Join Greg Migliore and John Snyder on this week's video podcast as they discuss the latest automotive news, including a Ferrari SUV. Also, we drove a Nissan Rogue with ProPilot assist and a Colorado ZR2.
Transcript[THEME MUSIC]
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome to episode 529 of the "Autoblog Podcast." Greg Migliore and John Snyder joining you here on a Thursday afternoon. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. We got a great show lined up for you. Let's jump right in.
JOHN SNYDER: Sure thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: Lots of good stuff. we're going to lead off with some of the news of the week. Ferrari is seriously considering a sport utility vehicle. Not basically, but seriously considering. Marchionne is, like, yeah, we're probably going to do it. I don't know how I feel about this. This is like changing my world, you know? It's--
JOHN SNYDER: It's-- yeah. I'm not sure-- I mean, a lot of purists are going to be upset, probably. But, you know-- and everyone's going to SUVs now. I feel like you kind of have to if you're Ferrari. I don't really blame them. So.
GREG MIGLIORE: I'd go with the whole Porsche model. Like, when I drove the-- when I've driven the Cayenne and the Macan, every time I drive those cars, those crossovers, I'm, like, this is rewarding, they're fun to drive, they sound good. So, I mean, I've long ago just given up the fight that Porsche shouldn't be doing crossovers. I think that's how I'm going to be with Ferraris. I can't wait to drive a Ferrari crossover, to be honest.
JOHN SNYDER: If they can maintain that Ferrari sort of DNA, when you sit in it and this is a Ferrari still-- if they can do that successfully, I think it's going to be good. I think that's what a lot of people worry about, though. That's what people were worried out about with Porsche, but Porsche has pulled off fantastically. You sit inside a Cayenne or a Macan and you are-- you know you're in a Porsche.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I think two things for me-- ride height and utility. What are they going to do for those two things? Because Ferraris are low, you know, sculpted cars, with not a lot of trunk space, things like that.
JOHN SNYDER: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So it's like to make it somewhat usable, they're going to have to put some stuff-- you know, some utility space, you know? I think you see a little bit of that with the FF, but--
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: They're going to figure out know sort of an elegant solution for that. And then I don't really know what to do about the ride height. They've got a sort of jack the car up a little bit.
JOHN SNYDER: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So.
JOHN SNYDER: And they're going to have to throw a whole bunch of power at it to make sure it stays quick and still feel sporty.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think the smart move is drop of V12 in it, you know? And people are going to be like, ah, we don't like all these things, but this engine's sweet.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. Sure. I think that works.
GREG MIGLIORE: A V12 engine is a really good way to silence critics, I think. That's what I would do, anyway.
JOHN SNYDER: Well, whatever they're doing, I'm looking forward to seeing what it is. And yeah, I've been hearing rumors about it for a while now, so the fact that they're actually talking about it openly is pretty interesting.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, Lamborghini is doing one. I believe production is, like, starting in Italy this year.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, it's inevitable. You know, I think you're going to have a segment of buyers who are, like, hey, I want an SUV, I own a Ferrari, what can you do for me?
JOHN SNYDER: Sure. I love my Ferrari, but it's my second car. I would love to have another Ferrari for, you know, actually doing things and going on road trips and stuff.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right.
JOHN SNYDER: I love the brand, give me an SUV.
GREG MIGLIORE: Exactly, exactly. Speaking of SUVs, FCA-- kind of keeping it sort of in the family here--
JOHN SNYDER: A little bit.
GREG MIGLIORE: Marchionne, their CEO, mentioned this week that they're probably going to keep Jeep. That makes beyond too much sense for me.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think they should keep Jeep. This to me is just a really smart move.
JOHN SNYDER: Right, I mean, they could make a lot of money selling it off. But I think it's worth more-- I mean, Jeep is worth more to the company than the rest of the company.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right.
JOHN SNYDER: And they've already put a bunch of money into Jeep-- fixing up the plants and all that, so-- and yeah, Jeep is probably sort of their life preserver right now.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sure.
