Sam Abuelsamid  0:00  
Coming up on episode 211 a wheel bearings, we've got the Volkswagen arteon the Volvo XC 40 recharge the 2022 Genesis gV 70. And with a first drive of the 2022 Infiniti QX 60. I also get a deep dive into the Cadillac lyric. We've got the Audi grant sphere, and an interview with a group vice president of infinity Americas Jeff Pope. All coming up next. Did you know you can support wheel bearings directly? Head to patreon.com slash wheel bearings, media, and you can become a patron today. Your contributions will help find the platforms and tools we use to bring the podcast to you. And exclusives improvements are already on the way thanks to your generosity. So if you want to be part of an automotive podcast, like no other head to patreon.com, slash wheel bearings, media

This is Episode 211 of wheel bearings. I'm Sam wood wolf Samak from guidehouse insights. I

Nicole Wakelin  1:02  
am Nicole wakeland from out of the hotel.

Roberto Baldwin  1:05  
I am Roberto Baldwin, let's say wired this week. Right. Nicole? What have you been driving,

Nicole Wakelin  1:14  
I'm continuing my trend of driving all things Hyundai related, and I am driving the Genesis gV 70, which is new for 2022. I've already I think everyone already knows I'm a pretty big fan of this brand. I feel like they give you an amazing amount of car and features and stuff for the price that you get. And it really is a luxury car if you don't people think of don't think of the Genesis brand that way because you don't really know it. Like if you know, you know if you don't like whatever, it's just another Hyundai and it's not just another one day. Interesting. So before I really talk about the car, I took my daughter out to dinner last night and we came out for dinner. And there is a man looking at the car and trying to like peer inside the windows to see it. He's like what is this? I've never seen this. This is beautiful. What is this car? We I open the doors turn on the engine. We probably spent like 10 minutes talking to this guy all about this car because he's completely intrigued. He's familiar with the Genesis brand. He really liked the Hyundai Genesis back in the day. And he's like, Wow, this is amazing. This is really cool. Like he was really intriguing. His wife were like all over they noticed every last detail to look at the contrast stitching. Look at the color of seatbelts. Look at the pattern on the wheels like it really this is just in the parking lot at a local restaurant drew enough attention that a guy's like I'm going to hover around this car like literally with his head against the glass trying to look inside is like would you like an assist, I can open the doors for you. So so it's fair to say that it looks really good and it attracts attention. I do love the wheels it has this the pattern on the wheels it looks like it makes me think of like you know when they say something's like hammered metal and you can see where like the metal worker hammered out it made little divots with their hammer, it makes me think of that. It's they're the most beautiful wheels. They're super striking. But what this is gV 70. It's a their new SUV, it's sitting for five. It has a 3.5 liter V six turbo 375 horsepower, 391 pound feet of torque, eight speed automatic transmission. It is very responsive, it moves. It sounds good. It has a nice sort of throaty exhaust sound too without being this overly aggressive sports car because it you know, there's some luxury vehicles that are really just all about the power and performance and that is, you know, 99% of their focus. I feel like when you have a car that still wants to be a luxury car that gives you that luxury car thing, it can't go too hard to sporty or suddenly it loses what makes luxury cars fun to drive, the comfort, the quiet. That sort of just floaty kind of drive and the Genesis has just enough of that built in with this performance. It has a really good balance. Like I feel like it's a very balanced car, whether you're if you're looking for a little sport or looking for a little luxury, you get the both you don't feel like you're sacrificing either one. It has a massive 14.5 inch infotainment touchscreen that runs across the dashboard. And it is huge, very easy to use. It's the touchscreen. The sensitivity in the touchscreen is great. My app has all the features you want, you know it has Apple CarPlay Android Auto, it has HD Radio, all those things. And the menuing system is pretty easy to follow the

Sam Abuelsamid  4:26  
sounds of nature.

Nicole Wakelin  4:27  
It has the sounds of nature. Yes. In fact, when my daughter's like why would you want it to sound like like it's snowing your car? I'm like, wait, would you like it to sound like a cafe and she's like, okay, I can deal with that. Can we go to coffee and then we can make it so I ended up going to Starbucks. So maybe they're in a partnership with Starbucks because Starbucks sold some coffee because I use cafe mode. So the infotainment is easy to use, but I have one big gripe on the center console the way they have it. There's two dials, they're slightly different sizes and the texture around the dial is different so they do feel different. So if you grab one, you know that what You learned there's a different texture to the around the edge of the dial between the infotainment and the gear shifter. It is so easy to throw that gear shifter into neutral when you're driving if you put your hand on the wrong spot, ask me how I know I was in that car for five minutes, I was on the highway, I put my hand down, I thought I had the infotainment and the media living Nope, that was a gear shifter, pop it back and drive and go along. There were more there was more than one time where I reached down and sort of went wait a minute and had to look I'm like Ron one. So because the gear shifter is the the one that's closer to your hand and the infotainment a little further forward. And it could just be the natural seating position for me. But when I put my hand there, it wants to go to the gearshift or I have to reach forward. For the infotainment, I kind of feel like it should be the other way around. You should have to reach for the gearshift or the one you automatically go to while you're driving. That's right, there should be infotainment.

Roberto Baldwin  5:54  
I know that seems like it would make sense because you want you want that a little bit because you're not chasing yours like Park. That's

Nicole Wakelin  6:03  
it. That's exactly so it feels like that one should be placed a little bit like I've had to reach for that one. And I don't I had to reach for the infotainment. So naturally when I put my hand down, the first thing I hate is that gear shift are my brains like that must be like no, no, no, no, keep reaching forward. So I feel like they're backwards in my head, I feel like they should be the other way around. Now, like I said, they do have very different textures like around the like, they'll whatever quarter inch edge around the dial, so they don't feel the same. So if you put your fingers on, I mean, you start to know the gear shift or feels like this, the infotainment feels like that you could, you could very quickly kind of figure that out. But I like I said I was in it for five minutes I got on the highway, when to change the infotainment chip to the car to neutral right in the middle the highway like boop boop back to drive. Thank you very much. So that was my only real beef with the system. I guess it's kind of a big one. I don't know if anyone else all read into it. Like I said, maybe it was just how I was sitting. But I did not like that I dislike

Sam Abuelsamid  6:59  
it does it does seem logical, you know what you're saying? You know, where they're positioned? You know, that? The one that's closer, you know, when you put your arm down on the armrest? That one is, I think probably regardless, you know, unless you have, you know, gorilla arms,

Nicole Wakelin  7:16  
right?

Sam Abuelsamid  7:17  
Like you're very much any wise set. Yeah, you're more likely, because, you know, the the relationship of that shifter to the steering wheels to the steering wheel is going to stay constant, more more or less constant. I mean, the steering wheel can telescope a little bit, but it's going to be fairly, fairly steady. And so you know, when you're when your hand, you know, falls from the steering wheel, to down to the center console, it's going to inherently tend to to Ratan land on that shifter. Yeah, rather than reaching a little bit further forward. And, you know, this thing's an automatic, it's got paddle shift. And so I think your idea of maybe swapping the positions of those two actually makes more sense, because you're going to use that, that shift knob far less frequently, I think, except if you're doing a three point turn or something like that, then you're likely to use the infotainment knob. On the plus side, though, you know, I'm looking at a photo of this, you know, clearly, you know, they learned from the complaints on the G 80. And the G VAT, you know, which we've talked about before, with the, the, you know, the kind of the flush mounted controller that they had on those, you know, and we talked about the, the, the texture on that, not being quite enough to get a grip on it without pressing too hard and toggling it back and forth. You know, so having that having that infotainment knob actually sticking up from the surface, you know, more like a BMW drive style controller, I think makes makes sense here. But I do agree with you, that seems like the position should maybe be swapped and so we'll see what they do on the G 90 that one comes up. Let's see, if they rearrange some again. A little bit,

Nicole Wakelin  9:02  
it was a big improvement cuz it was hard. Like you couldn't grab the other controller. This one is just like okay, now there's enough depth to it, you can actually grab it and spin it so that yes, gold star for that just not so much for the positioning of the chair. And like every Genesis that I have been in ever, it feels like it should cost a good 10 grand more than it does. They just have these beautiful interiors. It's beautiful, it's comfortable. This one had all sorts of bells and whistles on it. So I had I think it was talking about this the other week. It had read seatbelts. I love it when there's like a pop of color in cars when the seatbelts are a different color. It just warms my heart, like oh, I see filter red, and there's all sorts of little like red contrast stitching and it's it's absolutely beautiful inside. Ours had the carbon fiber trim, which is an add on. It's not like a standard feature. But everything in this car looked beautiful. It really is a gorgeous car on the inside on the outside. So it's Otherwise, they nailed it. Very comfortable, drove it a good bit with my teenager in the back and she sat behind my six foot three husband, and was fine didn't have her knees pressed up against her chin, you know, she had enough room to be comfy. So it's not hugely spacious. But it's spacious enough, you know, you can put adults in the backseat without them feeling squished. good amount of cargo room. Oh, I loved small details again, where you put your phone to charge your phone. A lot of most of the OEMs they have a flat spot somewhere it might be on a center armrest. It's somewhere on the console. It's somewhere it's a flat spot or a slightly like angled flat spot. This one is like you put it down in so it sits against it. I love how this charges because if you go over a bump in your car's sitting flat, or you turn I mean your phone is sitting flat. Or if you take a turn, your phone tends to want to slide out of position. So suddenly, it's not charging and you hear that beep beep, beep, beep beep beep as it's charging and not charging because it's no longer sitting right? The way this sits in there. It's going to sit in there, it's not going to move. So I loved that.

