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No Soap Please

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
No Soap Please
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Nicole is still cruising European rivers so it’s just the boys this week. Robbie drove the Range Rover Sport and used a Ford Transit to get his bands to Salt Lake City for a couple of shows (hence why there was no episode last week). Sam has been driving the Subaru CrossTrek Wilderness. In the news, VW workers in Tennessee join the UAW, and Mercedes-Benz is voting next. Toyota launches a 6th gen 4Runner. Sam sees the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X in person and talks with Designworks CEO Julia de Bono. Kia is testing the EV3 and it may sticker for under $35,000. GM launches its vehicle to home charging products. Alfa Romeo unveils its first EV as the Milano and almost immediately changes the name. Back in the 1980s, Porsche was developing a Miata competitor before the Mazda launched. Maserati shows off the… Read More »No Soap Please

Still Too Much

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Wheel Bearings
Still Too Much
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This week Nicole and her husband compare the 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4XE to their 2022 model that they own. Robbie takes the Kia EV9 on a snowboarding trip and is unimpressed by the new Lincoln Nautilus. Sam drives the 2024 Polestar 2 dual motor performance model. Nicole shares her impressions of driving the updated Jeep Gladiator in Moab and Hyundai has unveiled a race version of the Ioniq 5 N. Friend of the show Alex Dykes shares his impressions of a Fisker Ocean he rented on Turo. Chevrolet officially prices the Silverado EV RST first edition and cuts the price by $10K from what was originally announced while JerryRigEverything goes 460 miles on a charge. Tesla kills its $25K car to focus on a robotaxi and Ford delays its next EVs by up to 2 years. Our friend Tommy Mica from TFL decides to driving… Read More »Still Too Much

Faster Than Magma

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Wheel Bearings
Faster Than Magma
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This week, friend of the show Perry Stern is filling in for Robbie and he’s been driving the Mercedes-AMG GLB. Nicole tries out the latest variant of Honda’s pickup truck the off-road-ish Ridgeline Trailsport and Sam has the Acura TLX Type-S. Perry went to the New York for the Auto Show this week and gives us a rundown on what he saw including the new Genesis Neolun concept and the GV60 Magma performance model. Kia also unveiled the new entry level K4 sedan and teased an upcoming hatchback version. Hyundai showed off mid-cycle refreshes for the Tucson and Santa Cruz that look a bit more truckish and bring back the buttons on the center stack. Nissan also unveiled a new version of the Kicks and the Infiniti QX80. Instead of New York, Nicole went to Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari and got to try… Read More »Faster Than Magma

Jumping Raptors

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Wheel Bearings
Jumping Raptors
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While Robbie is off doing some late winter snow boarding, Nicole and Sam are holding down the fort. Nicole has been driving Buick’s new entry level model, the Envista and the Hyundai Palisade. Meanwhile Sam had the new Toyota Prius Limited AWD and the very pricey Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV. Nicole gives a preview of the concepts coming up at this year’s Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. We’ve got a first drive review of the blocky new Hyundai Santa Fe with some more rigorous off-roading than the last Hyundai SUV we tried. We also drive the new Ford Ranger and Ranger Raptor. The New York Auto Show is coming up this week and none of us will be there so of course there are some interesting vehicle launches. Nissan has both ends of its product lineup covered with a second-generation Kicks crossover and an all-new Infiniti… Read More »Jumping Raptors

Touch The Vent Not The Screen

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Wheel Bearings
Touch The Vent Not The Screen
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This week Sam has been driving the Honda Passport Trailsport while Robbie has the Ford Escape plug-in hybrid. Unfortunately, Nicole is under the weather so she couldn’t join us. Sam assesses the new Lincoln Nautilus and likes the big screen, but there are other issues. Don’t forget to check out the video Sam and Nicole did with the Nautilus. Porsche is finally bringing out a hybrid version of the 911. Renowned automotive Designer Marcello Gandini has died at 85. Are automakers sharing too much of our data? Polestar cuts the price of the 3 before it even arrives. Audi is forcing subscriptions on the new A3. Dan Edmunds and Motor Trend look at the Cybertruck and Automotive News no longer classes Tesla as a luxury brand. Finally, Rivian drivers can start using superchargers. Links 2024 Lincoln Nautilus First DriveSam’s Nautilus take Hybrid Porsche 911Polestar 3… Read More »Touch The Vent Not The Screen