JOHN SNYDER: So yeah, they shouldn't get rid of it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean, if you sell a Jeep, sort of what at that point do you have, you know? You've got the Ram truck lineup, which is, you know, very strong. You've got you know all the crazy Dodges, which are mostly performance-like. And you've got the Pacifica minivan. You know, the Chrysler brand itself is pretty weak right now outside of the 300. So you-- really, Jeep is the company right now. It gives it critical mass, it makes it competitive.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. And it would just be a shame for them to get rid of it. But yeah, I don' t know-- I know there are a lot of people out there who would love to get a crack at owning Jeep--
GREG MIGLIORE: Sure.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, it would just be-- even if they were willing to sell, it would be a lot of money.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I mean, say they-- they're not going to sell, but say they did, you know, you're really leaving the cupboard bare, like I said. You know, you do have Alfa and Maserati. For a while, we were hearing rumors those might be kind of on the block to sell, too.
JOHN SNYDER: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, yeah, I think-- this to me is just it's not making a mistake.
JOHN SNYDER: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So I don't know, I'm excited, because I think, you know, I would prefer to buy a Jeep if I were going to buy one, that's owned by, you know, say, FCA. I think I kind of like that. You know, just to me, it still seems like a good fit. And, you know, it's-- I think it's a smart play for them.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, it would feel weird to buy a Jeep if it was owned by say, a Chinese brand or something.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. It's-- I mean, it's an all-American vehicle. You know, I think there's still-- there's not many questions about FCA. You know, like, we do wonder about some of their long term viability strategies, things like that. But, you know, say they were to sell it to, like, an automaker or a company that's not as established, that's where you start to get those doubts in your mind like, well, how is this going to go if I buy a Jeep? You know, are my warranties going to be all right? Is the product going to be where I-- where I expect it to be? You know, Chrysler has made cars, FCA has made cars for almost 100 years.
JOHN SNYDER: Sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: Jeep quality is overall pretty good.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. And I think with reintroducing the Wagoneer--
GREG MIGLIORE: I'm psyched about that one.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, that's going to be helpful for them, too. So I think holding on to it is definitely a win for them.
GREG MIGLIORE: Absolutely, absolutely. And don't forget the-- the pickup truck. The Ram pickup. What did we hear that was called? Was it going to be the-- I'm blanking on the name-- the Scrambler. That might be one of the names, which would be cool. When the new Wrangler comes out, I think that's probably my play if I was looking to get, like, a personal daily driver.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Would be that pickup, you know? Because Wrangler is cool, but I don't know, that pickup, you know? I always like those Jeep pickups.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, they've got a lot of charm, that's for sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. So that's Jeep, that's Ferrari. Some other news, shifting gears quite a bit here. Aston Martin is looking at getting into the Formula E racing series. This is-- you know, would definitely get their brand out there in a different light. But, you know, John, you're the editor of Autoblog Green-- good move?
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's getting-- it's been really interesting, this off season of Formula E. Companies are scrambling to join. We've had a lot of European luxury brands join up. We've got BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar has been in since last year. So yeah, it's sort of the bragging rights, the racing bragging rights for these high-end companies.
But yeah, a lot of companies are showing interest. FCA has shown interest. Not going to be Ferrari, though. And now Nissan is probably reportedly going to replace Renault. So we'll have some Japanese cars there. But yeah, CEO Andy Palmer at Aston says he loves Formula E. They're coming out with an electric car. Formula E would be a good spot for development and for marketing.
And it would make sense. He says he's worried about the car swaps mid-race, which is a practice that they do right now. But he says it's a concern about range anxiety. It sort of perpetuates that myth, if you want to call it. But yeah, they're switching to-- not this coming season, but the season after-- that they're switching to a single car for the entire race. So that's when some of these other companies are going to jump on board.
GREG MIGLIORE: Seems like a really good move for Aston and for a lot of other automakers, because you get a lot of learnings from Formula E. You know, you compete in Formula 1, not a lot of that is very, you know, transferable to say, really, any road car. You know, Mercedes says they get some stuff for like the Project One, cars like that, but there's not as much of a direct sort of tech transfer. Whereas Formula E, you definitely can learn about, you know, the battery's just good general practices for how to use and electrify your fleet.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, these are already sort of new technologies for them. So anything that they can learn by putting them in extreme conditions is going to help them develop better road cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Plus, Aston has been pretty outspoken about its strategy to be more electric, you know? They're going to offer some version of almost their entire portfolio, I believe, will have some sort of hybrid or electric technology a few years down the road.