Sam Abuelsamid  11:06  
I thought that was kind of a neat feature where where is that slots? Like? I think it's like to the upper right of the console. Okay, cuz I'm looking, there's like a, there's a cover there next to the infotainment to the right of the infotainment controller is that word is yes. Or is it? Okay. Yeah, no, I mean, this thing's got a great looking interior.

Nicole Wakelin  11:29  
The interior Yeah, fantastic. You know, this,

Sam Abuelsamid  11:33  
you know, this, the, the gV 70 is basically, you know, a tall hatch version of the G 70. sedan, which I think we're all fairly fond of, is, is the three five turbo The only engine they're offering at launch on the sun,

Nicole Wakelin  11:48  
I believe. Wait a minute, let me double check. I think it's just a no, you also have a 2.5. Sorry to double check. So this is a bigger of two engines. So you also have a less part which I don't have it but I don't know what I feel like the three five is really good. I don't know if he went down a little bit. If you would feel it, I kind of think you might you know that you might feel the difference that Well, I mean, quite enough of

Sam Abuelsamid  12:16  
the two five turbo, you know, in, they haven't tuned a couple of different ways depending on which vehicle it's in, in the G gv at its 300 horsepower. And then, you know, I think that the three five v six is closer to what 365 370, something like that. And I've driven the four cylinder in the gV 80. And it was fine. So I think in this slightly smaller, lighter vehicle, probably be probably more than adequate.

Nicole Wakelin  12:48  
Yeah, so I was very happy with it. I give it a goldstar I think I sold one to the guy in the parking lot and not your average Joe's. So you know.

Sam Abuelsamid  13:00  
Excellent. All right. Robbie, you are well wait, what was the price on this?

Nicole Wakelin  13:08  
Oh, sorry, pricing pricing on this base pricing. So it starts at 52,600 I had a lot of options. So mine was 6404 or five. But that adds on, it adds on a lot like you get some extra safety you get Napa leather seats. You get those these 21 inch sport alloy wheels that are absolutely stunning carbon fiber trans three zone climate control, a manual rear side son sunshades. So you get a lot of extra so there's like a $5,000 package that's the sport package and then a 4900 that's the sport prestige package. So basically $10,000 worth of options on this but still for $64,000 It's a lot of car for 64,000 like you're spending money it's not cheap, but it's I feel like it's priced fairly and then some

Sam Abuelsamid  14:01  
and you know, compared to something like a BMW X three or an Audi Q five or Mercedes GLC, you know, be Yeah, probably yes, the GLC You know, they're all going to be priced at least that much, if not more for, you know, for comparably, right. Especially for the high end model. Excellent. All right. Robbie, you're up.

Roberto Baldwin  14:24  
So this week I drove for like the third time really, but really for the first time for more than like a day or a few hours. I drove the Volvo XC 40 recharge. This is Volvo's electric vehicle. It's based on the same platform as the Pollstar two. And it is I am, I get the same sort of like when you when you drive the Pollstar to, you really understand like, oh, okay, this is compared to say something from Tesla and And Tesla, you know, they make fine cars. But there is a there is a fundamental difference in the build quality between a Volvo and a Tesla. And you can feel it as soon as you put your foot on the accelerator, as soon as you hit the accelerator, like it's the entire pole star feels like it's going as one unit as one single solid, like unit is going forward, and you get that same feeling with the XC 40 recharge, it is it is a lot quicker than you would anticipate for a small, compact SUV. It has 402 horsepower. And more and more often than not, it would just like we would hit the accelerator this is maybe quicker than it should be for a small SUV. But if you are if you know if you're that person who's who when they're looking for an SUV, and they're paying a premium price, which you're going to pay when you're when you're buying this, and you're thinking oh, I need this power, then yeah, this is definitely going to have that. Of course, the downside to all this The is the range is 208 miles of range, which I feel like if you haven't if you're not bringing 250 are just not bringing it at this point. You know, the the Kona, the Nero, the bolt, Tesla, the model three, but you know, I just keep naming e V's that have 250 ish miles of range. And then the Volvo comes in at 208 which is if you're just cruising around town, you know, it's fine. If you're going on long trips, you know does have the support DC fast charging at 150 kilowatts, so it does charge a little bit quicker than a lot of other vehicles I just named off I think the the conas at 100 for some weird reason the bolt is still at 50 like it's five years ago. So you did you're kinda you know, you're you you're it's, it's this weird balance where you're getting a bit quicker charging, but you don't have that extra range. So you are stopping more often but you're not if you're able to find you know, if you're using electrify America you're not at the charging station as long as if you're with in those other vehicles. So and then of course the price it's a Volvo Volvo is very upfront that they do not make inexpensive cars and make luxury cars. So it starts at $54,000 so it is it is a pricey pricey alternative to say the model y with with less range. But again, you get that that Volvo build quality which I it's it handles really well for an SUV I drove it through the mountains up in Northern California on some windy roads. And even with a you know, the some of these roads are you know, they need some work and there's a lot of ruts and bumps and whatnot. And even with that extra heft of that battery, it's still it handled really much better than I anticipated it would for for a small SUV. So I really really liked it. Um, it's you know, it's it's a nice, you know, if you live in the city, you need something that you can you need storage, you need to be able to put people in the back, whatever, but you still want to be able to park your car. The xc 40 is just a great little SUV. The recharge just sort of continues that, you know, it's it's along the lines where the XC 40 recharge and the say the Hyundai Kona electric are two great little gas vehicles that those manufacturers just made electric and they didn't really lose the flavor of those people who just made them well in some cases better and I feel like this is actually probably better if you're looking especially if you're looking for an Eevee with the XC 40 I did some some some some mileage runs and yeah, you know, the freeway on you know backroads drive around the city it's you know, it was it was about 210 to 205 depending on how I was driving I don't baby these vehicles when I'm when I'm driving them if it's

you know if I'm on the on the back road I'm gonna drive the way I would in the background if I'm you know, on the freeway, I'm going to do you know 70 I'll probably put the you know the the cruise control on but if I get stuck behind someone, I'm definitely going to you know, stomp on the accelerator to get around them so I can, you know, don't get trapped because you I've noticed with especially with adaptive cruise control, sometimes you'll get behind someone you're like, Oh, this is fine. And then that person just keeps slowing down and slowing down. And you just keep slowing down and you're just not like you're just like, Oh, this is fine. And you realize you're doing like 10 miles and they're just being like, Oh, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. So yeah, as I it's it's it's uh yeah, no, I I really like this. This little SUV again. It is a It's pricey. You know, you're buying this because you want to Volvo. Is has that same minimalistic interior that we've come to know from Volvo love it or hate it. That's you know, that's that's your individual has a Google or not Google has Android automotive. So it's not Android Auto, but Android automotive. So the infotainment system is built, it's, you know, it's the underlying architecture is Google and then Volvo put some stuff on there. But you can ask it just random questions all the time. Just I kept asking, like, how far places were, I kept asking it, you know, you know, what the capital of a state was, if I was stuck in traffic, I would just ask it random things, just to sort of pass the time. Anything you can ask

Sam Abuelsamid  20:43  
anything you can ask. And a Google Assistant on a phone you can do with this, because it's got the same assistant built into it.

Nicole Wakelin  20:51  
Yeah, I was like, Well, did it normally know where you live? In New Hampshire? And it didn't answer like pastrami or something like that. No,

Roberto Baldwin  20:58  
it's it works really well. You know, it's a lot. I think a lot of the the sort of Miss hearing that people had a long time ago, I think, is sort of installed, especially by the bigger players, apple, Amazon, Google. I think Mercedes, the system is really good. I think the other automaker versions of anyone else, I think those are still sort of like a couple of definitely a few years behind those four. When it comes to voice recognition. We'll

Sam Abuelsamid  21:25  
get to that one. I talked about my car, okay.

Roberto Baldwin  21:29  
So, yeah, no, and you know, you can, whenever they ask, I was asking, just like, when was the first taco when we're talking was invented? What was that one I need? It was just like, one of them was like, some guy made it. And some of them was like, oh, and the, you know, x, you know, 600 BC, I don't know, it was just a bunch of random questions I was asking that I wasn't really pay attention to, but I just wanted to see what to ask. And then I asked him to tell to read me a recipe and it wouldn't do that. So you can't just have it read your recipe, which is sort of a bummer. But you can tell it

Nicole Wakelin  22:01  
to like all that time, all those times. You're just like cooking like you know, I'm in the car breaking out that Thanksgiving dinner in the front seat.

Roberto Baldwin  22:09  
If you're driving home, and you're thinking maybe I'll make chicken fried steak tonight. And if you if the car will tell you, like this is how you made chicken fried steak. You can make an informed decision before you get to the store that you're like, Oh, no, this is no, this is way too much work.

