made it dead simple to operate.

Like, I don't-

I don't know if you recall,

if they-

We're in some systems this week in our comparison

that you're just like, who thought this was a good idea?

So it's just, I mean, the ironic thing

is carplay is going to go away in the Denali,

but-

I was just gonna say-

I guess it'd be Android Auto.

Which is so sad.

Which is so sad, because I had the,

as we know, all GM EVs are moving away from carplay.

And I think, like you just said,

all GM cars are moving away from carplay, right?

Yep.

So I had the electric,

what's the pickup from?

Sierra.

The Sierra.

Yes, the Sierra.

I had the Silverado earlier in there.

I had the Silverado recently, the EV,

and my neighbor was in love with it.

Like, he was like, that is gorgeous.

I want that color.

I want that, I think it was the Denali.

I can't remember the term, I think it was the Denali.

Anyway, so I said, do you guys wanna go for a drive?

Like, do you wanna, like, I'll take you for a ride

so you can see it.

Anyway, he's in love with everything.

I even offered to take them to go do,

oh, I did take them to go do the crab walk and everything.

Anyway, he's in love with the girlfriends with him

and she's like loving it too.

And she's like a luxury.

She drives a Range Rover, I think, yeah.

No, she has a Defender.

Anyway, long story short, we get to the restaurant

and no, or almost at the restaurant and I say,

but no CarPlay, you have to use the native Google built in.

And he was like, no Apple CarPlay?

I said no Apple CarPlay for GM EVs.

Why not?

I had to try to explain.

Anyway, long story short, he's not buying it

because it doesn't have Apple CarPlay.

I'm surprised, I know.

I can't, it's still the most mind boggling decision

and I know like there's a thousand rationale

within the company and it's been decided

and verified and rationalized by someone,

but like people outside of the company

or they need to get people outside of the company

to step in and say like, look,

there's a reason no one else is doing this.

And it's not because Apple has some control over them,

it's because Apple has control over us

and we're not willing to change.

I don't care if you're gonna give me free data

and free Google account and whatnot,

I'm not making a second one.

Yeah, it's just not worth it.

And that's what I'm gonna say,

like in many ways that has all of my history,

so it knows as soon as I type a letter

what I'm probably trying to get at,

it won't because it'll be a different account, so yeah.

And the people that don't care

because they're buying a Tesla or a Rivian

because those brands do not have CarPlay,

those people care more about the brand they're buying

that affinity than having the convenience

of having Apple CarPlay.

Whereas when you're buying a GM,

you're not buying a GM because it's a GM.

You might be buying a Denali of some,

like some whatever, Yukon because it's a Yukon

or because it's a Denali,

but you're not buying a GM because it's a GM.

So you need to have that functionality

that CarPlay in there.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

I feel like, you know, I understand,

like Mike said, I understand their rationale

behind wanting us to use the native stuff.

I totally get it, but we're past that point now.

Like people are so used to their phones,

our phones are our lives,

they have all of our information on them.

You can't ask people to just be like, no, ignore that.

Like it just doesn't work.

Yeah, and I love the Google automotive,

like I love the Google built-in system,

but I want my car, if I was buying a car

with my money, I want both.

If it's gonna be a Google system,

I still want Apple CarPlay.

Yeah.

All I can have is people mounting their phones

to their windshield on a suction mount and using it anyway.

Exactly, and then being doubly distracted.

And be distracted, yeah, exactly.

It's crazy.

Well, before we let you go,

anything else that this year you were like,

this is great, this wasn't great,

or anything that you're just cannot wait for next year?

Good question.

I haven't thought far into next year.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around

that we only have a few weeks left this year.

But not off the top of my head, not really.

No, I know Kyle and I wanna drive the Prelude

because we didn't get to yet,

but that's only the short-term thing, Matt, so.

It'll take forever for me to get into that anyway.

I don't know, and we'll get it here.

And I won't be in any drive programs with Honda,

probably, so.

Honestly, the one that I can't wait

for both of you to drive,

because I wanna hear both of your opinions on it,

is the NYX3.

Oh, yes, you're right.

I would love to drive that

because I was so super-duper impressed

with the IX.

Like the new for 26,

they improved all the efficiency,

the battery, like everything was new.

I loved everything about it.

It was incredible, and I'd driven it before,

and I just really loved it.

So, yeah, NYX3, I can't wait.

Yeah, I loved your photos all the way, Kyle,

the photos you posted from your trip.

