In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Road Test Editor Reese Counts. After some talk about sponges and other randomly received oddities, this episode is all about the cars we've been driving, including the new Subaru Forester, VW Golf R (which is going on hiatus), BMW M340i xDrive and Ram Power Wagon. Then, they take to the mailbag to help a listener pick a sporty new car in the "Spend My Money" segment.
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GREG MIGLIORE: Hello and welcome to another episode of the "Autoblog Podcast." I'm Greg Migliore. Joining me today on this sunny August afternoon in the studio is "Road Test" editor Reese Counts. What's up, Reese?
REESE COUNTS: Well, I got some new sponges in the mail today.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't even know what to do with that. I had just stepped out of meeting--
REESE COUNTS: It was a really interesting--
GREG MIGLIORE: --and, yeah, there's a pile of sponges on your desk.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. You get these random packages every once in a while. And people send you stuff to try to review. I can't say I'm gonna review a set of sponges. But it's an interesting Thursday.
GREG MIGLIORE: But we'll use the sponges for sure.
REESE COUNTS: We will use the sponges.
GREG MIGLIORE: On the phones from Columbus, Ohio, where Big Ten football is about to kick off in three weeks, Jeremy Korzeniewski, Consumer Editor. Do you have any sponges?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I have no sponges. I didn't get any delivered today. I feel totally left out.
REESE COUNTS: Sorry, Jeremy.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sorry, Jeremy. What's the weirdest thing a PR person has sent you, Jeremy?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Sent me? OK, so I was just recently in Nashville for the Audi Q3 drive. And apparently some journalists were upset because they wanted to buy honey, local. And so Audi got honey for everyone and sent it to everyone who was on the trip in a little, itty-bitty take-home container. So I just got some honey.
REESE COUNTS: Honda gave me some maple syrup one time on, I think, the Accord drive. I think I left it in my hotel room because I didn't want to risk it shattering and getting maple syrup all over my luggage.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. The risk-reward there is pretty high. The honey would be good, honey toast. That's a children's book I think, or children's song. But yeah, if you destroy your entire wardrobe, that's not good.
REESE COUNTS: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So let's get into the cars we're driving this week. We've had a great fleet. So we're gonna talk about all the things we've been reviewing, including the Subaru Forester, the Volkswagen Golf R, the BMW M340i, and the Ram Power Wagon. Lastly, we will spend your money. Lots of good stuff to talk about this week.
Let's jump in with the Forester. This is a really critical car for Subaru. We're also very intrigued by what the Forester is, what it means. Jeremy, you spent a good deal of time in it down in your local fleet, if you will. Some initial impressions?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, actually it's parked out front right now. I've got it through the weekend. But I got it all last weekend. And I took it on a pretty long drive, a couple hundred miles.
Initial impressions, it's a crowd-pleaser. I took my wife in it, a couple of friends. And everybody who got in commented, wow, this thing's really nice for a Subaru. So I don't know if Subaru would be happy to hear the "for a Subaru" appended on the end. But I think that means it punches above its weight and it is better than expected. So that's good.
The one I've got is a really cool shade of-- it's like a dark blue. It's got black highlights instead of chrome, and really neat orange highlights just randomly scattered all over it. So it's a really good looking vehicle.
It's a Subaru Forester Sport. That's cool, but there's nothing sporty about it. It doesn't have a sporty ride, doesn't have a sporty steering, doesn't have sporty anything. It's basically just a regular Forester with an exterior package that makes it look a little sporty.
The best thing I can say is it gets killer gas mileage. I drove it for a couple of hundred miles with four people in it, air conditioning running the entire time. And I still got 32 miles per gallon, round trip, out of a tank. I was not expecting that.
Obviously it's all-wheel drive, like all-- well, basically all Subarus are. That usually cuts down mileage. The air conditioning, like I said, was running constantly because it was in the high 80s the entire time. I never shut it off. I also wasn't driving to maximize fuel efficiency. I was just driving like I normally do. So that was great, 32 miles per gallon.
Roomy, I liked that. There's a lot going on in the interior, some funky textures. Obviously they're doing-- they're trying to stand out, do different things. There's lots of, like, honeycomb in there-- both in the plastics and in the cloth interior. But overall, I think it works. It looks pretty cool. And it's comfortable. So, good car. I like it. I see why they sell a lot of them.
GREG MIGLIORE: So we asked this last week on the podcast because John had just gotten back from the Outback launch, a vehicle we also pay a lot of attention to. Are you a Forester or an Outback guy, Jeremy?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I am an Outback guy. You get all the benefits of having the wagon, the extra cargo space, without the drawbacks of worse efficiency. Though I am-- I gotta clearly admit that I got great fuel efficiency out of the Forester.
But I bet I'd get even better out of the Outback. And it just kind of suits my-- the wagon-shape suits my sensibilities a little bit more than the crossover shape.
GREG MIGLIORE: Reese, how about yourself?