Return of the Gremlin

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Wheel Bearings
Return of the Gremlin
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This week Sam has been driving the Genesis Electrified G80. Robbie was picking speakers for his band in the Land Rover Defender 130 and Nicole has the Infiniti QX60. The core of Henrik Fisker’s original design for the Karma continues to live on, now as part of the Karma Automotive and the Chinese-owned company has just launched a refreshed version that ditches the plug-in series hybrid for a full electric powertrain. Nissan has addressed one of the biggest complaints about the Ariya EV by cutting the price. There are currently no EVs that will charge at 500 kW, but Gravity Mobility has installed just such a charger in New York. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is still relatively new, but it’s already getting an update. We frequently complain about automakers putting controls into the touchscreen and now EuroNCAP is going to cut their safety ratings if… Read More »Return of the Gremlin

Who Cares About Efficiency?

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Wheel Bearings
Who Cares About Efficiency?
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This week Nicole is driving the Ford Maverick Tremor, Robbie has the Range Rover plug-in hybrid and Sam has new Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road. We’ve got lots of news this week. After a decade of work and billions of dollars spent, Apple has apparantely finally abandoned the idea of building a car. Ford took its latest electric Supervan and had Romain Dumas set a new lap record at Mount Panorama. Ford is also hosting a camping party at the Austin Bronco Off-Rodeo for the upcoming total solar eclipse and Ford EV drivers can now Supercharge. Sam went to a secret location to see the production version of Dodge’s new e-Muscle car, the Charger Daytona. Honda has introduced a new plug-in hybrid CR-V with a fuel cell and VW has done some upgrades to the ID4. Fisker warns that they are almost out of money and… Read More »Who Cares About Efficiency?

What’s Happening at Jeep

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What's Happening at Jeep
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This week Robbie got to spend some time with something really fast, the new McLaren 750s. Meanwhile, Nicole and Sam had some more pedestrian rides. Nicole got a few days with the Volkswagen ID.7 as well as the Jeep Hornet PHEV. Sam had the Toyota Crown Platinum. In the news, we’ve got first drive reports on the updated 2025 Ram 1500, now powered only by six-cylinder engines and the Honda Prologue, the brand’s firsrt purpose-built EV for North America. Sam also talks with Prologue chief engineer John Hwang. Jeep’s new CEO provide’s an update on the SUV brand’s plans and we get a first look at the upcoming Wagoneer S and Recon electric SUVs. Ineos is developing an electric off-roader as well called the Fusilier. The soon to arrive US-built Kia EV9 may not have full tax credit eligibility at launch. Waymo’s expansion plans in… Read More »What’s Happening at Jeep

Testing Tires

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Testing Tires
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Robbie is back from Colorado where he attended the Bridgestone winter driving school and spent time with the Toyota Rav4 and 4Runner in the snow. He also rented a Ford Transit van to move ping-pong tables and drove a Kia Carnival. Nicole has been spending time in the psuedo off-road Honda Passport Trailsport and Sam had the Audi Q8 e-Tron Sportback Launch edition. In the news, GM is expanding the driving domain of Super Cruise and has priced the Chevy Equinox EV which might eventually go on sale when the software issues are fixed. As more vehicles start to use Tesla Superchargers, Kyle Connor is finding there are interoperability issues. The multi-automaker DC fast charging network is now operational and called Ionna. Being made of stainless steel doesn’t make Cybertrucks corrosion proof and Stellantis won’t be buying any more EV credits from Tesla. Shell has… Read More »Testing Tires

Killing Unused Features

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Wheel Bearings
Killing Unused Features
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Robbie is off visiting some family this week, but even with just Nicole and Sam it’s a long episode. Sam has been burning up the gas in a Ford F-250 XL 4×4 while Nicole has a much more reasonably sized Subaru Outback. Nicole and Sam were both in Chicago this week and talk about the future of auto shows. While in Chicago we saw a bunch of stuff including mid-cycle updates for the Kia K5 sedan and Carnival minivan (sorry, I meant MPV). Parking large or heavy vehicles in Paris will soon be much more expensive. A majority of workers at VW’s Chatanooga factory have signed up to join the UAW and an official vote may be coming soon. Americans are loosing trust in automated vehicles and companies like Cruise and Tesla have only themselves to blame. We saw the Cybertruck and Sam has some… Read More »Killing Unused Features