The Car Curious Weekly for May 31, 2026

The Car Curious Weekly is a look at what the automotive podcast world is talking about, who's saying it, and what patterns you find when you listen to all of them at once.

May 24 - May 30, 2026 · 240 episodes across 157 podcasts.

The Ferrari Luce led the week: 30 podcast mentions across 25 shows in the days after the May 25 reveal, more than any other new car in our index over that period. The full podcast reaction is in a separate piece: Ferrari Built the Luce for Outsiders. Its Own Fans Are the Only Ones Talking.

Two other stories ran through the week's feed. A Middle Eastern group-three base oil cutoff is projected to trigger synthetic motor oil shortages starting in June, lasting more than a year, according to Automotive News Daily Drive and In Wheel Time. And Tesla, Waymo, and Baidu each hit operational failures: wait times longer than rides, a flood-detection recall, vehicles stopped mid-road in Wuhan.

Synthetic Oil Shortage Expected in June, OEMs Already Rationing Supply

A cutoff of Middle Eastern group-three base oils, the feedstock for synthetic motor oil blends, is projected to trigger shortages starting in June that could last more than a year, according to Automotive News Daily Drive and In Wheel Time.

Nissan already issued an allocation bulletin capping dealers at 70 percent of last year's 5W30 volume and 55 percent of their 0W20 volume. Toyota sent similar guidance, as In Wheel Time reported.

The Avants Podcast:
Forza 6 Fever, Filson Broncos, and an Oil Crunch Coming?

"Then after that one another one came out that said we are going to be running low on oil."

Group-two base oil, the conventional feedstock, can substitute but slightly cuts fuel economy. The Avants Podcast put the expected price increase at roughly 20 percent over coming months.

In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show:
Is The Synthetic Oil Shortage Here?

"The ongoing war with Iran has choked off reserves from the Middle East, which accounts for nearly half of the country's imported group three base oils."

Tesla, Waymo, and Baidu All Hit Operational Walls in the Same Week

Reuters investigators found Tesla's Austin robotaxi wait times longer than the rides themselves. Autonocast's host called it more show than service.

Waymo issued a fleet-wide software recall over flood detection.

Autonocast:
#364: Alex Got Solar, Uber’s AV Future, Waymo Ops, Gossip, Ed’s Fave Robotaxis

"The wait times for a Tesla robot taxi in Austin seem to be, according to the experience of Reuters investigative reporters, longer than the rides themselves."

Baidu's Apollo Go stopped mid-road in Wuhan and disrupted traffic across the city. Three leading autonomy programs hit distinct failures.

Also covered by: Autoline Daily.

Hidden Gems

Episodes worth checking out that you might have missed:
- The Man Who Owns Every Porsche Legend: Johan Dirickx on 911R & RS History (9WERKS Radio : The Porsche and Car Podcast), One collector's obsession with Porsche homologation history: rare variants (RSH, SCRS, 935), traced through personal provenance and restoration rather than factory specs.
- 353: (Throwback) Be Brave Enough To Suck At Something New With Justin Morgan (Automotive Diagnostic Podcast), A technician shares how remote BMW support and hacked-wiring diagnostics forced him to unlearn conventional troubleshooting, revealing how severe real-world damage breaks textbook approaches.
- Mile High & The Rise of 303 Dubs Josh Williams Ep66 (DubLife Diaries The VW Lifestyle Podcast), Documents how a backyard hangout became a 'no drama' air-cooled VW community through stickers, events, and conflict management, a rare look at grassroots car culture formation without ego.
- 298 The New Tyre Update Episode (The EV Musings Podcast), A methodical EV tire comparison using decibel measurements and range math on a Polestar 2, with the host admitting the lack of controlled testing, honest DIY science that shows real-world limitations.

Quotes of the Week

“Sometimes the same liquid, different pad, you could get a completely different result.”

10 Tips To Polish Paint Faster & Get Better Results on The Auto Detailing Podcast

"It did an emergency stop about a quarter of a mile away from another car — just stopped dead in the road."

C.R.E.A.M. Ft Jonny Smith - Max Power Memories, Fifth Gear Stories and AC Hate on C.R.E.A.M. (The TDC Podcast)

"The new 28-speaker Dolby Atmos system in the Volvo EX60 turns the cabin into a theater."

Volvo EX60 1st Drive and Interviews with Lindsay Tingström and Florian Mockenhaupt, CUPRA Raval 1st Drive and Interview with Toni Gallego, Ford Ireland Supports Irish Tradespeople and Opel Ireland launches Mokka GSE on Nevo EV News Podcast

"We always think torque, but it’s really the bolt stretch — the bolt acts like a spring."