REESE COUNTS: I'm with Jeremy, though for slightly different reasons. I like the extra space. But the Outback has always been the more powerful vehicle. You could get the flat-6 until recently. The new one's got what? Turbo flat-4? I think the flat-6 is gone, which is disappointing. But you know, it's the faster--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Is that the same turbo flat-4 that they're putting in the Ascent, the 7-passenger?
REESE COUNTS: I'm pretty sure. Which is not-- I don't love that engine. But I don't know. It's faster. But like Jeremy, I like the wagon-shape.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I'm with you. I said this last week, but I'll say it again. I'm an Outback guy. I think it's a little bit more fun to drive. I feel like it has a little bit more of a soul than the Forester. And I'm really excited about the new one. I do like the Forester though. I could easily drive that and be happy.
REESE COUNTS: So I guess we could probably tease it now. We're getting a long-term Forester.
GREG MIGLIORE: Good point. Long-term Forester. Any ideas when that's gonna arrive?
REESE COUNTS: I'm expecting it to be here in the next few weeks. So I'm excited. Like we all just said, we kind of agreed that we're Outback guys. But hell, a year with a Forester could really turn me around. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: A long time ago when I was at "Autoweek," we had the Forester for a year. And then we had the Outback. It replaced it. So maybe we work a similar setup. Who knows?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. And Jeremy is driving a Forester Sport. I believe we're getting a Forester Limited, whatever the top trim was. We considered the Sport. But I think we want to test some of the other features. And I don't think most people are going to go for the Sport model. So yeah, I'm excited. I'm glad to hear Jeremy likes it.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think of the Outback as the quintessential Subaru. You know? People who are drawn to the Subaru brand, and everything that it represents, are probably drawn first and foremost to the Outback-- and I think probably the Crosstrek too, which is like the "crossover-ized" version of the Impreza without actually being a crossover.
But everybody loves crossovers. They sell like crazy here in the United States. They are the de facto family car. So yeah, I think it will be awesome having a Forester for a year.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I think we're gonna get a lot of use out of it. I think it's gonna arrive just in time for football, tailgating, things like that. So yeah, looking forward to it. Side note, tailgating-- Jeremy, I always refer to you being from Columbus. Where do your football allegiances lie actually? Is it Ohio State?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. I feel like if you're gonna live in Ohio, and you're gonna be a college football fan, you're best off rooting for the Buckeyes. And growing up in Toledo, it's split right down the middle between U of M, Michigan, and Ohio State. It's actually closer to Michigan, the university. But obviously you're living in Ohio.
My wife is a Michigan fan. I'm an Ohio State fan. So at least one day out of every year we have a really interesting day.
GREG MIGLIORE: Interesting, interesting. Yeah, my wife went to U of M. And I also went to Michigan State. So a lot of Big Ten stuff going on here. Reese, you're a bit south of that.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, I'm an Auburn grad. So I'm a-- I go for Auburn unless they're playing Bama, 'cause I also went to Bama.
GREG MIGLIORE: Not too many people have done that.
REESE COUNTS: I get a lot of trouble. So Bama and Auburn are my teams. I will say, I didn't grow up in the South. So I can root for both and not feel bad about it. But yeah, I usually go for the SEC teams. It's been a weird few years. But I think we've got a good season. You guys can't see it but Jeremy is laughing on the other end of the video.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Well, an SEC guy living in Big Ten country.
REESE COUNTS: Oh, yeah, it's--
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, the interesting thing about that though is this is the one place you could get away with being both an Alabama and an Auburn fan.
REESE COUNTS: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: Because that'd be like saying you're a Michigan and Ohio State and Michigan State and Notre Dame fan here. You couldn't do that. But move, what 1500 miles away, and sure-- cheer for everybody in the SEC. Nobody cares up here.
REESE COUNTS: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: Speaking of tailgates, we're gonna have a Ranger. Will tease this one out too. That is joining our semi-long-term fleet for about maybe six weeks or so, coming up on Friday. Super-psyched about that. That'll be awesome for tailgates 'cause it literally has a tailgate of course. But pickups are really good for that sort of thing.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, I'm excited. The Ranger won our comparison tests in the spring. We liked it so much we asked Ford if we could keep one for a little longer than we usually do. So yeah, I think six weeks is about what we've got it, give or take a little.
And yeah, it'll be fun. I mean, it's always good to have a pickup truck around. I think we all really like this one. I can't say much more about it now because it's not actually here.
GREG MIGLIORE: Right. I can say this, I plan on taking it to, in the football theme here, the Michigan State-Arizona State game. It's Arizona or Arizona State that's coming to Lansing sometime in September. So I think that would be a good tailgate vehicle.
Anyways, let's talk about a Volkswagen Golf R. Not quite as good for football tailgating, but we had a lot of fun with it. Magma orange exterior was the color. One of our co-workers here in the office, who lives in my neighborhood, saw me. And he was like, I knew that had to be Greg because nobody's blasting through the subdivisions of metro Detroit in a bright orange Volkswagen but him.
