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Nicole Wakelin

Too Much Seat Comfort

Wheel Bearings
Wheel Bearings
Too Much Seat Comfort
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This week Robbie has the Chevrolet Silverado EV LT and Nicole shares her Portugese airport blackout adventure. Sam drives the Ford F250 XL and the Chevrolet Equinox LT. Akio Toyoda loves cool cars and doesn’t think electric sports cars fit the bill. More than 28,000 GM V8s failed before GM recalled them. Who are the most influential people in automotive history? Toyota is sort of hooking up with Waymo. The VW ID Buzz is getting recalled because the 3rd seats are too roomy and there are new chargers in Detroit. Many automakers have underutilized factories and Hyundai has priced the Ioniq 9, plus answers to listener questions. Links Akio doesn’t believe in electric sports cars28K GM V8s failed before recallmost influential people in automotive historyToyota Hails a WaymoID Buzz recalled because rear seat too comfortableUS plant utilizationHyundai prices Ioniq 9 in US Wheel Bearings has… Read More »Too Much Seat Comfort

Get The Versa

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Wheel Bearings
Get The Versa
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This week Nicole had a Mustang GT convertible with the California Special package but New Hampshire spring weather only allowed her to put down the top once. Sam had the cheapest car currently available in America, the 2025 Nissan Versa SR. Robbie went to the unveiling of the Slate truck and we have thoughts. Ford is countering with an even more expensive Super Duty pickup. Nicole and Sam drove the 2026 Lincoln Navigator and we have more thoughts.Cadillac is bringing an Optiq-V. Audi is launching a sub-brand for China called AUDI and we discuss this as well as new stuff from VW, Buick, Lexus, Toyota and Nissan from the Shanghai Motor Show. Finally, Walmart is getting into the EV charging business. Check out Express VPN: https://expressvpn.com/WHEELBEARINGS Links 2026 Lincoln NavigatorSlateSlate’s Market Research ExperimentAudi E5 SportbackVW Shanghai conceptsCadillac Optiq-VBuick Electra GS conceptBuick Super Architecture, Electra NEV sub-brandNew… Read More »Get The Versa

New York, New York

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Wheel Bearings
New York, New York
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This week, Nicole tells us about driving the Toyota Land Cruiser and BMW M235 while Sam has the BMW i4 M50. Nicole has flown across the country 4 times in the last week to drive the Lucid Gravity in California, some Cupras in Florida, a Lincoln back in Calfornia and visit the New York Auto Show. We’ve got lots of news from New York including the 3 Subarus, the 2026 Solterra, Trailseeker and Outback. Kia had the EV4 sedan and K4 hatchback, Hyundai showed us the new 2026 Palisade and Genesis showed off the X Gran Equator concept and the GMR-001 race car it will take to Le Mans next year. In China, regulators are cracking down on automated driving claims by automakers and Mercedes has a new limited edition retro G-Wagen. Sam also has a conversation with Subaru car line product manager Bill Stokes… Read More »New York, New York

Smart Off-Roading

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Wheel Bearings
Smart Off-Roading
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This week in the garage Nicole has the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5, Robbie has the Ford e-Transit and Sam has the Corvette Stingray 3LT. Sam and Nicole both drove the 2026 Honda Passport in Puerto Rico last week and have thoughts. Sam also interviewed chief engineer Todd Hemertt. Nicole tells us about climbing Davis Dam in the 2025 Ram HD. Somehow Aptera is still trying to get its little solar and electric three-wheeler to production and an initial road trip yields dissapointing efficiency numbers. Restomod producer Icon is now offering an electric 1st generation Bronco and it’s not cheap. Hakan Samuelsson has returned temporarily as the CEO of Volvo Cars. At the Seoul Mobility Show, Hyundai showed off a cool Pikes Peak ready version of its Inster electric mini car, a refreshed Ioniq 6 and promised not to raise prices in response to tariffs. Sam… Read More »Smart Off-Roading

99% Looks or Capability

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Wheel Bearings
99% Looks or Capability
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Robbie returns from Japan, discussing the Nissan Sakura EV. Nicole reviews Lexus GX, Nissan Frontier, and Armada Pro-4X. Sam struggles to park a Ram 1500 RHO. News covers lower-priced GMC Sierra EVs, tariffs affecting Stellantis, and the rising cost of the V6 Ford Bronco, while pondering VW’s Cupra brand in the U.S.