I've talked to some of their executives in the last couple of years, and, like, they truly think this is the best way for their company to be sporty going forward. This is-- it's a green play, but it's also you know a cliched mean play, because think about it-- an Aston with a more fuel efficient but maybe high output four cylinder engine-- is that something you really want to drive? Is that going to sound right? I don't think so. Give me an electric Aston Martin-- that sounds way better to me than downsizing or, you know, tweaking the engines and things like that.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. I think having a presence in racing-- sort of puts the performance spin on electrification sort of helps companies brand their EVs as fun instead of just clean.
GREG MIGLIORE: I cannot wait to get to a Formula E race. I have never been. You haven't been, either. We were just talking off camera. We got to get to one of these. You know, it'd be a lot of fun sitting in the stands.
JOHN SNYDER: Right in the center of the city there. It's so cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a really-- that's one thing I like about the series, too. Is how they're-- they're trying to, like, you know, build their races in these areas where, like, the race is like, this big event. And I think that's cool. It's like they really-- like, you know, New York City is one of the big ones here in the US.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It just makes so much sense to me. So.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, they're in the middle of the city, they can show off their electric propulsion, which is-- those are their customers-- their target customers for electric cars are urban dwellers. So it's a fit there, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool stuff, cool stuff. And you know it's not electrified? The Ford Shelby Mustang GT 350.
JOHN SNYDER: That's correct.
GREG MIGLIORE: We're going to make a bit of a hard transition to the best of the fleet this week. We have a lot of cool cars-- really, really fun fleet. This Mustang is really sick-looking.
JOHN SNYDER: It is. It's beautiful. And yeah, it looks mean, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's got the performance-- some performance parts, performance package going on there. It stickers for what, almost 60, 59?
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's-- it's not cheap. You know, I like this-- I forget-- this is like a lightning blue or whatever color this is with the dark wheels.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's-- the new Mustang looks good.
JOHN SNYDER: Grabber Blue, I think.
GREG MIGLIORE: Grabber Blue. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's-- you know, it's a-- you know, it's a tough car. You know, this is-- I think Ford is doing a lot of good things with the Mustang right now. I think they have that car where they want it. This one sounds so good. Like, I heard one of the camera guys were just rolling up with it the other day, and I was, like, holy cow. Like, what's going on, you know?
JOHN SNYDER: This has the performance pack, which sort of enhances the sound, too. I'm looking forward to taking it home tonight.
GREG MIGLIORE: We got to finish up this podcast so you could beat rush hour, get that thing on the open road and have some fun with it.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I was stuck in the rain in traffic last night with the Audi R8 Spyder.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's the worst. That is the worst.
JOHN SNYDER: But it was-- I still had a chance to open it up a little bit.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice, nice. I have not signed up for the R8 Spyder. I will next week, definitely. The wheels on that car look awesome.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And I am-- yeah--
JOHN SNYDER: We're doing driver's notes on both these cars, by the way.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yes, exactly.
JOHN SNYDER: So come check out Autoblog.com. I think we're putting the Shelby up on Friday, maybe? And then R8 next week.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yep.
JOHN SNYDER: So they'll both be up there with our expert opinions.
GREG MIGLIORE: Got to come back for those driver's notes. That's where staff weighs in. We drive these cars all week. And, you know, we don't pull any punches. You know, it's-- it's good stuff. Other stuff in the fleet this week. We've got the 2017 Nissan Rogue. We went rogue. This one's got ProPILOT.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, it's a prototype. It's the system that they're bringing to the US on the Nissan Leaf. It's basically adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist, steering assist. You know, I mean, that's not entirely new technology.
GREG MIGLIORE: No.
JOHN SNYDER: But it's going to be available and much cheaper cars when Nissan brings it. So I think that's the interesting thing about ProPILOT. And it works really well.
GREG MIGLIORE: I agree. I was driving it a couple days ago and I was thinking to myself, I've never driven a car quite at that price point with that kind of technology. Normally, these are things that you see unlike BMWs, Volvos, Audis, that sort of-- you know, that brand positioning. And it worked pretty well. It's simple to use, which I liked. You know, just couple things. You know, get the cruise control going, set it up. Hit that, like, safety shield button right there in the steering wheel area, and boom, it works.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. And I tried it on the Nissan Leaf in a prototype in Japan that was on-- at the Proving Grounds. So I was excited to try it on, you know, our crowded highways here in Michigan. And both times I found it worked really smoothly. It seemed-- seemed really far ahead--
GREG MIGLIORE: That's good.
