Driving the GMC Hummer EV and the Mercedes-Benz EQE, EQS and EQS SUV | Autoblog Podcast #750
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they talk about driving Mercedes' fleet of EQ electric vehicles, including the EQE Sedan, the AMG EQS Sedan and the EQS SUV. They also talk about piloting the Acura NSX Type S. Next, they discuss the reveal of the 2024 Maserati GranTurismo, including the all-electric Folgore trim, as well as the Ferrari SP51 roadster. Finally, they talk about some of the best (including some unusual) car features for kids.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to the "Autoblog Podcast." I'm Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you today. We've been driving some red hot electric vehicles. Lots of fun things, the Hummer EV. It's as big and powerful and crazy as you might think. Some really expensive Mercedes electric vehicles.
And then senior editor for all things green, John Snyder, has been driving the Acura NSX Type S, which has a little bit of like hybrid technology. But it's also a really fun car to drive. So with that, I'll bring in John. What's going on?
JOHN SNYDER: How's it going? Man, yeah, just been a lot of crazy cars the past couple of weeks. It's been awesome.
GREG MIGLIORE: It has. It has. We just wrapped up our Tech of the Year testing earlier this week. We're recording this on a Wednesday. We did Tech of the Year on a Monday, much more of that to come. You're going to hear about the finalists, about there is a winner. We know the winner. So it was a lot of fun. It was fun hanging out with everybody.
JOHN SNYDER: It was great, yeah. It was really excellent to get everyone together and shoot some video and just get some time in these awesome cars.
GREG MIGLIORE: Definitely, definitely. One of those is the Hummer EV. We actually tested it for its crab walk feature. We'll get to that, future episode. But I have it my driveway right now. It's awesome it is the first edition, or edition one. And this is the pickup as opposed to the SUV. And you actually took it home for the weekend. So--
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: We've both gotten to drive this thing. This is my second stint in the Hummer. I did the first drive of it last fall, right about this time actually, out at the General Motors proving grounds, way out in Milford, Michigan. So I am just getting more and more impressed with this thing. I feel like the sticker on this is $110,000, and some change, which that sounds like a lot of money. Average new car price is like 48. That's a lot of money too.
And a GMC, Yukon Denali Ultimate, was 94, which I had in my driveway last week. That's a lot of numbers. That's all my way of saying is I really feel like this Hummer is kind of like worth the money. It's a super-truck.
JOHN SNYDER: It is.
GREG MIGLIORE: It can do crazy things. It can crab walk. And I would definitely prefer the GMC Hummer over the GMC Yukon Denali for 15 grand more. So, I mean, what did you do with it?
JOHN SNYDER: I just drove it all over town. I drove it all over my yard. [LAUGHS] Actually the first thing I did, put it in terrain mode and just drove it around, test out crab walk. Out on the road, when I had some open space, I tried out Watts to Freedom many times. But, yeah, it's just, this car does so much. It's incredible the amount of lift you can get from the suspension.
That extract mode, you're not supposed to go more than 12 miles per hour in it. But when it's in that highest suspension setting, it just looks enormous. I mean it is an enormous car. It's actually not super-huge on the inside. It feels big and airy but the backseat in the Ford F-150 Lightning is actually more leg room than the Hummer EV, but it was still plenty of room.
I had two car seats back there. I probably could have fit another person between them. But, yeah, I just drove it in as many ways as possible. There's just so many different things you can do with it, all the different modes. You know, the rear wheel steering, the crab walk, and then, yeah, all the power it has, too. It's incredibly quick, and surprisingly easy to drive, much easier to drive than some of the other off-roaders, you know, than a Bronco or a Wrangler.
I'd much rather daily drive this Hummer EV. And again, that rear wheel steering, that 10 degrees of steering angle in the back just does wonders for maneuverability. It makes it really liveable and, yeah, but everywhere you go, I don't know if this has happened to you, but when I had it, everywhere I parked it, people would surround the car and take pictures and film me driving away and ask questions. And it just has so much charisma.
I really didn't want to like this vehicle. It just seems super-excessive. I was not a fan of the H2 and the H3. And this kind of reminds me of those in terms of looks and ostentatiousness. But I quickly fell in love with it, just because it's so much fun. And it can just do so many different things.
And, yeah, kids loved it. Yeah, everybody loved it. [LAUGHS] Everybody I met just was in love with it. And I noticed, you know, driving down the street with it. I've got a neighbor that has one now, too. They just got it. Not a neighbor I know, but down the street. And I've seen it in their driveway. I might have to get to know them.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I mean it's-- I think you captured it really well. It has so much like charisma, so much gravitas. It's just fun, you know. There's so many things you can do with it. The bed has like the GMC sort of step thing.
JOHN SNYDER: Mm-hmm.