I had a lot of fun with the Golf R. It's got the 2.0 litre turbo. 4Motion, so that's kind of cool. This one was a manual. That was a thing. You didn't used to be able to get the Golf R with the manual.
That was sort of the trade-off. If you wanted more power you step out of the GTI, you could do that. But it was only the double-clutch. Now you can get the manual, which I think is cool. The downside to all of this-- and of course you get the all-wheel drive, which is a good thing-- is this one cost almost $44,000, which is a lot of money for a Golf.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. It's a lot of money for a Golf. And I say that as a former GTI owner. It's a lot of money for a Golf. Now, this thing's really good. I think the design-- I mean, it's a few years old. We're at the tail end of the Mk VII Golf's life. And I think it still really holds up.
The paint, like you said, it's-- if you buy the Golf R, which you can only do for the 2019 model. We found out earlier this week they're stopping production, or stop selling it in the US for 2020. But we know it'll be back. I mean, this thing sells relatively well. You can get it one of 20 or 30 colors, including this magma orange.
I think it looks pretty good. I had it last night, photographed it. I actually brought it back in, 'cause I had it a few weeks ago. I took it to my parent's place in St. Louis for a week. It really made me miss my GTI. It looks good. It's super-comfortable. It's really quick. The stick shift is good.
I just-- the price, man. I don't think it's worth the money over the GTI. You can get a GTI for under $30,000. I think, around $27,000 or $28,000 base price. And even a fully loaded GTI, it may be down on power.
And yes, you don't get all-wheel drive. But it's, like, $34,000. I mean, it's like 10 grand less than this thing is. And I don't think the Golf R is 10 grand more car. Now, I like this thing a whole lot. I just don't think it's worth that extra money.
GREG MIGLIORE: I agree with you 100%. 288 horsepower is very nice. That's a lot of horsepower in a Golf. I mean, it's a really fun little go-kart to run around town in. That being said, for like $27,000, $28,000 you get a pretty nice GTI. The engagement is there.
To me, the reason you buy this car is the chassis dynamics and just how, again, engaging the manual transmission is. The shift action, the clutch feel-- I mean, that to me, you just really feel-- I'll use the cliche "one with the road." The steering dynamics, it's all there.
And you don't need extra horsepower to really enjoy it that much. It's sort of like if you have one shot of espresso, do you really need two? I mean, I don't know. That's a bad analogy.
But I totally agree with you. I think the GTI, to me, is as good as it needs to be. Now, am I glad they make this car in a world where we have a lot of different options? If this is what you want, sweet. Go get it. That's fine.
But if you're trying to make somewhat of a rational decision on this, I feel like the GTI is just the smarter play-- because you get like-- what would you say? 85%, maybe 90%, of the fun factor, if you will, of a Golf R. I mean, just for me, I don't need that extra horsepower. And at that point you're just spending more money.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. I mean, if you look at the numbers, on paper the Golf R is a second, second and a half quicker to 60. But if you're just driving around town, it doesn't feel any quicker. The only people I can ever really recommend the Golf R to are people that really need all-wheel drive.
Be it weather, or if you're going to tune it, having all-wheel drive is really nice to be able to put all that power down. But most of the time, the GTI feels just as quick. And it's just really hard to justify the price difference. Plus you don't get the tartan seats in the Golf R, which is something I love.
GREG MIGLIORE: I'd do the same thing. I absolutely would get those seats. How are you with the all-wheel drive though? Is that a difference-maker for you? Now, here's where I'm gonna say I don't care about it.
Because in a Michigan winter, you're already in a fairly small, low to the ground car. You can slap winter tires on a GTI and I think get about the same, maybe an even better experience, than an all-wheel drive in all-seasons-- or whatever this Golf R is on. So I think that's the solution.
My other point here, though, is even if you did slap winter tires and had all-wheel drive, which is really aggressive, you're still in a small, low to the ground car with not much ground clearance. You're gonna get stuck in the snow most of the time anyway. There's just some situations where a Golf is gonna be kind of rough for you. So I wouldn't pay the premium for the all-wheel drive.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. I'd rather spend maybe $1,000 on a set of winter tires and a second set of wheels than spend another 10 grand on the Golf R because it's got all-wheel drive. I mean, outside of the price, I love the Golf R.
GREG MIGLIORE: No, I do too.
REESE COUNTS: It's just really hard for me to justify the price when the GTI is as good as it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Would you get one used?
REESE COUNTS: Golf R?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Maybe?
REESE COUNTS: Maybe. I mean, used, it's a lot more compelling. You don't--
GREG MIGLIORE: Let somebody else take the hit?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. See where it comes down. It depends on what I wanted to do with it. I don't know. I still think it's hard to justify the price over the GTI. But if you're gonna track it, if you're gonna tune it, that little bit of extra grip is worth considering.
