In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. They're amped up about the BMW i7 and Maserati MC 20 they've all been driving. They also opine about the BMW M3 CS and 2024 Ford Mustang. The Japan Mobility Show (formerly Tokyo Motor Show) is coming up, and there have been some interesting reveals and teasers, including the Nissan Hyper Urban and Hyper Adventure concepts, some neat kei car concepts from Daihatsu, a Miata-inspired EV concept from Mazda and an electric sports coupe concept from Subaru. Finally, they discuss the wild situation surround last weekend's Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
Transcript[MUSIC PLAYING]
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to the Autoblog Podcast. I'm Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you this week. This is one of the better driver's car lineups we've had in quite some time. The Maserati MC20, the 2024 Ford Mustang and the BMW M3. We've been driving those in the last week or so and it has been a lot of fun.
We'll break down a little bit of a preview for the Tokyo Motor Show. Some news from Nissan, Daihatsu, and Subaru, which I think is worth your time. We're going to be sending a couple editors there in just a couple of weeks. We'll talk about the F1 race from last weekend that was pretty wild. Pretty physically demanding.
So let's get right into it. With that, I will welcome senior editor for all things electric green and hydrogen, I don't know. That's John Snyder.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Absolutely.
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Thanks. Yeah. Happy to be here.
GREG MIGLIORE: And our road test editor, Zac Palmer.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah hydrogen has been a bit of a topic in the auto Autoblog Slack chat, if you guys want to know what's going on behind closed doors. I know James is getting a Toyota Mirai this week.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's cool.
ZAC PALMER: And they're having that's cool refueling problems. So--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Surprise surprise.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, surprise.
GREG MIGLIORE: Shocking, right. Have you guys driven a hydrogen car? Real quick.
ZAC PALMER: I have. I drove--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's been a bit but yeah I've driven-- I drove the NEXO. I drove the Hyundai NEXO across Korea, which was neat. I haven't driven the Mirai, though. I'd like to. But--
ZAC PALMER: I also drove the NEXO. But I drove it in Ann Arbor not Korea. Very different place. But, yeah, neat experience.
GREG MIGLIORE: I drove a hydrogen-- I cannot remember if it was a Buick or a Pontiac crossover. This is over 10 years ago when GM was still, sort of still are, but they were working on a number of road-going prototypes. I drove it in-- somewhere in Illinois. Suburban Chicago.
GM used to do their like, sort of, group like what's going on with GM. You can just drive everything. It was one of those sort of, like, I think it was Audubon country track Country Club sort of thing. I may not be remembering this right. But it was cool. I would be interested in hydrogen if it landed on my door.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah I mean, if the infrastructure were there and if you know they were able to make environmentally friendly hydrogen cheaply. I know it's energy intensive just to make it and it's cheaper just to make it from hydrocarbon fuel, which is not as green as making it from water using renewable electricity. But someday, hopefully, we'll get there.
GREG MIGLIORE: It-- Yeah. There's a lot of different moving pieces, to say the least with that. I feel like we need to tell you about this during the podcast. Before the show we were talking about the I7 grill. And I just-- I want to put in there. I think it looks good. We have an I7 kind of floating amongst us the last week or so as well. Maybe on a future podcast, we'll get more into it.
But just real quick, I like it. I think it works on a flagship sedan like this. What do you guys think?
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I didn't mind the grill at all. I wasn't particularly enamored with it. But it didn't bother me one bit. I think the color scheme on the I7 we had was pretty good. It worked.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And this had like, sort of, the Chrome surround on the kidneys and it didn't look particularly audacious. It, sort of, blended into the overall style of the car. It looked-- I mean, it's a big car. It's got a big face and those big kidneys look pretty much at home on it, in my opinion. Very executive looking. It's like the most executive executive sedan I've driven like maybe ever.
ZAC PALMER: It definitely bothered me more than you guys, I think. I just-- like the whole car gives off very much like Rolls Royce quiet luxury vibes. It's very tall. It's almost like-- if you line it up next to some SUVs like an EV6 or something, it's just as tall as those cars height-wise.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: And it just felt a bit out of place. Like the rest of the car is so understated quiet luxury and then it's like whoa. Big old schnoz up there that is-- I don't know. I just like my 7 series to be the very understated classy BMW. And on an M3 or M4, give me that big grill. I love it. But less so on the 7 Series.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. All right. All right. Well maybe in an upcoming podcast we'll break down the I7 even more. But--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Because we-- man, I can't wait to talk more about it because it is awesome.
ZAC PALMER: I think we all love that car.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's pretty-- I mean it's pretty something. Should we just talk about it right now? Just call an audible?
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah. Heck, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Instead of, you know, the roll up to the right, we're going to call a draw play. Run the ball up to the middle. So the car-- I've driven the I7 before. I've not driven this one. I sat in the back of it. We had it for tech of the year. And-- which everybody knows, that's our annual technology of the year award.
So we were all hanging out this week. The car was there. We were testing the theater screen. We won't tell you guys, which one. You'll have to come back in six to eight weeks and we'll make that announcement. But that's why we had the I7.
And like I said, I've driven it before. But this one, everybody got really fired up about. Why were you so fired up John?
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's just-- everything about it. Like it was so impressive to sit in. Your first time opening the door. And the door like opens for you very smoothly.
GREG MIGLIORE: It almost chopped my leg off, man. Because it'll close for you too.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, it would give up after, you know, taking a couple bites. But-- it's like a shark. Just testing-- you know taking a test bite. No but once you get in safely, it is-- it's gorgeous inside. The materials are wonderful. Beautiful design. Crystal everywhere.
At first, the crystal is a little jarring. You're like, wow. Everything-- like the volume roller is crystal. Everything's crystal. And then-- but after a while, you just really get used to it. Sort of falls into the background.
Until you start using the ambient lighting and there's that strip of, you know, faux crystal across the dash. And that lights up on different colors depending on the mode and what you're doing. And then you remember the crystal again.
But, I mean, those cloth seats are really nice. The seats themselves are very comfortable. Massaging seats all around, reclining seats all around. It just-- even the carpet, is just super luxurious. Everything about that car is just really, really nice. It's one that I would love to be driven around in.
But it was also great to drive. Super smooth, super quiet, super comfortable. Really ready to rotate. It was just an all around great experience. And then there's all the tech on top of all that. Like almost too much tech to explore. You'd have to, you know, own the car for a month before you could dive into all the different things this car can do.
So, yeah, really enjoyed it. Got good range out of it. I was seeing good efficiency. Just an excellent experience all around. Kids loved it, you know. Great.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah. I'm similarly obsessed with this thing, John. Like I had driven the EQS like a few months before it and I was like, wow, this EQS is really good. I love it. Like this would be, like, my luxury sedan EV of choice. And then I hopped in the BMW I7, which is the same one that we have now and I quickly forgot about the EQS.
Everything about the BMW is just better. From the interior design, to the tech, to the materials, to the exterior design, it being fun to drive, it being more comfortable to drive. The driver assistance systems. Just even like the inputs and what like. Like the Mercedes braking is just annoying, whereas the BMW just works. You know, you can do-- you can do one pedal or it can be natural with your actual foot.
