Toyota Builds a Supercar, Lexus LFA is Back - Sort Of, First Drive of BMW iX3
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Car
Toyota GR GT
The Toyota GR GT is a sporty car made by Toyota, known for its powerful performance and unique design. It's part of Toyota's effort to create exciting vehicles for driving enthusiasts.
Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a sports car that many people love for its speed and design. It's famous in car culture and often modified for better performance.
Term
twin-turbo V8 hybrid supercar
A twin-turbo V8 hybrid supercar is a very fast car that uses a big V8 engine with two turbochargers to make it even more powerful. It also has electric motors to help it go faster and be better for the environment.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful a car's engine is. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster.
Concept
Hammerhead design language
Hammerhead design language is a way that some cars are styled to look unique and sporty. It includes features like sharp lines and a distinctive shape that make the car stand out.
Term
V8
A V8 engine has eight cylinders that work together to produce power. It's a common type of engine used in many powerful cars and trucks.
Term
weight distribution
Weight distribution is how the weight of a car is spread out between the front and back. Good weight distribution helps the car handle better and stay stable while driving.
Term
mid-front engine
A mid-front engine means the engine is placed towards the front of the car but not all the way at the front. This helps the car handle better when driving.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
The Corvette ZR1 is a super-fast version of the Chevrolet Corvette, designed for high performance and speed.
Concept
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a well-known race track in Germany where car companies test their vehicles. It's famous for being difficult and is a place where many performance cars are put through their paces.
Brand
Chevy
Chevy is a popular American car brand that makes many types of cars, including some really fast ones like the Corvette. They have a long history of making performance vehicles.
Concept
GR
GR stands for Gazoo Racing, which is Toyota's performance brand. They make cars that are fun to drive and have better performance than regular Toyota models.
Term
GT3 class racing
GT3 class racing is a type of car racing where specially modified sports cars compete. They are based on regular cars but have upgrades to make them faster and more competitive.
Car
Toyota GR86
The Toyota GR86 is a fun, small sports car that is easy to drive and is part of Toyota's performance series called GR.
Car
Toyota Superstead
The Toyota Superstead is a new car model that Toyota is working on, which is meant for racing and for people to buy.
Concept
GT3 regulations
GT3 regulations are rules for racing cars that help make sure they are safe and perform well on the track.
Car
HSV 010
The HSV 010 is a fast sports car made for racing, recognized for its cool design and technology.
Car
Genesis Supercar
The Genesis Supercar is a fast and powerful car that Genesis is making to compete with other supercars.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a cool sports car made in America that looks great and drives really fast. It's popular because it offers a lot of performance for the price, making it a favorite among car lovers.
Term
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a type of car engine with ten cylinders arranged in a V shape. This design helps the engine produce a lot of power and run smoothly, making it popular in fast sports cars.
Concept
all electric
An all-electric car runs only on electricity and doesn't use gasoline or diesel. This means it doesn't produce any harmful gases, making it better for the environment.
Car
Lexus LFA
The Lexus LFA is a super-fast sports car that was made in limited numbers, making it very special. It's known for its amazing performance and unique look, which makes it a dream car for many.
Term
solid state batteries
Solid state batteries are a newer kind of battery that can store more energy and are safer than the usual batteries we use today. They are expected to be used in electric cars in the future.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that all four wheels of a car get power from the engine, which helps the car grip the road better, especially in bad weather. It's useful for driving in rain or snow.
Term
EV
An EV, or electric vehicle, is a car that runs on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment and can save money on fuel.
Term
torque vectoring
Torque vectoring helps a car control how much power goes to each wheel, making it easier to turn and stay stable while driving.
Term
electric powertrains
Electric powertrains are systems that use electricity to power a car instead of gasoline, making them cleaner and often faster.
Term
paddle shifters
Paddle shifters are buttons on the steering wheel that let you change gears in a car without using a clutch, making it feel more like a race car.
Car
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron is an incredibly fast and expensive sports car that's known for being one of the best in the world. It's a dream car for many because of its amazing speed and luxury features.
Car
Toyota Tundra
Car
Ford F-150 Raptor
The Ford F-150 Raptor is a tough pickup truck made for driving off-road, like on dirt trails or rocky paths. It has a strong engine and special features that help it handle rough terrain while still being able to carry things in the back.
Car
Ram Trxs
The Ram TRX is a tough pickup truck that's built for off-road driving and has a super strong engine. It's popular among people who want a truck that can handle rough terrain and still look cool.
Car
Toyota Tacoma
The Toyota Tacoma is a smaller pickup truck that's great for both work and fun. It's known for being tough and reliable, making it a good choice for people who need a truck that can handle different tasks.
Car
Bmw Ix3
The BMW iX3 is an electric version of BMW's popular X3 SUV. It runs on electricity instead of gasoline, making it more environmentally friendly and often cheaper to run.
Car
BMW iX
The BMW iX is a new electric SUV from BMW. It's designed to be very advanced and is part of BMW's push into electric cars, which are becoming more popular.
Concept
secure purchase
A secure purchase means that when you buy a car, you can trust that your money is safe and that you are buying from a reliable seller. It helps avoid scams and ensures a smoother buying experience.
Car
Lincoln Navigator
The Lincoln Navigator is a large, fancy SUV that has a lot of room inside and comes with many luxury features. It's popular among people who want a comfortable and stylish vehicle for their family.
Car
Bmw X3
The BMW X3 is a small luxury SUV that drives really well and has nice features inside. It's a good option for people who want a fancy vehicle that's also practical for everyday use.