GREG MIGLIORE: Tracking or tuning it is very interesting. Side note, don't GTIs look amazing with gnarly steel wheel covers on the winters?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think those look so awesome.
REESE COUNTS: When I still had mine the first winter I was here in Michigan-- I only kept it for one winter. But I had coilovers and I--
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, that's nice.
REESE COUNTS: So I lifted it all the way up to get some extra ground clearance. And then I had steelies and some Blizzaks on there. It looked really good. 'Cause it was red, but it had the black wheels and black trim on it. I miss my GTI a lot.
GREG MIGLIORE: Jeremy, GTI or Golf R?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm won over by your argument. If I were making a suggestion, probably the standard GTI, especially with the tartan seats and save yourself a little bit of money. I'm not totally sure though that I would do that. The Golf R is pretty fun to drive. I think it makes a pretty compelling case.
Like, Reese was just talking earlier about, oh, the Outback's more powerful. The Golf R is more powerful than the GTI too. And I see that argument on both sides. The practical side of me would probably try to save a little bit of money and have just as much fun with the GTI. But yeah, I'm not hating on the Golf R.
GREG MIGLIORE: Fair enough. I think that's a reasonable take too. We can't all agree on everything.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. And like I said, the Golf R is still really good and still a ton of fun. And I think I'd probably buy Golf R over an Audi S3. I mean, you'd get the hatchback and probably more features. And the S3 is basically a sedan version of that car.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's interesting. Wait. So you would get a Golf R over an A3?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't think I'd do that. I really like the A3 though. S3 though you're saying--
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, 'cause they've both got all-wheel drive. They've both got the same 280 horsepower.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's the same chassis.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. It's just the sedan form factor. I'd probably get the Golf R just for the hatchback. But anything on that platform, anything on that--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I mean, the real problem here is the price of the Golf R right?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah. We love the car.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: We all love the thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: There's no problem with the car.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: We just think it's-- we just think it's really expensive. I mean, you could get two GTIs probably. Yeah, save one. Put winter tires on it and only drive it in the winter.
REESE COUNTS: So all of that said, I've seen some really good deals on anything in the Golf lineup. So if you're looking, and you get a good deal on a Golf R, go for it. I mean, it's-- I think we all agree. It's a really good, really fun car. It just is you pay a little more.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool. So why don't we move on to paying a little more. Side note, can you believe how much football we've talked and it's like August 7?
REESE COUNTS: No kidding.
GREG MIGLIORE: Wait till football season actually starts. Anyways, so for just south of $70,000, that will get you a BMW M340i X-drive 2020 flavor. We had this come through the fleet. I know, Jeremy, you spent some time in one recently as well on the track. Was it in Portugal? Is that where you did it?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, that's right. So BMW launched the lower level, the 330i that everyone's actually gonna buy. They launched that and gave us a little preview of the more powerful 340. But they didn't let us drive it on public streets. It was still wearing camouflage, all that kind of good stuff.
But we did have fun with it on the track. And yeah, I mean, it's 90% of the way to an M3 right. It's knocking on M3's door. If you go back a couple of generations to the M3s that everybody absolutely raved about, this is just as powerful, probably just as fast. So I think it's a great car.
GREG MIGLIORE: If you had it on the track, which I think is really where you get the value for having all of this M-car light pieces-- I think that's where you see, again, the value. I drove it basically around town. I know, Reese, you took it to lunch and had some fun with it.
I mean, it's a really enjoyable car to drive. That 3-litre twin turbo inline 6 is a really nice motor, sounds pretty good. It looks OK. I think, again, this is where I'll do-- I'll try to keep this brief-- a little bit of hand-wringing over the looks of the 3-Series now, especially in whatever M-flavor they gussy it up with. It seems like there's a lot going on.
A guy in our office has an older 3-Series, maybe 15 years old, maybe. And I couldn't help but just be taken by how simple and clean and elegant that car was. And then I'm looking at ours and I'm like, God, this thing looks like it's so far in the future compared to that. Very sophisticated from the headlights to the trim to the wheels.
And I'm also like, man, there's so much going on here. It's like a chocolate shake with a bunch of different flavors mixed into it. I kind of think less is more with some of these you know Beamer design cues. Anyways, good to drive. I liked all the different ways you could tailor the driving experience.
I was definitely fired up to drive it. I don't know how you guys felt. But I mean, anytime a 3-Series comes through, I'm fired up. I want to drive it. I want to see if this fits with my notion of what the 3-Series is in my own head. And that actually usually leads me to more cognitive dissonance. 'Cause there's no car I like to obsess over more than the 3-Series.
Long story short, I enjoyed it. It was pretty good. I'm not sure if I-- I am sure. I wouldn't say this is the best thing you could buy in this segment. I think what Mercedes is doing, those cars are a little-- I think they tend to have a little more gravitas, if you will. I think their design is better inside and out. The motors, I think, are about a wash.