The thing is, like, legitimately fun to drive. It makes good noises, like the Hans Zimmer noises. A lot of the Mercedes ones are less to my liking, I guess. But, man, every single thing about this car I loved.
My headline for my road test was exceeds expectations and then some. Because like, man-- I mean you always expect that a 7 series, all right, there's a new one. It's going to be good. But I did not expect it to be this good and for BMW to get it this right on their first try at, like, a fully electric executive luxury sedan. Because it is like-- there's hardly anything that I would change. It's that good. So--
GREG MIGLIORE: Except for the grill.
ZAC PALMER: Except for the grill, yeah. And you know what, I would look past it and I would buy it anyways. Because like the actual design of a car is not-- it's not something that I would grenade it over and say no because it's so good.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And the audio in it was really good too.
ZAC PALMER: Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: The 3D audio-- the 4D, you know, where it's got--
ZAC PALMER: Booming in the seats.
GREG MIGLIORE: --there's some vibration in the seats. And you can really dial up the intensity on that. So I went out there at night after everyone was in bed. You know I was just trying to avoid cleaning the dishes. So I went out. I was like, hey, I've got this car in my driveway. I should probably spend some time with it.
I would just go out there and sit in it and listen to music and like watch music videos on that screen. And it's just fantastic. At night, especially. It's just--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: The ambience is really something. It's a living room. It's a little living room on wheels. It's really nice.
ZAC PALMER: The cashmere and leather really brings out living room on wheels thing home. It's like-- it's like a-- I don't know if I want to say mid-century modern. But it is so decked out and really, really [INAUDIBLE].
GREG MIGLIORE: There's a touch of that with that, like, plush carpet and stuff like that. Yeah, there is a little bit of that.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
GREG MIGLIORE: We're doing this thing called trunk or treat. Which is where you, essentially, open your trunk and, you know, the kids come by and grab candy. And it's like-- essentially, it's like a mini-halloween like in a destination. If you have kids like John, you do, it's-- they're always through October, it seems like.
So I'm thinking I should take the I7 to that. And I'll let-- the rest of the family can pass out the candy and I can just sit in the back. Maybe I'll stream something on that TV or, you know, that screen. That could be good, you know. We'll stay warm. It's going to be kind of cold this weekend, I think. So I don't know.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: If you could figure out a way-- when you turn on that rear seat screen, the blinders they all go up in the back.
ZAC PALMER: You can put them down individually, though. You can.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Oh, can you?
ZAC PALMER: Yeah. Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: So that you could put, like, on like some sort of like "Casper the Friendly Ghost" or something.
ZAC PALMER: [INAUDIBLE].
GREG MIGLIORE: There we go. Oh that's a good idea. That's a really good idea.
ZAC PALMER: Open the doors. Get the music and sounds coming out from the stereo system. That would sound amazing.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And super spooky.
GREG MIGLIORE: I like it. Yeah. And we have to find an HDMI cord. But I've already done the setup, which we did for tech of the year. So you guys are giving me some good ideas. I think I'm going to win this Halloween adventure weekend. I think this is good.
When I drove it, jeez, I think this was earlier this year. I really liked it too. I've always liked the driving dynamics of most 7 series. I took one on the track. This was a while ago at Monticello and kind of like the Catskills. And it--
ZAC PALMER: Good track.
GREG MIGLIORE: --was a fun car to drive on the track, you know. So I've always, kind of, had that mindset with the I7. So--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah. The with rear wheel steering--
GREG MIGLIORE: With the 7 series, I should say.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: The rear wheel steering on this is really good too. It's really helpful. This helps you park this boat in some of the smaller spots in parking lots. Makes it really maneuverable.
GREG MIGLIORE: Rear wheel steering is like the Easter egg of driving dynamics over the last maybe--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Oh it's so great. Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: --three or four years for me.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: I mean, we just keep making bigger SUVs and we throw the great rear axle steering on it and boom. The weirdest ones have been like the EQE and like EQE SUV with those because they'll give you 10 degrees of rear axle steering and it makes the car feel like a Honda Fit with its turning radius. It's really mind-blowing.
Because it's like a smallish car that has more rear axle steering than anything else out there. It's a really funky experience.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's a quality of life improvement just for you know living with it, navigating parking lots and, you know, parking spaces. And-- but also it just really does a number on the drive. It makes for really smooth lane changes at high speed.
And then you're just really shocked when you dial in a lot of steering angle and the thing just rotates around you. It's just-- it feels, kind of eerie at first. It takes a little while to get used to it. But every time you do it, you feel good about it, it's a good kind of-- takes a while to get used to.
GREG MIGLIORE: The Mercedes one is good. I mean, obviously what I'm about to say is stating, again, the obvious, but the Rolls-Royce four wheel steering is outstanding. I mean, as you would expect. But I mean, when I was driving the Cullinan last year. You know it's a very expensive vehicle, there's some blind spots, it's huge. It's very easy to maybe get a little, kind of, like get your nerves up, right.
That thing I'm like-- after like 10 minutes of driving and I'm like one handing, changing the radio, trying to figure out how I can make the starry night sky thing even brighter. It really adds confidence because you know you can turn it like-- maybe not quite like a Honda Fit. But it's not like say, oh, hey, I've got to dock the suburban here in this like tight parking space.
It's good technology. I've been excited to see it, sort of, becoming more and more common. Because it's really good for the driver.
ZAC PALMER: It is, yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: I'm glad to see it proliferate. And I hope, you know, it's something that can trickle down and-- once they figure out scale of production that can trickle it down into more affordable vehicles because it's something everyone should get to drive. It really is a quality of life thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: So we should probably talk about the Maserati MC20. That was, kind, of our headliner and we've gone a little bit off the rails here for--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Burying the lead a little bit.
GREG MIGLIORE: --over 15 minutes. Bury the lead.
ZAC PALMER: Speaking of quality of life. I think your life would be good with one of these.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: What a car. I think it's rare that all three of us get to test something like this within a relatively short period of time. I mean it really checked all the boxes, you know. It looked amazing. It had the butterfly doors. It was bright red. It has-- there's an Italian sounding name in there for the red, as you would expect.
Rear-- the engines right behind you. Mid-engine car. It's been a minute since I've driven one of these. So it was really-- it was really something. Zac why don't we start with you. What do you think of this thing?
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, man. I was so excited to get behind the wheel of this. I have really never driven any Maseratis that have impressed me like a great deal.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
ZAC PALMER: Drove the Levante. You know, good SUV not great SUV. Drove the Quattroporte, also like a fine sedan but, honestly, it was more disappointing than it was good. And this-- you know this thing sort of represents like the rebirth of Maserati in the modern age without Ferrari. So it's their own engine. It's the nettuno V6. And it's a supercar. Like it's a real real supercar.