Nicole Wakelin  22:24  
The energy for chicken steak we're getting we're getting corn dogs. I'm sticking in the microwave. Way,

Roberto Baldwin  22:30  
way too much work. But it all you know, the Android automotive and the Google Assistant also can be used to control aspects of the vehicle. I said it was too cold and made it warmer. I told it I want the driver's side to be 68 degrees and moved, you know, stuff like that. And then of course, you can download apps. there's a there's a I don't know why I didn't download it. But I should have there was an app for automotive sound like car sounds. And I'm not sure if you just like turned it on and it went through. But yeah, you could like download the chargepoint app, which is nice. So you have that native app without having to plug in your phone. It still does not have CarPlay it's coming. But it still does not have CarPlay. I asked and they're like we're working on it. It's coming out there's gonna be an update, but it still does not. So it still doesn't have CarPlay. So if you buy one, and you have an iPhone, you will get CarPlay eventually, but right now you don't but I mean, oh yeah. There you go.

Sam Abuelsamid  23:30  
I like it. Yeah, the this this is the same basic infotainment system that's in the Pollstar. The main difference here is that, you know, when when they updated, you know, they created the electric version of the XC 40. They didn't really change the interior from the standard xc 40. So you still have the same smaller, I think it's a nine inch screen in here, whereas the Pollstar has a I think it's a 1413 or 14 inch display. The system still work. Okay. Even on the smaller the smaller screen.

Roberto Baldwin  24:01  
Yeah, it was fine. I, you know, I think the I know that the automakers are making bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger screens, but anything over like seven inches. Yeah. Which sounds inappropriate to be honest. But you know, you're like, Okay, this is fine. Like, a lot of times, I'll get in a car and it'll be like, oh, there's an eight inch and a 10 inch screen. And I'll have to go back to the car and like, wait, what size screen was this? Because you just like oh and word like I'm less concerned with the real estate as long as it's not like teeny tiny like if you get a rental like if you get into a rental like Chrysler, the screens like four inches and you're like using CarPlay on a for like a tiny, you're essentially using CarPlay on an old iPhone. But yeah, you're right. Okay, I can see this. This is fine. Like I yeah, we just bought a Kona Evie and it has CarPlay support. And I don't I'm pretty sure we have the 10 inch one and might be the eight inch screen. I'm not sure

Nicole Wakelin  25:01  
doesn't even matter don't even

Roberto Baldwin  25:04  
show my wife you have CarPlay. Now she's like, oh, cool, I'm getting it's wireless. You don't have to worry about plugging in. And she's like, oh, cool, okay.

Sam Abuelsamid  25:13  
But yeah, and the other thing is, when you're using Google Maps in the car in the Volvo, for if you put it in a destination, it actually shows the maps in the the instrument cluster, you got a digital instrument cluster display, so it shows it in there too. And so you see your guidance right in front of you. So you don't, you're not relying on the center screen anyway, I think is a really nice touch.

Roberto Baldwin  25:38  
It is it's really nice. And for better or worse than others. There's there's privacy, and there's tracking and all these issues that come with using Google products. But we're all using Google Maps is what it comes down to. We're all using that app. And yeah, it's nice having it right there. Because it's easier to look down quickly than it is to look to the right. And, you know, you can you can be in your house. And you can say, Oh, I want to go to wherever. And typically you would have to say, oh, let me plug in my phone. And then we wait for Android Auto or wait for CarPlay. And then we launch Google, you can just get in the car. And it's like, no recent searches, because your account is in the car. And you're like, Oh, I just want to go here. And then it just goes. So it's Yeah, it's nice that way, again, you know, if your privacy tracking and etc, etc, you don't have to sign into Google, you can still use it, he just won't keep track of all your stuff.

Sam Abuelsamid  26:32  
Right. And if you have multiple users of the vehicle you can have when you when you get in, you can select you know which user you are. And you know so if two people in the house driving the car, you know, each one can have their own sign in on the on the car, so that that helps as well, I think Yeah. Excellent. Yeah, you know, I think the the range, you know, I think because I think the XC 40 has the same battery that's in the Pollstar, but it's a little bit taller than the Pollstar. So the arrow arrow is not quite as good. So that's probably what contributes to the shorter range. Because like when I drove the Pollstar to, a few months ago, I got, like, close here, I got about 250 miles of range out of it. So it's probably just because of the shape of the thing. But I think I think it's actually probably easier to see out of the the XC 40 than the pole star, because you don't, you don't have that feeling that you're sitting, that's all particular outline outline.

Roberto Baldwin  27:38  
Yeah, you can see now Yeah, it's it's, essentially, they took probably one of their best vehicles, the XC 40. And they just shoved electric bits in. They took the gas bits out and shoved the electric bits in it, like, here you go. And you know, it's a modular architecture, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, that's essentially what they think it was the CN modular architecture.

Unknown Speaker  28:03  
It's in the name

Sam Abuelsamid  28:05  
CMP compact modular platform. Yeah. Yeah, and, you know, between Volvo and their parent company, Julie, they're, they're using that platform on a bunch of different vehicles here and in China and other markets as well. So excellent. All right. Well, speaking of voice recognition, and really bad voice recognition. I've been driving the Volkswagen arteon, which is their kind of the current flagship car of the Volkswagen lineup, you know, they they used to have the I blanking on the name now what was the big sedan that's that's how memorable it was. I literally can't think of I used to have that which is horrible. That they tried back in the mid 2000s, they launched a sedan that was meant to compete with Mercedes Benz and I'm completely blanking on the name it started with a p OE Phantom Phantom Phantom Phantom Phantom Phantom. And, and it completely bombed in the in in the US market. It actually apparently did surprisingly well, in China. The Chinese market liked it. It did okay in Europe, but it bombed in the US because, you know, people weren't thrilled with the idea of, you know, an $80,000 Volkswagen. So they've, they've since discontinued the fat and they launched the arteon a few years ago, as their their top end sedan. You know, it's nowhere near you know, the levels of luxury of fatten. But it's actually a really nice car. And if you are one of the increasingly few Americans that actually like to drive car shaped cars, as opposed to SUV shaped vehicles. You know, the the, the arteon is actually a really interesting choice. You know, I like the look of it. It's, you know, it's got a fastback hatchback look to it, you know, so, in that, in that respect, it's, it's very similar to something like the the Audi, a five sport back. And, you know, if the, the a five sport back is maybe, you know, a little bit too rich for your blood, you know, the arteon, I think is actually a really interesting alternative, you know, it's got, you know, quite quite a different look to it, you know, especially from the front from from most Volkswagens that we've had here, at least here in the US for a while. You know, I like the look of it. I also like the way it drives, you know, I've always been a fan of the way VW VW cars drive. That's why we owned a couple of them, despite their other issues. And yeah, it's it's very comfortable, very roomy. It's got a shocking amount of cargo space in the back, you know, given that this is basically a mid size car midsize sedan, but because it's a hatchback, you have a very large opening in the back, and you can fold the back seats down with the back seats folded, you have, even with the back seats up, there's about I think it's a little over 28 cubic feet of cargo space in the back. And then with the back seats folded, you have almost 60 cubic feet. I actually managed to get a queen size mattress holding the half most of the way into the arteon, which was pretty, pretty impressive.

Nicole Wakelin  31:41  
Does he actually drive it or was it hanging out the back in a unsafe way.

Sam Abuelsamid  31:48  
It was hanging out the back, but it was not in an unsafe way. I drove it across town, you know, and it was it was fine. You know, I used the bungee cord to hold the hatch down. And it was it was fine. It was it was not unsafe. So this this is, you know, and with the seats up with the back seats up, the back seats are very roomy, there's a lot of leg room in this thing. You know, for the size of the car, you you wouldn't expect it to be quite that spacious. But but it's it is very well packaged. The interiors is really nice. But this has the same it's always about the infotainment system overall, is is is not bad, the infotainment systems fine. But the voice recognition that Volkswagen has their native built in voice recognition system is a complete disaster. Yeah, if you're trying to find something, you know, if you want to navigate somewhere, just pull over, punch it in, stop park the car and punch it in on the screen or plug in your phone or use your phone, you know and do it through you know, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto? Because you're never gonna find it. And the native navigation system. Yeah. And this one, this was the base model, which has a standard built in navigation system built in voice right? Your extreme, I would say probably 98% chance that whatever you say, it's going to get it wrong. Yeah. Last fall. Rebecca was still here. I mean, she was complaining about this, she was sitting in front of a post office. And she she had a video sitting in front of the post office trying to get the voice recognition system to recognize, you know, to the post office and it could not find it. It was it was utterly hopeless. So just so if you buy a Volkswagen and you know, I had the same problem in the Atlas, so if you if you buy a Volkswagen, just don't even waste your time trying to use the native racking voice recognition system. Yeah, just plug in your phone and use Siri or or Android Auto. It'll be you'll have a much much better experience. Everything else about the car I really like you know I've been averaging but 31 miles per gallon with it. It's got the the two liter turbo four cylinder with an eight speed automatic transmission. And VW uses the same engine in a variety of states of tune you know across most of their lineup now so you know from the Tiguan at about 180 horsepower up to the golf car with over 300 horsepower. You can get this the same basic engine in a lot of different forms in the in the arteon it's ready to 268 horsepower, and I believe it's 258 foot pounds of torque which is more than adequate. It's it feels very, very responsive. Very little turbo lag on the the one I'm driving which is the the SE front wheel. ivsc there, this one didn't have much in the way of Driver Assist systems. It's got, I think it's got blind spot monitoring, and lane departure warning, but there's no adaptive cruise control on this one or, or Lane Keeping Assist. But you know other than that, you know, the rest of it is really nice. You can also get it in with all wheel drive. So if you live in someplace where you're likely to need better traction and winter weather, you can get an all wheel drive version. The one that I'm driving, as I said is the the SE which is the base model. And with the 2.0 it's front wheel drive, it has a sticker price, or the sticker is 38,005 85 which I think is is actually a pretty good value for what you're getting here. The it's got the the VW v Tex leatherette seating surfaces and I've always liked the the V Tex. We've had it, you know, on a previous VW that we owned, you know, it's not Napa leather, but it also doesn't feel like plastic, you know, it's it's one of the nicer you know, synthetic, full leather type seating surfaces. And I think they do a really good job on it. It's very durable. You know, when we had it on our Jetta, we never had any issues with it, it's easy to clean if you spill something on it. The seats are really comfortable, very supportive. And

