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I Found It A Little Wonkety

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
I Found It A Little Wonkety
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This week, Robbie rented a Chrysler Pacifica for a family road trip. Nicole drove the lovely Volvo S60 Recharge plug-in hybrid sedan and Sam had the latest Honda Accord Hybrid. In the news, Honda showed off the Prologue, its first high-volume battery electric vehicle. It’s a midsize crossover built for Honda on the Ultium architecture. At the 7th Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca, Porsche unveiled the 911 GT3 R Rennsport, a $1 million track day special. Sam was in Austin for Move America 2023 where he met a company called Carvaloo that claims to be able to detect even minor impacts based on signals from vehicle sensors and then went for some more rides in Cruise robotaxis. Finally, it’s Tacotober. Food insecurity is a major problem in America. Robbie is raising funds for Feeding America and you can help out by donating. If you give… Read More »I Found It A Little Wonkety

Sharing a Bench With Your Bestie

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Sharing a Bench With Your Bestie
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In the garage, Nicole has the Chevrolet Silverado Z71 Trail Boss which isn’t as expensive as the GMC Sierra she drove last week and also the Polaris Ranger. Robbie has been getting to band gigs quickly in the Cadillac Escalade V. Sam drove mostly on electrons in the new Prius Prime. In the news, Ford has announced a plug-in hybrid version of the new Ranger but it’s not coming to America … yet. The third-generation VW Tiguan is coming next year and VW has announced the end of its diesel engines early in 2024. Vinfast is selling EVs, mostly to itself and the UAW has expanded its strike against GM and Stellantis. Our friends at TFL have tested the towing capability of the new Silverado EV. We wrap up with listener questions and Sam’s conversation with BorgWarner CTO Harry Husted. Links 3rd Gen VW TiguanFord… Read More »Sharing a Bench With Your Bestie

Suitcase Scooter

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Suitcase Scooter
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This week the whole team converged on the Detroit Auto Show but we never managed to get more than two members in the same place at the same time with Robbie mostly focused on the nearby battery show. Sam drove the Toyota Crown Limited while Nicole had the most off-roady of GMC Sierras with the AT4X AEV Edition. Meanwhile Robbie managed to squeeze his lanky body into a tiny Honda Beat and a bonkers Honda CR-V Hybrid racer (aka The Beast). At the show, we got refreshed versions of the Ford F-150, Cadillac CT5 and Jeep Gladiator and a brand new GMC Acadia. During but not at the show, Honda announced the foldable Motocompacto Scooter and Ford had the production edition of the Mustang Mach-E Rally. That Mach-E will be raced in the upcoming Rebelle Rally. We have listener questions and Sam’s conversations with Bosch… Read More »Suitcase Scooter

Made In China

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Made In China
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We’ve got a full team this week as Robbie drove the updated 2024 Polestar 2, Nicole had the Ford F-150 Raptor R and Hyundai Palisade and Sam spent time with the Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid. Sam got to spend a few days in Munich this week at the IAA Mobility show which included some ride and drive opportunities in some Chinese built cars. First up was the new Lotus Eletre, a radically different type of vehicle from the brand created by Colin Chapman. Later this week, Lotus also unveiled the new Emeya electric four-door GT in New York. Lotus is now owned by China’s Geely Group which also owns Zeekr, whose first product, the 001 shares a platform with the upcoming Polestar 4 including its Mobileye SuperVision hands free driving assist system. Finally, there was the Xpeng P7, a very impressive electric sedan from this… Read More »Made In China

Extinction Event

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Extinction Event
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We had record early this week because Sam is flying to Germany this weekend, but Robbie is trying out new Bridgestone tires so it’s just Nicole and Sam. Nicole had the fraternal twin of the Toyota Supra, the BMW Z4 while Sam drove the Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited AWD. Continuing with Hyundai sedans, the Elantra and Sonata get refreshes for 2024 with new looks and assorted other updates. Mercedes-Benz is about to launch the first of its new DC fast charging stations, complete with canopies. Alfa Romeo is marking the end of internal combustion vehicles with a limited run of the 33 Stradale (sorry, they’re already sold out). Also about to be extinct is the manual gearbox in the VW Golf R and GTI and the Ram TRX also ends production at the end of 2023. Sam has a chat with Ford’s director of icon… Read More »Extinction Event