So very very excited to get behind the wheel. And I think that it delivered on my very high expectations in short. That engine, it really really is something special. If you were sad that Maserati was going away from Ferrari engines or anything like that, worried that--
GREG MIGLIORE: Which I was.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah like it's like a valid thing to be sad about, right. Because like, oh, like what's the pinnacle of engines in the world? Ferrari, of course. Well it turns out Maserati can make a pretty darn good one too because this nettuno V6 makes all of the right noises, it revs out to 8,000 RPM, 621 horsepower out of just a little 3 liter V6. It's a monster of an engine. And it accelerates like you'd expect a supercar to accelerate. So love that.
And, you know, it passes, all of the supercar tests. The entire world stares in astonishment at the design. I stared in astonishment at the design in my driveway the whole time. The interior might-- I don't know just the lacking of a feature here and there was a little disappointing. Like I wish-- because it's a Maserati, you know, you expect it to be this more of a luxurious supercar than something barebones like a McLaren.
I would have loved if it had something like cooled seats or just a few, you know, things here and there to make it more luxurious. It felt more like an Alfa Romeo interior than something that I might have expected from a Maserati. Which is fine if you want that pure, like, supercar experience. It just-- it felt like less less Maserati more Alfa Romeo, in that sense.
But it is still that-- I wouldn't go so far as to call it like the Acura NSX of daily driver supercars. That car is still-- like the most recent NSX is still more daily drivable, more friendly on a daily basis. Quieter, easier to see out of et cetera, et cetera. But the Maserati--
GREG MIGLIORE: This has a cup holder, at least.
ZAC PALMER: It does have a cup holder. But-- like as far as, like, splitting the difference between something like an NSX and like a 720S, I think that this does a very very good job. And that the ride is, like, sublime. It is so very comfy.
You can really quiet the engine and cabin down. And, you know, it has that duality that you can drive it like a supercar and also drive it around town and not feel like you're getting beat up. But I'm curious to hear what you guys have to think about it too.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Well when came to pick it up from your house, I think I said to you, like this might be an actually fun Maserati to drive.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: You know the last few I've driven have been ho hum. And it is exactly that. Zack, like you said, it's a rebirth for the brand. They're redefining themselves with this car. And they've done a stunning job. It's beautiful all around. It just really, you know, you want to walk around and look at all the pieces. I mean, granted this has that $10,000 paint job, the, let's see, Rosso Vincente. Or Vincente.
GREG MIGLIORE: That was the Italian name I was looking for. There we go.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, $5,000 carbon fiber engine cover, $4,000 black roof.
ZAC PALMER: And don't forget the $35,000 exterior carbon package.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yes, 35 grand. Whew. But yes, I think even if you took a lot of that stuff away, it would still be beautiful. You know, it's very lithe. It's got that mono-wiper that just really makes it feel like something super-special, something really different, derived from, you know, a race car. And it feels like it, too, when you're driving it. It rips, man. It goes, I mean, it does zero to 60 less than three seconds.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And it's so low to the ground. Those carbon ceramic brakes take just a little bit of a moment to warm up and get that good pedal feel going. And that sound from that V6 coming in right behind you, it sounds kind of old school. It sounds like, I don't know, it doesn't sound like an overly engineered to death sort of thing.
There's sort of a rawness to it, at least to the sound. And it's a good thing. But, yeah, really, really fun to drive, definitely benefits from that LSD, which is a $2,300 option. The interior, yeah, I notice there isn't a lot going on there. There's that one little screen.
And then that's about it, you know. It's comfortable for the most part. The wheel well, I mean, I'm sorry, the footwell is a little cramped. I kept finding I was pulling my left leg back toward me, because where I felt like there should be a dead pedal, the dead pedal was to the right of that and there was the part of the tub just where I wanted to set my foot.
So but, you know, I made an adjustment, sort of a little First World problem to have to deal with. But I make myself comfortable in there. And, yeah, it was awesome. And then I drove it, and then it rained.
[LAUGHTER]
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, no.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And I had to go get my flu shot. And I was driving it in the rain. And that felt a little sketchy. I slowed things way down, because this thing, man, just on those tires, it just wanted to float away. But, you know, you've got to get comfortable with the attention you're going to get from it, too. It just turns heads everywhere you go.
People were almost like running off the road or hitting stuff because they were looking, you know, rubbernecking to check out the car. But I don't blame them. It's gorgeous.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I think they did a good job of capturing what like an Italian supercar should be in like a non-Ferrari.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Because like Ferrari has its thing. What the hell is Maserati's supercar? You know, I think you really nailed it when you said there, John, that like Maserati needed to kind of remind people who they think they are anyway. And that's what I was writing down some notes after I drove the thing. And I was like, about damn time.
Like, aren't you guys sick of hearing about Maserati's glittering history, of these titles they won in 1953, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And it's like OK, well, everything I drive from you either has a Ferrari engine in it, which is great. Don't get me wrong. Or and it's like a crossover or some combination of the two.
And it's like, I think at some point you've got to live in the present and say, if you're going to try to be this like, you know, modern sports car maker, modern performance company, at some point you've got to make something, you know, beyond just like these like battleship sedans and crossovers. And they did. To me this is like, when you make a halo car, a lot of times I think we kind of roll our eyes for like, OK, do they really need this halo car?
We love it, because who doesn't love a super-sports car in your driveway for a week and writing a review about that. But what does that really mean? You know, this thing it's like, OK, I get it. This is what a Maserati is supposed to feel like. I was pretty-- I was psyched to drive it. I was psyched and excited while driving it.
To me it captured all the emotional elements of, you know, what this is supposed to be. So, yeah, I mean about time, Maserati. About damn time.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, I mean, we're going to start hearing Maserati getting dropped in rap songs again. [CHUCKLES]
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. One thing, too, you guys mentioned the suspension. And it's a really interesting dynamic when you're driving in a car like that, where you're so low to the ground. And like, you know, the corners, the tires, like it feels like, you know, you're almost like go-karting or something, or maybe, you know. But it wasn't abusive is what blew me away.
ZAC PALMER: Not at all.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: No.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, if you hit something really hard, it would rattle your fillings. But most of the time it was very very compliant, very comfy.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: No, it's good. They really took, I just think the rigidity of that, you know, fully carbon fiber monocoque, and, you know, they used that to their advantage. But they didn't increase the damper and springs to like an unlivable degree, like you might if you're searching for like every last hundredth or tenth on a racetrack. This is like a supercar that you can drive around Michigan roads, even, and not be miserable.
But you still have the advantage of that super-rigid platform when you do go take it on proper roads. Like the thing, it performs exactly how you would expect a mid-engine supercar with a fully carbon fiber monocoque to. It's ridiculous. It's so, so good. So, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I thought they did a good job too of like getting a very attractive, you know, Italian design. You know, I think some of the complaints about the NSX is it didn't feel enough like the old NSX. This car, which is throwing it way back to some of the great Maseratis of the '50s and '60s, you know, it had the curved fenders up front. The proportions in back kind of worked. It looked like, you know, an Italian sports car.
And I think, a lot of people when they would come up to me, they would be like, is this a Ferrari? And I think a lot of that had to do with the color, but also random person on the street does not know what a Maserati super-sports car is. You know, one guy was actually cheering for me, these kids as I drove by. But they were cheering for like we love the Lambo. And I'm like, it's not a Lamborghini.