that comes with, you know, a four year 50,000 mile warranty, bumper to bumper and seven years 100,000 miles against rust. So yeah, it's VW is in the past, it used to be a real crapshoot when you bought a VW, you know, some people would buy one and it would run for hundreds of 1000s of miles without issue. Others were in the shop all the time. You know, our first dw, unfortunately, was in that latter group, but I've known people who've driven them for for many, many years without issue. They've gotten a lot better over the years. What I'm what I've heard in recent years is that they're they're much less prone to random things breaking. And so that's a good thing. And you know, they've got a better warranty now than they used to have. So I think I think you're, you know, pretty, pretty safe bet you know, buying something like this, they see the the loaded versions, I had that price list here. So the the STL premium Arline, which is the the top end model goes to 47. So it'd be 48 $48,000. delivered. And you know, that gets you some additional stuff that gets you actual leather. One, one thing to note is you know, the USB ports in this and other current v W's are all USBC VW has gone all in on USBC. So if you're going to use, you're going to plug in your devices, you'll want to make sure you have USBC cables, not the older style USB a. And it also has wireless support for Android Auto and CarPlay. But this, the one I have does not have a wireless charger in it. So I just go ahead and plug it in anyway, even though it did, it works. Well. You have if you want wireless charging, you've got to step up to the STL or the STL premium to get that but otherwise, good choice for a car ship car.

Nicole Wakelin  38:46  
The car said car. I like that car shaped car.

Sam Abuelsamid  38:53  
Okay, so speaking of car shaped cars, Robbie, you're actually in Munich, right?

Unknown Speaker  38:59  
I am I

Roberto Baldwin  39:00  
see the magic of technology. I'm in a hotel room in Germany, next to a giant picture of an elephant which I just noticed a few moments ago. I'm half asleep. I have to wear my glasses because when I get tired I can't see really close. So I had to wear glasses when I'm really tired.

Sam Abuelsamid  39:20  
So the reason why you're in Germany, the current Yeah, the first very first for the for the eye mobility show, which was formerly known as the Frankfurt Motor Show. It was all it was technically always IAA, which is a acronym for the German name, which I can't remember something something with automobiles, but it's Yeah, it's it's moved. It's moved from Frankfurt to Munich. It's somewhat smaller than it has been in the past. But that's going on over the next several days. While while you're there, and Audi Had a preview the other day of what they're going to be showing off at the show, which is the second of a series of three concept vehicles that they announced back in July. The first was the sky sphere that they showed in Monterey, Monterey car week, a couple of weeks back. This new one is called the grand sphere. Have you have you had a chance to take a look at this thing yet?

Roberto Baldwin  40:29  
I've seen it on the internet. I should see it this week in the flesh and blood Well, I guess not flash in the metal, the metal and glass, metal, the metal and glass eimer what whatnot. It is Yeah. These these, you know, this is something BMW has been doing for a while, with these autonomous concept, you know, these concept cars that are supposed to be autonomous, they essentially just try to make them look like a living room. In some ways. They're like, hey, it's gonna be like wood. And they're, here's a plant, we put a plant in it. And the plant thing is always my favorite part because he's gonna drive around with a plan your car.

Sam Abuelsamid  41:13  
It's electric, you know, so you're saving the planet, you know. So you want to have some green in there,

Roberto Baldwin  41:17  
you got aphids flying around in your work, you got to water it every day. It's essentially a greenhouse.

Nicole Wakelin  41:25  
Because the water overflows the water.

Roberto Baldwin  41:31  
You got soil everywhere. I mean, I get it, you know, it's a constant car. So this is, I mean, Audi is like, we're not making this car. But this is a good idea. Here's a bunch of ideas

Nicole Wakelin  41:41  
I love it's like, we're not making this, we're not gonna make anything that even closely resembles this, it won't even look like this when it comes out. But look at this cool thing our designers thought up.

Sam Abuelsamid  41:49  
Yeah, like some of the elements of what we hear. Yeah, I mean, from from what they said, during the presentation, I'll watch the video presentation of it. You know, this, this is the design direction for future outtie. So it's not gonna look exactly like this. But this, you know, this is this is they're moving in a new direction, you know, they've had a very similar kind of look for the last 1520 years to their vehicles. And now they're doing something very different, you know, much even sleeker you know, yeah, you know, different style of grille and headlights and everything. And you know, this, this is said to be kind of a preview of where they're going with the next generation eight, their their flagship sedan, you know, whether or not the eight will have something like the retractable steering wheel that this thing has, which is one of the interesting features, you know, when you when you put it into the highway autonomous mode, the the steering wheel folds forward, so it's horizontal, and then the whole thing retracts back into a slot in the dashboard. And then a little door closes down over the front of it

Nicole Wakelin  43:00  
makes me nervous, because I've never fan of things that that retract and pop in and out automatically. Because then when they don't, and they inevitably don't, you have challenges like it's one thing of as a door handle, what is your steering wheel? Like? How do you get past that malfunction? If that happens?

Roberto Baldwin  43:15  
I go, I guess I just have to keep letting the car drive for this.

Nicole Wakelin  43:20  
Never drive again.

Sam Abuelsamid  43:21  
Just let it go until the battery dies.

Nicole Wakelin  43:27  
I do like how it looks. Yeah. Very swoopy the back end is very like tapered it looks. It looks super futuristic and cool. I mean, it looks amazing. But as it is like that sort of like okay, what what one little piece of this really cool design is going to actually show up in something production. You know,

Sam Abuelsamid  43:47  
I think mostly the front end is what we're gonna see. Yeah. I don't think I think the overall profile is going to be pretty similar.

Nicole Wakelin  43:55  
Yeah.

Sam Abuelsamid  43:57  
Yeah, I think I think we'll see a lot of the profile of this and I suspect that they will move to this, you know, probably not the retractable steering wheel at least not you know, in the not this decade. But you know, I think kind of the overall design theme of the interior more you know, this cleaner, more minimalistic design do move moving away from you know what they've got today. I wouldn't be surprised to see them move in this direction. I don't think that they'll have the built in plant. Well, you know that they might bring back the little little flower holder that they had in the beetle.

Roberto Baldwin  44:36  
There you go. Maybe it Oh, yeah. Yeah, a little flower holder in there. But as opposed to a potting a potted plant.

Nicole Wakelin  44:45  
There's less danger with a tiny little piece with has it maybe has what an inch and a half of water. And it's like a thimble full as opposed to having an entire plant in my car.

Sam Abuelsamid  44:57  
And you know, this is supposed to be Built on the new PP platform that Audi has been working on with, with Porsche, which is their, their premium platform electric, I think is what it stands for. That so this is the replacement for the current Ty con, and E Tron gt platform, you know, taking you further evolution based on the stuff they've learned from doing the TT icon and the E Tron. And that, that platform, the first vehicles with that platform are actually I think, scheduled to launch later next year later in 2022 with the next generation asecs going on that pole and going in that architecture, so you know, that should that's supposed to give it you know, much better range and better overall energy efficiency. But yeah, I think, you know, if this is the the direction that outies going with their design, you know, I like it I don't think you'll I don't think we'll see the the the rear end you know, the suicide doors with no B pillar you know that Yeah, well, I mean, you know, that's that's always a feature that they put on concept cars, so that they can show off what the interior looks like on a on an auto show, Stan just

Roberto Baldwin  46:17  
no thing. In real life, though. I won't. That's not gonna pass the mustard. The muster muster? No mustard. Sorry, I'm very tired. Not mustard. I'm looking at mustard to that that's probably a

Sam Abuelsamid  46:32  
problem. Yeah. Okay, any more thoughts on the the grant sphere ran. He called them come on. The next one is, the next concept is supposed to arrive early 2022, which will be an urban mobility concept, which will probably be a lot less interesting than this one.

Unknown Speaker  46:57  
I'll just be right.