Car
Mazda Mx
The Mazda MX-5, or Miata, is a small sports car that's really fun to drive and has a convertible top. It's popular because it's light and handles well, making it a great choice for people who love driving.
Car
Chevrolet Suburban
The Chevrolet Suburban is a big SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff. It's popular for families because it has plenty of room inside and can tow trailers or boats.
Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV made for off-road adventures, like going on trails or in the mountains. It's popular because it looks cool and can handle rough terrain really well.
Car
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both gas and electricity to help save on fuel. It's known for being very good on gas, which makes it a popular choice for people who want to be more eco-friendly.
Car
Genesis G90
The Genesis G90 is a fancy car that offers a lot of comfort and cool technology. It's a good choice for people who want a luxury car without spending as much as some other brands.
Car
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a small car that's very reliable and gets good gas mileage. It's a popular choice for people who need a dependable car for everyday driving.
Car
Ford Lobo
The Ford Lobo is a big pickup truck that is similar to the Ford F-150, made for the Mexican market. It's known for being strong and useful for both work and play.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car known for its unique shape and fast performance. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as one of the best sports cars you can buy.
Car
Hyundai Ioniq 9
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a new electric car that's designed to be roomy and full of cool technology. It's part of the trend of electric vehicles that are becoming more popular.
Car
Acura Mdx
The Acura MDX is a midsize SUV that offers a lot of space and nice features for families. It's a good option for people who want a comfortable and safe vehicle for their everyday needs.
Car
Lucid Gravity
The Lucid Gravity is a new electric SUV that can go a long way on a single charge and has lots of luxury features. It's part of the trend of electric cars that are becoming more popular.
Car
Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai Santa Fe is a midsize SUV that has a lot of room for passengers and cargo. It's a good choice for families because it offers a lot of features for a reasonable price.
Car
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a small luxury SUV that has a sporty feel and a stylish design. It's a good choice for people who want a fancy SUV that stands out from the crowd.
Car
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is a super sporty version of the Stelvio SUV that has a really strong engine. It's a great choice for people who want a luxury SUV that can also drive like a sports car.
Car
Nissan Sentra
The Nissan Sentra is a small car that's easy on the wallet and gets good gas mileage. It's a popular choice for people who need a reliable car for everyday driving without spending too much.
Car
Cadillac Escalade
The Cadillac Escalade is a big, fancy SUV that has a lot of room inside and comes with many luxury features. It's popular among people who want a comfortable and stylish vehicle for their family.
Car
Land Rover Range Rover
The Land Rover Range Rover is a fancy SUV that can go off-road but also has a lot of luxury features inside. It's popular among people who want a nice car that can handle tough terrains.
Car
Gm Sierra
The GMC Sierra is a big pickup truck that's great for carrying heavy loads and towing trailers. It's popular among people who need a strong truck for work or outdoor activities.
Car
Chevrolet Silverado
The Chevrolet Silverado is a big pickup truck that's great for carrying heavy loads and towing trailers. It's a favorite among people who need a tough truck for work or outdoor activities.
Car
Honda Prelude
The Honda Prelude is a sporty car that looks cool and is fun to drive. It was made for many years and is popular among people who like cars that are a bit different.
Car
Nissan Prairies
The Nissan Prairie is a small family vehicle that was made a while ago, known for being practical and having a lot of space inside. It's a good choice for families who need a versatile car.
Car
Dodge Ram
The Dodge Ram is a big pickup truck that's known for being strong and comfortable to drive. It's a popular choice for people who need a truck for work or for fun.
LIVE
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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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About this episode
Exciting developments in the automotive world take center stage as Toyota unveils its new GR GT supercar, boasting a twin-turbo V8 hybrid engine and a striking design. The Lexus LFA name returns with an all-electric model, stirring mixed emotions among fans. Kyle shares his first drive experience of the BMW iX3, highlighting its impressive performance and tech features. The episode also features a guest, Connie, who discusses her experiences at the Ravel rally and shares insights on standout vehicles from the year, including the Prius and the Defender. The conversation wraps up with thoughts on the future of automotive brands and their marketing strategies.
all electric
all wheel drive
Chevy
electric power trains
EV
GT3 class racing
GT3 regulations
hammer head design language
horsepower
mid-front engine
Acura MDX
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
BMW iX
BMW iX3 (G08)
BMW X3
Bugatti Veyron
Cadillac Escalade
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Silverado
Chevrolet Suburban
Dodge Ram
Ford Bronco
Ford F-150
Ford Lobo
Genesis G90
GMC Sierra EV
Honda Civic
Honda Prelude
Hyundai Ioniq 9
Hyundai Santa Fe
Land Rover Range Rover
Lexus LFA
Lincoln Navigator
Lucid Gravity
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Nissan Prairie
Nissan Sentra
Porsche 911
Ram TRX
Toyota GR 86
Toyota GR GT
Toyota Prius
Toyota Supra
Toyota Tacoma
Toyota Tundra
Original notes
This week we have big news from Toyota as the brand unveils the GR GT supercar and GR GT3 race car. Lexus also has a new all-electric LFA concept that we discuss the merits of. As Well, Kyle takes a first drive of the new 2026 BMW iX3.
Later, Connie rejoins us to discuss the Rebelle Rally as well as the biggest surprises in the world of cars for 2025.
Finally, Colum is back to talk the latest F1 news and rumors.
The AutoGuide Show
By AutoGuide.com
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