Oh, was it Spain?

Yeah, yeah, South of Spain makes it real easy

to get good photos of cars.

Oh, well, you're really good at it too, but it's...

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

I can't wait to get into that one.

It's an intriguing vehicle.

Me too. I was at the launch,

so I had to learn the car inside of that

because I do video and all these stories.

So, all this stuff I've learned about that,

some of it, you're like, is this gonna work?

I really need to try.

And as cool as it would have been going to Spain

like Kyle didn't driving it,

it's like, I need it here for a week,

and I can really start testing this stuff out

and see in practical real world if it works or not.

I'm almost certain it will,

but I wanna see how it is.

Like, I wanna see this head-up display

that's projecting like 20 feet down the road and all that.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

Yeah, that'll be when we have Connie back on

for a third time.

Once you guys have driven it,

we can all have a little session.

How I'll get together.

Yeah.

Reach out to BMW, we'll get three IX3s

and we'll just live stream us all driving it.

Oh, that would be amazing.

And we'll meet in the middle of the country

so somewhere in Manitoba.

Back to Connie's hometown.

Why not?

Sounds great, let's do it.

Prairie's in the summer.

Yeah.

I'll bring the bug repellent.

Yeah, we'll need it.

All right, well, thanks again.

We will definitely have you on again

and enjoy your holidays

and while your winter's not as bad as ours,

but survive it and we'll see you in the weather.

It gets nicer.

Yes, thank you guys so much for having me.

Happy holidays, everybody.

Happy holidays, Connie, thanks.

All right, welcome back.

We once again have Colin Wood on

and before we get into this week's news and rumors,

this will air after the Formula One Championship's decided,

but since it's Friday for us,

currently we have no idea, so congrats, Lando.

Congrats, Max.

Congrats, Oscar.

There, one of those will work.

I don't think it'll be Oscar.

But you know, he's mathematically there.

I don't know, maybe McLaren will be like,

Lando, you know what strategy is?

Drive it to a wall, you know?

Who knows what they'll come up with,

if they went full Ferrari last year.

Yeah, I was gonna say, it's not Ferrari.

Yeah, that was bad.

That was really just, it's,

part of me wants to say, like,

I actually I think the biggest problem was

that they didn't split the strategy.

I don't blame them for staying out.

I think like, you never know.

And had they done the opposite,

people could have criticized them too.

It is, obviously there's the most pressure

being in the lead

because you have to make the first call.

And like people say, they made the wrong call.

I don't think the wrong call was to pit.

I think the wrong call was to not pit.

It was to not pit both of them.

And maybe that's going to their hole.

Don't want to favor one driver.

I don't know.

Exactly, like, once Piestri stayed out,

you could, sorry, who was in,

yeah, Piestri is leading, right?

Yes, yes.

Once he stayed out, but Max was pitting.

They should have thrown Lando in,

but I think it's exactly what you said.

They didn't want to show favoritism

because that would have guaranteed Lando was in the,

could have won the championship.

And, you know, Oscars out,

but we've been saying all year,

it's going to come back to bite them if they're not careful.

So if they don't go full Lando this weekend,

that's already happened.

So we'll see if we're right or not.

Then what are you doing?

Because like you're going to let Max sneak in there

and take it.

Yeah, it'll be, it'll be feisty.

I predict that they'll be,

I feel like there's a Max Lando incident coming.

So we'll see.

I was going to go full,

I was going to go full Schumacher.

And if you could keep his wheels on,

he might never know.

I actually know because if he took out Max and himself,

then I guess Oscar wins.

So he can't even do that.

No, you can't.

You can't like do both.

There's the Oscars close enough

that it would be a real problem.

So, so you have to re-way crash.

You got to let them get first and second,

qualify third and just like a video game.

Don't break in the first corner.

Yuki's going to, that's his like.

Get his revenge.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Always revenge.

He'll take out Max.

Boom.

Yuki and Lawson will just get Max on both sides.

That's it.

225 coming back at you.

Watch this.

Like some of this have happened

and people will think we're, you know,

we're totally insane or we can see the few.

That's right.

The Oracle.

Hi, let's get out of the real rumors that we've had.

Rumors, forget the news.

Everybody knows this.

I guess this is actually news too.

This is news.

I just feel so vindicated about this

because I mean, I shouldn't, again,

it's not surprising really,

but the fact that Toyota or Gazoo Racing

is now going to be the title sponsor for Haas next year.