Sam Abuelsamid  47:02  
Next up, the Cadillac lyric, rubber Roberta, you had a chance to look at the lyric. And in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago,

Roberto Baldwin  47:13  
I did I got a nice walk around. But it was very quick because I had to shoot video of it. So I had to, when when you when you you show up to an event and you only have like 45 minutes and you have to shoot video. And yet to Purdue you're essentially producing like a 10 minute video, but you only have 45 minutes to put it together. Me it's you you're you're kind of hurried. So they did a really quick walk around. And they gave me the highlights, but I know you're gonna have something much, much better than what I got.

Sam Abuelsamid  47:44  
Yeah, I was lucky enough this week to spend three hours at the GM tech center with the lyric team, we spent an hour in the design studio, which unfortunate what my wife would love to see that building, she's seen pictures of it. But if you're a fan of mid century modern architecture, you know, that place is just amazing. It's a fabulous looking building inside. But we we walked through went back to the to the studio and talk to the exterior designers, interior designers, they the color and materials team and learned a lot of interesting details about this this vehicle. Like one of the cool features, you know, like most modern TVs, you know, it doesn't need, you know, the same kind of cooling capabilities that an internal combustion engine has. But yeah, so you can you can block off block off most of the front of the vehicle, you know, to improve the aerodynamics and improve the airflow because you don't need to have a big hole in the front of the car to cool the engine. But that that presents both opportunities and challenges for the designers. You know, if you look at a Tesla, they clearly saw that as an opportunity to do nothing. But Cadillac didn't want to go in that direction. They wanted to, you know, create a new face for Cadillac. And so you've probably seen and I'll include in the show notes, a video clip of the the light show that you get when you walk up. And when you walk up to the car. It does a pretty impressive light show, you know in both in the and what would have traditionally been the grill and also the headlights and driving lights. That whole grill area, it turns out is actually one big piece of molded plastic. And what they did was they painted the interior surface of that black and then they use a laser to basically remove some of the Paint, you know, to create a pattern on there, we're taking away the black paint with an ablation process with the laser. And then they paint over that with a translucent color translucent material. That's kind of similar to what we've seen on the current Hyundai Sonata, and also on the the Tucson, where when the lights are off, it looks kind of metallic. But then when you turn on the lights behind it, you know, the lights up and shine through. So that's what they've done on the interior of this. And then you know, they've got a whole bunch of LEDs back there that they can do all kinds of patterns with. And the The cool thing about this is, you know, if you look at Cadillacs of recent years, and the same is actually true for a lot of different vehicles, they'll have different variations of the grille for different trim levels. So you know, Sport model might have one, one kind of grille on it, the luxury models got a different grille on it. And so what they can do now, because of the process they've used for this, is, if they want to create a different pattern on the front of a lyric sport, you know, or a premium Lux lyric, they want to have it look different, all you got to do is reprogram the pattern for the the laser to cut away the the black paint. And that can have a completely different look for different trim levels. And there's no tooling involved, it's just a different program in the different software in the the for the laser. So I think I thought that was really cool. And the lights, you know, they develop these new LED lights that

previously, the LEDs for the headlights have been like 85 millimeters wide, so about three inches by three and a half inches wide. These new ones are only 15 millimeters wide. So about three quarters of an inch wide, are actually but more like five eighths of an inch wide. And so when you see this pattern on the front, they're able to do the vertical lighting, very narrow vertical lights, and still be able to meet all the the lighting standards. And again, because it's all programmable. What they're going to be able to do is if and when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration actually approves advanced lighting systems, they'll be able to do some of the kind of matrix lighting stuff that we've seen from companies like Audi, and Mercedes in Europe, where they can, they can light up the LEDs, you know, in different patterns. So as you're driving down the road at night, you can actually have your high beams on to light up the road and the the periphery of the road and have a darker have essentially just partial low beams, you know where it sees a car in front of you. You know, so you're not blinding cars coming towards you. Or if you're following somebody, it can lower the light intensity just in that area. So you're not blinding other drivers. But everything else around them is all lit up. Which is a really cool feature. And they'll be able to do that just by changing the software. If and when the regulators in the US get around to updating the headlight standards.

Roberto Baldwin  53:23  
They've been saying they've been working because they did that test like in 2015. No 12 I don't know they did a test a long time ago. And they're like, yeah, in our test in the laboratory a couple of times it blinded a motorcyclist. I'm like, I ride a motorcycle, and people drive around with their high beams on all the time.

Unknown Speaker  53:42  
Like, it's

Roberto Baldwin  53:45  
so they split, there's apparently they know, people have been lobbying them for it, but they're supposed to be testing it again, at some point, but who knows. Fingers crossed.

Sam Abuelsamid  53:57  
Yeah, hopefully we'll get that because there's, there's a lot of interesting things you can do with that I know, you know, one of the demos I've seen from from Audi is actually you know, being able to light up you know, the specific lane that you're in. So using the maps that they've got and the sensors, they can specifically put more you know, brighter light in your lane so you can see your lane and also see where based on you know, the your steering angle, where you're going where you are in that lane. So it can give you a lot a lot better situational awareness when you're driving at night which which is always, you know, much more much more challenging than driving the daytime. So I think that that's, that's a that's a really good thing. And you know, there's all kinds of other stuff that outies done as well. And I'd love to see that happen on on vehicles here in the US. You know, you can you can get that stuff in Europe, but you can't get it here. One other interesting detail that they had, because this is an Eevee, ie V's rely on aerodynamics a lot more than internal combustion vehicles because, you know, when you lift off the accelerator, you you don't want the air slowing the vehicle down, if the vehicle is going to slow down, you want to be able to recapture as much of that energy for regenerative braking and put it back into battery, so you maximize your range. And so they spent a lot of effort on the aerodynamics of the lyric. And this was the first vehicle that they've done, right from the very beginning of the program on Jim's new rolling road wind tunnel. And so traditional wind tunnels for automotive have been, you know, they have basically they have a flat steel surface, they roll a car into the, into the wind tunnel, and they, they turn on the fan, you know, and they they do all their their testing on it. But when the wheels aren't moving, the the interaction with the error is very different from when they are rotating. And they found this out in racing A long time ago, Formula One race teams started doing rolling road wind tunnels back in the late 80s. But they're a lot more complicated to do. GM I think might be the first automaker with a rolling road wind tunnel, a full size, full scale, rolling road wind tunnel. And Ford is actually building one right now as well and Dearborn. But

the lyric was the first GM vehicle, they've done some work on the rolling road tunnel with some other programs over the last couple of years. But this was the first one that right from the beginning, they used it. And one of the interesting things they learned from that is when the tires are rotating, when you if you look at your tires, you'll find that along the the sidewalls, there are some there's a ridge along there between the sidewall and the tread area, from the way that they mold the tires. And they, they found that that was actually causing a surprising amount of drag. And so they worked with their their tire suppliers to figure out a way to mold that so you can minimize that ridge, reduce that ridge and reduce the amount of drag. So like most modern vehicles, the you know, the lyric has its tire surface, you know, out as close to flush with the bottom surrounding bodywork as they can, but now they also get rid of that ridge and they were able to reduce the coefficient of drag by about point, point 01. So that's what they call 10 counts of drag, which is a notable reduction from just one change. Most changes you know are just you know two or three counts of drag they did 10 counts just from changing the tire construction to reduce that and they've they're also working on things you know the the concept version of the lyric they showed last year had the the camera mirrors on the sides like Audi's got an E Tron in Europe and they've gotten some other vehicles overseas. Those aren't legal here yet either. But if and when those become legal, we'll probably see those added to the lyric and other vehicles. And then one last arrow thing that they did was if you when you look at the the lyric and profile, the tailgate glass is got, you know, some kind of a fastback designed very steeply raked, and there's a spoiler at the top like most, you know, SUVs and hatchbacks have, but they've got to flow through area on there. And so they spent a lot of time shaping that spoiler. So the air going through there, running across that rear glass can keep that weird glass clean. So they're able to get by without a windshield wiper, or a wiper on the the tailgate, which both reduces drag because that when that wipers sitting there on the tailgate, that's, again, that's more drag, and especially at the back end of the car, where the air is got to separate from the body, that can be really disruptive. And it also reduces weight and cost, of course. But so they're claimed to be able to keep that that back glass clean without having to use a wiper on there. So we'll, we'll we'll we'll see how that actually works in real life when this car comes out next year, but a lot a lot of interesting design details that did on that.

Nicole Wakelin  59:23  
I have a question about the tire, Sam. So they they said they worked with whoever's making the tires to come up with something where they reduced all the error, you know, the drag on there. Does that mean that? Are your tires gonna be more expensive? Like when you go to replace them? Is that is that like a fancy tire? That's a high cost?

Sam Abuelsamid  59:43  
I don't know. I mean, presumably, I

Nicole Wakelin  59:45  
don't think so. They said I was just curious if that if like, it's a very specific tire and they have to get rid of that little ridge. I was like, Huh, Well, no.