And I mean, to me, that, again, goes back to my other point. Like they got to make a car like this, make people think this is what Maserati does, right? You know, so. Yeah, I mean, that's-- it was a fun week, that's for sure.
ZAC PALMER: I can't wait to try the Cielo now.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, I mean, that thing just looks ridiculously good with the top off.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: And just the speed humps and everything about it, it's just real-- you know, take this and just give it another degree of exoticism. [CHUCKLES].
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: You know, there's already so much turbocharger noise pumped in, just even with the windows down. Imagine the top off, how much the turbocharger will dominate that experience.
ZAC PALMER: It'll be neat.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's going to be cool. It's going to be real cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was looking at Facebook memories from like 10 years ago, and I drove an F12 Berlinetta right around this time. And it's funny. At the time I remember thinking that's about as good as it gets. It's awesome. But I don't know, it didn't really stick with me. And I feel like the MC 20 is going to stick with me in a way that like, you know, I like the McLaren Long Tail. That was one that really stuck with me.
The Huracan, the Aventador, they've all kind of stuck with me. I like the Maserati better than I like the NSX. I think I like this better than the Lambos. I think that's where I'd put it, ahead, on the two that I've driven at different points.
And I do like it better than the McLarens I've driven. I drove the GT and the 675 Long Tail. So I don't know, I think I'm putting this right near the top of my like supercars that I've driven. Where do you guys kind of rank it?
ZAC PALMER: Let's see, it's right about similar to the NSX.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
ZAC PALMER: For me. I would put it above the Ferrari 488, but below the 458.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, I've driven this, the Huracan, and the NSX. And that's it for supercars. But I think I'd put this right in between the Huracan and the NSX for me.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's, yeah, it's right there. The Huracan, it's tough to beat a naturally aspirated V10.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: That's kind of where I am with that one, and why it is where it is. The Maserati is better at everything else. But that noise.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true, and the one thing, I feel pretty good about my rankings. It's the one thing I'll say is I may be in a little bit of a prisoner of a moment that I am kind of pushing this right-- like I'm not sure if it's number one. But I am pushing it above, or right with the Lambos.
Perhaps with time, you know, I don't know. We'll see where it fits, if you will. And the F12, like I said, it didn't necessarily stick with me 10 years later. But, I mean, that's a 12-cylinder and it's a beautiful Ferrari. It was naturally aspirated. I mean, that was pretty amazing too. So I don't know.
Why don't we shift gears over here to the M3. It's been a good week in cars here at Autoblog, you know. It really has. This one was 130, almost $3,000. This was the CS. So that was kind of cool. I have a lot of thoughts about it. I think it's been a minute since I've driven any sort of M3.
And one of the things, like when I was kind of jotting down some notes here, two things. One is it surprised me. I kind of was ready to just write it off as like overstyled, overwrought. It's not, to me it's like it feels like what the M3 can and should be in many ways. And I really liked it.
So again, it surprised me. And it also surprised me in that, and maybe this is because I drove it back-to-back with the MC 20. It was pretty drivable. Like I wasn't like, oh, man, it's the M3. It's the CS. This is going to rip my head off.
I've got to like, you know, really be dialed in this week. You could drive it. It's very much a daily driver. It was on these like summer Pirelli things, maybe they were Michelins. But like they were basically summer sporty tires.
It was very, very drivable. You know, if you're like an enthusiast, you can get this thing. And I would assume most people listening to this are. You can drive this thing. You can take it to Kroger. You can-- I did. You could take it to kindergarten pick-up.
It's as much a track monster as you want it to be, and it certainly is a track monster. But, you know, drive it around. You know, it's not bad. And it's also like-- I thought it had a lot of character, too, with the straight six. I thought that sounded good. I thought it was powerful. And, yeah, I don't know. It was bright green. I don't know.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I've driven-- oh, go ahead, Zac.
ZAC PALMER: OK, yeah, I also drove this same car as you there, Greg, in the crazy, individual signal green from BMW.
GREG MIGLIORE: Signal green, I was trying to find it here.
ZAC PALMER: Which is like, that feels like the color that you need to get this vehicle in, because it's so ostentatious, and so showy, especially with all of the red accents all around, and the bare carbon fiber showing through the paint on the hood. And all the CS stuff is like really, really neat to me.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: And honestly, like the CS package is a really, really good one. And to your point, like it's the more daily drivable version. Like John, I think you were just about to mention the M4 CSL there. And--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Oh, no, I was going to mention the M3 competition I drove, like last, must have been last spring or winter, because I had it during a snowstorm. [CHUCKLES].
ZAC PALMER: Well, anyways, I'm going to bring up the CSL. So, like, that car, you know, it removes the rear seats. They take out all of the sound deadening. And there's just, it's a very, very extreme example of the M4. But this is almost, this feels like the more livable version of that car in M3 form, honestly.
Like you get the same level of aggression from the engine, the transmission, the suspension. But it feels like it adds back some of the sound deadening. You actually get like a usable rear seat setup. And it's just not quite as, you know, extreme.
So but at the same time, it is more extreme than an M3 competition xDrive, and, yeah, it's just a really, really sweet setup. And BMW has been doing such a great job, and I think in not over-dampening like all of their M-cars, and this one included. Like it makes it livable to drive around on a daily basis.
Like you're not dealing with like spherical bushings that are just going to absolutely punish you or anything like that. But at the same time, the car is as sharp as anything that you'll drive from a performance standpoint. And my God, it is fast.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: I mean, honestly, driving this, and the MC 20 in the same week, like they're not very far apart, honestly, as far as just like pure accelerative force that you can get going. BMW says 543 horsepower. It feels like more. But that's sort of par for the course with BMW M stuff. So--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Did your car have the carbon fiber seats with the little bump in the middle?
ZAC PALMER: Yes, yes.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I hate those, man. I hate them so much. [LAUGHS]
ZAC PALMER: I liked them.
GREG MIGLIORE: You liked them? I liked them, too. It was the first time you get in, it's a little unsettling. And they definitely stick to your rib cage, too. Like you are secure in those seats. But I grew to like them. They're even-- comfortable is not the right word. But you're focused on driving.
ZAC PALMER: You are. You're not moving. John, why don't you like them?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: They're just not comfortable, especially getting in and out. Like maybe like not want to drive it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: If I had to like take a quick trip somewhere. It's just, I mean, they're a literal pain in the ass.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It would make me, like I'd be completely happy with, you know, going for just an M3 without any suffix added to it and getting more comfortable seats. And then maybe like, I don't know. I don't think that I would need any more power than that, or you know anymore.
ZAC PALMER: You don't. Like the 473 of just a regular M3 is more than sufficient. Like the 543 and this is very much overkill. But the overkill is fine.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah. So I mean, that's where I'm at with it. Like I mean like it's a lot. It's a lot of power. It's nice that it is a good car that you could daily drive, if you had the right seats. That said, those seats do look fantastic.
