In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale. In the news, there were a lot of recent unveilings, including the Ford Mustang GTD, Pininfarina B95, Lamborghini Lanzador, Acura ZDX and Fisker Alaska. We recap Pebble Beach and the Woodward Dream Cruise. Joel is fresh off a track drive of the Audi R8 (at Laguna Seca!), and we give ann update on our long-term Toyota Sienna minivan. Finally, we take to Reddit to help pick a new car with a V8 in this week's "Spend My Money" segment.
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've got a big show for you this week. News editor Joel Stocksdale spent the weekend, basically, in Monterey and Pebble Beach. Lots of big reveals out there. And some other news going on. We'll also talk about what we've been driving. He's been in the Audi R8. I've been in the Toyota Sienna. A little bit of a different world there, but hey. And we do have some of your money to spend.
With that, let's bring in Joel. Welcome back from California. How are you doing?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Hey, doing all right. Feeling kind of tired. It was a busy, busy weekend.
GREG MIGLIORE: I remember what I was sort of starting out in this business, if you will, some of the senior guys would get to go. And I'd be like, hey, you're bringing your golf clubs? And they're like, nope. This is the hardest weekend of work all year. So it's a lot of work out there at Pebble.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And even if you wanted to golf, the Pebble Beach Golf course is closed up because there are cars on it.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's true. I forget if it's the 9th or the 18th fairway is cars, which is, hey, I like golf. I like cars. It seems like a great way to put it together. One year I did golf. I forget, but it wasn't at Pebble because that's not exactly an easy course to access, although it is doable. But I did golf out there once. I digress. No one cares about that. Let's talk cars.
The Mustang GTD. Wow. This one, I think it's fair to say it kind of came out of nowhere. We weren't really expecting a $300,000, I would call it a Mustang supercar that is basically a race car that you can drive on the track. This has Jim Farley written all over it in my book, a guy who loves to race, who loves the Mustang.
And you know, I think they've said they're going to let the Mustang kind of run out in this sort of form until we're done with internal combustion engines, whenever that may be. So I feel like there is some pressure on them to create some buzz around this generation. This certainly did it. You saw it out there. I imagine this turned some heads out there at Pebble.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. And it's hard for me to gauge exactly how much buzz because I got to the-- I got to the Ford display right about the same time that there was a jet flyover at the Quail, so a lot of people's attention had turned to the skies for a little bit. But it is an extremely cool vehicle.
And I think the thing that I am most impressed with it is the fact that it's supposed to be street legal. We've seen oodles of specialty track day vehicles from supercar builders that are built without any kind of racing series in mind, and also have no equipment for running on the street. It's literally just to be the fastest track day thing that they can build.
And frankly, when I saw photos of this thing I was like, oh, this is clearly the Mustang version of that. It's like it's not really for any kind of racing series. It's just for a Mustang fan that wants the fastest thing that they can get on the track. But apparently you'll be able to drive this on the street. So you can parade around on Woodward Avenue and stuff with it, which is honestly really cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's cool. I like that when they-- track-only cars, we see them sometimes from especially the European exotics. They're cool to look at. It doesn't really do that much for me, not that I'm going to be able to pick up a Mustang GTD for $300,000. But I mean, if I did get one as a press car, I could drive it on Woodward, like you said, whereas some of these other-- you know, again, some of these very low niche Ferraris, Lamborghinis, et cetera, that's what they are, is they're off roaders, if you will. This is a wild car.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And I think what why it's so impressive to me is that if you're just building something for the track and you're not building it for either racing or for on the street, in some ways that's easy because you have no constraints. You literally can do whatever you want because it basically just has to have a seat and seat belts and wheels. You don't have to worry about having lights and things that meet regulations and stuff.
So it's that kind of extra level of building a crazy track day car and also going through all of the effort and trouble and difficulty of making sure that all of this is legal. That's a legitimate challenge, even for regular road cars. Obviously these automakers do it all the time, so they're up to the challenge, but it's still a challenge nonetheless.
And so it's impressive and it's cool. And it also means that more people might actually get to see the car, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's true. I think it's kind of like the ultimate flex if you're a super rich guy who loves Mustangs. I mean, this is by far the top of the food chain of the current chain. I mean, I would imagine this is worth more than even some of the rarest-- or costs more than some of the rarest, most expensive vintage Mustangs.
So pretty gaudy price tag. 800 horsepower. It's interesting they didn't go electric. They didn't make anything. This is like a real V8 race car, if you will, which I think is cool for what they're going for. The design is over the top. I mean, even for a race car, I think it's really pretty wild.
If you put this in the GT3 class, it would stand out. A lot of those cars look fairly street spec with just bigger wings and different tires. You look at the arrow, like the arrow on the front quarter panels there, I think it's 4 inches wider than the current Mustang. A lot of that is the way those fenders come up, but also those big tires, 20 inch wheels.
You can get optional magnesium wheels. They use carbon fiber for the drive shaft. Really interesting uses of materials for this. It really is like a rolling prototype of everything you could do to a Mustang on steroids.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. It's sweet. And it's kind of an interesting counterpoint to, say, the Dodge Demon 170.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: It's completely different vehicles, but both of them very cool. And also, I feel that they kind of sum up the differences between each vehicle.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: The demon is very much old school, muscle drag car. And the Mustang has evolved into something more like a proper sports car.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think it really-- yeah. I mean, you said it great. It shows the divergent paths these two cars have taken since the Mustang came back in 2005 as a retro styling. Never left, but it became more retro in '05 ish. And then the Challenger came back overtly retro. For a while, the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger were somewhat comparable, even though the Challenger was always kind of like the coupe in name only.
It was just this big, heavy car that was powerful and kind of all over the place. Mustang and Camaro weren't, I would say, truly the most cutting-edge sports cars. But Chevy and Ford kind of went this way. Dodge has really leaned into, we're going to make street legal drag racers, it seems like at this point. And then here you have Ford saying, well, OK, you do that. We're going to make basically a street legal Lamar car or something.
So it's cool. I dig it. I would love to drive this thing one lap. That'd be cool, even if it's just like parade speeds or driving on the streets, like open streets. I think it's great. I think they nailed it. I think you see Jim Farley's fingerprints all over this thing. This is the kind of thing I think that he's CEO, he gets to do. So yeah, that's the Mustang GTD.
Let's skip around here. The Pininfarina B95. I mean, that's another really impressive, if you will, thing from Pebble Beach. You saw it. Did you see it on the concept lawn or was it the Quail? Where was this thing?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: So I caught the Pininfarina at the Quail.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And it is quite cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And honestly, the thing that jumped out at me right away besides the bright yellow and gray paint and lack of windshield were the houndstooth seat backs.
GREG MIGLIORE: I like them.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah, it's slick. And because it's the Quail, there was somebody sitting in it-- I'm assuming a prospective customer-- and they were being talked to by a representative from Pininfarina, probably, I don't know, discussing features and options. Well, price tag probably never came up because if you've got to ask, you can't afford it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, we said it's $4.8 million. So hey, that's not cheap.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: No.
GREG MIGLIORE: Kind of reminds me of the Ferrari Monza SP2.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: 100%.
GREG MIGLIORE: Which is kind of a deep cut from even the current Ferrari catalog. But here's a strange thing. I saw an SP2 at the Woodward Dream Cruise. I looked over. I'm like, I think this car show is-- Woodward's getting a little bougie here when you're seeing these exotic, super rare models. But there's a lot of car collectors who have those like cottage garages. They keep stuff like that in there.
But it's pretty cool. I think Pininfarina went through some transitions. And I think it's very cool that they're able to still produce stuff like this. I know some of their-- like their long-running relationship with Ferrari for decades was basically kind of ended. So the fact that they've been forced to retrench, they're still doing cars. For a while, their design house was doing everything from watches to coffeemakers, stuff like that.
So I think this is really cool. Doing it at the Quail is, again, a great way to do it. I really like the Quail, too. You've been-- how many times have you been to the Quail?
GREG MIGLIORE: I've only been to the Quail twice so far.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. So far. You plan on going next year?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Well, I don't know about next year.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I like the Quail.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: The longer you stay in this business, the more times you do get to go out to Pebble Beach and stuff.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I like the Quail. I think, in some ways-- I don't know if chiller is the right vibe, but you see a lot of cool stuff there that you might not even see at the Concore because some of the newer stuff, like the Mustang, this Pininfarina, some other stuff we'll talk about-- that's where the car makers show it, whereas at Pebble, it's all the vintage, which is awesome, too, of course.
But stuff like this might get relegated to the concept lawn, which is in front of the lodge, as they call it, as they humbly call the hotel at the Pebble Beach on the grounds there. It's actually a great clubhouse, too. If you're ever-- again, if you're a golf fan and you have a press pass or something, wander through the lodge. It's like a Hall of Fame of golf stuff.
I would-- maybe TMI, but any time you have to go to the bathroom, the grounds are open. You could go into the lodge and use their facilities and you could see a lot of cool car and golf stuff. Let's put it that way.
Also, if you are looking ahead to the Detroit Auto Show, I just saw a press release this morning that Paolo Pininfarina of Pininfarina will be speaking at the Auto Show. That's kind of cool. Get a bit of an international flair. Yeah. I thought this is cool. Anything else you think about this one, or should we move on?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Well, it is kind of funny how you mentioned that Pininfarina and Ferrari have kind of parted ways a bit. And the first thing that we both thought of when we saw this was, hey, that looks a lot like a Ferrari.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: But I suppose some of that is to be expected, considering how long Pininfarina was designing Ferraris.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. And for a long time it was almost like a necessity, I think, even going back to the days of Enzo. He was like, I own a race car team. I make cars for these stupid people who want to spend money on them. But I do it because I have to. He was pretty condescending, if you read books on him and things like that. What was he? El Comentador or something. His nickname was something imperial like that.
So they let Pininfarina do the design, basically, for most of their cars. And that went on for years. There were some notable exceptions, of course, but I mean, Pininfarina designed a hell of a lot of Ferraris. So yeah. I mean, obviously if they're looking into their heritage, Pininfarina's heritage is Ferrari. So yeah, if you're going to go to the catalog for a design, this will work, I think.
This is a cool one, though. I like what they did with it. I think, again, if you're a Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg type of guy who's looking to spend a lot of money, these are the rare pieces of art that you could also drive and try to pick up.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And this one's electric, so don't have to feel guilty about that.
GREG MIGLIORE: Mm-hmm. All right. So I guess we could go to the Lambo Lanzador. That's quite the name. I kind of like it, actually. I like the design of this, too. Maybe a little bit of a surprise. They show off what they're doing as far as electric, which they haven't been, frankly, quite as overt about, if you will.
Reminds me a little bit of the Urus, but it's got that very stereotypical wedge design you see there. I even see a little bit of like a Lancia Stratus or something from back in the day in there. But I'm intrigued by this one. What do you think?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. That was a-- truthfully, when I first saw the photos, I wasn't quite sure about it. I felt like it either looked a bit kind of like a squished Urus or a kind of a stretched-out Aventador.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: But in person, I like it quite a bit more. It looks a little leaner and meaner. It doesn't look quite as thick around the middle. And it's got a lot of neat detailing on it. It's got lots of active aero that is actually quite subtly hidden, which is a little bit weird to say about a Lamborghini.
One of the things that's really neat, like in the wheel arch openings, the carbon fiber cladding around it. There are little holes in it, and those are vents that are actively opened and closed for downforce or for reducing drag as needed. And it's got an absolutely gorgeous interior. It's this blue wool with brown leather and it's really cool kind of floating jet fighter cockpit dashboard and stuff.
It's pretty neat. It's got quite a bit of ground clearance, too, so it looks-- I don't know. A little bit, it reminds me of the Huracan Sterrato, honestly.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I was thinking that, too.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And I do think it's neat that it's a two-door. It's long enough and has enough space between the wheels that I think it could have been a four-door if they really wanted it to. But they kept it as a two-door and I think that's neat. That's something that you know doesn't come up as much. And I talked a little bit with the Chief Technical Officer from Lamborghini.
And he was saying, he was like, they're still going to have the Urus. So that's their four-door, so they can do two-door on this.
GREG MIGLIORE: This speaks to like a kind of a broader trend that I wish OEMs would do, which is take a look back at two-doors. Whether it's something like this or off-roaders where, yes, you could get-- I'm going off script here a bit. But yes, you can get a two-door Wrangler and a Bronco. But wouldn't you love more like a full-size off roader, like a two door, something larger.
Like going back to the days of a K5 or something. I just feel like there's a market for that. And obviously vastly different segments here, but I like it. I really do. I think this is a very solid move for Lambo. Did they say what this name means? I feel like Lambo has been doing some weird stuff with names lately. I thought that Urus was not the best way to badge an SUV, but did they say what Lanzador is?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: You know, I didn't catch exactly what it means.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK. Well, that's what Google's-- that's what Google's for. We'll figure it out.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: But I do think it sounds good.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's all right. I think-- yeah, I don't know. I think Alfa Romeo is a little better at names, and Maserati, too. Like Italian Passes, Alps Passes, Strong Winds, things like that. So yeah. All right. Let's talk about the Acura ZDX. 500 horsepower. Kind of previews a bit of what they're going to do next as far as just, again, where they're going.
Acura usually shows up for Pebble Beach pretty well. I think it's a brand that obviously hasn't been around as long as, say, Mercedes or BMW or Cadillac. Frankly, almost nobody else has. I think they still view themselves as a challenger brand. They show up for Pebble Beach. They try to do concepts, initial production cars there, that really stand out.
So this is another one I like. I think I've liked Acura's design for the last probably five, six years. I think the long hoods, the big wheels, the creases, the grilles. I think they've kind of figured out the grille finally. So I like this one. What do you think?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah, this is another one that in photos I was not particularly enthused about it.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: I thought it looked fine, but wasn't blown away. But again, in person, I think it looks better. And kind of similar reasons as the Lamborghini. It looks a little bit leaner, kind of for lack of a better word. It has kind of like a long, low nose, and actually fairly upright cabin area. And it just makes it look a little less bubbly.
I think a lot of modern-day SUVs that are unibody and kind of front-wheel drive base, they've gotten a little bit bubbly, kind of closer to almost a minivan, one-box shape, purely because that's practical. And as you're trying to get more space everywhere inside, kind of slowly migrate to that. And I think maybe with a fresh powertrain, ZBX offers the flexibility to change up the design.
Granted, a lot of those front-wheel drive SUVs are starting to move back into a more boxier, traditional SUV shape, kind of like Honda Pilot, Kia Telluride. But this I think goes even a step further. And yeah, it looks kind of low and sleek. You know, it's a good looking vehicle.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right. So let's close out the news section with some news out of Fisker. The Alaska pickup debuted. It was actually before Pebble Beach. They were there in Monterey in '22 with, I believe it was the Ocean concept, or the Ocean. But this year they just rolled out the Alaska. And they did some other product news before that earlier, announcing the Pear, the Ronin. Coming up with some interesting names here. Let's put it that way.
But truck is not really one that I necessarily thought Fisker would do. But I think it makes a lot of sense. When you look at the segment, where there's opportunity, people like trucks. People like electric trucks. Alaska sounds kind of good. I think this-- again, Fisker needs to make and deliver cars, so we'll see. But I think this could be good for them.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. I've seen the pictures. I think it looks nice, for the most part. I think that if it's sized maybe a bit more along the lines of the Rivian R1T, or heck, even maybe slightly smaller, that would be a good niche to go for as opposed to trying to take on Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and maybe Tesla if Cybertruck is really happening in the full-size market.
That being said, I do feel a lot of anxiety around Fisker dropping all of these models that they're like, yeah, we're going to build all these things. And they're only just getting their current production vehicle out the door and dropping, what, like three new models all at once? Yeah. I don't know. It makes me nervous. It makes me worried that they might be splitting their resources and spreading them too thin.
And also when they should probably focus on making sure that they get this first car out the door in significant quantity and without any issues before getting too ambitious about additional models.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I think you're totally spot on there. This is a lot of vehicles for a company that frankly is just kind of hanging in there.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: I mean, I'm trying to think of like any automaker where that has been a good move. One of the things that stands out really strongly in my mind was years ago when Lotus said, hey, here's the seven different things that we're going to build in the next, like, five years. And boy, that didn't happen.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was at that auto show in, I believe Paris, I think it was. They had four or five concepts. Every Lotus you could ever think of from the great history, they had a thing. Obviously it was a bunch of vaporware. I remember that. It was the last presser of the day, and people kind of knew that it was coming. But yeah, man. Same jam. They just kind of overpromised and under-delivered.
I mean, in Fisker's case, it seems like it's overkill here. All you need to do-- and I've argued this before. You don't need to be GM. Just be whoever you are. Like Rivian, I think is a great business case. Two vehicles in the heart of the market that's lucrative, outdoorsy, premium feel, interesting. That's all you got to be. You don't need to fill every segment like it's 1954.
So I think the pickup truck, yes. City car, no idea what they're doing there. Nobody needs a city car right now. What is it, $385,000 supercar? I mean, OK. You're Fisker. I get it. Henrique designed all those Aston Martins and BMW Zs. Sure. You probably want to do something like that. Maybe you could kind of appeal to the crowd that doesn't spring for the Monza or the Pininfarina.
But yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think they're overreaching here. Stuff looks good, though. I mean, as you would expect, Henrique Fisker his way you around a sketch pad as far as being a great designer. But I don't know. It seems like a lot here
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah and I think the Alaska is neat. And I think it kind of looks like a vehicle that could be marketed more as kind of a niche lifestyle vehicle as opposed to trying to take on traditional truck buyers directly, which I think would be the smart move, because I think there are a lot of buyers that don't necessarily need or want a conventional, full-size pickup truck.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Kind of like almost Subaru Outback-type buyers that I think like Hyundai Santa Cruz is targeting. And I think that would be a good move to make. But yeah, I don't know. I just have concerns.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think the Ocean and the Alaska all day long. I think those look great. I think there's probably a pretty good business case for those. The tricky part about doing a supercar if you're not, say, Ford that is like, hey, let's make a $300,000, 800 horsepower Mustang, is all the resources it takes to make it good. So I'm a rich dude who wants to spend money on a convertible. Is Fisker what I'm thinking first? I don't think so.
I think I'm thinking, let's get one of those Mustangs, or hey Maranello, what can I get on a waiting list for you? I don't know. Again, stuff looks good, though.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Of course. I kind of feel like the Ronin almost makes more sense for them than the Pear because with something like the Ronin, you can just charge whatever it costs to develop and make it because there will be a rich person that can afford it, whereas with the Pear being kind of an affordable vehicle, the margins are super slim.
The buyers will not tolerate problems because you know they have a tighter budget themselves and can't necessarily afford to have a vehicle that is causing them problems and is either going to be down or is going to cost them money to fix. And you kind have to make up for a lot of that with volume. And I don't know if Fisker can handle that kind of volume, and if they can, if they can do it with consistency in quality and reliability.
Maybe they can. And I'm not saying that even if they don't necessarily have that right now that they couldn't, but again, it's concerning. I agree with you that if they can focus on Ocean and Alaska, that would be a good two-product lineup for a few years while they get everything going.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. That's the Rivian playbook. Again, Alaska looks really cool. Would you think, hey, would I be willing to take a flyer on that as my EV truck? Maybe. Yeah, maybe. And I agree with you. City car, dude. What are you-- it's almost like, what are you guys doing? There's no market for that in the US. Don't tell me you're going to try to sell this in Europe or other overseas markets where you'd have to stand up some sort of dealer network.
I don't think they've even said that. I hear you. It does make more sense to be like, aim for the pie in the sky with the Ronin versus the city car. And now at this point, we've probably droned out about Fisker, though who knows how many of these they'll actually make? So we should probably switch over to the drive section.
I think we should lead off with the Audi R8. If we're going to go with Toyota Sienna minivan versus Audi R8 at Laguna Seca, I think I know what people want to hear more about. You got a couple laps in, probably the last laps at a track for an R8 for a new one. That must have been cool.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. It was cool, and it was altogether too brief.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: We literally got two laps, and not quite two full-speed laps. Granted, I'm still happy to have gotten just a little bit of a taste of an R8, but boy, it went by fast. And Laguna Seca is a good-size track, but not super, super enormous.
GREG MIGLIORE: You have some turns there, turns and curves where you got to be on your toes.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. And actually, so I've driven Laguna Seca before. Granted, that was in Fiat Abarth. It was the 124 Spider Abarth and the 500 Abarth. So this was a significant step up in speed. And one of the things that when I first drove Laguna Seca, I was expecting the corkscrew to be like, whoa, this crazy kind of roller coaster type corner.
In retrospect-- well, even the first time I went down it I was like, you know, the corkscrew isn't quite as scary in person when you're actually driving down it as it looks from the spectator perspective on the other side of the fence. And actually, most of the track wasn't particularly scary in those Fiats. Driving the R8, what did kind of scare me is that first little kink of a corner on the front straight where the front straight is going up, and then it's kind of this blind kink corner that then goes down.
So you're going very fast to, it almost doesn't look like a corner on a map, but it is enough of one that you do have to be aware of it. And you're going really quick, and all of a sudden the whole car unweights as you're going over it, and it's a little bit off camber. So that was actually the scariest part of the track for me.
GREG MIGLIORE: Interesting.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Because it was like, oh-- because it just doesn't quite feel like you have the grip. And I don't know. It almost feels like you might just kind of skip off into the gravel, whereas with the corkscrew, you know it's coming and it's a significant enough of a corner that you're going to be getting hard on the brakes and slowing way down for it. And that makes things far more relaxed.
And as you're coming out of the corkscrew, that lower corner is on camber so you've got a little bit of extra grip coming around it. So that's my opinion. Corkscrew is actually not that scary, but that front straight-- that front straight kink, that's a little bit-- that can be a little bit scary.
GREG MIGLIORE: I drove a-- I forget what they called it, but it was a similarly styled turn curve setup at the General Motors proving ground in Milford, Michigan. And I was, believe it or not, in all things, I was in the Buick Regal GS. This was a while ago when these were German-inspired designed, tuned vehicles.
And to echo your statements, your thoughts, you go through the curve and you're almost not thinking about it because the only thing you can do is get through the curve. It's all reflex, it's all instinct, and then it's over, whereas there's other, I think, longer sweepers. You have more time to set it up, more time to get it wrong.
I have not driven Laguna Seca. I would love to. But it strikes me-- and maybe you tell me what you think-- it's more like a pass/fail thing. You're either through it or you're in the gravel. And that's how the so-called Lutz ring, is what they used to call this part of the Milford proving grounds after-- happy 90th birthday there, Bob. He just turned 90. Bob Lutz, the proving grounds.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. And overall, Laguna Seca is a really great track.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: What's also great is, like at Monterey Motorsports reunion, is that there's lots of great places to watch the racing. And the corkscrew is actually one of them because the hill going up to there, there's lots of shade. There's lots of space to set up on the hill and just sit and watch. And you can see the cars coming down from the top down to the bottom. It's a really great place.
But as for the R8, so I've never driven an R8 before. This was my first time.
GREG MIGLIORE: Really? OK.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Wow.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Well, and I think a big part of that is just the fact that-- so I got hired at Autoblog in 2016. And it's really kind of my first real writing job out of college. I was briefly at Car and Driver, but I wasn't doing writing there. And yeah, the second generation R8. So this generation, the first model year for here, I think, was 2017.
And, well, there was no way I was going to be sent on a trip for that, and completely reasonably. And the car hasn't really changed that much since 2017. So it's never really been in fleets much during the time that I've been around, that I've been doing this. So I've never had the opportunity to drive one.
Well, so part of the reason the number of laps was so minimal was the fact that we're doing our lapping sessions in the middle of Rolex Monterey Motorsports reunion.
GREG MIGLIORE: They must have had to pay a little bit of money to get that time of track time. Let's put it that way.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Oh, for sure. And they only had two R8s to drive.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, OK.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: They had an all-wheel drive one and a rear-drive one. I took the all-wheel drive one, which worked out well because the other person that was on my stint had never driven the rear drive one, so wanted to drive that. And I kind of wanted to drive the all-wheel drive one because for the most part, the R8 has always been all-wheel drive. And so that kind of seemed like the definitive version if I'm going to drive one.
Plus, having a little bit of extra traction isn't necessarily a bad thing if I've never driven this thing before and it's very fast. And we're not going to have a whole lot of time to get comfortable with it. Yeah. The drive, first off, super comfortable, and great driving positions. It's really nice and low. It was easy to get comfy and relaxed.
Driving position was nice. All the controls and stuff were very driver-centric. The Audi's digital instrument cluster with the pseudo analog tachometer was really easy to read when going fast and not being super familiar, which was great. I was actually able to manually shift it. Transmission, super fast. Super smooth. V10 sounds fantastic.
It's going to be sad to see that. It's going to be sad to see that engine go. And it is absolutely what you expect from a high revving, naturally aspirated engine. It makes all of its power up high. It's very progressive power, which is nice, especially if you're not super familiar with the car, because it's not going to whack you in the back of the head or kick the back end out super suddenly with the turbos hitting. It works all very smoothly and precisely.
Steering is light and super accurate. The whole car is just kind of relaxed. It wasn't taxing to drive it, which again, was good because again, I'm not familiar with the car. And so I was able to mostly just focus on the driving. It kind of just did what you wanted. Did feel a little bit wiggly coming down some of the downhill corners as I got on the brakes, but nothing to be quite concerned about.
And with the all-wheel drive, it would get a little bit, just a hint of understeer getting on throttle in the corner. Traction control light was blinking at me a lot.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's the idea.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Probably because I was being, well, not ham-fisted, but I guess ham-footed, I'm guessing. I'm sure if I was a little bit smoother with throttle inputs and adjusting, that probably wouldn't have gotten quite so much traction control interference. And I was probably being a little bit ham-fisted because I was also trying to keep up with our lead driver as a lead-follow session, which is how a lot of these go. And the lead driver is Tom Christiansen.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, good luck with that.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Who is the nine-time Le Mans winner, raced with Audi in the R8, R10, and R18, I think. He was driving an RS E-tron GT. And it was not easy keeping up with him. And it's a sign of how good he is at driving that he's driving this admittedly powerful, but also very heavy electric sports sedan and easily staying well ahead of people in much lighter and more deft Audi R8s.
GREG MIGLIORE: I was going to say, that's funny that-- I think it's always a bit humorous when they do these lead-follow things. It's like, obviously you want the pro show you the lines and sort of being the overseer. But then they like try to sandbag them with something like that, but it still doesn't make a difference. It's like trying to tell a Major League pitcher, I don't know, throw from 5 feet farther back. You're still not going to hit Clayton Kershaw or somebody who's throwing 95 or 100.
So that's fun. Yeah. Cool. So yeah, it's interesting. V10, 7-speed, dual clutch. That's a really great powertrain. I'm old enough that I remember when the R8 was offered with a six-speed gated manual, which was just pure magic. The flex you would get from going into gear, especially you going into the upper gears, if you will, then pulling back down. One of the best manual transmissions I've ever driven.
And it's really something, too, I think, the way they're sending this car out. They're promoting it. They're doing a program. They have this special GT edition that they're offering on its way out. It really captured the zeitgeist of the late-2000s decade into the 2010s as far as really powerful supercars that reminded everyone that luxury brands could do great things. It was this. It was the Lexus LFA.
It meant something to enthusiasts at a time when the Acura NSX had just gone away. We were seeing the return of pony cars at that point, like the Challenger and the Camaro. And this car was right in there as far as reminding enthusiasts, hey, it's going to be OK. Cars are going to be here for you at all different price points. And then we saw what would follow with the Corvette, the mid-engine Corvette, the next NSX.
Lexus sort of really got its mojo back with design in all those big V8, 5-liter V-8s. Obviously not all directly related to it, but the Audi was among the first. And I think Audi is one of the luxury brands that does perhaps the best job of translating its racing history into road-going models. When Audi was just dominating ALMS back then, they had this road-going car that was right there for you.
If you were a big fan of the ALMS teams, the teams at Europe, of course, this was there. And it embodied that. Granted, they were winning with diesels, but whatever. Potato potato. So sorry to see it go. I think if there's any car that can come back straight up in electric, to me the Audi R8 is it. Audi already has access to that type of technology.
I personally think the layout of a car like this would be fine. It's certainly-- it's not a tiny sports car. It's not a Miata, if you will. There's room to hook up the batteries, get some motors in there and you're good to go. The design, I think, is timeless. This, the Chrysler 300, and a few others of the last, say, 23 years, as we're a quarter of the way through the century, they're going to hold up for another 100 years. So I would just say to Audi, let's charge this thing up and get a new generation going that's electric.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah, it'll be-- they haven't committed any particular direction as to a successor yet.
GREG MIGLIORE: No, I just dreamed up a program right there and told them what to do.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And it's interesting because it would be nice to see R8 continue. And like you said, I could totally see it being electric. Part of me kind of almost wonders if the direction that they might go and maybe should go is to just do something completely different for whatever's next.
New name, of new ethos and things because something that the Audi people were talking about was that the R8, it was very much a celebration of their endurance racing success.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And it was kind of designed to emulate a lot of the endurance racing car, so being mid-engined and rear-drive, and having some styling connections to those vehicles. And with it going away a number of years after Audi has also left endurance racing, they don't do that anymore.
They are now focusing on going into Formula One. And I wonder if maybe what makes sense for them would be to make something maybe closer to a road-going formula car, and maybe naming it something different. That could take all kinds of different shapes, but I wonder if maybe in some ways it should be like, OK, we're closing the book of Audi endurance mid-engine supercar thing, and we're going to start a new book of whatever this new Audi supercar is since Audi's entering a new phase of its life.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. No, that's a good point. F1 offers new opportunities. It offers new challenges, both for how you want to connect with your car buying public versus the racing team. Yeah, that's a good point. I could see. The one challenge, and I think a lot of it will be determined, some things that are out of their control.
If F1 takes off in the United States, they'd be crazy not to try to take your path and make something that's more connected to that. If Drive to Survive kind of fizzles, I don't know. We'll see. Maybe they go down a different path. My argument is just the template they have, I think, is timeless. The design is pitch perfect and it's set up to do whatever you want it to do.
It could certainly be an outstanding hybrid, too, if you wanted. Yeah. When you guys did the final laps, I'm curious. Was there champagne at the end? To me it just seems like, when I saw this program, I briefly considered doing it myself because it sounded awesome as far as like a couple of laps at Laguna Seca in an Audi R8. Was there a celebratory mood? I don't know. What was that like when they're like, this is it, guys?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Oddly, not a huge amount of fanfare. It might have just been that everybody was tired and this was also the third round of journalists that had gotten to do their laps of the day. But the designer of the first-gen R8, Frank Lamberti, when we were having our history briefing and track briefing just a little bit earlier, the prototype in Le Mans race car class had taken to the track.
And there's a collector there with one of the original Audi R8 race cars, the La Mans prototype version. And it was out there racing. And Lamberti disappeared after he had given his bit of the spiel, and I don't know for sure, but we all kind of suspected that he had slipped away to go keep watching the endurance group of cars and keep watching the R8, which makes sense and can't blame them for that.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sure. All right. Cool. Any other Pebble vibes from this year? Pebble Beach, Concours d'Elegance? Anything from the week takeaways? Sounds like you hit it all pretty hard. Just any thoughts there?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: It was a whirlwind of a weekend.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And it was neat to see the college that I went to, McPherson College, their restored Mercedes. That was the first time that they've brought a car to Pebble to compete that they fully restored at the college. And not only were they accepted at Pebble, they took second place in class, which is a huge achievement for anyone, any shop, and doubly so the fact that it's a bunch of students that have been learning how to restore cars.
That was really neat to see. And I think my favorite event of the weekend is definitely the Rolex Monterey Motorsports reunion because of all the events there, it is the most laid-back and relaxed, and it feels like basically everybody there is there for the same reason-- because they like cars.
It just happens to be that some of those people are very rich and have the cars that are racing, whereas it feels like at Quail and at Pebble, the vibe there is that there's a lot of people that are there because they're rich and it's the social thing to do. It's the high society thing. And they're just there because it's a place to hang out with their other rich buddies. It doesn't feel quite as relaxed, and hey, we're all hanging out and having fun with cars. It has a bit more of an uppity feel.
GREG MIGLIORE: So that's where I'll chime in here with my experience at the Woodward dream cruise. We were actually in a very Pure Michigan weekend. You should cue the Tim Allen soundtrack. Do you remember that commercial series from a few years ago? We were in the Upper Peninsula. And I came back and I took-- my family and I made it over there about 4:30, which it's still full of cruise right up until like it's dark out, and even then some.
It's kind of the opposite vibe. It's just, people are there because they love cars, and there's a ton of rich people there, too, to be honest, just because if you look at some of the cars, they're not cheap. Let's put it that way. But it's a very democratized event, if I can get that word out. It's cool. I went over to Pasteiner's, that I would call iconic hobby shop right on Woodward. Saw somebody do a burnout. Pretty cool.
They had the unfortunate timing of the Oakland County Sheriff. A stream of motorcycle cops was just coming down Woodward, just the same time. And this guy did it. I was like, oh, dude. Wrong timing, man. But the dream cruise is evolving, too. I think in some ways, you are seeing more expensive stuff. I was talking to my neighbor who owns a like '02, '03, '04 Cobra.
And he was like, you're seeing-- he noticed this, too. You're definitely seeing fewer 50s and 60s muscle cars and fins you used to, perhaps, even 10 years ago. Still plenty of that there. And maybe it's the time I went, too. I don't know. You never know. Maybe that's more of an early bird show. And again, I did see plenty of that.
But the cruise is evolving. You're seeing more 80s cars. Again, I saw that SP2 Monza. I feel like there's a lot of people who are like, they have these things that at the car clubs like M1, and they're bringing them out for the cruise, which is cool. Share it with everybody. I think that's a great thing.
I actually saw that at a-- not the Monza, but I saw another one like it. It was another Ferrari. I saw it at the Pastinha's Cars and Coffee and then at a local Troy car show, as well. So you're seeing those things dot the landscape as well. Saw a couple Deloreans. That's always great. It's just a good time.
You could park in the neighborhoods and then just walk up and down Woodward. Lot of activations from the automakers, as well. Ford usually does stuff. Stellantis, Dodge, they do things. Jay Leno showed up to promote his car care brand. That was cool. I didn't see him, but that was cool. So yeah, good vibe. GM has, it seems like, multiple formal and informal stands. There's a Corvette-- I forget if they call it a corral, or if that's the Camaro Corral.
But there's a Corvette thing farther up Woodward. It's a big tourist thing. You look around and you see people, locals setting up coolers and lawn chairs. Then you see people who clearly are not from around here, if you will. And there's a guy with a French accent in line in front of me in this one shop buying some magazines and chatting about how cool this was.
So it's definitely become a tourist thing, too, which is great. If you love cars, you can just show up. And to me, there's nothing better. That's frankly why I like Cars and Coffee so much, is you can get out of bed, brew yourself a cup of coffee and get out the door. It's all you got to do. All right. So it's Woodward. That's Pebble.
We're going to talk real quick about the Sienna. I meant to tack that onto the R8. I've been driving that. I took it to the UP, logged 600 plus miles. Performed like a champion. Put a ton of stuff in it. The doors slide back and forth, which is amazing for kids and dogs. Fishing poles, golf clubs, everything fit. One of the great things about the Sienna is you can pack for a week up north and only fill it halfway.
I was looking at it thinking, man, any other car, even a huge Explorer or something, the way that they're usually laid out is you get a cooler in there, you get some fishing poles, you get some golf clubs, and it's topped off pretty quick. A minivan is just kryptonite to the problems of travel. So it's great. Nothing really remarkable about the driving experience.
I've actually taken it to the Gulf Coast already, so this is my second pretty long trip in this thing. Enjoyable. Let me see if I can pull up my fuel economy here. Yeah, there it is. Yeah. I averaged-- it's spot on-- 30.5 and 30.9 miles per gallon. So that's actually a little bit less than what a lot of other people have been getting, but hey, still very respectable.
Oddly, I paid the same for gas in, it looks like, in the UP as I did in Metro Detroit. That's kind of an interesting quirk. But yeah, it's good. Have you been in the Sienna yet? I know it's been here nine months. It's making its way through the staff. You must have at this point, probably had a stint in it.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. I was actually the first one to get it.
GREG MIGLIORE: The first one. So you're due.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. And I drove it out to the Chicago Auto Show.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah,. That's right.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And I have mixed feelings about it.
GREG MIGLIORE: How come?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: You know, it's comfortable and it's efficient. But I'm not a big fan of that powertrain. It is slow and it is noisy, at least when you want it to go somewhere, and at any kind of pace. I mean, I can't fault the efficiency. And again, it's comfortable. But yeah, it just is very unhappy anytime you request it go quickly.
GREG MIGLIORE: Would you-- yeah, I'd agree with that. And I drove an eco mode a lot, too, because I wanted to save every drop of fuel I could. Just with a 65-pound golden retriever and the whole family in tow, you don't want to be stopping for gas if you don't have to. It's just one more complication. So yeah, it can be pretty darn slow. But I don't know.
I think we've had this debate with James Reswick, our West Coast guy. He loves this thing because it's the hybrid and it's a set it and forget it, whereas we also have people in the other camp who are like, Pacifica's the way to go because it's a plug-in hybrid. You get that 30 miles of electric range. And if you charge it, you don't really use much gas. So I can see it both ways.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. I think I land in the Pacifica camp. And part of it being that I do like the fact that the electric range gives you that extra flexibility, and also the fact that the electric motor was coupled with V6. So when you did ask something of it, even if it still wasn't super quick, it didn't sound so extremely strained.
Oh, and also the fact that the Pacifica is not a CVT or ECVT. It has an actual conventional automatic transmission in there. It just didn't sound anywhere near as strained.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I go back and forth among these two. And the Kia Carnival is pretty good. The Honda Odyssey is very good, as well. A lot of options in that segment. I feel like I'm forgetting one. But you didn't have this many choices a few years ago. So I still think I lean on Pacifica a little bit more. I'm just very aware of the whole, OK, you've run out your 30 miles per gallon of-- 30 miles of EV range. Then you're driving around with a Chrysler Pentastar V6 and a bunch of batteries.
So to me, that's a bit of a problem. But a lot of people use minivans just for their suburban circle. You may never use gas. That's the other side. All right. Should we spend some money? This comes from Reddit's r/cars thread. If you have a spend my money question or you want to get into our casual mailbag that we'll drop into the show from time to time, please let us know.
That's podcast@autoblog.com. Drop me a note. We'd love to discuss your car slash money problems. Also, if you're on Reddit, you want to offer some feedback on the thread where we grab these from occasionally, feel free. All right. So this is kind of an interesting question as far as V8's. I became an enthusiast late in life. I need a daily.
Never owned a car with a V8, but I want something new and reliable over the long term. Tell me I'm crazy for saying, this is a Lexus ES 500 over a BMW m340i. I realized for daily and commuting that I don't care about small performance differences because it doesn't matter. That's a very, I think, observant point there, is whether you're going 0 to 60 in 3.1 or 3.5, you're not going to notice a difference.
400 horsepower is about the same as 450 on the street. Good call here. So a couple of thoughts here. I think one, is he crazy? No. Lexus makes some pretty enjoyable cars. In many ways, I think they're a little rawer than some of the BMW ones as far as just their overall vibe. So no, I don't think you're crazy.
Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking at the Lexus ISF and you want to get that 5-liter V8 with 472 horsepower, no, you're not crazy at all. That sounds awesome. I think you'd enjoy that immensely. Overall I would probably still go with the BMW m340i, though, just because I like the steering a bit better. I like the 3 series in general as my daily. So that's probably what I would do. What would you do, Joel?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: I'm in camp Lexus this time.
GREG MIGLIORE: Camp Lexus? OK.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And I should importantly point out, it's not an RSF at this point. It's the IS 500f sport. And while it is a small distinction, it is an important one because the IS 500f sport is not as hardcore as the old RSF was. And I say that having driven the IS 500, and it's a little bit on the softer side.
It feels like a regular Lexus IS F Sport with the V6, except this one happens to have the big V8 in it. And it is a wonderful V8.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a good one.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah. The Lexus 5-liter V8 is one of those-- this is going to be remembered as one of those really excellent V8s. And probably one of the last ones, too. It just sounds amazing. it. Revs up pretty high for a V8 so you can really enjoy-- you can really enjoy it. It's so smooth. It's a sweetheart of an engine. It looks cool, too.
It's not too over the top, but it's got those little touches that help it stand out, like the bulge in the hood, and it's got the vertically stacked twin exhaust tips on each side of the back. It's a sweet car. And because it's not a full on F, it's pretty comfortable for daily driving. You can just kind of cruise around in it.
And it's just sporty enough that when you do want to drive it harder, it's still enjoyable. The BMW is probably a little sharper, although I actually don't care for the steering in the 3 series because it's super numb. You can't feel much of anything. I think the Lexus is better in that department.
GREG MIGLIORE: To heavier lift, I'll give you that in the Lexus. It's definitely a more direct, connected feel.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And yeah, I'm not necessarily the foremost expert on reliability, but I certainly haven't heard any horror stories about the 5-liter Lexuses. And certainly everything else that's in it that's not specific to the V8 you know is your typical Lexus fare, so it's not going to give you any trouble.
If this person is open to something that's not four doors, I would also suggest-- well, actually, I'm guessing four doors is probably necessary due to the fact that we're looking at both the IS and the 3 series, which are both 4 doors.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Honestly, maybe consider a Charger.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Get one while you can.
GREG MIGLIORE: Last call, right?
JOEL STOCKSDALE: Yeah, because that's another fantastic V8.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOEL STOCKSDALE: And the steering is a little bit-- it's a little bit more on the vague side, and the interior is not as nice. But you do get more interior space because it is a little bit bigger than either of those cars. And while it's a little bit vague, the sportier, like the Scat Pack models, you can actually get them to handle pretty decently, just as kind of an outside option.
But overall, IS 500 is a good way to go. It's a good looking car. It's got a superb engine. And it should be easy to live with. So I approve. It's a good choice.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Like I said, I'm not saying that's a bad choice. Not saying-- I think the question is, is he crazy? No, you're not crazy. You're smart. I agree with you. That engine, to your point, will go down as one of the iconic engines. I can recall two times off the top of my head I drove that engine. One was-- I forget the car. I think it was probably the IS 500. And I took it to Taco Bell.
And another was the coupe. What was that? The LC. This is 2015, 2014. Vividly remember driving it to go have dinner with my wife at my dad's house. That engine will stay with you. So again, not crazy. I do like the steering. I'll double down and say as far as a daily, I'd rather take that twin turbo 382 horsepower, straight 6. I like just the overall drivability of the m340i.
I like how it looks. I like the seats. I like the infotainment better than what Lexus does. So overall, if I were going to drive it every day, I'd go with the Bimmer, even though I do really like that Lexus. Charger's a great call. I could also see, if you're trying to figure out what V8 you might want to get-- you make a great point there, Joel. He didn't say how many doors he wants.
If you could go with two doors, take a look at the Camaro or the Mustang, or the Challenger, even. I would go Charger, though. If you're thinking LX platform, I think just based on the evidence here, you're going to prefer that. It's going to be a better daily because the Challenger could be a bit of a rough daily. Hey, look at a pony car, too. I mean, they have great V8s.
You can still get them while you still can. Literally, this is the time right now. It's the last model year for the Camaro and the Dodge. Mustang's going to hang out for a bit. But lot of options. All right. That's a show. Send us your Spend My Moneys. That's podcast@autoblog.com. If you like the podcast from Autoblog, that's five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. Be safe out there and we'll see you next week.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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 …