Yes, Car Buying Still Sucks

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Wheel Bearings
Yes, Car Buying Still Sucks
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Robbie is under the weather this week so Nicole shares her thoughts on the 2025 Ford Explorer ST and then Sam discusses the Acura ZDX Type-S. While we get to drive new cars every week sometimes we also buy some for ourselves. This week, Nicole finally took delivery of her new Jeep Wagoneer S and tells us about the buying experience. Honda has some performance and range upgrades to the 2025 Prologue but holds the line on pricing. Buyers of the EREV version of the new Scout trucks and SUVs might be a bit disappointed at the towing capability. In the name of safety, EVGo has banned extension cords and breakaway adapters at its DC chargers. Honda may not want to publicly admit it, but its hybrids do have CVTs. VW showed off the concept version of its upcoming $21,000 ID.1 and it has buttons… Read More »Yes, Car Buying Still Sucks

Why Is High Temperature Cold?

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Wheel Bearings
Why Is High Temperature Cold?
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This week Nicole has been driving the new GMC Acadia AT4 while Sam had the Mazda CX-50 Hybrid featuring a Toyota hybrid powertrain. This week Ram held a technical deep dive on the new EREV Ramcharger pickup and we’ve got details. Mercedes-Benz is testing an EQS with semi-solid state batteries from Factorial Energy and Sam has a conversation with Factorial CEO Siyu Huang. Polestar is trying to attract Tesla owners with up to $20,000 in savings on a Polestar 3. Ford has a new plan to cover deductibles on stolen F-Series trucks and Volvo is teasing more details on the new ES90. Kia showed all the details on the new EV4 and showed a concept for its upcoming EV2. Jeep is delaying the US launch of the new Compass and our pal Tommy Mica from TFL compares the new Mini Countryman SE to his classic… Read More »Why Is High Temperature Cold?

All The Weathers

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Wheel Bearings
All The Weathers
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This week, Sam has driven the Genesis GV80 Coupe while Nicole had the 2025 Chevrolet Traverse. Nicole, Robbie and Sam all had a chance to drive the updated the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 including the off-roady XRT model. In the news this week, the General Services Administration has decided that federal government facilities don’t need EV charging facilities and it will decomission 8,000 chargers over the next several weeks. There’s a new Chevrolet Spark EV, but it’s not coming to America. Kia has shown off production images of the EV4 and PV5. BMW has an impressive new prototype called Heart of Joy based on the upcoming Neue Klasse. Stellantis has completed development of its level 3 AutoDrive, but has no schedule for putting it on production vehicles. Polestar is going to provide electronics upgrades to early buyers of the PS3 and Volvo has teased the… Read More »All The Weathers

No Pop Ups!

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Wheel Bearings
No Pop Ups!
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This week all three of our crew were in Palm Springs at various times to drive a new car that we’ll discuss next week. We did however discuss the Temu mid-century modern hotel with Ritz-Carlton prices that we stayed at. At home Sam drove the Toyota Crown Signia and Nicole had the Subaru Solterra. Volvo announced a Cross Country edition of the EX30 this week. Sam took his wife to Palm Springs and rented a Polestar2 from Hertz and charged it at the Rivian outpost near Joshua Tree. Honda and Nissan called off their engagement and Honda announced pricing for the new Passport. Some Jeep owners reported pop up ads for extended warranties. Continental is adding aero-dimples to some tires. The Toyota Tacoma is getting recalled for trapping off-road mud and damaging the brakes. Sam and Jonathan supercharged a 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 and we… Read More »No Pop Ups!

Good And Bad Cold Weather Advice

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Wheel Bearings
Good And Bad Cold Weather Advice
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Nicole is back after driving both the Hyundai Palisade and Kia K4 GT-Line turbo. Sam did some truck stuff with Hyundai’s trucklet, the 2025 Santa Cruz and Robbie has some tire feedback. Ford has confirmed its plans to offer extened range EV powertrains in large trucks and SUVs. Someone has developed a wide-body kit for the already wide new Dodge Charger Daytona, and VW has teased a new $21,000 EV that will be revealed next month. Nissan apparently doesn’t want to just be a subsidiary of Honda and is looking for other partners. Subaru has unveiled the new Forester hybrid coming this spring with 35 mpg. There’s a Faraday Future FF91 on bring a trailer. Tesla sales are crashing all over the place and apparently, most of them still don’t have the hardware needed for unsupervised self-driving. Finally we answer a listener question about starting… Read More »Good And Bad Cold Weather Advice