GREG MIGLIORE: They look cool.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And, gosh, they're better than the M4 CSL's fixed buckets. Those were, oh my God. Those were unbelievable.
ZAC PALMER: Click.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I like injured myself getting in and out of those, and like had literal bruises on my backside from driving it around Michigan. I mean, granted like it's got that extra lowered, like 30 millimeter lowered suspension, and like a lot harder suspension, a lot more punishing. And but, yeah, those seats are just really tough.
Like it would be a great track car. It'd be an awesome track car. I would not want to live with it. So I suppose like if you want something that can do both, the CS might be a good middle ground for between, you know, daily drivable and you take it to track days.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, for what it's worth, as interesting as this was to drive, and there was a lot to unpack, this isn't really how I would spend my money for my personal use case, or just, you know, I'm just not that much of a track rat. I would, you know, you don't quite-- it's a lot of car. And you just, I don't think you'd need quite this much car, because an M3 is still very capable on the track, right?
So I mean--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Extremely.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't think you need to go this far if you don't want to. But so let's talk about the Mustang. It arrived as part of our tech of the year. And it actually was interesting because for a lot of us, not everybody, but for a few of us, this was the first time we got to drive the 2024 Ford Mustang.
ZAC PALMER: It was for me.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, same here.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK, well, three across, three wide then. There's a-- to me, this was interesting because, again, they did a significant refresh. They called it a new generation, not really, you know, if you're going by the traditional metrics, we do.
But it's very different, you know, especially from the interior and exterior styling, different things they offered this year, different features. And also they're kind of standing alone among the Detroit Three in saying we're going to ride our pony car here into the sunset with like an internal combustion engine. Challenger's done now basically, right? And Camaro is going to be done.
So this is it for a while as far as like, you know, gasoline-powered, you know, muscle--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to the Autoblog Podcast. I'm Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you this week. This is one of the better driver's car lineups we've had in quite some time. The Maserati MC 20, the 2024 Ford Mustang, and the BMW M3. We've been driving those in the last week or so, and it has been a lot of fun.
We'll break down a little bit of a preview for the Tokyo Motor Show, some news from Nissan, Daihatsu, and Subaru, which I think is worth your time. We're going to be sending a couple editors there in just a couple of weeks. We'll talk about the F1 race from last weekend that was pretty wild, pretty physically demanding. So let's get right into it. With that I will welcome senior editor for all things electric, green, and hydrogen, I don't know. That's John Snyder. Welcome.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Absolutely. Well, thanks. Yeah, happy to be here.
GREG MIGLIORE: And our road test editor, Zac Palmer.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, hydrogen has been a bit of a topic in the Autoblog Slack Chat if you guys want to know what's going on behind closed doors. I know James is getting a Toyota Mirai this week, and they're having--
GREG MIGLIORE: That's cool.
ZAC PALMER: Refueling problems. So--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Surprise, surprise.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, surprise. Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Have you guys driven a hydrogen car? Real quick.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I have. I drove, yeah.
ZAC PALMER: It's been a bit but, yeah, I've driven-- I drove the Nexo, I drove the Hyundai Nexo across Korea, which was neat. I haven't driven the Mirai, though. I'd like to.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I also drove the Nexo. But I drove it in Ann Arbor.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Not Korea. Very different place. But, yeah, neat experience.
GREG MIGLIORE: I drove a hydrogen-- I cannot remember if it was a Buick or a Pontiac crossover. This is over 10 years ago, when GM was still-- sort of still are, but they were working on a number of road-going prototypes. I drove it somewhere in Illinois, suburban Chicago. GM used to do their group, like what's going on with GM. You can just drive everything.
It was one of those, I think it was Audubon Country Track Country Club sort of thing. I may not be remembering this right. But it was cool. I would be interested in hydrogen if it landed on my door.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, I mean, if the infrastructure were there, and if, you know, they were able to make environmentally friendly hydrogen cheaply. I know it's energy intensive just to make it. And it's cheaper just to make it from hydrocarbon fuel, which is not as green as making it from water using renewable electricity. But someday hopefully we'll get there.
GREG MIGLIORE: It, yeah, there's a lot of different moving pieces, to say the least with that. I feel like we need to talk about this during the podcast. Before the show we were talking about the i7 grille. And I just I want to put in there, I think it looks good. We have an i7 kind of floating amongst us the last week or so as well.
Maybe on a future podcast we'll get more into it. But just real quick, I like it. I think it works on a flagship sedan like this. What do you guys think?
ZAC PALMER: I didn't mind the grille at all. I wasn't particularly enamored with it. But it didn't bother me one bit. I think the color scheme on the i7 we had was pretty good. It worked.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: And this had like sort of the chrome surround on the kidneys. And it didn't look particularly audacious. It sort of blended into the overall style of the car. It looked, I mean, it's a big car. It's got a big face, and those big kidneys look pretty much at home on it, in my opinion, very executive-looking.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: It's like the most executive executive sedan I've driven, like maybe ever.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It definitely bothered me more than you guys, I think. I just, I don't know, like the whole car gives off very much like Rolls Royce quiet luxury vibes. It's very tall. It's almost like, if you line it up next to some SUVs like an EV6 or something, it's just as tall as those cars, height-wise.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And it just felt a bit out of place. Like the rest of the car is so understated quiet luxury and then it's like, whoa, big ol' schnoz up there. That is, I don't know, I just like my 7 series to be the very understated classy BMW. And on an M3 or M4, give me that big grille. I love it. But less so in the 7 Series.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK, all right. All right, well maybe on an upcoming podcast we'll break down the i7 even more.
ZAC PALMER: Because we, man, I can't wait to talk more about it, because it is awesome.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I think we all love that car.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's pretty. I mean it's a pretty something. Should we just talk about it right now? Just call an audible?
ZAC PALMER: Yeah. Heck, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Instead of, you know, the roll out to the right, we're going to, you know, call a draw play, run the ball up to the middle. So the car, I've driven the i7 before. I've not driven this one. I sat in the back of it.
We had it for Tech of the Year. And which everybody knows, that's our annual Technology of the Year Award. So we were all hanging out this week. The car was there. We were testing the theater screen.
We won't tell you guys, which one. You'll have to come back in six to eight weeks and we'll make that announcement. But that's why we had the i7. And like I said, I've driven it before. But this one, everybody got really fired up about. Why were you so fired up, John?
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's just everything about it. Like it was so impressive to sit in. Your first time opening the door, and the door like opens for you, very smoothly.
GREG MIGLIORE: Almost chopped my leg off, man. Because it'll close for you too.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, it would give up after, you know, taking a couple bites. But it's like a shark, you know, just testing, taking a test bite. No, but once you get in, safely, it's gorgeous inside. The materials are wonderful, beautiful design, crystal everywhere.
At first the crystal is a little jarring. You're like, wow, everything, like the volume roller is crystal. Everything's crystal. And then, but after a while you just really get used to it, sort of falls into the background, until you start using the ambient lighting, and there's that strip of, you know, faux crystal across the dash. And that lights up on different colors, depending on the mode and what you're doing. And then you remember the crystal again.