But this is near the top of the segment. But I wouldn't say it's my absolute pick anymore. And I used to love all versions of the 3-Series. Let's put it that way. This one-- a very nice car though.
$69,570. Lots of different goodies on here. It had the executive package. The premium package, which just means it gets heated things, automatic high beams with Aikon adaptive LEDs, with laser lights-- I didn't even know those were here. That's interesting. So, cool things there-- some driver assisted stuff. And my personal favorite, the Oyster Vernasca Leather for $1,400.
So a very expensive car. I think if you take a lot of those coloring and trim options, you get it down into the 50's, which is a little bit more reasonable. But what did you think, Reese?
REESE COUNTS: So I only really took it to lunch, blasting it up and down Woodward. So I really didn't get a chance to check out the chassis or the all-wheel drive system. But I mean, it kind of goes without saying, but that inline 6 is a peach. It's so good.
BMW builds one hell of an engine. It sounds good. It's super-smooth. Next to no turbo lag. It's paired really well with that 8-speed automatic.
Yeah, looks aside, chassis and everything aside, we've knocked the last generation 3-Series for being a little disconnected relative to other ones. But I never had a complaint about the engine. Yeah, it's still really good. I've got this one for the weekend. I'm excited to spend some more time in it.
But you were talking about the competitors. So we had a C63 in last week. The C43 is kind of-- it's the twin turbo V6. It's kind of the direct competitor to this M340.
C43-- I'm looking at Mercedes Benz. It starts at $56,000. Now, you could probably load one up with $15,000 of options for $70,000. Equal money, which one would you get?
GREG MIGLIORE: I'd go with the Benz. And that's tough for me to say, because I really like the 3-Series. But just right now, I think the C-class is just killing it. Everything top to bottom is engaging. It's stylish. It stands out, I think.
I would say, Mercedes got a little more aggressive with its design. And I think they pulled it off. I think BMW got a little more aggressive with its design and they didn't quite pull it off. I feel like their cars look a little overwrought to me. So there's that.
And I think when you put it into the various M-dressings, whether it's a full M car or just one of these slightly diet M versions, either way I think it's still a little bit overdone. It's a very good car. If you're a hardcore BMW person, you're gonna like this more than the Mercedes, of course you are, or the Audi. But yeah, I'd have to go with Mercedes. It's a great question.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, I'm with you there. Initial impressions were good. And maybe after this weekend I'll have changed my mind. But the C-class is really good. I mean, the base C-class is good. And the AMG version is just built on it.
I will say, I don't like the V6 in the Mercedes as much as the powertrain in the BMW. But I think the rest of the car kind of makes up for it. But yeah, I mean, it's hard to go wrong with either of them.
GREG MIGLIORE: At the end of the day, I mean, I do like the inline configuration. I mean, how often-- yes, if you're a true car guy gearhead, you'll notice some of those differences. But at the end of the day, how often are you thinking, am I driving a V6 or an inline 6? You know? So there is somewhat of that.
REESE COUNTS: See, what I'm hoping for is the new Mercedes inline 6 from the AMG 53 models will come over to the C-class at some point.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, that would be cool.
REESE COUNTS: That'll be awesome.
GREG MIGLIORE: That would be cool. Jeremy, any final thoughts on this? I know you tracked it, which frankly you probably had the coolest experience of any of us driving these things. But any final thoughts on this car?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I mean, it's always a fun day when you get to spend time on a track, especially in a powerful car. And we had some lead/follow laps, which isn't quite as ideal. But at least we had a ex-Formula 1 driver leading.
Yeah, I have to agree with everything you guys have said. It was fun to drive it on the track. I actually have also driven the C-class in various different AMG trim levels, including the 43.
And yeah, I err on the side of the Benz as well. I think the design is better. I just prefer-- especially inside, the interior of Mercedes Benz recent models are heads and tails better than BMW, in my opinion. And dynamically, I don't think there's that much probably in between them. I think both of them feel a little bit synthetic from behind the wheel.
Those days of perfect crisp steering that-- superlative, superlative, et cetera, et cetera. That doesn't really exist these days. I think we have to stop complaining about it a little bit just because it is what it is. But I fall on the side of the Mercedes as well.
GREG MIGLIORE: All righty. Sounds good. Let's move on to the Power Wagon. Reese, you spent some time in this one. This is the newer one. I'm a big fan of Power Wagons. Just going back, every time I get in one I feel like it's a special experience. It just has so much presence.
It's one of the vehicles that I think, even though it is so large, it's still controllable and reasonable and you can handle it. And I like all those things about it. But you spent the most time in this one. So why don't you take us through what you did with it. And what'd you think?
REESE COUNTS: I love the Power Wagon. So a lot of people will try to compare this to the F150 Raptor. And I think it's a bit of an insincere thing. They are both these done-up, off-road vehicles. But they are going after different things.