JOHN SNYDER: And started slowing-- a lot of times, when you're using adaptive cruise control, you start coming up on a car, and it feels like you're never going to slow down.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right.
JOHN SNYDER: This-- you know, it starts slowing down early, but gradually, so you know something's happening, but it's not, you know, keeping too much distance. You can select the distance. But yeah-- and the steering is really smooth. It just keeps it right in the center of your lane. On some of the curves, it was sort of almost getting to the edge of the lane then pulling it back in.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a tough part of this for them to really get right.
JOHN SNYDER: For the most part, though, I think it works really well, comparatively.
GREG MIGLIORE: I thought it was pretty good. I-- this isn't a fair comparison, but I just drove the 740e, the BMW we have. I thought that's sort of suite of, you know, adaptive cruise control with lane departure was a little bit better, but that car literally probably cost three times as much as the Rogue. So, you know, the technology worked pretty well on this. I think idea the settings a little bit more, because my experience was it slowed down not quickly enough.
There were a couple times I was like, I would have braked then, but it's fine. And then there is a little bit of a delay as far as starting, you know? I would have liked to start quicker. But overall, this is, like, semi-autonomous. It's level 2, right, for the masses? It's a smart move. It's a good play, I think. You have a much longer commute than I do. This is the kind of thing that really, I think, makes your commute better.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, it takes the stress off, really.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: And especially when it's a good system that, you know, reacts calmly to situations-- if someone cuts you off, it doesn't slam on the brakes. That really takes a lot of stress off and it sort of keeps an eye out for you.
GREG MIGLIORE: Absolutely.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I-- it's definitely good for the stop and go traffic that I encountered.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice, nice. Other vehicle-- we got to talk about this one-- was just-- this was a riot. Chevy Colorado ZR2, off road king.
JOHN SNYDER: So cool. Yeah, I had no idea that I was going to like it as much as I did.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: That suspension is just awesome.
GREG MIGLIORE: Really good suspension.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. We took it out on some dirt roads. Actually took it off road a little bit. And after that, I felt like I could drive over anything. I was looking at the median and I was like, I could drive over that.
GREG MIGLIORE: You get a little overconfident.
JOHN SNYDER: Right. But it was also super smooth on the highway going over potholes and everything. It was not, like, super crashy or, you know, stiff. It was really compliant and just neutral.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was surprised-- I think-- I agree with you completely. I was surprised just how good it is on the road. Like I kept thinking, oh, this is like a Baja truck or something. This is not going to feel good when we're going up and down Woodward Avenue, but It was totally fine. So they really got the tuning right for that, which is--
JOHN SNYDER: They sure did, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: --impressive.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. That suspension is really something.
GREG MIGLIORE: It also looks awesome. The one we had was all blacked out, it had sort of, like, the-- the front fascia is, like, sort of buttoned up at an angle, so you have that, like, approach for when you're, you know, going up the side of a mountain or something.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. And it looks really good dirty, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: It does, it does.
JOHN SNYDER: Covered in mud.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't know-- look, I've liked the Colorado and the Canyon a lot the last few years since they-- I guess they brought them back-- but since they relaunched this new generation. Big fan of the Silverado, the Ram, the F-150, but I think if I needed a truck-- you know, to go with my Jeep pickup truck--
JOHN SNYDER: Sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: The Colorado is one I could drive that thing every day.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, you really could. You know, I've never I would like a truck as much as I like this truck.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: We've driven some cool trucks lately-- the Ram 2500 and the Nissan Titan. And those-- I liked those more than I thought I would, but this is-- if I was going to buy one, this-- so far, of the ones I've driven recently, this would be my choice, because it is just really nice to drive.
GREG MIGLIORE: Agree. It's one of those things where you get in it and you're not really wanting for anything more. It's just, like, it drives well, it looks cool, you're comfortable right away in it. This one, I believe, had the V6, right?