But I mean, those cloth seats are really nice. The seats themselves are very comfortable, massaging seats all around, reclining seats all around. It just, even the carpet is just super-luxurious. Everything about that car is just really, really nice.
It's one that I would love to be driven around in. But it was also great to drive, super-smooth, super-quiet, super-comfortable, really ready to rotate. It was just an all around great experience. And then there's all the tech on top of all that. Like almost too much tech to explore.
You'd have to, you know, own the car for a month before you could dive into all the different things this car can do. So, yeah, really enjoyed it. You know, got good range out of it. You know, seeing good efficiency, just an excellent experience all around. Kids loved it, you know. Great.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, I'm similarly obsessed with this thing, John. Like I had driven the EQS like a few months before it. And I was like, wow, this EQS is really good. I love it. Like this would be like my luxury sedan EV of choice.
And then I hopped in the BMW i7, which is the same one that we have now. And I quickly forgot about the EQS. Everything about the BMW Is just better, from the interior design to the tech, to the materials, to the exterior design, it being fun to drive, it being more comfortable to drive. The driver assistance systems, just even like the inputs and what.
Like the Mercedes braking is just annoying, whereas the BMW just works, you know. You can do one pedal, or it can be natural with your actual foot. The thing is like legitimately fun to drive. It makes good noises, like the Hans Zimmer noises. A lot of--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: A lot of the Mercedes ones are less to my liking, I guess. But, man, every single thing about this car I loved. My headline for my road test was exceeds expectations and then some, because like, man, I mean, you always expect that the 7 series, all right, there's a new one. It's going to be good.
But I did not expect it to be this good, and for BMW to get it this right on their first try at like a fully electric executive luxury sedan, because it is. Like there's hardly anything that I would change. It's that good. So--
GREG MIGLIORE: Except for the grille.
ZAC PALMER: Except for the grille, yeah. And you know what? I would look past it. And I would buy it anyways, because like the actual design of a car is not something that I would grenade it over and say no.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Because the audio in it was really good too.
ZAC PALMER: Oh, yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: The 3D audio, the 4D, you know, where it's got--
ZAC PALMER: Bullying in the seats.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Some vibration in the seats, and you can really dial up the intensity on that. So I went out there at night after everyone was in bed, you know. I was just trying to avoid cleaning the dishes. So I went out. I was like, hey, I've got this car in my driveway. I should probably spend some time with it.
I would just go out there and sit in it and listen to music, and watch music videos on that screen. And it's just fantastic at night, especially. It's just--
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: The ambience is really something. It's a living room. It's a little living room on wheels. It's really nice.
ZAC PALMER: The cashmere and leather really, really brings out living room on wheels thing home. It's like, I don't know if I want to say mid-century modern. But it is so decked out and really, really nice.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: There's a touch of that with that plush carpet and stuff like that. Yeah, there is a little bit of that.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: We're doing this thing called Trunk or Treat, which is where you essentially open your trunk. And you know, the kids come by and grab candy. And it's like, essentially it's like a mini-Halloween, like in a destination. If you have kids like John, you do. They're always through October it seems like.
So I'm thinking I should take the i7 to that. And I'll let the rest of the family can pass out the candy. And I could just sit in the back. Maybe I'll stream something on that TV, or, you know, that screen. That could be good, you know.
We'll stay warm. It's going to be kind of cold this weekend I think. So--
ZAC PALMER: If you could figure out a way, when you turn on that rear seat screen, the blinders all go up in the back.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: You can put them down individually, though. You can.
ZAC PALMER: Oh, can you?
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, yeah.
ZAC PALMER: So that you could put like on like some sort of like "Casper the Friendly Ghost" or something.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, there we go. Oh, that's a good idea.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a really good idea.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Open the doors, get the music and sounds coming out from the stereo system. That would sound amazing.
ZAC PALMER: Be super-spooky.
GREG MIGLIORE: I like it. Yeah, and we have to find an HDMI cord. But I've already done the setup, which we did for Tech of the Year.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So you guys are giving me some good ideas. I think I'm going to win this Halloween adventure weekend. I think this is good. When I drove it, geez, I think this was earlier this year, I really liked it, too. I've always liked the driving dynamics of most 7 series.
I took one on the track. This was a while ago, at Monticello, in the Catskills.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah. Good track.
GREG MIGLIORE: It was a fun car to drive on the track, you know? So I've always had that mindset with the i7. So-- with the 7 series, I should say.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, the rear wheel steering, the rear wheel steering on this is really good, too. It's really helpful. This helps you park this boat in some of the smaller spots in parking lots, makes it really maneuverable.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Rear wheel steering is like the Easter egg of driving dynamics of the last maybe three, four years for me.
ZAC PALMER: It's so great, yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I mean, we just keep making bigger SUVs, and we throw the great rear axle steering on it. And boom, the weirdest ones have been like the EQE and like EQE SUV with those. Because they'll give you 10 degrees of rear axle steering, and it makes the car feel like a Honda Fit with its turning radius. It's really mind-blowing, because it's like a smallish car that has more rear axle steering than anything else out there. It's a really funky experience.
ZAC PALMER: It's a quality of life improvement, just for, you know, living with it, navigating parking lots, and, you know, parking spaces. But also it just really does a number on the driving. It makes for really smooth lane changes at high speed. And then you're just really shocked when you dial in a lot of steering angle and the thing just rotates around you.
It's just, it feels kind of eerie at first. It takes a little while to get used to it. But every time you do it, you feel good about it. It's a good kind of takes a while to get used to.
GREG MIGLIORE: The Mercedes one is good. I mean, obviously what I'm about to say is stating again the obvious. But the Rolls-Royce four-wheel steering is outstanding. I mean, as you would expect.
But I mean, when I was driving the Cullinan last year, you know, it's a very expensive vehicle. There's some blind spots. It's huge. You know, it's very easy to maybe get a little kind of like, get your nerves up, right?
That thing, I'm like, after like 10 minutes of driving, and I'm like one-handing changing the radio, trying to figure out how I can make the Starry Night Sky thing even brighter. It really adds confidence, because you know you can turn it like-- maybe not quite like a Honda Fit-- but it's not like say, oh, hey, I've got to dock the Suburban here in this like, you know, tight parking space.
It's good technology. I've been excited to see it becoming more and more common, because it's really good for the driver.
ZAC PALMER: It is. Yeah, yeah, so glad to see it proliferate. And I hope, you know, it's something that can trickle down, and once they figure out the scale of production, they can trickle it down into more affordable vehicles, because it's something everyone should get to drive. It really is a quality of life thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: So we should probably talk about the Maserati MC 20. That was kind of our headliner, and we've gone a little bit off the rails here for over 15 minutes.
ZAC PALMER: We're burying the lede a little bit.
GREG MIGLIORE: Burying the lede.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Speaking of quality of life, I think your life would be good with one of these.
ZAC PALMER: Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: What a car. I think it's rare that all three of us get to test something like this within, you know, a relatively short period of time. I mean, it really checked all the boxes, you know. It looked amazing. It had the butterfly doors. It was bright red.
