Wheel Bearings
https://wheelbearings.media
Updated 4 days agoWheel Bearings is a podcast about cars and transportation hosted by Sam Abuelsamid, Nicole Wakelin and Roberto Baldwin
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Episodes (469)
Wheelbearings Episode 93
Before heading off to CES, Sam drove the BMW X1 while Dan had a direct competitor in the Volvo XC40. This week Ford unveiled the all-new (no really, it is actually almost all-new!) 2020 Explorer. At CES, companies were showing off chips, software and sensors while Nissan announced a Leaf that finally goes over 200 miles on a charge and Hyundai showed a wild new ultimate mobility concept.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 92
This week Dan is driving the new 2019 Kia Forte EX and Sam has been in the all-new 2019 Nissan Altima. The conversation then moves into whether cars are actually getting heavier, spoiler alert - Yes and No! Is a low-mileage 1994 Toyota Supra really worth $121,000? Another Alphabet moonshot project becomes its own company with a novel way to store energy from renewable sources.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 91
As the guys get together one final time for 2018, Sam used the Buick Regal TourX to pick up a new puppy, and the Ram 1500 North Edition spends an extended stay in Dan's driveway . We re-visit Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid impressions at the request of a listener looking to replace a GMC Safari, ponder a German Turbo EV, and consider the utility of fingerprints in the car. We finish up by answering a listener question about aerodynamics on everyday cars before bidding everyone a pre-emptive Happy New Year.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 90
This week Sam has been driving the Cadillac ATS-V and GMC Acadia Denali. Dan gets to be one of the first to try out the new Ram 1500 North Edition.Electric vehicle batteries don't ignite very often, but when they do, they are really hard to put out. Lincoln goes back to the past for a special edition of the Continental and FCA appears to be preparing a new inline six cylinder engine.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 89
We're back with seat time in the Honda Odyssey, Jaguar i-Pace, Mazda6 Signature and Volkswagen Jetta S. Meanwhile Waymo sort of launches a commercial sort of driverless robo-taxi service, Porsche tests ultra-fast charging and Aston Martin reveals some engine details about the Valykerie.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 88
The American automotive market is more about trucks and utilities than ever before. Sam and Dan look at a couple of bookends with the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and Ford EcoSport. GM CEO Mary Barra makes the tough call to end production at five factories. Meanwhile at the 2018 LA Auto Show, there was lots of new product many of them with plugs. Some highlights include the 2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring, 2020 Mazda3, 2020 Porsche 911, Audi e-Tron GT concept and the new Kia Soul with a battery that should go 250 miles or so.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 87
This week Sam drives the new Volkswagen Jetta and Dan spends time with the Acura RDX and VW Golf Sportwagen.Out in the real world, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Chairman of Nissan is arrested for alleged financial malfeasance and the future of the Alliance is in doubt. With snow and ice now on the road, it's time again to think about winter tires. Land Rover unveils the second-generation Evoque with electrified powertrains and Tesla owners are experiencing Supercharger issues. Sam also interviews Pete Rander and Brett Browning of Argo AI.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 86
This time out, Sam is recording from a hotel room in Miami as we discuss the Volvo XC40 T5 and its goofy shifter design, the Audi Q5 and its surprisingly fast handwriting recognition and the marvelous Kia Stinger. Subscriptions may or may not be the future of car buying, assuming car buying even has a future in an age of automated vehicles. Faraday almost certainly has no Future and Walmart joins Ford's automated delivery test program.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 85
After a week off, we have an extended length show to make up for it. Dan drives a very expensive Ford F-150 and a sportier Acura MDX A-Spec. Sam goes from the not really a crossover Toyota C-HR to the ginormous Genesis G90. Then we dive into some discussion of sales and earnings, GM's call for a national EV mandate in response to Trump administration moves to freeze fuel economy standards and cost cutting moves while profits are still reasonably healthy. We also discuss Consumer Reports reliability data and answer listener questions including the Hyundai pickup truck.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 84
This week, Sam and Dan are both commuting, Dan from his office near Boston and Sam heading back to SFO from the Verge Transport Conference in Oakland. Sam is on his second consecutive battery electric car, driving the 2018 BMW i3S after leaving the Hyundai Ioniq Electric behind in Detroit. Meanwhile Dan joins the party from the 2019 Lexus LS500 after transitioning from the 2019 Subaru Forester. In the news, the guys discuss the latest assessment from Munro and Associates about how Tesla is building the Model 3 and Dan opines on advertising changes at Ford. At the end of the show we add the keynote that Sam delivered recently to the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber Impact event.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 83
This week Sam drives the latest Mazda6 which is still his favorite midsize sedan while Dan samples the Hyundai Kona and Toyota Sienna with all-wheel-drive. As the auto industry changes, Mercedes-Benz considers paring down niche models while GM and Honda team up on automated driving and mobility.Finally, we bid farewell to Tony Swan.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 82
This week, Brianna Wu returns to the show to talk about her Porsche Cayman, Sam drives 2019 Hyundai Veloster Turbo Ultimate and Dan shares his feelings on the Ford Mustang Convertible. Lucid follows up on their big Saudi funding round with a deal with Electrify America to provide charging for the upcoming Air electric sedan. The crew also discusses the lack of togetherness between BMW and Toyota in developing the new Z4 and Supra.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 81