The Torque of the Town on Two Guys Garage Podcast

Recommendations

If You Only Listen To One

Auction House President Kenneth Ahn, Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!

Kenneth Ahn on how auction reserves, fees, and live-versus-online dynamics work. The breakdown of all-in costs on a million-dollar hammer price is useful. The K-shaped collector market observation and the argument over what makes a car feel special keep it grounded in enthusiast terms.

More Episodes Worth Hearing

• Brad Phillips on The Great Race, Cross-Country Ferraris, and Vintage Porsches (To All The Cars I've Loved Before), Brad Phillips on the Great Race: a 2,500-mile time-speed endurance rally for pre-1975 cars, judged by hidden checkpoints and stopwatch precision rather than finishing order. He covers how pre-war gearing works on a 1916 Hudson Speedster, why overdrive makes cross-country driving practical, and classic collecting across Porsches, Ferraris, and JDM imports.
• Swanathan (Smith and Sniff), A funny episode: Guns N' Roses deep cuts, hidden headlights on a Dodge Charger, a swan named Swannathan who attacks doors. The hosts follow every tangent and the tangents are better than the topics.
• C.R.E.A.M. Ft Jonny Smith - Max Power Memories, Fifth Gear Stories and AC Hate (C.R.E.A.M. (The TDC Podcast)), Jonny Smith is a self-deprecating guest with good stories from Fifth Gear: brake failures, crash tests, stunt mishaps. The Max Power section is a time capsule from when print car magazines shaped culture, and the air conditioning debate gets heated without warning.
• #226 - High Gas Price Solution Cars (Another Pointless Automotive Podcast), A fun, opinion-heavy episode that treats fuel efficiency as a car enthusiast problem rather than a compliance exercise. The Geo Metro XFI, Honda Civic VX lean-burn discussion, and the hypermiling rabbit hole give it genuine depth, and the hosts are willing to argue about whether 32 mpg even counts as efficient.
• AAH #793 - Why Ferrari's Luce Makes All The Sense In The World (Autoline After Hours), Autoline After Hours takes a slower, more analytical look at whether Ferrari's volume discipline makes the EV bet rational. The flame-surfacing design history detour and the cabin filter tip at the end show how this show balances industry depth with approachability.
• 298 The New Tyre Update Episode (The EV Musings Podcast), A methodical real-world tire test on a Polestar 2 that's honest about its own limitations, the host openly admits there's no control group and sketches out how a proper proving-ground version would work. The cabin noise measurements and wet-weather confidence discussion make it useful, and the self-aware approach to amateur testing methodology is refreshing.
• 10 Tips To Polish Paint Faster & Get Better Results (The Auto Detailing Podcast), Practical and focused, this reframes paint polishing as a workflow problem before it's a product problem. The advice to set a correction goal first, match it to customer expectations, and start with the least aggressive setup is the kind of structured thinking that's useful whether you're detailing professionally or just trying not to ruin your own clear coat.
• CarCast+Edmunds - Mercedes-AMG GT EV, new Kia Seltos and more. (CarCast), A wide-ranging episode that covers the AMG GT EV's 1,100 horsepower and synthetic sound design alongside a more modest Kia Seltos hybrid value discussion, the contrast makes both more interesting. The rear-seat screen debate and EV residual value conversation add some real-world grounding to what could otherwise be a spec-sheet rundown.
• 2026 Consumer Guide Best Buys (Car Stuff Podcast), A useful annual rundown that goes beyond listing winners to explain why categories like 'large car' have effectively disappeared. The practical framing around ~$50,000 affordability, minivan stow-n-go, and how tariffs knocked out at least one strong contender makes it more than a shopping list.
• Ferrari's controversial EV, Arnold Clark sells car for £1, and when is the 2CV coming back?, with David Gott, episode 260 (Car Dealer Podcast), A good mix of the week's big story (Ferrari Luce backlash) with ground-level dealer realities, a guest who grew a Tesla-focused used car business from sub-£3k stock. Real DPF warranty disputes, AutoTrader's AI lead-scoring explained plainly. The Arnold Clark £1 stunt and Citroën 2CV EV rumour give it some lighter moments.

Next Week

The oil shortage moves from trade alerts to showrooms. Dealer rationing bulletins are already out. The question for drivers: whether group-two base oil substitutes cleanly, and what a 20-percent price increase looks like at an oil change.

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240 episodes. 3010 car mentions. 10381 terms explained. Browse every episode with searchable annotations and plain-language term definitions in the Car Curious app.