It has, there's an Italian-sounding name in there for the red, you know, as you would expect. Rear, the engine's right behind you, mid-engine car. It's been a minute since I've driven one of these. So it was really something. Zac, why don't we start with you. What do you think of this thing?
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, man. I was so excited to get behind the wheel of this. I have really never driven any Maseratis that have impressed me like a great deal. Drove the Levante, you know, good SUV, not great SUV. Drove the Quattroporte, also like a fine sedan, but honestly it was more disappointing than it was good.
And, you know, this thing sort of represents like the rebirth of Maserati in the modern age, without Ferrari, you know, so it's their own engine. It's the Nettuno V6. And it's a supercar. Like it's a real, real supercar.
So very, very excited to get behind the wheel. And I think that it delivered on my very high expectations, in short. That engine, it really, really is something special. You know, if you were sad that Maserati was going away from Ferrari engines or anything like that, worried that--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Which I was.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, it's like a valid thing to be sad about, right? Because like, oh, like what's the pinnacle of engines in the world? Well, Ferrari, of course. Well, it turns out Maserati can make a pretty darn good one, too, because this Nettuno V6 makes all of the right noises. It revs out to 8,000 RPM, 621 horsepower out of just a little 3 liter V6.
It's a monster of an engine, and it accelerates like you'd expect a supercar to accelerate. So love that. And, you know, it passes all of the supercar tests. The entire world stares in astonishment at the design.
I stared in astonishment at the design in my driveway the whole time. The interior might, I don't know, just the lacking of a feature here and there was a little disappointing. Like I wish, because it's a Maserati, you know you expect it to be more of a luxurious supercar than something barebones like a McLaren.
I would have loved if it had something like cooled seats or just a few, you know, things here and there to make it more luxurious. It felt more like an Alfa Romeo interior than something that I might have expected from a Maserati, which is fine if you want that pure like supercar experience. It just, it felt like less Maserati, more Alfa Romeo in that sense.
But it is still that, I wouldn't go so far as to call it like the Acura NSX of daily driver supercars. That car is still, like the most recent NSX is still more daily drivable, more friendly on a daily basis, quieter, easier to see out of, et cetera, et cetera. But the Maserati--
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: This at least-- this has a cup holder at least.
ZAC PALMER: It does, it does have a cup holder. But like as far as splitting the difference between something like an NSX and like a 720S, I think that this does a very, very good job, and that the ride is like sublime. It is so very comfy. You can really quiet the engine and cabin down.
And, you know, it has that duality, that you can drive it like a supercar and also drive it around town and not feel like you're getting beat up. But I'm curious to hear what you guys have to think about it, too. [CHUCKLES].
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Well, like when I came to pick it up from your house, I think I said to you, like this might be an actually fun Maserati to drive.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And the last few I've driven have been ho hum. And it is exactly that. Zac, like you said, it's a rebirth for the brand. They're redefining themselves with this car. And they've done a stunning job. It's beautiful all around.
It just really, you know, you want to walk around and look at all the pieces. I mean, granted this has that $10,000 paint job, the-- let's see, it's Rosso Vincente. Or Vincente.
GREG MIGLIORE: That was that Italian name I was looking for. There we go.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, $5,000 carbon fiber engine cover, $4,000 black roof.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And don't forget the $35,000 exterior carbon package.
ZAC PALMER: Yes, 35 grand, whew.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: But yes, I think even if you took a lot of that stuff away, it would still be beautiful. You know it's very lithe. You know, it's got that mono-wiper that just really makes it feel like something super-special, something really different, derived from, you know, a race car. And it feels like it, too, when you're driving it.
It rips, man. It goes-- I mean, it does zero to 60 less than three seconds.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And it's so low to the ground. Those carbon ceramic brakes take just a little bit of a moment to like warm up and get that good pedal feel going. And that sound from that V6 coming in right behind you, like it sounds kind of old school. It sounds like, I don't know, it doesn't sound like an overly engineered to death sort of thing.
There's sort of a rawness to it, at least for the sound. And it's a good thing. But, yeah, really, really fun to drive, definitely benefits from that LSD, which is a $2,300 option. The interior, yeah, I notice, there isn't a lot going on there. There's that one little screen.
And then that's about it, you know. It's comfortable for the most part. The wheel well, I mean, I'm sorry, the footwell is a little cramped. I kept finding I was pulling my left leg like back toward me, because where I felt like there should be a dead pedal, the dead pedal was to the right of that and there was the part of the tub just where I wanted to set my foot.
So but you know, I made an adjustment. Sort of a little First World problem to have to deal with. But I make myself comfortable in there. And, yeah, it was awesome. And then I drove it, and then it rained.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, no.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: And I had to go get my flu shot. And I was driving it in the rain. And that felt a little sketchy. I slowed things way down, because this thing, man, just on those tires, it just wanted to float away. But, you know, you got to get comfortable with the attention you're going to get from it, too.
It just turns heads everywhere you go. You know, people were almost like running off the road or hitting stuff, because they were looking, you know, rubbernecking to check out the car. But I don't blame them. It's gorgeous.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I think they did a good job of capturing what an Italian supercar should be, in like a non-Ferrari.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Because like Ferrari has its thing. What the hell is Maserati's supercar? You know, I think you really nailed it when you said there, John, that Maserati needed to kind of remind people who they think they are, anyway. And that's what I was writing down some notes after I drove the thing. And I was like about damn time.
Like aren't you guys sick of like hearing about Maserati's glittering history of these titles they won in 1953, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And it's like OK, well, everything I drive from you either has a Ferrari engine in it, which is great, don't get me wrong, or and it's like a crossover, or some combination of the two.
And it's like, I think at some point you got to live in the present and say, if you're going to try to be this like, you know, modern sports car maker, modern performance company, at some point you got to make something beyond just like these like battleship sedans and crossovers.
And they did. To me this is like, when you make a halo car, a lot of times I think we kind of roll our eyes for like, OK, do they really need this halo car? We love it, because who doesn't love a super-sports car in your driveway for a week and writing a review about that.
But what does that really mean, you know? This thing, it's like, OK, I get it. This is what a Maserati is supposed to feel like. I was pretty-- I was psyched to drive it. I was psyched and excited while driving it. To me, it captured all the emotional elements of, you know, what this is supposed to be. So, yeah, I mean, about time, Maserati. About damn time.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, I mean, we're going to start hearing Maserati getting dropped in rap songs again.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. One thing, too, you guys mentioned the suspension. And it's a really interesting dynamic when you're driving in a car like that, where you're so low to the ground and the corners, the tires, like it feels like, you know, you're almost like go-karting or something. Or maybe, you know, but it wasn't abusive is what blew me away.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Not at all.
ZAC PALMER: No.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean, if you hit something really hard. It would rattle your fillings. But most of the time, it was very, very compliant, very comfy.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: No, it's good. They really took, I just think the rigidity of that, you know, fully carbon fiber monocoque, and, you know, they used that to their advantage. But they didn't increase the damper and springs to like an unlivable degree, like you might if you're searching for like every last hundredth or tenth on a racetrack.