Sam Abuelsamid  59:52  
We've got a couple of different tires. Yeah, they've got a couple different tire suppliers. And so they'll Yeah, so it's not Just one specific tire they've got different sizes and and from different manufacturers and my guess is that you know they'll be pushing all tire suppliers to move in this direction because as everybody's moving towards CVS and arrow becomes more important I think everybody's going to want to do make the same kind of change to help everyone that's in the future all Yeah, yeah all tires are going to move move moving

Roberto Baldwin  1:00:23  
less because there's less there's less actual rubber because this tire is now 30 cents less than it was a year ago

Nicole Wakelin  1:00:32  
because the tires all the time

Sam Abuelsamid  1:00:34  
but we're gonna charge you $30 or $30

Nicole Wakelin  1:00:36  
a machine that made it 30 a little bit less cost us nine bazillion dollars that cost

Roberto Baldwin  1:00:43  
so you're saving 30 cents in rubber but your r&d and tooling

Sam Abuelsamid  1:00:51  
yeah one one thing that some people will undoubtedly be disappointed by is the fact that there despite the lyric having a you know, this profile you know, it's designed to look premium with a long hood you know, you know long dash to axle ratio there's no front trunk I asked Cadillac about this How can you not have no Frank huh? Their their explanation is that you know, they took some of the electronics that are typically packed in the back of the vehicle under the cargo floor and moved all put all that stuff in the front and it didn't really leave enough room for a good sized front trunk. Given the length of the hood on this thing. I think that's a bit of a cop out. But to their credit, there is actually there actually is like that What, what when you when you lift the the cargo floor there is actually a nice deep well behind the rear axle for more stuff so that there is quite a bit of cargo room in this thing. But you know, I think I think they could have put some, you know, some space in the front as well. One of Oh, another thing about the lyric is it's going to support if you have an 80 amp circuit in your garage, you'll be able to do night 19.2 kilowatt charging at home, which is fairly fast charging. Yeah. The the charge cord that comes with it will support it's a dual voltage charge cord, like most EBS are increasingly now. So you can if you you don't have to necessarily have a wall box if you just have a 240 volt dryer outlet in your garage, you can plug it in directly and get and charge at 240 volts without having to spend another four or 500 bucks on a on a wall charger just just with the cord, but that's going to be limited to 7.2 kilowatts, if you want the the 19 kilowatts you do have to buy a wall charger. It's this this would be they're gonna they're gonna start production in, I think sometime in February for this thing down in Tennessee and it should be on sale in the spring and the launch edition is the one that's going to cost $60,000 and that's got pretty the only option on the launch edition the standard tires, standard wheels and tires are 20 inch, the launch edition. The only option on that is the 20 twos and that's another two grand so for 62 I think 62 or 62 five you're all in you've got every available option including you know the Android automotive based infotainment system with the 33 inch curved display in front of you and this is the first one you know unlike like the Mercedes HyperX screen that has you know a single sheet of glass that spans across but actually has three separate displays under there this is all just one continuous display the whole thing is one giant touchscreen 33 inches so that's all I got on the lyric for now

Roberto Baldwin  1:04:16  
making money off the last weekend launches because that the price point like within the year do you think they'll be making unless it's if it is a sell gangbusters? Yeah, they'll be losing all right. I'm just curious like how I think I think

Sam Abuelsamid  1:04:30  
they'll I think they'll at least breakeven on it. And I think they'll probably I think they'll probably be profitable on this one cool

Roberto Baldwin  1:04:35  
cuz that might because to me that the the lyric where that price point is I I'm trying to sort of connect that to the LTM platform, which means that they can put a nice premium electric SUV at 60 they might be able to get nice, you know, inexpensive, Evie for regular folks, maybe 25 which would be a big big, big, big Big deal.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:05:02  
Yeah. And I think I think that will be possible, I think I think they I think we will see, you know, like a, you know, something like an electric car, like a Chevy Equinox type of vehicle that you'll be able to get for, you know, under $30,000. Before incentives, and right now at least, you know, unless Congress passes something, there are no incentives available, at least at federal level for GMP. But I think I think that there'll be offer, they'll be able to offer something like a compact crossover to probably in the 27 $28,000 range, electric. And, you know, I think that that'll be a good product. And you know, one other thing to note about the lyric that launch addition, they're launching only with the rear wheel drive version, which is 340 horsepower, the all wheel drive the dual motor, all wheel drive will be coming later in the model year. So that that will be more, you know, that'll be probably like 65 $67,000, something like that. You can drift with the rear wheel drive one. That's true. You can do there you go. I'm just saying it's work. Just saying. Yeah. All right. Next up, Nicole and I were both out in California as we record this. This is just over a week ago. To drive the new Infiniti QX 60. Which is infinities. Yeah, they're their second generations are three row crossover. Nicole, what do you think of the QX six you

Nicole Wakelin  1:06:37  
know what I liked it? I thought it was good. I had minor complaints about it. For the most part, nothing was major. My only genuine major ish complaint was about how they've packaged the captain's chairs. You can only get them on the very top trim, which is the autograph and the autograph. And it starts at just over $60,000 if you want captain's chairs on anything else, tough luck. You can't get it and I thought that was a weird admission. I mean, it was weird. Their standard when you get to those tribes and then you can option backwards and get the bench seat if you want and sometimes the other way around a lower trims but yeah, so you can only get the captain's chairs on the on the top trim, which I was kind of like Well, that's that's sort of a stinker. But it is. I was like, oh, what do I want those lately? What's the base term? But it's it's beautiful. It's it? Is it? You know, has that luxury infinity field? I feel like they step up their game a little bit. I thought they did a little bit of a better job. But it It didn't seem so like some of infinities cars, the you get this luxury sense, but you're sort of almost like this is luxury 10 years ago, like there's some things sorted. This one feels very like luxury today, do you know what I mean? It's so it just the style a contemporary luxury, more contemporary, so it feels a little bit more refined, I think for that particular for managing to do that. I has a good amount of cargo room and has good towing, it was very nice to drive, there's just one engine in it, there's that I can't find a three, five D six with 295 horsepower. In it, it moves it. I mean, I felt like it was responsive. You're, if you're buying a car like this, you're not you know, you're not buying a sports car. You're buying a great big SUV to carry your friends and your family and the kids. And it does that and it does it in with quite a lot of style and quite a lot of luxury. And overall, I was a fan Sam, what do you think?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:08:40  
I was, I was really impressed by the way it drove. I agree with you, you know that it seems like a more cohesive design than before, especially the interior. You know, the last one, the last generation of infinities, you know, when they had this dual screen infotainment system. You know, it had, you know, when you look at it from a checklist standpoint, it had all the right stuff there. But it It didn't necessarily seem as as thoroughly thought out, as it could have been,

Roberto Baldwin  1:09:14  
weren't the resolution on those screens different to wasn't like the resolution wasn't there, like different there was like some sort of,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:09:25  
I'm not sure the resolution was actually different. But but they were different. There were different screens. So like the top screen was, you know, one of the you know, it was a glossy, you know, all flush finished, you know, like you find on most laptops, you know, where, where it's got kind of that that black trim on it, you know, so to enhance the the the contrast. And then the lower one was kind of set in, you know, so that the top screen was for your media navigation, and then the lower one was for your control stuff and it just it seemed Like an afterthought, you know, select two different teams top half of the console and the bottom half. And they didn't talk to each other. You're all together. And it'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll work. So yeah, so some of the stuff that was, you know, in the lower screen before is back to physical controls now, which I like. No good. And, you know, you know, and it's just, it's just a more cohesive design this time. So I think that that's, that's a good thing. To your point about the captain's chairs. Nicole, you know, one of the things that is nice about this, if you do have kids, or if you're if you're actually planning to use the third row, which, you know, presumably, if you're, if you're buying a third row, three row crossover, you know, hopefully, that is part of the plan. You know, the the seats, the second row seats, the second row captain's chairs are the same structure, there's definitely no, they have different finish on them and everything, but they're the same structure as what's in the new Nissan Pathfinder, which shares this platform with this, which means that if you have child seats installed in those second row seats, you don't actually have to remove those to get into the third row. The whole seat tilts forward, like from the from the front, from the front edge of the seat. And you can tilt it forward with the child seats still in there, and still be able to get into that third row, which I think is a really handy feature.

Nicole Wakelin  1:11:30  
That's a huge feature. Because when you mean like you said, if you have a three row SUV, you're probably piling kids in there a lot. And you've got those car seats and any parent who's ever had to take car seats in and out even if they're the boosters, it's a pain in the butt because you have to take the seat out, they're going to move it forward, you got a kid who's like, oh, you're trying to get a child in you've got a car seat in one hand, you get them in the back then you got to put them it's it's a pain in the neck. So to be able to leave that car seat in there and just scooch the seat forward. Let the other kids in the back put the put the seat right back in the car seats still ready to go. That's kind of nice. I like that. Did they demo this at the drive of it? They did have a like they had one at the One Stop where they did have the car seat sitting in there and they activate it and the whole thing flips for the seat stays in place and then it comes back Yeah. Because my follow up question is that they put it like a little baby doll in and you see what happens if you if you pushed it forward? Very much not supposed to do with your kids in the seat, Roberto.