JOHN SNYDER: I think so, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean, it was pretty capable. Yeah, I mean, I was like-- we were definitely looking at this one and trying to examine that ZR2 off road, the suspension, all those goodies, but just the Colorado really impressed me. In fact, I even like it more I think than the GMC Canyon. I just kind of like that Chevy-- just the way it looks. I don't need all that extra chrome. There's some GMC versions I like better than their Chevy counterparts. This one, I was just, like, give me the Chevy. Simple, pure, baseball, Apple pie, Chevy.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I haven't driven the canyon, but yeah, this one definitely looks better in my opinion.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah good stuff. So that was a-- it's been a good week here for the fleet. We both-- we didn't have a lot of negative things to say. Sometimes, we do, but lot of good cars. If you have any questions about these cars, you know, reach out to us, send us an email, hit us up on Twitter, on Facebook. We'd love to hear from you. Even if it's a car that we have driven, hey, send us a question. Maybe we can help you out.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: We drive local cars--
JOHN SNYDER: And we can always try and get into whatever you have questions about, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's-- it's fun to drive all these cars.
JOHN SNYDER: It is. I love this job.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's good stuff. So we're going to go now to the video clip of the week. Really cool thing. It's the latest episode of The List. Let's have a watch.
- All right, well, now that we've had a chance to drive it for a little bit, we can tell that is good from far, but seems to be far from good.
- Starting with the body panels, while it looks like it's a solid little car, it's actually super duper flexy every single where you push.
- And let's talk about the weight of the car. Wow. Yeah, so if you're ever in a tight spot, you just slide it out.
- While it looks like it has dual exhausts, these are really just cup holders on the back, because it's only got one single tiny exhaust not even attached to these.
- Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
- It doesn't even latch.
- Yeah, you gotta-- there you go.
And for the moment you've all been waiting for.
- Yes, this streamlined two cylinder packing 1 horsepower engine.
- So if you hear a street legal sewing machine coming it's, probably us.
- You know, right now already, in the first one minute of driving this, I am grateful where all these tiny roads, because otherwise, I'd probably be pulling my hair out wanting to go faster.
- Oh, you'd be bombing down this thing if you could. Bonjour!
Man, I'm telling you right - now-- I'm going to throw money down on it-- for the first, like, 50 yards, I bet I can beat this car in a foot race-- oh, what the heck? Did this thing just pop open? What the hell was that?
- This is worst than a tin can.
- Oh my god.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, welcome back. We're going to come back at you with three big questions. One of my favorite parts of the podcast, I throw three big questions at John, he throws them right back at me. So first one's a little bit-- this is deep-- Ferrari SUV or a Lambo?
JOHN SNYDER: That's a tough one. That is really tough since, you know, I haven't had a chance to experience either of them.
Geez, I really like what Ferrari has been doing with the FF and everything after that, but I feel like Lamborghini just has more experience with all wheel drive and, you know, has other brands in its family that have SUV experience. I would maybe have to go with the Lamborghini.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a tough one. It's a tough one. At first glance, I want to say a Lambo. But all the things you just said are why I'm going Ferrari, because I'm a little bit concerned that the Urus is going to be just a little too Volkswagen group-- grouped up, you know? So I want to see what Ferrari could do.
I mean, Ferrari is basically independent right now. They are. I mean, they have their own stock symbol but we know that the link to the rest of FCA is pretty strong. Like, they're independent, but, like, all the same people kind of own Ferrari right now. So they could dip into that pool, but I think they're going to play it safe, and they're going to, you know-- they know they cannot make an SUV that's a joke, because that's what people are concerned about.
So they know that they have to get it right. They're not going to drop the Grand Cherokee's four wheel drive system in it, so I'm thinking Ferrari. Prancing horse crossover, man.
JOHN SNYDER: You've almost got me convinced. The one thing that I foresee is that I would probably like the looks of the Ferrari better.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, naturally.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah. I think they just make more elegant cars. But I don't know if elegance really what you want in an SUV, anyway.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know it would change my vote here is if this wasn't like the Urus-- because we've basically seen that-- if it was the Rambo Lambo from the '80s. Like, that thing was crazy. Like, if that's what they were making, then I would change my vote. But they're not, sticking with Ferrari.
Let's keep things rough and tough go with some small pickups-- mid-sized pickups. Colorado ZR2 or Tacoma TRD?
JOHN SNYDER: I'm going to have to go with the Colorado, just because I think it drives really well in more real life conditions. I'm not going to take it off road and I know it does really great on the highway. So that's probably going to be my choice.
GREG MIGLIORE: Interesting, interesting. I want to say Taco, but I'm going to say Colorado. This is another tight one for me, because I really like the Tacoma. I like it more than the Ridgeline, for example.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And I just-- currently, the way the Colorado drives and a little bit how it looks, I just feel like it's-- overall, it's a better execution than the Tacoma is right now. The Tacoma is really good. That would be in my top probably 10 list of things. If I were going to actually buy a personal vehicle, you know, there'd be a couple of small trucks in there, and, you know, the Taco would make that top 10 cut.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, the Tacoma TRD seems a little more or maybe hardcore, at least in spirit. But that's not something I would use, really. So yeah, Colorado.
GREG MIGLIORE: So we're sticking together the first two questions, first two big questions. Third one, Ford Shelby Mustang GT 350-- do you want the performance package or don't you?
JOHN SNYDER: Of course, if you're going to spend that much money, just add another 10%, 8% to the price and get the car that's going to be the meanest, the baddest, the coolest Mustang you can get, you know?
GREG MIGLIORE: This to me is kind of an easy one. Like, yeah, why wouldn't you want that? Of course you would. Do you want-- do you want seconds? Yeah, I do. Do you want a another round? Absolutely.
JOHN SNYDER: Do you it to be louder? Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: So this is a pretty-- pretty easy question. And yeah, those are the three big questions of the week.
JOHN SNYDER: Yep.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool. Moving along, we're talking about spending hypothetical money on our Mustang. I'm going to spend some of your money. This question comes to us today from Riley. Thanks for writing in. Riley loves the podcast and he's really excited about how frequently we've been doing it. Thank you, that's good to hear. Question for us is, if we had unlimited money, wanted to buy one car that we drive for the rest of our lives-- our lives-- excuse me-- what would we buy?
So he's torn between a couple of things I think you're going to like, Mr. Green Car Editor. Tesla Model S P100D or a Porsche Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid Sport Turismo? So it's another sort of cage match here.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, well there's complicated and nuanced reasons for either of these cars. I think, you know, all the money in the world, I would go with the Porsche. That a plug-in Porsche wagon is just the coolest thing in the world.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's totally awesome. It's everything--
JOHN SNYDER: Can we get it in brown, please?
GREG MIGLIORE: With a manual transmission, of course, right?
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I think that-- that would be-- you know, with the world as it is right now, that's what I would choose. I think it's a little different saying it's the one car you'd drive for the rest of your life.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's a tough one. I don't know.
JOHN SNYDER: That's-- that's where it gets interesting. The Model S is probably more practical in that case, because it seems like we're moving toward electrification. Who knows how expensive gas will be in 10 years or even if we'll still be using gas cars in 40 years when I will still be driving this car. Unless I could convert my Porsche to a bigger battery and ditch the gas tank, I would probably stick with the Model S for the long term.
GREG MIGLIORE: Ooh. Well-reasoned nuanced arguments, that's what you expect here from John. I'm going to keep it simple. I'm thinking Tesla. You know, yeah, for the rest of your life, that's an interesting-- it's a lot of commitment. That's a long time. But I think Tesla's are going to be classics. They are classics right now. They're icons. I really like how the Model S looks.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I'm impressed with that car. I think literally giving the battery range and, you know, the performance you could get from the Model S, especially he wants the P100D-- I mean, that's gonna be fun to drive. You know, I don't think cars are going to get much quicker than that car is, you know?
JOHN SNYDER: There's no reason for them to, really.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. So I'm thinking Tesla.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I think this is a question worth revisiting, maybe swapping out the Panamera for the Mission E once we've gotten a taste of that, because that's going to be a very difficult decision.
GREG MIGLIORE: I would say Mission E, but that's not the question. But I would definitely go with Mission E. And, you know, maybe that's the question they have on episode 5-- more like 829 of the podcast. But, you KNOW who knows? Who knows if podcasts will still be a thing, you know, at the end of the natural lifespan of the Tesla Model S, so.
JOHN SNYDER: It will be some sort of telepathic entertainment.
GREG MIGLIORE: It'll go straight to your brain.
JOHN SNYDER: Yep.
GREG MIGLIORE: Anyways, on that note, we've got to wrap things up. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening this week. Reach out to follow us on all of our social platforms. We want to hear from you. He's John.
JOHN SNYDER: He's Greg.
GREG MIGLIORE: Thanks for watching and listening. That was episode 529 of the "Autoblog Podcast."
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