This is a supercar that you can drive around Michigan roads even and not be miserable, but you still have the advantage of that super-rigid platform when you do go take it on proper roads. Like the thing, it performs exactly how you would expect a mid-engine supercar with a fully carbon fiber monocoque to. It's ridiculous. It's so, so good. So, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I thought they did a good job, too, of like getting a very attractive, you know, Italian design. You know, I think when some of the complaints about the NSX is it didn't feel enough like the old NSX. This car, which is throwing it way back to some of the great Maseratis of the '50s and '60s, you know, it had the curved fenders up front. The proportions in back kind of worked.
It looked like, you know, an Italian sports car. And I think it's-- a lot of people, when they would come up to me, they would be like, is this a Ferrari. And I think a lot of that had to do with the color, but also random person on the street does not know what a Maserati super-sports car is, you know.
One guy was actually cheering for me, these kids as I drove by. But they were cheering for like, we love the Lambo. And I'm like, it's not a Lamborghini.
And I mean, to me, that, again, goes back to my other point. Like they got to make a car like this, make people think, this is what Maserati does, right? You know, so, yeah, I mean, it was a fun week, that's for sure.
ZAC PALMER: I can't wait to try the Cielo now.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah, I mean, that thing just looks ridiculously good with the top off. And--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ZAC PALMER: Just the speed humps and everything about it. It's just real, you know, take this and just give it another degree of exoticism. [CHUCKLES]
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, there's already so much turbocharger noise pumped in, just even with the windows down. Imagine the top off, how much the turbocharger will dominate that experience.
ZAC PALMER: It'll be neat.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's going to be cool. It's going to be real cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was looking at Facebook memories from like 10 years ago. And I drove an F12 Berlinetta right around this time. And it's funny, at the time I remember thinking that's about as good as it gets. It's awesome. But, I don't know, it didn't really stick with me. And I feel like the MC 20 is going to stick with me in a way that like, you know, I liked the McLaren Long Tail. That was one that really stuck with me.
The Huracan, the Aventador, they've all kind of stuck with me. I like the Maserati better than I like the NSX. I think I like this better than the Lambos. I think that's where I'd put it, ahead on, you know, the two that I've driven at different points.
And I do like it better than the McLarens I've driven. I drove the GT and the 675 Long Tail. So I don't know. I think I'm putting this right near the top of my supercars that I've driven. Where do you guys rank it?
ZAC PALMER: Let's see, it's right about similar to the NSX.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
ZAC PALMER: For me.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: I would put it above the Ferrari 488 but below the 458.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: Yeah, I've driven this, the Huracan and the NSX. And that's it for supercars. But I think I'd put this right in between the Huracan and the NSX for me.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN BELTZ SNYDER: It's, yeah, it's right there. The Huracan, it's tough to beat a naturally aspirated V10. That's kind of where I am with that one. And why it is where it is, the Maserati is better at everything else, but that noise.
ZAC PALMER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true. And the one thing, I feel pretty good about my rankings. It's the one thing I'll say is I may be in a little bit of a prisoner of a moment, that I am kind of pushing this right-- like I'm not sure it's number one. But I am pushing it above, or right with the Lambos.
Perhaps with time, you know, I don't know. We'll see where it fits, if you will. And the F12, like I said, it didn't necessarily stick with me 10 years later. But, I mean, that's a 12-cylinder and it's a beautiful Ferrari. It was naturally aspirated.
I mean, that was pretty amazing, too. So I don't know. Why don't we shift gears over here to the M3? It's been a good week in cars here at Autoblog. You know, it really has. This one was 130, almost $3,000. This was the CS. So that was kind of cool.
I have a lot of thoughts about it. I think it's been a minute since I've driven any sort of M3. And one of the things, like when I was jotting down some notes here, two things. One is it surprised me. I was ready to just write it off as like overstyled, overwrought. It's not.
To me it's like, it feels like what the M3 can and should be in many ways. And I really liked it. So again, it surprised me. And it also surprised me in that, and maybe this is because I drove it back-to-back with the MC 20. It was pretty drivable.
Like I wasn't like, oh, man, it's the M3. It's the CS, this is going to rip my head off, I've got to like, you know, really be dialed in this week. You could drive it. It's very much a daily driver.
It was on these like summer Pirelli things, maybe they were Michelins. But they were basically summer sporty tires. It was very, very drivable. You know, if you're an enthusiast you could get this thing. And I would assume most people listening to this are.
You can drive this thing. You can take it to Kroger, or you can-- I did. You can take it to kindergarten pick-up. It's as much a track monster as you want it to be. And it certainly is a track monster. But you know, drive it around. You know, it's not bad. And it's also like I thought it had a lot--
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. The Tesla Model 3 Performance has been revealed, and we discuss Tesla's first-quarter results. Mercedes unveiled its G 580 with EQ Technology. A VW factory voted to join the UAW. The Ford Mustang celebrated …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. The two kick things off with a loaded review section, starting with the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq Sport 3 then moving along to the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy. After that, they dig into …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Byron Hurd, who joins us fresh from the floor at the 2024 New York Auto Show. They start with an overview of the show and this year's big debuts, then pivot to other news for talk …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. In the news, BMW revealed the Neue Klasse X EV, Jeep Wrangler drops the V8, Ford Mustang gets a 810-horsepower supercharger kit and Shell leans into EV charging. We look back on the life …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They start off discussing a couple of vehicles they've both driven — the 2024 Ford Maverick Tremor and the 2024 Volvo C40 Recharge 2WD. From there, they pivot to Byron's first drive of the …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale. They lead off with the 2024 Dodge Charger reveal, followed by various EV startup news including the reported death of the Apple Car; rumors of a tie-up between Fisker and Nissan; and when we'll finally …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. Joel shares his experience checking out the Tesla Cybertruck in Chicago. James leads a discussion concerning GM's track record with the Ultium EV roll-out and the company's history with …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They start out talking about Scout's new facility in South Carolina and what Volkswagen Group wants to do with its new truck and SUV brand. From there, they briefly revisit the General Motors F1 …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Electric, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they've been driving the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, Kia Seltos and Autoblog's long-term WRX (which has a CD player). They discuss the Chrysler Halcyon concept and what it means for a possible …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. We kick off the week by reviewing cars we've been driving, including the new Lexus GX, Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound, Jaguar F-Pace, Hyundai Kona and our long-term Subaru WRX. Next, we break down …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Electric, John Beltz Snyder. In the news, F1 snubs Michael Andretti, Jeep shows off the electric Wagoneer S, Mazda reveals the updated 2024 Miata, Mary Barra talks about future plug-in hybrids, and Rivian is set to …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale, and they cover a wide range of topics. They discuss refreshed models from GM and VW including the new Blackwing Cadillacs, the Chevy Equinox, and the GTI. They also talk about the upcoming Jeep …
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. They kick things off with a roundup of the week's news, and of course the first photos of a pre-production electric Dodge Charger Daytona are the first topic. After that, the pair chat …