I think more importantly,

here's a little quote from Accio Toyota.

He says, the time has come for the next generation

to take their first steps towards the world stage.

So they're, you know,

I think Toyota is continuing to bill and invest even more

and it's become a bigger partnership in the future.

And I think their drivers are coming as well.

Like I've talked about that for many podcasts.

So actually in free practice,

one this morning, Ryo Hirakawa was there

doing some testing.

So I think, I'd say see you later, Okon.

The days are numbered.

He's got to seek next year,

but that's the end of him, I think.

So you think, yeah, like 27?

For sure.

27, I don't know if 27,

they like fully take over,

but 27 they bring in a Toyota driver for sure.

So yeah, and Okon's off, you know,

Bearman's been outperforming him.

I don't, yeah, I haven't seen anything super impressive

from Toyota sort of fleet of junior drivers.

So it could still take many years

to actually bring somebody up

from the actual super junior ranks

and find somebody who's just like a next level talent.

So.

And I mean, after the news,

we talked about Kyle and I earlier

with those supercars and the GT3.

Those are crazy, crazy.

This is a case of like,

what a great surprise when they tell you it's coming

and you're like, yeah, yeah, we know, we know, we know.

And I'm sure we all expected like,

it makes 420 horsepower or something.

And they're like, 641, they're like,

and it's legit, right?

Like very, very impressive.

I did not see that level of performance

coming from Toyota.

I always assumed it was

because it's a twin turbo V8.

I mean, you can't make less than 550 or so,

but I mean, I'm notwithstanding

that bizarre NASCAR truck press conference he had,

he's really going all in with performance,

which is really cool to see.

It's just funny that next year,

Toyota is gonna be full Red Bull Infinity

from 10 years ago

where it's gonna be GR Toyota with a Ferrari engine.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

For how long, right?

Yeah, not long.

I mean, a Ferrari's gonna have to start looking for customers

because we'll talk,

it's like Cadillac will be their customer for a year or two,

but then Cadillac's gonna have their own engines

and you're gonna have to have a,

Ferrari's basically becoming the engine supplier

to all these new teams as it were.

So, ha!

Yeah, yeah, Cadillac,

I mean, there's always just a stop gap for them,

but you're right.

Who else do they have besides Haas

and they have another one right now

is it as sour using their engines?

But I think whoever it is, they're also losing it, so.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, well, so here's the next news.

Cadillac, again, it's news, not a rumor,

but just interesting that they're being super American

and they're gonna launch the apparently delivery

for their car during an ad on the super,

during the Super Bowl.

So, they're just big stage all the way.

It's great marketing.

And I think for, like, we know all about this, right?

But I'm sure there's a ton of people

throughout the United States

who don't know anything about Formula One still,

who don't follow it, who will all of a sudden be like,

what, Cadillac has a Formula One team?

And so that could help, you know,

it is a great way to kickstart a fan or something.

Yeah, I think you're right.

You're looking for that medium fan, middle fan,

who is aware of F1 and kind of,

but you get the very casual fan,

they'll just assume Cadillac always did

and they figure Indy is Formula One

and don't know the difference.

But I always thought they're gonna have their car

at the Detroit Auto Show

because that's obviously what Ford's planning to do,

but this kind of makes sense now.

So you're each getting your own thing.

But I'm curious about this ad

because what angle do you take?

I'm assuming it's gonna be some sort of like

leaders into the world

because he can't be like a red, white, blue,

livery, be all Americana

because you know Ram's gonna outdo you in the Super Bowl.

Like that's their thing, right?

So I'm curious to see what they do.

Yeah, I think it'll be a good story selling.

I think it'll be very Americana.

Like remember, do you remember the old,

there was a Corvette ad that like

we still build rockets ad?

That was like, that was great, right?

Like there's, if they, if they pull it off right,

I think they could do some really good,

you know, yeah, yeah, rah, rah America stuff,

right stage and it's a totally separate thing.

Like, you know, Ram can own the,

you know, the Americana thing,

but that's for, you know, the farmers

and the truck drivers and everything else

versus this is, you know, it'll be interesting to see, right?

Because there is this weird,

you can always see this tension

within a brand like Cadillac.

You've got all the like die hard motorsports guys

that like grew up with like Corvette C506s

and all that stuff.

And then you've got all the like

bougie New York, you know, we have to have our like,

you know, studio that's in Manhattan

and, you know, hang out with all the coolest celebrities.

And it's like, which, which angle are they,

like can they bring those together?