Roberto Baldwin  1:12:28  
I know but that would be my fruit that way. Let's see what happens this is why I don't have children see what happens when we do this? You call it out and the kid will be like yeah,

Nicole Wakelin  1:12:41  
Campbell didn't have like a piece of origami, but I'm good.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:12:45  
I'm good. I think you know, depending on how big the kid is it would probably be safe. I think there's enough clearance between the the top of that and the front seat you'd probably be

Nicole Wakelin  1:13:00  
very much not recommended exam. Yeah, don't do the right seat seat only Don't do this.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:13:08  
Not recommended but but but we all know that people do stuff with their vehicles that is often not recommended by the manufacturers don't believe so. You have to you have to make sure you have to make sure you design it, you know, taking into account the potential for misuse of the product and minimize the risk of anything going anything bad happening if customers do misuse the product. You know, some manufacturers don't don't have that philosophy. But you know, I think the company like Infiniti and Nissan they you know, they generally try to follow that in the in the cargo area in the back, you know I was talking about you know, having that deep well and in the back of the lyric, they've also got one in the back here. So you've got the flat cargo areas, you can fold down the third seats and you get a nice long actually fold the third and second row seats have a really huge flat cargo area. But there's also this you know, when you lift up the door there's a fairly deep well in right in the back where you can and it's plastic line so if you're going to the beach as we did when we were out there, although I don't think anybody went swimming

Nicole Wakelin  1:14:17  
in California because of the show, which means it wasn't go rock goat Hill go

Roberto Baldwin  1:14:22  
Raul, to be honest, they're all very dangerous. You should not if you do if you're not a strong swimmer or you've never swam in the ocean, just don't go into the water in Northern California. It is very, very dangerous. Don't trust the sea. As a surfer I will tell you, the seed will kill you. Anyway, that's that's my PSA for the day PSA for the day. My PSA Oh, don't don't hold your baby in half and don't don't trust the sea.

Nicole Wakelin  1:14:48  
And seeing that little that little cargo that underfloor cargos thing that you're talking about one of the other nice little like I think little features make such a big difference. Normally in most of them when you open up the little floor panel, you Have to hold the floor panel up because it wants to flop back down. And this, this will stay open. So once you open it, it will stay open, and you can load your stuff and then close it. Otherwise, it's like you do this awkward thing where you're trying to load in or at the same time. So small detail, but it makes a big difference in terms of how easy it is to live with the car, especially if you're carrying a little baby that you won't be carrying. Correct. Exactly.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:15:24  
I'll be curious how well those those friction hinges hold up after you know, eight or 10 years and whether it still stays up like that. But at least when it's new, it's it works. Remember the golden years.

Nicole Wakelin  1:15:37  
But who's keeping their own Kennedy for eight or 10 years, I feel like the person by this infinity is probably not keeping it for 10 years. You have a luxury car.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:15:45  
Somebody somebody will buy it, somebody will buy a used one, you know, and there'll be many are the average age of cars in the US is 12 over 12 years now.

Nicole Wakelin  1:15:54  
So it's creeped up. Yeah,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:15:57  
no, it's just over 12. Now, cars are getting better. So it's probably probably getting longer and longer every month that the the chip shortage goes on too. But, you know, having that plastic liner in there means you can throw wet stuff in there, you know, what towels and things like, you know, dirty shoes after a hike, things like that. So it's, you know, it's a handy handy feature to have there. So start to design. Yeah, the you know, the design is definitely a different direction for infinity. What What do you think of the this new design direction for the brand?

Nicole Wakelin  1:16:34  
I like it, I think kind of like I was saying, I feel like the interior made it look a little bit more luxury interior of today instead of luxury interior. But while ago, I feel like the design is a good thing. I think it's a little bit more contemporary, there was something sort of like, weirdly bulbous and clunky at the same time about the prior design language is as time went on, and I feel like this one is definitely more streamlined. You can see this one moving in the direction of design in general, as opposed to just there. We're not really going to mess with that too much yet. So I think it's an improved design. I like it. I think it looks it looks more luxury than the old vehicle dead. So I think it's I been there, I think the design is a good thing.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:17:21  
Yeah, you know, it's, I think when I first saw it when they first revealed it back in June, or whenever it was in the spring, you know, I saw it, it struck me that it looks like a combination of current Mazda and Lincoln design, you know, with kind of the dark floating roof of the Lincoln. You know, they going to the the the the glass, wraparound glass at the back at the D pillar. And then the smoother sort of water sculpted finish of the sheet metal, you know, more like what we've seen from Mazda in recent years with their current design language. But I think I think it's a it's a look that works for this vehicle. And it'd be interesting to see how it translates to other future infinity models, which and when that when I when they did the reveal, in June, I asked that question of Alfonso Baya, the head of design for Nissan, and he said, yeah, this this is this is what you can expect from future infinity models as well. So I think there's there's a lot to like here. And you know, the price point starts what but I think about 38,000 for base model

Nicole Wakelin  1:18:40  
base. I think it's more than that. 46, isn't it?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:18:44  
Is it 40? The 4646 is

Nicole Wakelin  1:18:47  
your base.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:18:48  
And then yeah, look, you know, the loaded autograph with all wheel drive is about 65, roughly,

Nicole Wakelin  1:18:55  
right. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:19:01  
Yeah. You and I, Nicole did have a chance to sit down and chat with Jeff Pope, who's the group v group vice president of infinity for the Americas while we were out in California, and I will attach that on after this. I neglected to put out the call for any questions for this episode. So we don't have any listener questions to answer. Oh, no,

I know I am. Yeah, I am. But so right after this, stay tuned and you will hear the the Jeff Pope interview. But that's it. That's all we got for this week.

Nicole Wakelin  1:19:42  
That's all we got. Bye guys.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:19:44  
Bye. Bye. All right, Sam here with Nicole and we are sitting in Napa with Jeff Pope, the group VP of infinities America. Glad to be here with you Dr. The Qf 60 today, john, why don't we start off with infinity as a brand? What they describe what what do you want infinity to be? What what? How should people think of infinity brand? And what makes it different from any of the other multitude of premium brands

Jeff Pope  1:20:19  
out there? Sure, that's a that's a nice big grounded question. But, you know, I've been with infinity, as I said for 15 years now. So I have a real passion for what this brand has been, what it is, and what it plans to be in the future. And really, all three of those things are still tied to the same thing. We're curated luxury, or hot about hospitality, both within the vehicle, and actually in our dealerships and the experience our consumers expect to get, we've been one of the top customer satisfaction brands in the industry for years. And that's all based upon the commitment to what infinity is for and what the expectation is of not only our vehicles, but the experience for our customers.

Nicole Wakelin  1:21:02  
And how do you think the new Qx 60 fits into that?

Jeff Pope  1:21:07  
Yeah, I think in every form and fashion, this has been obviously not because it's the newest one, because it's my favorite one. It's my favorite vehicle, because from engineers, to designers, to our marketing and sales organization, everybody has been walking that same path to understanding not just creating a premium three row SUV for just utility, but incorporating all those things that we just talked about, specifically hospitality and what hospitality means and the interior of the cabin. So a serene, quiet cabin, from just the lack of vehicle noise inside the cabin, to the attention to detail on concave speaker covers, or the attention to detail on the coating that you see in the autograph version of the car. Everything that's been done has been done for a specific reason, even including the back hatch, when you lift up the rear panel, it doesn't pull down, you can put it at any position, and it's there for a reason. That is not technologically sound, it has nothing to do with it or mechanics, it just simply is smart. And when we looked at smart hospitality and smart utility, this vehicle says it all, then you package it with what I think is probably the most elegant design we've seen from infinity in years. There's not a bad angle on this vehicle.

I just took pictures out of it there. And I would have to agree. Yeah, infinities have a fascinating history. You know, when it started, I remember when the queue 45 originally came out

Unknown Speaker  1:22:52  
3142 years ago now. Yeah, it was, it was quite distinct infinity came out at the same

Sam Abuelsamid  1:22:59  
time as another new premium brand, and will not be mentioned. For for all of its virtues, you know, the one thing that brand lasts for a long time was really distinctive design. And especially that first product, you know, that competitor to the for the Q 45. And 245 was really, really stanked and a lot of ways. And, you know, over the years, you know infinities had, at various times a different look. And now the brand is making another transition, you know, for the last decade has had a particular kind of muscular creased flanks. And that hooked c pillar design. And now making another transition. We've talked a lot about modern Japanese luxury, over the last day or so. Talk about that some more and how that fits in with with what you're doing with this vehicle.

Jeff Pope  1:23:55  
Yeah, I'll talk about it in two facets one, from a design perspective. You're absolutely right. There's always an element of Japanese luxury. That's the students who are vehicles you heard a little bit about of it about it today, when you look at the piano keys becoming more of a signature item in our cars. But inside the headlamp itself, you see what represents folds of a kimono.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:24:15  
When you look at our double

Jeff Pope  1:24:16  
double arch grille that's always been a signature for infinity and still maintains there's pieces that continue to go throughout time. And I don't think we've necessarily changed direction but we have modified and really adapted the design, language and design. D DNA, even the the grill itself, that's inspired by Oregon, and little things along the vehicle that all represent Japanese luxury. But I'll go back to what we talked about before is what it really means to me is Japanese hospitality. And that's what has rung true with me ever since I started with the brand way back in 2006.

Nicole Wakelin  1:24:56  
I like to really talk about how the design elements work. We saw a hear from someone who can make it over from Japan, he was talking about the quilted leather, and how his inspired sort of by how water droplets spread out across the pond. And it was neat to see because they had like a split screen and showed up with Michael. Now I look at the whole different way, like now that just got much cooler than just diamond stitch pattern

Sam Abuelsamid  1:25:15  
on that, you know, it's not just straight line happening there

Jeff Pope  1:25:20  
ripples in a pond. And that's where you know, I will never claim to be a designer or designer in any form whatsoever. So I really appreciate the individuals that we have helping us through our journey on design, because it's so special is so good. And the dedication that people have to it is really amazing when you just sit, I would love for you just have a moment with him individually, TCK and just talk with him, and you just walk away just so impressed with him. But not just as him as an individual, just how he focuses in the business and how he tries to put those two things together the business, the design, and then the brain itself. So would you say that given you know that this new Qx 63 row crossover in some ways, very family oriented vehicle? Would you consider this, since it is kind of setting up,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:26:18  
a new evolution of design for affinity is perhaps the flagship,

Jeff Pope  1:26:25  
the most maybe the most important vehicle in the lineup right now. I think 2x 60 has always served a very strong purpose in the brand lineup itself. We've had a number of very strong vehicles that built the DNA of our brand over the years for different reasons. The FX was iconic, when you talk about a vehicle that serves as a halo ad has been that for years and years, because it's the ultimate description of luxury, in my opinion. So Qx 60, though that's it, because now you're talking about a mainstream large segment. And what it's bringing in is the ability to have all the utility that's required in that category, but then bring the true identity of infinity to it. And that's where I think it's so important for us because now it's not just about a vehicle that sets itself apart. In a smaller segment, we're talking about a vehicle and a very large segment that is making a true statement about who Infiniti is as a brand. Because when you look at the capability of the vehicle driving it, you add in all the complementary features on the interior of the car, and then you combine it with the design and technology that we have. It truly makes a statement for us more so than any vehicles in the past.

Nicole Wakelin  1:27:45  
Do you think that's strong enough? Because it's like there are a lot of luxury options, while with varying pluses and minuses? Do you think you think people are going to see it and think, okay, I'm not gonna go with those other guys. We don't mean like infinity has got me You think it's strong enough to do that.

Jeff Pope  1:28:00  
I'm really, really confident. And as much as I try to make sure I keep myself in check from time to time. Every time I get to sit down with an individual group of people that have gotten to drive it, look at it rubber, it just gives me more confidence. Because it's not me having to sell it. I just kind of it's like rolling the ball on the table. What do you think? And what we're getting back is so positive. Just as a for instance, we've launched lots of cars over the past decade, and they've been very good to successful to, you know, we wish it would have been more successful at times, maybe. But this car, as soon as we announced it back in July, the response has been off the charts. Consumers have really flocked to the dealerships looking for more information, how can I do it, we have people getting in line to purchase this car, which tells us this is a again, a three row premium SUV, this is not a luxury sports car. But people are getting in line to purchase this vehicle. And also, they're looking at all the details on the car. The autograph version itself is drawing so much attention and desire. And people are seeing the value in the cartoon

Nicole Wakelin  1:29:16  
that is that the autograph edition is and that's what we've been driving today. And it's, you know, the way you've described it. Now the press materials. This is the most luxury one and everybody their top trim is their most luxury attribute you get in this do you have that sense of like, well, they don't they mean it is really everything that the colors, the design, the feel of it, the richness of the materials, it is it is very premium feeling and

Sam Abuelsamid  1:29:38  
the quietness to this morning, you know, because it was nice and cool for a while we're driving with the windows down. And then when we put the windows up, it was transformative in terms of how quiet it suddenly felt like a like a cocoon, you know, like being in a bubble. Sure.

Jeff Pope  1:29:57  
Yeah, I think it's my favorite question. That ask everybody is, so did it deliver what we said? Because we can talk all we want. But at the end of the day, what we want people to come back and saying, okay, it did anything I say, or Wendy said or anything else did you come back? And were we wrong?

Nicole Wakelin  1:30:15  
somebody thinks and says deliver what it said, I know we're still in the middle of the time we get a little more driving to do but

Sam Abuelsamid  1:30:20  
I think it largely delivers on what you promise. Yeah, I'm curious. So, you know, I mean, in this segment is premium segment. Yeah, I think I lose a lot of companies trying to deliver on those same kinds of qualities. And, you know, especially as we go forward, in the future, we move towards electrification quiet as becomes even bigger factor. And, you know, some things like, you know, traditional power training kind of fall by the wayside has differentiating things. How do you see infinity continuing to evolve and continuing to set itself apart from the rest of the industry?

Jeff Pope  1:31:02  
First and foremost, I'll talk about this car, and then we'll talk a little bit about moving forward, what you have to think about, we're not gonna talk about what we're gonna do, talk about how we can comment on future products.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:31:12  
thinking more in terms of

Jeff Pope  1:31:15  
what do you see as the vision? Yeah, so but let me start with this is the first thing you do is you listen to the consumer, period. And you have to ask the right questions with the consumer, especially in this segment, because you're right, it is a very competitive segment. There are some brands and some vehicles that are have very luxury treatments. You have some brands that have very solid performance and dynamics. And then you have the Infiniti QX, 60, that gives you the best of it all. And I really believe that to the bottom of my heart of how because I've driven this car, I've been all over this car. I've been through competitors. I'm just so happy to where we are. Now, how do we look for this in the future? You mentioned electrification, this segment is probably going to be one of the last segments to be electrified. When you look at what consumers are looking for. For electrification. What is doing that quietness, I think we've shown we can deliver a quiet cabin with an ice engine with all the elements that we put in the vehicle yet the cabin is still serene and quiet. But at the end of the day, we have to listen to consumers. And when we see the consumer starting to look for something different and new and different power trains are training, we have to be there, listen to the consumer and be open to the flexibility in the future. That's the biggest thing is don't get yourself so centered and so pigeonhole that you can't maneuver you have to figure out how to be flexible.

Nicole Wakelin  1:32:43  
Okay, you said you spent a ton of time in this car. You have to pick one thing that's your favorite feature. You can't just give me like 10 things you like one thing your absolute most favorite thing of this car? Yeah, my favorite thing is design. I don't know if you're gonna give me that one as a design, pick a fit pick a thing you

Jeff Pope  1:33:02  
I will tell you. I will tell you the absolute favorite view of that car for me is the front of the vehicle and standing in front of it and looking at the athletic stance that this car has. I think when you look at this segment, you think we talked you mentioned it earlier? Okay. The segments more of a family car, it's premium SUV, it's an SUV, three row SUV, but when you look at this vehicle from the front, you're kind of going Huh, okay, I know what it has is all the utility but man this thing looks incredible.

Nicole Wakelin  1:33:33  
There it is. I plug you can't see it. Yeah, there's a favorite. That's my favorite. I'm looking at a picture from the front and it does have a make a first impression. Yeah.

Jeff Pope  1:33:41  
I think that impression alone too. When you look at this consumer, we talked a lot about our target consumer, Claire, but but the reality is that this car is going to be attracted to many different types of consumers. I have two boys. I have a dog a cat. And you know, my wife's a professional. This is a vehicle the old Qx 60 is a vehicle she would drive off in and use it for utility. This is a vehicle I would drive easily and have no problem pulling it up to the country club. going out to a fancy dinner and putting it through the valet. Yes, still have all the utility I need in the back to get things done. I lead a busy life too. So this car is perfect. Because it does everything I need to do but yeah, front up front of the car.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:34:26  
Thanks, if that is your one favorite. Okay, so following up with that, I will represent the dark side of this company. What is the one element that is not satisfactory to you that you would change? You really expect me to answer

Nicole Wakelin  1:34:43  
I was like, Is he gonna answer that or is he gonna

Jeff Pope  1:34:45  
the glass of wine later I listen, there's there's always things you can poke at and put but when I when I talk about the things that I look at in this car, and I'm not gonna list them all. There's so minor. There's so much Because I'm so picky now because the car is so good and all aspects somebody did ask me that question the other day is What didn't you get? And I was dumbfounded because I sat there and said I don't actually have anything that I asked what I didn't get on this vehicle

Nicole Wakelin  1:35:17  
that's a good thing and you want to walk away and say like okay I you know, I got all the things I thought were super important you if you're if you're actually ad ready answer that it'd be a little bit nervous like okay, let me tell you what we

Sam Abuelsamid  1:35:30  
having worked in the industry a long time I know there's there's always something that you wish you could have done that you either didn't fit the budget didn't have the time Yeah, there's there's there's always something

Jeff Pope  1:35:40  
that would tell you that there's nothing that makes a substantial difference in the vehicles and there's always no nuances. We're all looking at a car and Oh, I wish I could do that. I wish I had rest maybe. But but there is nothing that changes the viability of this car that I did not get that company.

Unknown Speaker  1:35:58  
Okay.

Jeff Pope  1:35:59  
Anything else? No, that answers my question. Thank you guys for sushi. It's been fun. Yeah. Awesome.