The F150 is kind of a dune-runner. It's faster. It's got a big powerful engine. Not that the Power Wagon doesn't, but the Power Wagon is not made to go super-fast. It's got the Hemi, which is great and it sounds awesome.
But it's got live axles. It sits big. It's got the winch out front. It's made for trail-crawling and going up and just conquering damn near anything you want. This thing's so cool. And the one we had was-- let's see. It was red-- flame red clearcoat.
GREG MIGLIORE: So did it have the graphics on the side?
REESE COUNTS: Oh, yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
REESE COUNTS: So it had the vertical graphics along the-- on the side of the bed, just behind the cab.
GREG MIGLIORE: As one does.
REESE COUNTS: It had the Ramboxes. I stuck my--
GREG MIGLIORE: Best thing ever. Love the Ramboxes.
REESE COUNTS: The Ramboxes are--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I love the Rambox.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, it's awesome. I think the Ramboxes-- I think they are-- I know they are on the 1500. But they've got little drain holes. You can fill 'em with ice, and if you're tailgating, put beer, soft drinks, or whatever you're putting in there-- pop, sorry.
GREG MIGLIORE: There you go.
REESE COUNTS: It's Michigan.
GREG MIGLIORE: Pop is Michigan.
REESE COUNTS: I have to say, pop.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, it's Coke in the South. Everything's Coke.
REESE COUNTS: Everything is Coke in the South.
GREG MIGLIORE: But everything is Coke in the South. Nobody drinks Pepsi, right?
REESE COUNTS: No. So yeah, this thing has got some presence. I don't think I've driven-- the last thing I think I drove that felt this cool running around, was probably the Jeep Gladiator that we had in the spring. And this is just kind of a Gladiator taken to another extreme.
They're both long. They're both not necessarily the fastest vehicles in the world. But they kind of have a similar purpose. Live axles-- they're about just conquering trails and going. And yeah, this thing is so damn cool. And I know I keep using that word. But few vehicles on the road just make me feel this happy immediately, as the Power Wagon.
I just-- I threw my dog in the back. We just went around, cruised, had the windows down. It was just a really lovely time in this car. Yeah, Power Wagon is so, so great.
GREG MIGLIORE: You know when I like to drive a Power Wagon, when I don't have to haul something, is a Wednesday night. Like, a day that's just a random normal day of the week, get in a Power Wagon and suddenly it becomes an experience. So I think that's a cool thing.
Then you feel excited to get up Thursday morning and drive it into work. These are the random things I think about. So, Jeremy, when do you like to drive the Power Wagon and what do you think of it?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I like to drive the Power Wagon not in Seattle, Washington.
GREG MIGLIORE: Fair enough.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Because I lived in Seattle for four years prior to Columbus, Ohio. And I've driven in some big heavy duty pickup trucks, and Power Wagon being among them. In the confines of a city, it's pretty terrible.
Obviously the gas mileage is terrible, but you expect that. I'm not gonna ding a heavy duty, off-road pickup truck for its gas mileage. But just getting around in the thing, finding parking spots, fitting in narrow lanes, that's just a disaster. But it makes a lot more sense in Detroit or in Columbus, Ohio, again, outside the city-- the suburbs, when you don't have those size restrictions and constraints.
So that out of the way, I love the Power Wagon. Everybody talks about the Raptor. And I do love the Raptor. But, man, the Power Wagon is kind of like if-- I mean, you can't describe the Raptor as a scalpel or something like that.
But compared to the Power Wagon, which is like a sledgehammer, that comparison kind of works. And wielding the sledgehammer is kind of fun. So yeah, big fan of the Power Wagon.
I do have to admit, I haven't driven one with the new interior in it yet. The old Ram interior was just OK. I bet you that the new one, that Reese has driven, that really puts it over the edge.
I actually really love the vertical-oriented, big touchscreen in the center. I know that's kind of controversial. Some people don't like that vertical orientation. But I think it's cool. So yeah, big fan of the Power Wagon.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, this one had the new-- it's pretty much the same interior as the 2018, 2019 Ram 1500, which personally I think is best in class. I think pretty much everybody agrees with that. Yeah, the new interior is good. The big touchscreen is good. The Power Wagon has got a bench seat up front, which you don't really see anymore.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sweet. I didn't know that. That's an amazing factoid.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, I can't really think of anything--
GREG MIGLIORE: Now, I'm just sad.
REESE COUNTS: Leather-covered bench seat. I mean, this was not just plastic.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, man.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, it was cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: We need to get another one in here, because I missed this one. So you're telling me there's a leather bench seat in existence right now?
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: That's great.
REESE COUNTS: I don't know. This thing's so cool. My wife loves riding around in it. Like Jeremy said, he used to live in Seattle. I used to live in Los Angeles. If I was back there, this would not be a fun thing to drive around. But cruising around Detroit, where the roads are wide and then it's straight and flat, it's fine. It's so much fun.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool. So should we spend some money?
REESE COUNTS: Let's spend some money.
GREG MIGLIORE: So this is a good one. So this is on another vehicle that I like a lot. So this is-- let's see. Let me just scroll down here. We have a gentleman who was-- he'd written us earlier. This is Dave from Houston. And he wanted to know how he was gonna replace his 4Runner. And things have changed a little bit.
So now he's gonna keep the 4Runner as his daily driver for the foreseeable future, which I think is awesome. Great move. I like that a lot. "Thanks for the recommendations, though." Hey, happy to help. But now what he wants to do is get a second car to scratch his itch for a fun, sporty, and engaging vehicle.
Here are the requirements. Buckle up, guys. Four seats, so he can put both kids in the car. Trying to get them excited about sports cars when they grow up. I put my kid in the front of a McLaren. So yeah, totally support that notion. It wasn't moving, just for clarity here.
He wants a manual transmission. Preferably rear-wheel drive, but open to the all-wheel drive amenities out there. "Reliable and inexpensive to maintain." OK, that's gets a little trickier. Targeted budget in the range of $20,000. Looks like a little bit less than $20,000 actually. "Willing to stretch, though, for the right vehicle. Used are good. Easy to find on the used market." OK.
Here's some of the things. FRS BRZ 86s, Mustang GTs-- he's kind of torn between the pros and cons, thus he's writing to us-- open to other ideas. Couple of ways he breaks this down. Likes the purity of the Toyota Motor Co sports cars. Also can't really get him into trouble is what he's saying. OK, I'd buy that.
Likes the idea of the growly V8 for the 'Stang. For the money, I'd agree with that. Hoping we can help him out. He loves the podcast. Hey, thanks for writing in. We love this question. So, Reese, I know you've had some thoughts on this. Let's start with you.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, so I got a whole list here. First I'll address the BRZ-Mustang comparison. I would go with the Mustang. If you don't need it as your daily driver, and you're not having to worry about fuel in the Mustang, it's bigger. It's gonna have a bit more room in the backseat for your kids.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, it has four seats too.
REESE COUNTS: Well, so does the BRZ.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, you're right. Good point.
REESE COUNTS: Tiny. Tiny, tiny backseats. But they are there. It sounds better. It's gonna be way faster. On a road, it's not gonna feel quite as sharp or nimble.
I really like the steering on the BRZ 86 FRS, that chassis. But out of those two, I'd go with the Mustang. But I made a pretty decent list of some other cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice.
REESE COUNTS: First off, BMW M3. You can get a E46 for under $20,000. And that's a really good car with a really good chassis, really good steering, really good engine, and backseats. And like I said, if it's not your daily driver, you don't have to worry as much about maintenance and stuff with that. So M3s, they're out there.
That was the only really rear-drive car I could think of. But some all-wheel drive ones, Mitsubishi Evo or a Subaru WRX STI. Those are gonna be stupid fast. They're gonna have four actual doors. So they're easy to get people in and out of the backseat. But still a ton of fun.
And one oddball choice. If you were willing to hunt for one, you can get an old Skyline GTR. They're in America. They're all-wheel drive. They've got a backseat. The steering wheel is on the wrong side. But that's a lot of car.
And it's a special and rare car. You pull up to a Cars & Coffee, it's gonna get some attention. It might get your kids excited about it because nobody else is gonna have a car like your dad.
So yeah, those are my suggestions. Out of all those, I might go with the GTR. If it's not your first car and you don't have to worry about driving it every day, get something a little cool. Get something a little rare.
GREG MIGLIORE: That is an excellent Joel "Stocksdalesque" version of different options. So that's very cool. I like all of those. The Evo is one I didn't even think of. And that car really holds a special place in my heart. I don't know, man, though. That's rough to drive. That is to me the definition of second car. It will beat you up.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, it was-- I just went on eBay and was searching through filters. And there was a handful of 'em on there, same with the WRXs and STIs. The Evo is not a comfortable car. But it's a ton of fun. And it's not gonna be too expensive to maintain.
GREG MIGLIORE: The personality levels that you bring up with this sub-section of options, I think that really is where you get into some interesting things. 'Cause the BRZ and its siblings if you will-- and the Mustang GT are brilliant cars. But show up in an M3 E46, heck yeah.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah. Everybody's got a Mustang. Everybody's got a BRZ. I don't know. If you really want to get your kids excited, get something that's a little obscure. Get something that's a little more rare. 'Cause it's always gonna get attention.
GREG MIGLIORE: Jeremy, any thoughts?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. I mean, I've thought a little bit about this. Reese covered a lot of bases there. And I like where he's coming from with those. I have a few choices to add to that. I think the thing that he did mention in there is availability, ease of finding them.
And something like a GTR, yeah, they're out there. You can find it. But you're gonna do some looking. And if something goes wrong, you're gonna have to do some even harder looking for parts. So that's a concern. Not dogging the choice, I think it's a great choice.
Some other options-- BMW 135is. You can't quite get into the 1-Series M at this budget. But you can get into a 135is with a 6-speed. And you have a choice of either the coupe or convertible. And this is like M-car light. We were talking about the M340i in comparison to the M3 earlier.
The 135is was a great car. It was the turbo inline 6, which it had more power than the standard 135. Let me look it up real quick. 20 extra horsepowers, 17 more pound feet of torque. So that's 320 total horsepower, 317 pound feet.
That engine's underrated for what it's worth. And hooked up to a 6-speed manual rear-wheel drive, that's a really good car. That was one of those cars that we talk about as having great BMW steering still. So yeah, take a look at that.
Other options that I jotted down-- Cadillac CTS-V, one of the first generation ones with the 400 horsepower small block, 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive. A really fun car. And he mentioned that he likes the idea of the burbling V8 under hood. Checkmark with that.
If you're looking at Mustangs, why not look at Challengers too? You can get an SRT, or even a 392 with a 6-speed, in your price range. A little bit higher mileage. Probably around 2011 year was where you'd fall into that. But that's a lot of fun. That's a big, powerful V8 engine, especially if you get the 392.
I did a quick little search using "Autoblogs Classified Ads-Finder." And I did see some nationwide available, a 2011 392 with a 6-speed. So that's a good choice.
A little bit oddball, but a car that I have a lot of fun with-- and it's not what I'd recommend. But I'm just throwing it in here and mentioning it. You can get a Fiat 500 Abarth, with the fun, little rollback canvas roof. That car spits and pops. And the manual transmission-- I mean, it's very different from anything else that we talked about.
He mentioned rear-wheel or all-wheel drive. This is front-wheel drive. But just throwing it out there because I have a lot of fun in that car. And it popped into my head when I was doing these searches. But my top choice, I would go Mustang before I went the 86. I agree with Reese there between the two that he recommended. My top choice besides the Mustang would be that BMW 135is.
REESE COUNTS: So it's funny you mentioned the 135. I didn't really even think about it. A good friend of mine-- we go back 20 years-- is a BMW mechanic, and had a 135is that he tuned. That thing was a lot of fun. And for a while I was looking at buying a used one too.
Like Jeremy said, the steering is really good. The engine's underrated. If you want to throw some tunes on there, you can get a lot of power for not a lot of money. Even if you don't, a stock one is still a really, really good car. Short wheelbase, it's pretty nimble. That's a good call, Jeremy. I can't believe I missed that one.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think what I love here is we took the suggestions, and then we've totally muddied the waters.
REESE COUNTS: Exactly.
GREG MIGLIORE: Added like half a dozen more. So I'll just chime in and say I really like the M3, the E46. I just that is-- to me, that's just what I would get, given this amount of money. I wouldn't say they're super easy to find.
But there's two of them here on "Bring A Trailer" that look pretty good-- a 2004 coupe, 6-speed. And then one with 13,000 miles-- well, that one's about $25,000. So again-- well, hey, he said he could stretch his budget. So why not?
That to me is-- if I were looking at cars like this, I think I would go with that. Because I would enjoy the-- to me, I talked about what the M340i meant, and how I couldn't totally reconcile all that. Well, I don't have to with this. This is exactly what I want and how I believe in the M3 and the 3-Series. So that's what I'd do.
Lots of other good options here. BRZ is always intriguing. I really like that one. Mustang GT-- sure, you can't go wrong with that. Keep the 4Runner though. Good move. So that's my choice, would be the E46 M3. I dig it. Reese, what did you actually settle on? Did you actually settle on one?
REESE COUNTS: If you're picking E46 and Jeremy's going with 1-Series, I'm gonna go with the oddball choice and just try to find a GTR.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, that's cool.
REESE COUNTS: I think they're cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: Hey, write us back, Dave. Let us know what you do end up going with.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah, this is a good group. I'm genuinely curious. Especially-- the 4Runner good. I'm curious what you do end up with.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool. Hey, thanks for writing. And to the rest of you, thanks for listening. It's been a great episode. I've really enjoyed hanging out with you guys. Talked a little football. The season is upon us. But we had a lot of great cars too.
Summer's still here. We have Woodward. We have Pebble coming up. So, lots of good stuff on "Autoblog." Lots of good podcasts coming up. Get out there and drive something though. And listen to the "Autoblog Podcast." So that's your "Spend my Money." But overall, be safe out there. We'll see you next week.
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ERIC MYER: Hey, everybody this is Podcast Producer Eric Meyer here. I just wanted to chime in at the end of the episode and let everybody know that "Autoblog" has merchandise now. We've got t-shirts, coffee mugs, hoodies, throw pillows, you name it.
You can find it all at redbubble.com/people/autoblog. Or you can just search "Autoblog" on redbubble.com. As always, thanks for listening to the show. And we'll see you next week.
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