After a hectic week of travel for Sam while Dan was making an emergency TV commercial, the guys are back with a bunch of vehicles they've driven. Sam spent time with the BMW 230i and Kia Rio EX while Dan was in the BMW X2 and the VW Beetle convertible for a last hurrah before it rolls off into the sunset. Sam also drove the Cadillac XT4 and Lincoln Nautilus and attended the global reveal of the Audi E-Tron Quattro. Also J Mays emerges from retirement to design something new.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 80
Since the last regular episode, Sam has been in the new Jeep Wrangler with a 48V mild hybrid and a Nissan Kicks. Meanwhile Dan has been hauling stuff in the Hyundai Ioniq and picks up the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Mercedes-Benz revealed the new EQC this week and the Ford Focus Active isn't coming to America.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Episode #079 - Larry Burns Talks About Autonomy
In this special episode of Wheel Bearings, Sam sits down with Larry Burns, retired SVP of R&D and Strategic Planning at General Motors to talk about his new book, Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—And How It Will Reshape Our World. Since retiring from GM in 2009, Burns has been an educator and consultant including working with the Google Self-driving car project and Waymo since 2011. The book is a great read for anyone interested in learning more the history of the DARPA Grand Challenge and development of automated vehicles in the past decade.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 78
This week Dan records his end of the show from the new Kia Rio which proves an affordable new car doesn't have to be cheap junk. Sam is at home after having driven the 2019 Jeep Cherokee and the 48V mild hybrid Ram 1500. The guys discuss the wisdom of Jaguar building electric restomod E-types, Audi's new Pebble Beach electric supercar concept and whether Elon Musk has outlived his usefulness to TeslaAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 77
Lots of electrified vehicles this week as Sam discusses the Lexus LC500h and Honda Clarity Fuel Cell while Dan gets his hands on the new Honda Insight and the Ford Expedition Max Platinum. Casey Liss is also back to talk about the VW Golf R. Everyone's favorite 80s and 90s near vaporware is trying to make a comeback as Vector offers up a couple of old prototypes to kickstart a revival.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 76
This week, Sam describes his time with the impressive Honda Accord Hybrid - perfected just in time for the sedan market to dry up - and Dan gets charmed by the Ford Raptor and Expedition Max. We talk abut the looming fight over relaxin or even rolling back fuel economy standards, SAE working to define safety tests for autonomous vehicles, and the layoffs that just happened at Car & Driver.Sam found and fixed an error with our feedback form, and so we spend a good amount of time answering a backlog of listener emails, too.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 75
Since we last turned on the mics, Sam has been in the Ford F-150 King Ranch diesel and the Kia Niro plug-in hybrid. Dan has been sampling Subaru's new big SUV, the Ascent. The automotive world loses big names to the inevitable.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 74
This week Sam drives what may end up being the last Ford car to Pittsburgh to learn about how Argo AI is helping Ford build the future of transportation. Dan takes a road trip in the biggest of Ford's passenger carrying vehicles. A lot of very cool vehicles climb Lord March's driveway at the Goodwood festival of Speed. VW will build some of its new generation of EVs in America. Small Hyundai's are really good. The guys discuss the meaning of crossover in an attempt to answer a listener question, too.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 73
This week Sam has been in the new Ford Expedition Max, Dan gets a re-run of the Lincoln Navigator and Mazda CX-9. Lots of news including the new Audi e-Tron quattro without mirrors, chargers for GM's automated Chevy Bolts, rising prices due to the trade war and the Toyota Supra goes to NASCAR. Finally, Honda builds a 150 mph lawnmower because why not?Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 72
This week Sam drives Ford's new baby SUV, the EcoSport and Dan marvels at the progress of Kia over 20 years after driving the new Sorento. This week Fiat Chrysler held their annual What's New preview and showed off the latest even faster Challenger variant, the Hellcat Redeye. Like the Challenger, many of the products in the FCA lineup have been around for quite a long time but the company has made an effort to continuously update them in ways that seem small on the surface but matter to customers. The show wraps up with a discussion of the impact of proposed tariffs on the auto industry.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 71
The delay between episodes is always Dan's fault. Most of the miles were put on this week via 737-700s and a rental Kia Soul. Sam was busy paying attention to all of the automotive goings-on, including leadership shuffles at General Motors, and Ford's latest real estate investment in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, while also finding time to drive the 2019 Honda Insight. Because it's been a while, there's also a plethora of cars we've been driving. Sam was in the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the 2018 Nissan Leaf while Dan tried out the 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie and the 2018 Lincoln Navigator Black Label.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 70
This week Sam really likes the third-generation Acura RDX, Dan likes the Mazda CX-5 and then they try hard not to talk about Tesla and mostly succeed. The guys also talk GM and Softbank and the upcoming product plans for Chrysler and Dodge. Just kidding on the last part, there are no known product plans for Chrysler and Dodge but Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo and Maserati are all getting new stuff.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Wheelbearings Episode 69
We missed last week for reasons we don't need to get into (OK, it was Dan's fault) but Sam drove the Volkswagen Tiguan and Atlas while Dan had the new Jeep Wrangler. Sam went to the Midwest Automotive Media Association Spring Rally at Road America where he went for a ride in the Ford GT and drove a whole bunch of other cars and utilities. He came to the conclusion that for those that actually want to have fun driving, the VW GTI is a better choice than the Golf R. Finally, Tesla continues to have quality issues and Elon Musk goes on the attack against anyone that stoops to criticize and his most trollish followers pile on.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy