In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They jump right in with some news that Toyota may revive the Land Cruiser in the U.S., followed by rumors of a Nissan GT-R successor. From there, it's on to official confirmation of the Acura Integra Type S revival, followed by a partial rundown of Hagerty's 2023 Bull Market List. After that, it's time for some road test updates. Greg talks about his time in Autoblog's long-term BMW 330e PHEV and contrasts it with the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V. Byron has been driving a Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-30 and an Infiniti Q50 — serving as a perfect launch pad for a look back at 2022's best sport sedans. After that, it's a preview of Autoblog's 2022 Holiday Gift Guide.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
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GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome to the "Autoblog Podcast." I'm Greg Migliore coming at you today with a great show. We're going to talk Toyota Land Cruiser. We're going to talk about the cars, the vintage, classic cars that are most likely to gain value in the coming year-- so says Hagerty-- and a bunch of other cool stuff, including a Nissan sports car that might replace Godzilla. We'll see an Integra Type S.
And of course, we'll talk about what we've been driving. I'm in our long-term electric 3 Series. Well, it's electric for about 20 miles, let's put it that way.
We're going to riff on the best sport sedans. We've got a Cadillac Escalade, the V-Series, the long-awaited, plus the Infinity Q50, the Mazda CX-30. And we'll talk about what is in our gift guide.
So that is a jam-packed show. Stick around for all of it. I think you're going to like it. With that, I'll bring in Associate Editor Byron Hurd. How are you?
BYRON HURD: Hey, doing pretty well. How about yourself?
GREG MIGLIORE: Doing outstanding. It is one of those gray sort of mid-December days. But hey, the holidays are upon us. It's a good time of the year, good time of the year to sort of feel festive.
I cracked open a bottle of Black Star Farms Red House Red wine last night. If you're in northern Michigan, I highly recommend trying that winery, vineyard. They do a nice tasting, that sort of thing.
I just found this wine bottle in my basement. And it was kind of movie night at home. So I was like, hey, I'm gonna have a couple of glasses of red wine. It's a Tuesday night. Let's do it.
And I would just say as far as, like, what this wine is like, you might ask, I would say it's like the Hellcat of red wines. It's pretty in-your-face. It's good. I mean that in a good way. It's not, like, uncouth. It's a very nice red wine.
But it's very versatile, you know? It can be, like, pastas, which is what we had, pizza, burger, it's that kind of red wine. So dress it up, dress it down.
Yeah, we'll start off with the drinks. Any December beverages you recommend, Byron?
BYRON HURD: No, I haven't done my holiday alcohol shopping yet.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, right, you mentioned you were going to do that.
BYRON HURD: Yeah, I'm definitely a Christmas sale kind of guy.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice.
BYRON HURD: So Bell's would definitely be top of the list for me. But what I've been hearing about is Great Lakes Brewing, who I believe John mentioned on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. They have a barrel-aged version, I believe, of their Christmas ale now, some sort of special barrel version of that that I am going to try to find as soon as I get a chance. But maybe we'll-- maybe make that trek out this weekend, see if I can get enough to actually last me through the holidays.
GREG MIGLIORE: That sounds good. That sounds good. I always highly recommend the-- there's the Three Stooges, that's one. I forget who makes it. That's a good one.
And also, the Sam Adams holiday ale is just a good one. I forget the actual name. It's potent, if you will. It's got a very festive taste, a little higher ABV. But I mean, honestly, that's even good right out of the can. It's pretty good.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So we should probably talk some cars. Obviously, be safe out there. Take an Uber. Don't drink and drive. But we do like to talk about what we're living and stuff.
So the Toyota Land Cruiser, so says "MotorTrend," may be coming back. And executive Jack Hollis, who is known for saying all sorts of things, reports that it may be coming back. I think this would be a great move.
I think there is a little bit of a hole in their lineup on the Toyota side, where a luxury, very capable off-roader could fit. And I also think you're seeing, you know, expensive, large SUVs find a place of premium in the market, whether it's Rivian, whether it's the GLS, whether it's the X7, or it's this crazy Escalade we're going to talk about.
The Toyota brand, per se, I don't think needs this. But I think Toyota as a company does. You know, it's nominally not a Lexus, but who cares? It's just Toyota actually sort of has a luxury SUV, so who cares, in my opinion.
So the nuance and the "MotorTrend" story-- reported by Alisa Priddle, I will give a shout-out to. She is one of the more distinguished reporters in the business. So if she wrote it, hey, it's probably happening.
The nuances is like, where is the business case for this? And our reporter, who pulled together our report, Jonathon Ramsey, who is a Land Cruiser owner, makes a good point that one of the reasons they let it go is you arguably-- there is no great business case, per se, for this three-row gas guzzler that's super expensive, that also is still a Toyota, that's more expensive than almost any of its sort of potential rivals, like, as Ramsey notes, the Telluride or a loaded up Explorer. It's like you really want to get the Land Cruiser vibe, and you're willing to pay for it.
So I think they need to figure that nuance out. And I think they could accomplish that by simply having a very luxurious model, and then a very-- almost like a Rubicon-esque model. Do it that way.
Make them all pretty capable. Just because it's a Land Cruiser, you've got to have those table stakes of, like, high-level capability, if you will. And people in all elements of the economy have shown that they're willing to pay more for stuff than they really need.
You know, I'm wearing a dive watch that I could go plumb Scapa Flow with. I don't need it to record the podcast. But I think people, they'll pay six figures for a Land Cruiser. And then it's like, what flavor do you want it to be? So--
BYRON HURD: Yeah, yeah, I'm with you there. And also, I mean, you look at the LX exists. And for Lexus, it always seems to be more about the on-road luxury experience, the ownership experience, that kind of thing. So if you do a Toyota model, and you lean more into the ruggedness, more into the heritage of the model, then yeah, I think there's room there.
And look, I think at the end of the day, a Land Cruiser that's kind of an LX Jr. for Toyota almost makes more sense than Lexus offering a luxuried-up version of the 4Runner, which you get with the GX. So it kind of seems like they've got a lot to navigate here.
They've got two, essentially, off-road icons that they're kind of juggling back and forth in terms of market positioning. And Toyota can be your brand for anything that actually needs to go off-road, that just needs to be that, like, it can get anywhere and get itself back out of anywhere type model, versus Lexus, where it's just like, yeah, you could do most of that stuff, too, but that's not really the point.
The idea is to be kind of coddled and surrounded by luxury, and to know that your dealer's got you covered no matter what happens. It's all going to be a smooth, easy process. It's just the simple things that work easier in a Lexus, versus the tougher things that can be accomplished in the Toyota.
GREG MIGLIORE: Now, you have driven the LX600, right?
BYRON HURD: Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: And one of the things that most of the reports we're seeing-- and this could always change. I always think it's interesting when this happens-- like, we sort of saw this with the Ranger. They weren't going to bring it here. Then boom, all of a sudden, hey, it's here.
They could, in my opinion, for the near term, bring the LX600 over-- excuse me, use that as the Land Cruiser over here. Would that sort of parasitically get the Lexus lineup? Of course it would. But I also think that's a pretty good template for what the Land Cruiser could be for the next, say, four or five years.
Do you think that would work? Or do you think they really need to rip up the template and go do something a little more drastic?
BYRON HURD: I don't think they need to do too much, really. Realistically, the real knock against Toyotas in general is that while they are capable, especially in the TRD, TRD Pro kind of trims, they don't go quite as far as, say, some of the American makes do, or even Land Rover, in terms of how many locking differentials you can get, that kind of thing.
So I think there's a lot more room for them to play around with it mechanically. And they could leave the general package pretty much the way it is. Obviously, it would need kind of a toned down interior in order for it to cost less and make it more justifiable at a lower price point.
But I think the general packaging could stay pretty much the way it is. And then they could push the boundaries a little bit more in terms of capability, just to kind of differentiate it a bit without having to reskin the whole thing too dramatically and invest a bunch of money in things that don't differentiate it enough to really make a difference, and also end up just costing Toyota more money in the long run.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a weird vehicle in some sense because with the Toyota badging-- like, the Land Cruiser is the badge, the brand, you know? I don't think most people are cross-shopping this thing with a Ford Explorer or a Kia Telluride. But it is still a Toyota.
And if you do want to maybe grow the Land Cruiser sales footprint and make it a little more sustainable, rather than just this trophy, you've got to make an appeal to something that's a little more defined. Is it fighting the X7 or the GLS? Is it fighting, in some ways, nominally, the G-Class?
Because I mean, when you talk about what is it, what is its mission, you're going to do more with your Land Cruiser, theoretically-- or it's capable of it-- than you ever would with most GLSes or something, or the Jeep Rubicon, the Ford Bronco, the Toyota 4Runner. It's just it occupies a very interesting spot in the market.
And that's why we're talking about it, because it's cool. It's fun to talk about. Like, it's an emotional, prestige luxury buy, you know? It's not a refrigerator. You would buy this because you want to roll around town in a Land Cruiser.
It's almost, to go back to my watch example, it's like a Seiko dive watch, one of those SKXes from a few years ago where if somebody sees it, they're like, oh, that's kind of a nice watch. If you're a watch guy, you're like, whoa, cool, you have one of those. Then there's going to be a wide swath of people that are like, oh, that's just an old watch, or that's just a large Toyota SUV.
So you've kind of got a-- I think as we speak in circles of this, I think it's upon Toyota to try to define the mission. And I think it could have a really big payoff. Just look at, like, the R1S with Rivian. People are really excited about that vehicle. You've got another vehicle that you've had for decades that has somewhat of a similar mission.
So let's shift gears here, go over to rumors of a new Nissan sports car. This would backfill the GT-R Godzilla, if you will. They did relatively recently launch, just last year, the Z car. So I mean, Nissan has a sports car in its lineup. And I think it's actually a pretty good one, too.
This would perform at a different level. Speculation-- there's some reporting out of "Autocar" in the UK that it could either be a hybrid or an electric, or a hybrid first, then electric. We don't know a lot about this situation.
To me, the big question is, do they really need to do this? My answer is, they don't really need to do this. But as an enthusiast, I hope they do.
You know, I don't really think you need to put another supercar in your lineup. Because that's sort of like what the GT-R does. It gets into that territory. But yeah, I mean, I'm a little more mundane on this one.
BYRON HURD: I think this is one of those places where if Nissan's going to do it, they need to make a point with it, kind of like they did when they brought us the R35 in the first place, where it was like, we're going after Porsche. Like, we are going to be the Nurburgring kings. Like, we're going to do this thing.
And for them to do that now, I feel like it would almost have to be a, let's forget the Leaf ever existed. We're going to talk about electric vehicles as a performance avenue. And we're going to go hard on the GT-R as a tech showcase.
Because that's kind of what the GT-R has represented. It's never been a back to basics, bare bones sports car. It's always been about all-wheel drive, advanced handling. Like, we're throwing tech at this problem to see how much engineering we can do to make this car faster versus the Colin Chapman approach.
So I think if you're already committed to something like the GT-R that was kind of traditionally considered heavy-- I mean, now, we look at it as kind of an analog-- I'm not going to say backwards, but a little bit old-fashioned kind of sports car versus the way it was received initially, where it was like, oh, you're just driving a computer. You don't actually have to have any talent. It just does it for you. It's boring, it's unengaging, blah, blah, blah. Now, it's probably the most engaging high performance model you can buy that-- especially of the vehicles that come from that era.
So it's a weird spot for Nissan to be in. But I think maybe all these years of just letting it languish a bit will work in their favor, and they can kind of go back to the drawing board, give us something that shows us what Nissan wants to do in the future instead of just rehashing what they used to do, which is something they've been in trouble for doing a few times.
And it's one of the things we see with the Z, too, where the Z is not strictly new. And that's fine. It is what it is. The package didn't change all that much. It got some turbos, and it's a little bit quicker.
But it's a car we already liked just fine. And it's fine now. So it doesn't have to be an all-new, whole, entirely different thing. But I just don't see Nissan investing in the platform the way they could if it was going to be electrified, if they decide to just keep it as a gasoline giant. Because there's just not much future in it, so why bother?
And honestly, at this point, given where they are-- they have ARIYA and Leaf and not much else going on electrically. I think if they could actually get a big, electrified-- it doesn't have to be pure battery. It could be plug-in, whatever gets the job done.
But I think they need something to point at and say, look, we we're doing it. We're getting there. And that's what it's going to look like in the future. And then here's what we're doing now, so.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, in some ways, I think Maserati is another company that's going to randomly have a couple of electric coupes in the relatively short, near future. With Nissan, I tend to wonder, with the sort of GT-R segment, could they work with somebody on it? Could they source the body and the chassis from somebody, and then make it what you think a GT-R should be?
We've seen some pretty successful setups with Toyota and BMW, Toyota and Subaru, for example. I got to believe there's somebody out there that would say, oh, OK, you guys are thinking GT-R? Well, we're thinking this. Let's work together on this. And we'll get the batteries from somebody and go from there.
I do think the GT-R is just so old that that's probably not a specific model where you just find some batteries and plug and play. Like, I don't think that is necessarily likely just because it's so old, and the layout of the car is such as what it is. I could be wrong.
I'm always actually very much in favor of that. And you see the restomod industry never has any problems with doing this. But then automakers don't tend to like to do that.
So we'll see. I mean, it worked for Tesla. That's another good example. They took a Lotus and made it the Roadster. And that worked out pretty great.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Let's do a quick note here on the Integra S, Type S. I think this is pretty cool. We sort of expected it. We're seeing Acura, as they sort of try to return to performance four-doors-- A-Spec has been rolling out across a number of the vehicles, and they even have it on some of the crossovers now, so naturally, the Integra was going to get it.
I have high hopes for this. I think this could be maybe the best of the bunch, you know? And I do like the TLX Type S, for sure. And I like the A-Spec.
But I think this is just a smart move. It was pretty obvious they were going to do it. There's really no surprise here. But it's a good way to service the nameplate and get people fired up as it starts to get into its lifecycle.
BYRON HURD: Yeah, honestly, the one thing I would like to see from this is for Acura to do something different enough with the Integra Type S to justify what is likely going to be a noticeable premium over the Civic Type R.
GREG MIGLIORE: Fair.
BYRON HURD: Because fundamentally, same car. And again, that's what we're seeing with the Integra and the Civic Si. So it's not like the hierarchy doesn't already exist to some extent.
But I think that given the price point that these two cars are going to occupy in relation to where they were back in the '80s and '90s, when both nameplates were kind of coming up, I think you need more differentiation now in order to justify the price increase than you would have back then, and mostly just because it's hard to say, well, it's a Type R, but it's a little nicer. Like, yeah, that's great.
I mean, the Type R is already quite expensive. And it better be quite a bit a little nicer, if that makes sense, in order to justify having to spend even more, especially if you're not getting any kind of mechanical advantage out of it. If it's just going to be the same basic stuff underneath-- same chassis, same engine, same transmission-- then it needs a little something extra here or there.
Maybe they could intentionally limit it or something like that, the way Toyota did with the Corolla GR-- or the GR Corolla, sorry. I don't like that approach because it's the "here's a cool car that you'll never get to drive" approach. But at the same time, I think there needs to be a little something. And I kind of have faith in Acura that there is a little something. I'm just not really sure what it's going to be yet.
GREG MIGLIORE: I agree. There's been some pop, some emotion in the Acura lineup in the last few years. It's been fun to see as an enthusiast who wants to see that brand have some performance momentum for other enthusiasts. I agree with you-- like, facts.
You're right, they can't just roll out the ball and say, hey, this is it. It costs this much more than the Honda version. You want it because of the badge. Like, no, you can't just do it that way.
And I don't think they will. I think what we've seen, the little bit of the teaser they put out, I think they care about this model, and they want it to be a success. And I think it was a good move bringing back the name, I really do.
I interviewed one of their designers, Dave Marek, quite a few years ago at SEMA. And I was asking him about the NSX. And he said, well, yeah, of course we need to really get into it and look at-- like, taking the Ridgeline at that point, they were taking it to Baja.
And he's like, because we have this problem-- we have one of the most iconic sports cars in history, the NSX at the time. And he's like, but people don't think we're a performance brand. What is that? And I'm paraphrasing here.
So I feel like they sort of learned their lesson from the 2010s. And I think they're going to try and make the '20s something better. So yeah, but that's what's coming.
Let's talk about what's happened. I guess this is also coming next year, but it's kind of a bit of a rearview mirror shot as well, which is Hagerty put out their Bull Market List for 2023. These are a list of cars and one motorcycle that they expect to gain significant value in the coming year.
It's a pretty wide-ranging list. The motorcycle, I did not expect to see on there because it's a little bit of a deep cut Harley from the '30s and '40s, the World War II era.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: But you wrote the story. Why don't you kind of take us through some of the highlights?
BYRON HURD: Well, honestly, I think the one car that stood out the most for me on this entire list was the-- it's hard to qualify because I don't remember the number of generations off the top of my head-- but the 2003 to 2008 Nissan 350Z, which we were just talking about the Z being old. And really, the 370Z was just the 350Z redone.
So the Z, at this point, is essentially in its third generation of this re-envisioned, post-Japanese sports car pull-out version of the Z. So that it's on this list is kind of surprising to me because I kind of casually browse these every once in a while. And they're saying that a mint condition one, low miles, is a $37,000 to $45,000 car right now.
And it wasn't too long ago that we were seeing those for, like, $3,700 and $4,500. And I'm sure you can still find them. Obviously, they're going to be rough in that condition. But for an occasional autocross car, just something you want to beat around, just to have a little, cheap sports car, this would have been one of the first things I would have pointed to just a couple of years ago.
So it's interesting that they think this one's ready to take off, especially because as cool as the Z was when it was revived for '03, these cars don't have the best durability reputations. Baseline reliability and the core mechanicals seem to do fine. But they just kind of fall apart around the engine and transmission and everything. So it's hard to find them in great shape.
And I think that might actually help drive value a little bit. But for a good beater sports car that you just don't care that much about, this would have been my go-to not that long ago.
But some of the other items on here are interesting. Like, to think that the Suzuki Cappuccino hadn't already had a valuation runaway-- and the same with the old Hilux-based Toyota pickups where, in my mind, that's the "Back to the Future" truck. You know, check out that four by four. That's an iconic car.
And the fact that especially Gen X and Millennials, who are-- really, that's who Hagerty is kind of focusing on. Their entire push with this list was, like, these are the cars that younger enthusiasts are starting to buy into, which is what's going to increase their value.
And of course, in an industry where average transactions are going to people in their 50s and 60s, when you've got folks in their 30s and 40s starting to buy heavily into a particular model, that's when they take notice. And of course, Hagerty, being an insurance company, has all of that data. They know how old you are, or your driving habits, all that kind of stuff. So they can pigeonhole these things pretty finely.
But yeah, of the ones on the list, those-- and the fact that the AMX hasn't grown in value already at this point is kind of surprising to me. And the fact that C5 Corvette Z06 prices are still as affordable as they are kind of surprises me because that's an endangered species. A lot of those became track rats pretty much the day they left the showroom floor. And it's a testament to their durability that so many of them are still being lapped.
I mean, the C5 Corvette's probably still the best bang for your buck track car you can buy. And the fact that they're also becoming collectible means that's going to start getting kind of messy here pretty soon. I think values on those are going to shoot up pretty aggressively, and especially for the models that don't already have a ton of track miles put on them, the ones that are going to be a little more street oriented, a little cleaner, and maybe more granny-driven.
So yeah, was there anything on here that really stood out to you, that either surprised you or, like, you feel like it should have been there a long time ago?
GREG MIGLIORE: I feel kind of old because when I look at some of these cars, they are, like, press cars that I was-- like, the front end of my time in press cars, like the Z. Even that McLaren SLR, that was very tough to get the keys to. But I mean, that was still in the fleets.
The Audi R8, for sure, that was definitely an iconic car. Yeah, so I feel kind of old-- same with the Lambo. But so yeah, once I get past that-- but I guess I do have a fair amount of gray hair.
I actually-- when I look at values, the Toyota truck, I think, is one where I would sort of spend my money, you know? It's not necessarily my first choice. Like, I would probably do an XJ Cherokee or maybe an old Blazer. But it's in there as far as just, like, I want a four by four that's a Gen X four by four. Like, it's in there.
And I feel like other people, like they're noticing some of those old GM trucks from the '90s, we're starting to see the values of those go up a bit. I mean, two guys on staff own them. So I feel like this is maybe a little-- almost like the AMC, it's maybe a little bit overlooked. But this seems to me like a pretty good value.
Like, if you want a truck from the '80s that you can still drive every day and use it for whatever you want to use it for, but it's going to start to tip into that-- I don't know if this will ever truly be a collectible, you know? But I think it could tip into that. Hey, you're not going to lose money on it. And it's a solid, fun, collectible-ish investment. Plus, those body styles were cool.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I totally forgot about the Suzuki Cappuccino. That's definitely a deep cut. I give them credit for that.
I'm not sure I necessarily agree with-- let's see, what was the one-- the Harley-Davidson Knucklehead-- like, sure, maybe. I'm not that much of a motorcycle guy. Like, I definitely love looking at the latest Ducatis and things like that.
I mean, for me, I just look at that timeline of, like, comparing it to cars. Like, the '30s and '40s-- values from that have kind of hit a-- I feel like they're about where they're going to be, just because they're older vehicles. You're getting into more, like, [? concourse ?] territory with the '30s.
Into the '40s, yeah, you're still kind of getting to that Boomer era. But I mean, how do you work on a car from 1945 at this point without getting really specialized work? I mean, it's not something just anybody can work on. And it's just that sort of era of enthusiasts is aging.
So I mean, they know more about this than I do. I just-- I don't necessarily see a market for things from the '30s and '40s with four wheels. So I think that's an interesting pick. Although the case of the Knucklehead, for sure, it's already expensive.
And the Corvette's an interesting one too, I think too, real quick. I think that's a good one to get right now. If you want a fairly cheap Corvette that still looks like it's from another time, but it's still affordable, you've got to make your move because it's going to start getting expensive. Corvettes are another one. But outside of the '70s models that are somewhat ubiquitous at shows and also junkyards, it seems like, most Corvettes are another one that you're going to not really lose money on.
So that is the Hagerty list. Check it out-- some beautiful photography. Looks like they did it at the Streets of Willow, which is a fun track, let me tell you. Check it out. It's on our site. Check it out on their site. That is the news section.
Let's get into the reviews. I have spent some time, my first week or so in the BMW 330e. This is our long-termer. So I've been enjoying it. It is-- the sticker is about 51,000, for those of you that don't remember. It has the two liter turbo four, plus the electric motor. Total system output is 288 horsepower, 310 pounds feet of torque with the eight speed automatic. It's about a 4,100 pound car.
The MPG is 67 MPGE, that's if you sort of drive it as a hybrid. If you want to try to go all electric with this, it's about 20 miles of range, give or take. So that's the specs, ours obviously. Check out our site, check out-- we've done a fair amount of updates on this.
It's a beautiful shade of blue. It's got the orange and black interior with light piping. We've got some options on it. It's a very nice car. It's a really good 3 Series. So that's the rundown. My take on it, and I'm trying to figure out if this is my favorite 3 Series or it's kind of pointless. And that's the point of a long-term. Is you don't have to come to these conclusions right away.
I've been driving it in the different modes, and it's sport, and then there's like a boost function, which is kind of fun. That's kind of cool. But usually I'm in hybrid. I've tried out the electric setup. And I've been charging it in my garage too. I even charged it-- and that's like the level one charger.
Using level two, which you can get public infrastructure or perhaps you have one at home, I don't, at this point-- you know, I've been able to keep it adequately charged. I guess that's like-- to start off, that's like an area where I feel like 20 miles of electric range just isn't quite enough.
Like it's enough for a short commute. But you burn through it really quick. And it's like, I feel like you live in that like five to 10 mile range, and that's like literally-- whatever, like if you charge it for a few hours, you get five miles, and then you burn it just doing whatever you're doing next.
I feel like, and I do get this is just like-- it's a hybrid with the electric range. Like you can look at it as a bonus, and it's priced better than some other 3 Series. So I see why some people would say, well, this is the one to get. But I found that a little frustrating.
And that's not-- I'm not going to say I'm like criticizing or talking about infrastructure or about the car, well, I'm talking about the car. But it's just-- to me, 20 miles of range is a weird place to live. Because it feels like they are kind of pitching this a little more in the electric space, but it's definitely a plug-in hybrid too.
So I mean, I know you drove it very briefly. I mean, what is the identity of this car? That's what it is, I think, as I've spoken out loud just like verbal diarrhea here for a minute or two, I'm trying to make up my mind because I like the car a lot. But I mean, what do you think the identity of this thing is?
- Yeah, I'm kind of with you on it. Honestly, like it's interesting, I was just looking up what it would cost to get the Volvo S60 recharge, which is the equivalent of the T8 that we had as a long-termer two years ago now. And that one would work out-- like to buy that, which comes basically loaded, is about what the 330 costs with the options we have on it.
And with the Volvo, you get 400 horsepower-ish combined and about that much torque. So you get much more power and you don't get any more range. Well, you get a few more miles, I think, because they updated the battery on that when they changed the branding from T8 to Recharge. So it's a little bit better than it used to be.
But it's still not like-- it's not night and day different from what you get with the BMW. So I think in all, that package is a little more attractive to me than the BMW package, but this does seem like it's geared to be a bit more accessible. I mean, the base price is almost 10,000 cheaper. So if you can resist buying options, then yeah, it will be a better deal. And you get about the same electric range.
I like the idea of this car, but the brief time I had it, I drove it to the airport and back twice, essentially. And both times, if I'd been able to plug-in when I got to the airport, I wouldn't have used gas at all on either trip. But because I couldn't, one was a pickup and one was a drop off. So about a third of the way home, I ran out of electric juice, had to switch over to full gas.
So yeah, if you've got someplace to park at the other end where you can actually charge, great. You could get away with a 20 mile commute and not use gasoline very often. But I'm with you, it's an interesting spot to be in. Like if this were-- with the Wrangler 4xe, 20-something miles is a little more forgivable because it's a brick you're trying to drive through the air. This is a slick little sports sedan, you would expect it to be a little more slippery and offer a little bit more.
But different cars, different generations of technology, different intent. To your point, the mission of this is definitely like-- the electric part of it is secondary. It's there. And I feel like we're going to get a lot more of that from the Europeans until everything kind of resolves itself.
Because you see like, especially like with Mercedes, where it's to the point of like malicious compliance, where they have plug-ins that can do like seven miles or something like that, where it's just like it's there to exist and to check the box for government compliance and for no other reason.
And I'm sure somewhere, they calculated like, OK, well, like the average person drives 15 kilometers into town and back. So as long as you can wrap the whole trip and under 35 or something like that, you're good. And that turns into 23 miles or whatever it is on the US test cycle, and that's where we are.
So, I mean, yeah, I think it makes sense. I think there's-- the fact that it's, I'm not going to say inexpensive, I think it's reasonably priced for what it is. And if you are taking advantage of the plug-in aspect of it, then I think it's very attractive. If you're not, I mean, it's fine, but it certainly wouldn't be at the top of my list.
-
- I think that's a good way to put it. It's fine if you're taking advantage of the plug-in perspective. I feel like the sweet spot for plug-in hybrids is more like 30, 35. Like if you're going to do it, I feel like you need to hit that plateau because that's like you don't need to plug-in after every single trip to make full use of the car. You know, the Chrysler Pacifica, we had a long-term minivan a couple of years ago, that was great.
You could use it for a couple of days like in daily driving. Not go too far, but 32 miles didn't evaporate. Whereas 20 essentially evaporates. You saw it with the Chevy Volt. That was another very usable plug-in hybrid. I believe it was 30 at different points. They had a couple of different ranges over the years, it seemed like, they quoted. But that, to me, is the magic number. We'll see.
I don't have a level-two charger. So I'm not ragging on that. I know that could be a little bit of a hotpoint for discussion. I-- like, no disagreement there. I think if I had one and still can charge it, I think I would still be frustrated because, again, the 20 mile range somewhat evaporates.
So I think that's-- like, again, I don't want to make it like a charging issue. Because I've been able to charge it. I just put the one that comes with the car, I plug that into my garage. I can top it pretty much back off, it's just how long am I willing to do that?
Or I was at the mall, and it was great. The electric car chargers, there's like this row of Teslas and their super chargers because there is like a Tesla gallery or something there. And then there were a couple of other Tesla guys like in the spots, and then I rolled up in the 3 Series, I'm like, this is awesome. It's two weeks before Christmas, there's nowhere to park, and I've just got to plug-in. And I got a fair amount of range.
So again, not making this an infrastructure issue, but it's-- I don't know, that's my initial read on the car. Like minute tour of the car itself, it feels like a pretty good 3 Series, though. Steering's good, I like how it looks. This, of course, the 3 Series has the more of like diminutive grille. It's a little more subtle, little slender.
Interior is very nice, it's got the orange light piping. Handles pretty well. I think they did a good job with the battery layout. So it's still only about 4100 pounds, which is OK-ish for a 3 Series but not bad for a plug-in hybrid. It's a fun to drive sports sedan. It's-- I guess good transition here is to talk about the best sports sedans. I think the 3 Series is still on that list.
It definitely-- it's not the best 3 Series I've ever driven, but it's very contemporary, it's very solid. And as someone who owns one of the cars that's on here, here's my takeaway, I think, of all of the like just the sedan part. Sedans are still really fun to drive. They can be. They handle well, they're dial-- especially ones that are dialed in, they look great, many of them. So I think the market for sedans is not dead. That'll be my transition here. And I know you would agree with that as you're a sedan owner.
Yeah. Yeah. You're certainly not going to get the argument from me on that. And looking over the list of this-- and I contributed to this last year a little bit when we were voting on these. And just looking it over to like, it's a good time to be a sedan fan if you actually want to buy a car. Like there are plenty of good options out there.
It's honestly really hard, even just looking at the 3 Series and that compact segment, picking any one car to say, well, it's absolutely the best. I mean, if driving dynamics are your priority, then you've got the Alfa and the Blackwing. They're both pretty much untouchable.
And really, that decision kind of makes itself for you. Like if all you care about is how well it drives, you pick from either one of those depending on which transmission you want pretty much. Because the Alfa is just incredibly wonderful, but you're stuck with the automatic. The Blackwing, at least you get the choice, and the automatic is still very good. But getting to listen to that Alfa is a treat all to itself.
And, of course, if you're buying the Alfa, you also have to not care about things like whether it'll get you to work every day. But we don't like to--
- That's their tagline, right? If you're buying the Alfa, you have to not care about da da da.
Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a long list really. And honestly, we try not to comment on predicted reliability just because it's really difficult given that we don't have the ability to test all those things all the time. But at the same time, if anybody ever asks me about the Alfa, I'm going to say, well, is that a priority for you? Because it's an important question to ask.
And ownership satisfaction has a lot to do with expectations versus reality. Not necessarily how absolutely reliable a car is, but how reliable it is relative to what you expect it to be. And so setting expectations is part of our job even if predicting reliability isn't necessarily.
And looking at the others on this list, there are a couple that I feel very strongly about too that don't cost more than $50,000. But the WRX and the GLI are very, very good right now. I've never been as impressed by a WRX as I am by the current one. It's better, honestly, than the STIs I've driven in the past. It's just beautifully dialed in. Yeah, the looks are a little, you know, could be better. And the cladding is what it is. But it's incredible to drive.
And the GLI is just such a wonderful balance because it gives you almost all of the experience of driving a GTI without all the tech they threw at the GTI to kind of synchronize it with the ID cars. So it's a nice little compromise. It still has some of the tech. It's not completely clean, if that's the word you want to use.
But it really is just a great little car to drive. And in the same vein as the WRX, a car that I've never really been all that excited about previously and now think is pretty much as good as it's ever been. So you're right, it's a good time to care about sedans, even if there are fewer of them. The ones we have left are all a lot better for it.
- Why have you not been a WRX guy? I'm curious. That's a pretty rare statement to hear among an automotive journalist crowd. Just curious, what doesn't do it for you?
- They've just always been a little too rough around the edges for whatever it was I was looking for. Like I've never really disliked them, it's just they've never really excited me all that much. And the closest I ever actually got to like saying like yeah, I'm ready to pull the trigger on Subaru, was a Legacy GT Spec B back in 2009 or something like that.
OK.
And at the time, I had a Mazda 6 five-speed V6 that I was already like tracking and auto crossing, which, for what basically was a Toyota Camry competitor, that wasn't really its best environment. But it took it. Like it was-- I was having fun with it, but I was like, you know what, I feel like I want to go to something a little more performance oriented, and I was looking at Mazda Speed 6 and the Legacy GT.
And the GT, I mean, it was refined enough that I actually felt like I could be comfortable in that car. It was just a little more expensive than I was willing to stretch for at the time. And that was kind of the last time a Subaru really felt magical to me until I drove the BRZ and the new WRX.
And it's not that the old ones were bad, it's just they just didn't click with me the way the new one does. The ride handling balances is spot on, that chassis corners beautifully. It's just-- it's a wonderful car to drive. And yeah, it's got flaws. The looks, and I'm not thrilled with the tech stuff. The infotainment is fine.
I don't like that you're stuck with the GT and the automatic if you want the fancier suspension and all that. But honestly, you don't need it. Like the WRX is plenty good in just limited premium trim. You don't have to go to the GT and get the adaptive suspension and all the bells and whistles for it to be good. It's just really solid all around the way it sits.
GREG MIGLIORE: Fair. I think I would agree with you this is perhaps the most well-rounded WRX that I mean, I've certainly ever driven. And I think it fulfills a lot of missions, I think. I also-- I've always liked it probably a little bit more than you have because I put it in a different bucket. I put it almost like a BRZ Fighter.
Not Fighter, because they're owned by the same company, but that's like the segment, like sort of our sporty thing, that's kind of-- can be harsh. And in this case, it just happens to have four doors. So I've always sort of been able to reconcile the compromises that come with it as a sedan because the benefits as a sports machine, I think, are very strong.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And I mean, I think this list, there's a lot of good stuff on it. I mean, to me, the Julia, is the sporty daily driver, or maybe the Cadillac, the CT4 is a really sporty car, as you know. One just final thought on the 3 series. I think the 3 series is one of the better mixes of everything on here. Yeah, you're driving a sporty 3 series, sporty air quotes, but it's very comfortable.
I was running up doing school drop off, super comfortable if you want it to be. And to me, I think, when you're driving a sedan, if you were to consider owning one, it's obviously going to be your daily driver with a few of the exceptions on here. You want to be able to sip your coffee, maybe eat a breakfast sandwich, and like, not have it rip your head off. But also, sport mode, man, that's there for you.
So I guess we'll neatly put the bow on the 3 series and the sports sedans. We'll bang through a few more of these. Cadillac Escalade V series, I drove this last week. Holy cow, 6.2 liter V8, it's got the Blackwing engine. I just almost can't believe it. To me, and this is where this might sound like I want to have my cake and eat it too, I feel like it's the engine the Escalade should have always had.
Why are we sort of compromising on-- if you can have more horsepower, like have your cake and eat it too, right, man?
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And the rest of it, it's just an Escalade. There's some V-series stuff that they did to it, but none of that really shows as much as just that riotous, righteous engine. I mean, the people you drive by, people-- like in Michigan, Escalades are not an uncommon sight. One that sounds like this, yeah, that gets some attention. So it was a riot, man.
BYRON HURD: I bet. I'm honestly, genuinely looking forward to driving that. I drove the Escalade back when they launched it a couple of years ago. I guess that was 2021, whenever the pandemic started in '20. I was very impressed by it, but it's an Escalade. And you're right. I mean, it's the go-big or go-home nameplate for luxury SUVs. And yeah, they have given you the opportunity to go bigger, you take it. That's a no brainer.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's awesome to drive. I mean, it looks good. I think this is actually one of the better evolution's of the Escalade. It really had the headlights and the Chrome for a while. That could be a good look, and I think it did fit a certain time period.
They almost have it-- sleek is not the right word, but they have it looking pretty-- very like just it's minimalistic in some ways, with the blacked-out grille. And I think it's a really good look because it's an Escalade, and nobody is going to argue with that. And then drop this motor in it. Let's go.
BYRON HURD: Go big or go home. To me, this is what they should have done all the time. $155,000 it's a lot of money, but it's a Cadillac Escalade. You're going to put this V8 engine in it and go with a Navigator. Lincoln has no answer for this engine. Neither do any of the Germans, really.
You drop this thing, and it's a howitzer. So I mean, it's literally the most Cadillac move I can think of in all the wrong and right ways. So yeah, let's go. There's no transition to the Escalade to the Q50, but you've been driving that. Please tell me, what's that been like?
BYRON HURD: I did not enjoy driving the Q50, not even a little bit. And there was a time in my life when I was 100% convinced that I wanted an Infinity G37.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah?
BYRON HURD: To the point where I'd actually I'd called up a CarMax dealer. I was like, hey, you've got a G37 in this color with a manual at this dealer. I'll drive out. They're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We will transfer it to your local CarMax, and you can come drive it here, and we will hold it for you. It won't get sold out from under you. So they went through all that. I think I actually at the time I had a Chevy Volt press car, and I drove over to play with this thing.
So you know it wasn't all that long ago in the grand scheme of things. And I drove it and came away from it thinking I don't know why I wanted that car to begin with. And then this Q50 shows up. I'm like, OK, this is like a second chance because, for some reason, I have these weird blind spots. We all develop them.
I think in this business where occasionally there's just a couple of cars that, for whatever reason, when they came up, it just wasn't your turn. Or they just weren't-- it just hasn't worked out. The GTR and the Q50, oddly, happen to be my two. That are just like-- that's a weird Nissan blind spot I have. And driving this, it brought back all the memories of all the reasons why I didn't end up buying the G37, and I can name most of them, and I think a lot of people will understand.
The seating position bugs me like crazy. It's simultaneously too high, and then, it doesn't seem to want to adjust-- quite like make me comfortable, and I'm not a very tall person or a very large person, so I should be somewhere in that mean range where one size fits all, but no.
The steering, especially the on center field, there's something to do with-- it's something about Nissan. It's their tire selection or something. But there's always that spot in the middle of the steering, and it's a little more exaggerated in their sportier cars because the steering is a little twitchier. Where you just don't get any feedback at all.
And it's one of those things where you can look away for half a second to glance at your instruments. To glance at the infotainment, and the car is pointed somewhere it wasn't when you started that, and the car never told you anything was happening in the meantime. There's just it's-- just that cruise steady state, it's just dead response. And it's annoying because you feel like you're constantly correcting on the highway, even though the car is not telling you it's going anywhere. And that drives me absolutely nuts.
And the engine in that thing just let me down. This was an all-wheel drive model, so it was the heavier one. But it just didn't feel like it was a 300-horsepower V6. Like I would have said, yeah, 240 horsepower four banger, something like that. So it's a car that I used to think I would love. They've had a couple of chances to get it right for me. Obviously, I'm not the only one in the world who buys cars. There's plenty of other people out there who this might be for.
But then again, we look at Infinity over the last few years and I don't know. I don't know that anyone has a really coherent idea of what their target customer is at this point. It just-- they feel like a very stagnant brand. And it's a brand that I would like to see do well because they build interesting cars based on other interesting cars.
It really doesn't feel like there's a lot of room to get this wrong. And yet they don't seem to quite get it right, and I'd like to see better. And I'd like to see it like an interesting red sport flagship vehicle from Infinity, but I feel like the ships sailed on that. If they were going to do it, they should have by now, and they haven't, so they're not going to.
And if we're lucky, we'll maybe see an electric sedan from them one day, but if it's going to be the Q50 parade until they're ready to transition, I'm not sure that they'll be able to rationalize going to an electric four door. After this, it'll probably just be crossover SUVs. So I don't know. But yeah, underwhelmed, I think, would be the word I would use, to sum up my experience with the Q50.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think to call back to our earlier discussion about Acura, I feel like Acura lost its way in the early 2010s. And Infinity had some mojo with some of these cars like you mentioned, the Q37-- the G37. I mean, some of those cars, if you look back at the [INAUDIBLE] back in that time, those sedans would come very close, if not beating like the 3 series and cars like that of the time.
Fast forward a few years later, and it feels like Acura has sort of usurped Infinity, and really gotten that design and performance mojo. And then Infinity has sort of backslid into this time where there's like, what is their identity? What exactly do they stand for, and what does their current lineup mean? I mean, I think it's-- like, literally, I had to Google what the Q50 was, and there's not much out there. [LAUGHS] It's a little bit of a sleeper car and not in the right ways.
So I think they've definitely underachieved after some pretty good success 10, 12 years ago, as far as like making things that we want to drive. To your point, we are not the target market for everybody out there. Perhaps this thing does have a landing area, but it does sound a bit underwhelming.
And I'm with you. That actually wasn't a blind spot back in that time. I drove a fair amount of Infiniti's, which was kind of weird at the time. Just the keys landed on my desk, and I really liked them, the crossovers, the FX was something kind of fun. They had that big V8.
BYRON HURD: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, that was a while-- like they were having some fun, and it showed. I don't necessarily think fun when I think of infinity right now. So I think that's all there is to say on that. How is the CX30, the Mazda?
BYRON HURD: Honestly, if it had a better infotainment system, it would pretty much be the only car I would recommend to people who want something small and like a hatchback form factor with all-wheel drive. It would just be automatic, even if they came to me and said, hey, I'm looking at a Honda Civic and a Toyota Corolla. And I'd be like, OK. Well, also look at the Mazda CX30, but sure those are both perfectly fine. I know that there's the trope that journalists recommend Mazdas to everybody, and I'm guilty of it often.
The infotainment does hold it back. It's fine. It's not great. It's a wonderful little car to drive. The turbocharged engine is glorious. That is the-- I mean, it's more engine than that little car needs, which in Mazda's time, that's not always been the way it's worked. It's usually been a chassis desperately in need of more engine. And in this case, it's the other way around, and honestly, that kind of overstates it. It's not like it overwhelms the car or anything like that.
But that thing is just wonderful to drive, and it's comfortable. It's quick. It sounds decent for what it is. It's just a wonderful little package, plenty comfortable, but still in need of improvements on the technology front, unfortunately. But that's true of basically everything Mazda sells. I think we'll get there. I mean, the software stuff theoretically is easier than the hardware stuff, right? So it shouldn't take too long for them to catch up on that, but it would just be nice to see them actually do it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. All right, so that's our reviews and our news section. We are going to talk about stuff. It's the holidays. It's getting pretty late in the holiday season. If you need some gift ideas, we're going to talk about the "Autoblog" Holiday Gift Guide. And with that, let's bring in Erik Maier. All right, welcome, Erik. Let's get into it. This is a pretty wide-ranging gift guide. We've got everything on here, from shoes to cast iron skillets to video game controllers, which is good.
It's midway through the month here now, and by the time you're listening to this show, it's getting to be crunch time. You've got to get some of these gifts ordered or get to the store yourself and get them. I mean, the thing I threw right in there, and I do this on a lot of gift guides, is the cast iron skillet. It's a Lodge, go to. I mean, are you a cast iron man yourself?
ERIK MAIER: Not yet, but I'm thinking I maybe should be. I've never been much of a chef in my life until actually pretty recently. I've just been on a nutrition kick, I guess you could say. I've been dropping some pounds, which is something I've been wanting to do for a few years.
But you know how it is. It's one of the-- it's often one of those things like, yeah, I'm going to-- I'm going to shed 10 pounds sooner or later. And then a couple of years go by, and you never do. But I've actually done it this past year, and a big part of that is just I've been cooking more.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
ERIK MAIER: But I have not actually gotten into the cast iron realm. So what have like what's the benefit here? What do you like about the cast iron?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I think it's universal. You can use it for just about anything. Lodge is like a very ubiquitous brand. I think they're one of the oldest and one of the best. They're very affordable too. The one I mentioned was a 12-inch cast iron skillet for just under 30 bucks. There was a sale at the time of-- at the time of publication. It's still a pretty good deal. It's a pan that will potentially outlive you if you take care of it.
And I like it for the actual experience of making food in it. It conducts heat very well and in a way that once you get used to it, it's very predictable. It's super hot. So unless you get one with like the sleeve on the handle, you really need to use a hot pad. It's great for putting like-- what I like to do is say I'm making a steak. I like to sear it sort of on the front end.
And then you can stick it in the oven, and with cast iron, it's a pan that could go right in the oven. You could use it on the grill top as well, outside, inside. It's obviously, like-- you always see in the press photos or the marketing photos, the scrambled or the fried egg. That's fine. You can definitely fry eggs in there, for sure. But that's almost like you can fry eggs, literally anything.
ERIK MAIER: Sure.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's really underserving or underselling it. I just think it's a great-- and it gives you that-- because over time, it gets that built-in seasoning. You get like a very rich flavor into like your meats or other things that you're not going to get if you're just using a Calphalon that you scrub out or chuck in the dishwasher after every use.
So that's why it's my go to. I think it's especially nice in winter because you're not going to be outside as much. Theoretically, you're not going to be grilling like I like to do once or thrice a week in the summer. So this gives you that kind of outdoorsy, woodsy, rustic experience. So I always go to that, but you went a total different direction with a video game controller.
ERIK MAIER: I did. Yeah, so I am one of the resident gamers here at "Autoblog." And I was thinking about there's the new "Need for Speed" game that just came out.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
ERIK MAIER: Anybody who's listening who's playing racing games, and that's a great choice if you're looking to get-- looking to get someone in your life who is into racing games a gift. But I figured because different people have different opinions on what kind of games they like. But you're never ever, ever going to go wrong with just a controller.
You can never have too many controllers. Either you want to have extras for when you have people over, or you want to have extras for when the one you've been using for a couple of years, inevitably just stops working the way that you expect it to. So that's why I went with the controller.
I've actually-- one of my controllers I've been using for a couple of years is just starting to not really work the way it should. So I'm in the market for a new one. This one, the one that I put in the gift guide, is actually 15% off. And by the way, to go back a bit, you mentioned at the time of publication, the skillet was 40% off. I just checked. It actually still is at the time of this recording.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, good deal.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, so if you're listening to this quickly, there's a chance you can still take advantage of that nearly half off under 30 bucks for a cast iron skillet. And then, 15% off 54.99 for a-- it's technically an Xbox controller, but you can use it with the Xbox One systems, the Xbox Series systems, and PCs as well.
If you have a PlayStation, you're going to be out of luck. But you can obviously still get PlayStation controllers as well. And I think that'd be a really good idea if somebody you want to get a gift for is into games, but you don't know what kind of games, get them a controller. It's probably not a bad idea.
GREG MIGLIORE: Some practical car-related things on here. We have some recovery traction boards, which will help you get your car, or in the case of managing editor Greg Rasa, his riding lawnmower--
ERIK MAIER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: --stuck. So that is a pretty cool thing, I think.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, I thought that was a really interesting use case. Not something that I would have thought of, but kind of genius after you think about it. If you have a riding lawnmower, especially if you live in a place where it tends to get kind of muddy here and there, that's a great idea.
And then, actually speaking of Greg Rasa, our managing editor, just the other week, we were watching some videos shot by our producer Amr. And Greg actually mentioned like, hey, how do you get this to look so smooth? The movement is just so smooth. And at the time, just in the work chat, Amr is like, oh, well, I actually use a Gimbal Stabilizer.
And he had the good idea to throw that in the gift guide as well. It's a DJI OM5 Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer. So you just throw your phone right in there, and it really stabilizes any movement. If you're the kind of person who likes to take videos on your phone, which is, let's be honest, almost everyone nowadays. Phone cameras are so crazy good.
But if you just want to have that extra bit of professionalism, so it's not just your hand, even if you've got a very steady hand, it's never going to be as steady as an actual Gimbal Stabilizer. And this one as well, not everything in the guide is discounted, but this one as well is currently discounted. It's 19% off. So if that's something that you like to do that's probably worth a look as well.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, you can-- this looks cinematic, which you would expect. Amr obviously is great at capturing all the videos. That's what a good chunk of the videos on the "Autoblog" are who they are from. But this is good even if you're not looking to do a professional shoot, if you will.
It's good if you want to get pictures or videos of your kids, of maybe your car if you have a cool car you have in your garage. A lot of different uses for that. It's a nice price point too, for like what you see for some of these going for. Let's put it that way.
A couple of other things on here we've got shoes and gloves. Why don't we start with the gloves? Senior producer Chris McGraw basically puts these on here. If you plan on spending from now until say the end of March outdoors, these are the gloves you need.
179 bucks, so they're not cheap. You really got to get into the sort of proverbial cost per wear because I don't know. Chris even notes this his right up, that spending a lot of money on gloves is a little-- it's just hard for some people to wrap their head around. Over the years, I've started investing in my outdoor gear.
Like I have a pretty nice North Face parka because I wear it every day, and I walk a large Golden retriever every day through snow drifts in the winter. It's worth it to me. These gloves may or may not be worth it to you. They're definitely a step up from the knit ones you could find at the checkout counter at CVS. But if you're going to be outside, you want your hands to be warm.
ERIK MAIER: Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. And Chris is our resident outdoorsman here at "Autoblog," and actually, I got the OK from him to shout this out. But if you are interested in this kind of thing, either these gloves specifically or his trail running shoes as well, or really anything outdoorsy, hit him up on Instagram.
His Instagram is almostadventurous. It's really easy. He's just really, really good with this kind of stuff. I mean, it's clear when you read his write ups about this stuff, he's just so passionate about it. And you're right. It does seem like a lot of money to spend on gloves.
But it's just thinking about like-- yeah, you can get a $20 to $40 pair of gloves. But it might only last this season, whereas this kind of a thing, you're hoping it's going to last for many, many years. So just doing that equation in your head and seeing what works for you.
GREG MIGLIORE: The problem with me is gloves are like sunglasses, I want to invest in them, and I want to use them, and I like them, but I lose them, or I break them. But like I said, these are tool gloves, if that's you, you should look at these because, I mean, they also look pretty cool too.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, they do look pretty cool, as do the trail running shoes that Chris recommended. And what I thought was cool about these, so I'm not a big trail runner, unfortunately. But I thought it was interesting, so these are trail running shoes, but Chris mentions in his write up that to get to the trail that he likes to run on, he actually has to run a few miles on pavement first.
And if you use traditional trail running shoes, obviously, that can be a little bit damaging to them. You don't want to use trail running shoes on pavement super often. But these specific shoes that he recommended in the guide, are actually kind of a hybrid.
So they should be able to stand up to situations like that, which I've got to assume a fair amount of people run into that issue. And if you're running to a trail, you probably don't want to carry an extra pair of shoes to switch into and out of. So getting a hybrid like this is pretty cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: HOKA is a brand that I don't know very much about, but recently, it feels like everybody it feels like in their 20s, 30s, and 40s is wearing them. I've just noticed them, and they make a nice shoe. Let me put it that way. I was probably the last person to figure out that Brooks running shoes are actually quite comfortable and good because I've been wearing New Balance and Nike's since high school track, and I just never switched.
But maybe HOKA will be one I will look at for my next pair if the dog starts to chew them up or I wear them out on her walks. Also, on her walks, L.L. Bean boots. A lot of different boots out there. These are not very tactical, but they're iconic if you will. I mean, if you've seen any of the ads-- I hate to reference ads. But the ad they put out this year where the guy is coming home for the holidays.
And then he goes outside, puts on his Bean Boots, and plays with the dog. And he's like be outside. Oh, yeah, that's a good approach. I believe they're still made in Maine, and you can get a lot of different versions, whether they're like the very basic leather boots or you get some insulation or padding. They're not the most comfortable boots you will ever own.
I'll put that out there, but they keep your feet generally pretty dry. They're sort of like the Jeep Wagoneer of boots. That iconic look. They're pretty affordable too. They're more expensive than what you might just pick up at Target, but they're not like Mercedes S-Class like, oh, hey, you're going to pay $300 bucks for these tactical boots. These are like everyday wear, that type of thing.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, I mean, I actually linked just the whole page of on the L.L. Bean website of boots, and they actually start at like $120, which I feel is very reasonable for a good warm boot nowadays.
GREG MIGLIORE: Indeed. I think the last thing I hear is a kayak rack if you need to put some kayaks on your cars. I like kayaking, but I don't own any hard kayaks. I own an inflatable one. It's kind of like a raft.
ERIK MAIER: Oh, cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: So I don't need to use this, but if you do, this is a solid one.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, so this is cool because it not only works for kayaks, but it also works for stand-up paddle boards.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, cool.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, so really anything in that realm that you want to do, this can help you out with. I mean, it's always like kayaking is so much fun, and it's really pretty easy to acquire a kayak nowadays, but transporting kayaks can be kind of a pain. So to have a good just a good rack like this, can definitely be really helpful if that's something that you do often.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's right. That's right. Any other gift guide insights or any other deals that we have coming down the transom here in the final days of the holiday season shopping rush?
ERIK MAIER: I know we're going to have a deal on-- well, a deal. We're going to have several deals on tires coming up here in the next-- well, actually, by the time this podcast comes out, it should be on the site. So keep an eye out for that, if you're in the market for tires for your vehicle. We've got options from Tire Rack, Costco, Amazon, so all over the place. You don't have to feel like you're being sucked into one place there.
But probably worth a look if you're in the market. There's definitely a lot of deals there. And also, there's a good chance that this gift guide that we're talking about right now will still be on the home page when this podcast comes out. So you're not going to have to dig super hard for it, so if it's something you're interested in just to see what the staff is looking forward to for the holidays, just go ahead and check it out on autoblog.com. It should be right there.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. Well, this is-- that's this week's show. For those of you that don't know, Erik Maier is our podcast producer.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: He's been doing it for years at this point.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: He also-- you may not know this, his group put together the theme music.
ERIK MAIER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Remind everybody what's the name of it and the name of the group what-- I think people might like to know what is our theme music, what's the back story there?
ERIK MAIER: Yeah, well, so actually, it has the name of a group, but it's actually just me. It's a solo endeavor, but it goes by the name of "Skyway Traffic." And yeah, it was just a couple of years ago I think we were just in the market for a new theme song.
And that's just probably my biggest hobby, so I'm sure I just asked like, hey, do you mind if I just whip something up? And yeah, you let me do it. I think it turned out pretty good. It still gets my toes tapping, so I hope it gets everybody else's toes tapping as well. [LAUGHS] But yeah, it's definitely fun.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. If you enjoy the show, that's five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send us your Spend My Money, I believe the tank is about empty. So this podcast is autoblog.com. Thanks for joining us for the front end of the show there, associate editor Byron Hurd. And we will let "Skyway Traffic" take us out.
[MUSIC PLAYING - ERIK MAIER, "SKYWAY TRAFFIC"]
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