Right? Like I feel like that's hard.

And I always worry that they go too far

in the bougie marketing thing.

And it's just not, I don't know.

I just don't see it that as authentically Cadillac.

So.

Yeah. I mean, at least like GM like for,

they've had an international racing division

for a long time.

So they kind of understand that side,

but you're right.

Well, how are they going to market this?

I don't expect to see Georgia Washington driving

the Cadillac F1 car across the field.

No, no, you're right.

You're right.

That was, yeah, I don't think they could do that level,

but they'll still be like, yeah.

Yeah. I think they'll go bougie.

It kind of like, it'd be interesting to see

because I suspect it's a very different

like marketing approach than their car division.

Like I suspect it's totally separate, right?

Like it's the people who are making all the decisions

about marketing the Cadillac Formula One brand

are not the people doing the Cadillac cars.

So.

I think it needs to be a forward looking commercial

because you can't go back on Cadillac's racing history

because it's not been good.

Like all their prototype stuff hasn't been great.

And you can't really like bank on Chevy's

because that's the different brand.

Yeah.

But they could do a history of a great American racers

that's ready in some guys

and then say like we're an answer family

and then we're the next step.

I don't know if they're going to bring up

the Entredi family.

Yeah, maybe not Entredi, yeah.

That's great.

Yeah.

Well, you just go around some of the family members.

Exactly, yeah.

Really quickly.

It would be funny if they mentioned all these great,

you know, racers of the past

and we're the next, you know, the next chapter

and they ignore the Entredi family because I'd be.

Yeah.

That'd be a slap of the face.

Oh, hockey.

Great.

So you never mentioned like how or Gretzky or something.

Exactly.

Yeah.

All right.

Last story is we're back on the line here.

Here is a little bit of rumor.

So this actually came out a while ago.

There was a story that the FIA aerodynamicist,

Jason Somerville, he left the FIA a while ago

after he had basically been in charge

of all the new aerodynamic regulations.

And there were rumors about a month ago

that he was going to go to Alpine,

which also seemed a bit farfetched.

So now the rumor is he's going to go to Cadillac

and who better to have running your aerodynamics department?

There's a lot of questions

about is this conflict of interest?

They always have what they call

what the gardening leave.

That's such a British term of basically,

they basically pay you not to work

for a certain period of time.

But if he's the guy that crafted the rules

and now you've got him working for Cadillac,

that's a pretty good cue for them.

So we'll see if that turns out to be true or not.

Yeah.

If his whatever time period is expired,

then it's not a conflict of interest.

I mean, I've worked at companies

where a lot of people were leaving

to go to drug competitors.

And they had, I think it was a 90 day

or 120 day window back then

because they didn't want you taking all the secrets with you.

But yeah, it went better than having the guy

who made the rules to find all the great areas

within the rules.

Absolutely.

I wonder if the FIA is scrambling

to change them all slightly.

Exactly, yeah.

Yeah, it's going to be so interesting.

I'm so excited for this weekend,

which I know when that was passed in this podcast,

but last race of the year

and then next year is going to be just fresh.

I remember these eras,

like the start of these eras.

I don't think it'll be this way in the past,

it used to be that there were like in like 2010 river

and like all the freaking engines are blowing up

and reliability's not very good.

I don't think that'll happen.

I kind of hope for it a bit

because it really just throws everything out of whack.

But just so excited for,

I've already sat for losing the Formula One off season

and be like, man, I can't wait for it to be back.

So I'll be-

Well, this is tiny.

Yeah, sure.

I don't know, which is great,

which is I'm happy for me,

sex for maybe all the mechanics and stuff.

I wish with the new regs and the new teams,

everything everyone had to come in new.

Like you'd have not just Honda and Ford engines,

next year is like, kind of like I said,

there's this Toyota when we keep rooming and Audi.

Like everyone just, here you go.

But I think to your point,

to start they won't,

but one team will nail the formula,

especially with their engine

and everyone else will want to try to catch up quick

and they'll start blowing their engines up

by over driving them.

So yeah, it'll be interesting.

But congrats to Max Lando Oscar, whoever won.

And pour one out for Yuki,

who won't be driving next year,

but vows he'll be back.

Yes, yeah, I don't know, but yeah, it'll be good.

It'll be, you know,

you and I will be glued to our TVs

bright and early on Sunday morning.

All right.

All right, thanks Mike.

Next week and wrap things up from this season.

Sounds good.

See you later.

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