Send Them To School

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Send Them To School
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Tanya Gazdik is back this week subbing for Nicole and she has been driving the Mercedes-Benz EQB and having a bad charging experience in Detroit. Tanya also spent time in the latest Range Rover LWB. Robbie tells us about driving the new BMW X5M Competition to Monterey car week and renting a Tesla Model 3 from Hertz. Meanwhile Sam got to do some shifting in the Toyota GR Supra with a manual gearbox. In the news, Ford offers a factory matte black wrap for the Lightning and launches a cool looking Transit Custom-based camper in Europe called the Nugget. NHTSA has given clearance for automakers to comply with the lates Massachusetts right to repair law and Chevrolet has launched the first EV with a full police pursuit package. In China, Kia has unveiled a compact electric crossover that will hopefully be offered in North America… Read More »Send Them To School

The Most Audacious

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
The Most Audacious
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This week Robbie hanging out among the fancy people covering Monterey Car Week so Stephanie Brinley is back with Nicole and Sam. Sam took a road trip in the Honda Pilot Trailsport. Stephanie had the Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV and Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid. Nicole drove the Mazda CX-30 turbo. In the news, we’ve got several of the vehicles unveiled in Monterey including the new Acura ZDX, Lamborghini Lanzador and Mustang GTD. Ford CEO Jim Farley took a cross country road trip in an F-150 Lightning and came away with the same conclusion as other non-Tesla EV drivers, the charging experience sucks. Ford continues to keep its transaction prices up by culling base models. It turns out people really did want a Supra with a manual gearbox and we answer a bunch of listener questions. Links Acura ZDXCharging satisfaction continues to declineNearly 50% of Supras are… Read More »The Most Audacious

The Detritus of Daily Life

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
The Detritus of Daily Life
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In the garage this week we have two similarly sized electric crossovers that are very different. Sam drove the Toyota bZ4X Limited AWD while Nicole had the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV. Robbie wraps up his time with the Mazda Miata. In the news, Cadillac took the wraps off its oversized, overweight Escalade IQ and GM promised to have bidirectional vehicle to home charging on all of its EVs by 2026.Chargepoint says it will invest millions of dollars to try to get its chargers to 110% reliability. BMW is developing a 790hp PHEV BMW M5 wagon that Americans won’t be able to get. We consider a radically redesigned 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe. A Tesla driver was alerted to put his hands on the steering wheel 150 times before his Model X crashed into a police car and injured 5 officers. The average transaction prices of EVs are… Read More »The Detritus of Daily Life

Just A Boondogle

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Just A Boondogle
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This week Nicole is having a seriously fun time with the 2023 Honda Civic Type-Rrrrr! Robbie is also having fun with a car that surprisingly fits both him and his bass guitar, the Mazda Miata Club. Sam actually had a great Electrify America charging experience with the Genesis GV70 Electrified. In the news, it appears that VW may be getting ready to launch an electric GTI. Toyota revealed the all-new Land Cruiser which is basically a more affordable and arguably better looking version of the Lexus GX and is finally bringing the plug-in hybrid Lexus RX450h+ to America. Speaking of America, we’ve poisoned Britain with our preference for SUVs over cars so Volvo is going to stop selling cars in the UK. Mazda couldn’t find enough American buyers for the MX-30 so it’s discontinuing it here. Henrik Fisker should off a bunch of upcoming products… Read More »Just A Boondogle

Bad Lessons

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Bad Lessons
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This week in the Wheel Bearings garage, Robbie is driving the latest BMW M2, complete with what may be one of the last manual transmissions in a BMW. Nicole has the non-Max version of the new Lexus RX hybrid, the RX350h and Sam is driving the Honda CR-V hybrid. In the news, seven (really six, but who’s counting) are teaming up for a joint-venture to build 30,000 DC fast chargers with cool accessories like restrooms, food and canopies! Ford launches the Mustang Challenge race series featuring a new factory-built racer, the Mustang Dark Horse R. VW invests to buy 5% of Xpeng, Robbie swaps EV battery modules with Ample and Honda is killing the E because of SUVs. Volvo clearly wasn’t listening to the howls of pain from VW ID owners when it designed the EX30. Vinfast broke ground on a new factory in North… Read More »Bad Lessons