GREG MIGLIORE: There's a charger back there you can pair like your phone or your music player with it.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, there's little speakers in the tailgate.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: Which is cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: So it is cool.
JOHN SNYDER: And you can take the roof panels off. They're surprisingly light.
GREG MIGLIORE: They are. They're a little heavier than I thought they would be. But they're pretty light. Yeah, you're right. Maybe I need to work out more.
JOHN SNYDER: And they store in those little bags and fit in the frunk. The front's not super-huge. It's got a big footprint. But it's not super-tall, you know. I had to sort of lay my grocery bags on an angle in there. Whereas in the Lightning, that frunk is enormous.
But I mean, you've got that huge bed and a good amount of room inside the vehicle to store things, too. But, yeah, it was just, gosh, I can't wait to get in another one. I'm excited to see what GMC does going forward with this, you know, some of the less expensive versions. You know, I like that this one does it all.
So I hope that the less expensive versions, with maybe fewer features, are still as impressive and feel worth the money, because, yeah, like you said, this certainly does feel worth the money. And I'm also really excited to try the Hummer SUV when that comes out, mostly because of its shorter wheelbase. I think that is really going to be an improvement for driving and off-roading too. But, yeah, this thing is robust.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Yeah, I could definitely live with one that's a bit cheaper, if you will, with like, to me, I like the electrified power train, and I like the looks. In the driving position, I love the like--
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Just command driving position with like the tall doors. Then you get that greenhouse.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's, I mean, it is like an army vehicle, in some sense. So you just feel so secure and like, and then the fact that like the way you can steer it. It's like magical. You're so confident. And just being able to like turn the thing on a dime.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So, yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: I could see myself appreciating a lesser version that maybe has less power and less range. I don't need--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: I don't need all that power and all that range all the time. I really do like the rear-wheel steering and the terrain modes. And I really like the crab walk. It's fun to use.
GREG MIGLIORE: Crab walk's awesome.
JOHN SNYDER: And I could see it, you know, after using it, I could see where it could actually be useful. It seems like a gimmick. It probably is for the most part. But I found myself using it all the time, just because it feels cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: It's a really neat feeling to sort of drive diagonally. And, yeah, if I were out on a trail, you know, trying to get my wheel in a certain spot, you know, in a tight trail, trying to get my wheel on a rock or, you know, traversing some bumps or ruts, and you've got to get to the spot with the most traction, and you might not have a lot of room to do it, it could be useful there.
GREG MIGLIORE: I just was crab-walking right through my subdivision. You've got to go kind of slow anyway. There's a lot of kids in the neighborhood. So I'm just kind of like, OK, we're going to crab walk. Went over, went over to the side, just kind of zigzagging across the street. And it's a really cool feature.
JOHN SNYDER: It is, and I was surprised at how well it transitions from crab walk into just normal driving, you know. If you need to turn more tightly, just turn the wheel more and it'll comply. It doesn't force you to stay in that crab mode, you know, if you try and exceed its range. So I was really pleased with all of it. [LAUGHS]
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, and like you, I think I always thought this thing was kind of cool. So I did come to it maybe a little farther up-field. But I like it way more than I thought I would. You know, I thought I would be like, OK, this is cool, whatever. We drive a lot of cool things.
But, you know, a lot of the features are very usable and have a point, you know. I mean, things are expensive. I think it could be a status symbol. I think some of the lower-priced models, they'll probably sell quite a few of those. People are going to get fired up about this. Yeah, I mean, it's a fun truck. That's for sure.
I can't wait to try the SUV. I almost think this is going to be a weird like parallel. I feel like Rivian from a design standpoint is the closest thing right now to like the Hummers out there, because they're like, they're fairly distinctive, you know, and again, design style is subjective. But that's just kind of like, I saw an R1T coming down the street the other day. And he waved at me. Like what's this guy, he has a Hummer?
Like you got an R1T, OK. So--
JOHN SNYDER: That, the Rivian is the car that most came up in conversations when I was talking to strangers about the Hummer.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: They were able to draw a lot of comparisons. And I see why. I mean they're both very unique in their styling. They both have unique drive modes and they can drive more than just straight with the front wheels turning. So--
GREG MIGLIORE: The Hummer has sort of the built-in like brand recognition. Like everybody knows what this is, even if they're only vaguely aware of it. Whereas like I'll talk to people who are always curious about the cars I'm driving. They're like, so who is this Rivian? What is that? I saw it, that's cool. Is that like real? Or like even Polestar, which is ostensibly backed by like Volvo and Geely, they're like who is this Polestar thing, you know?
Like their cars are cool. I think I might want one. But is this legit? Is this on the level? Whereas people are more like, oh, yeah, Hummer, OK. You know? So that is the Hummer. I am looking forward to driving it. I was just telling you off-camera here I need to go charge it, like right now, pretty soon. But--
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, we used up a lot of range on that. [LAUGHS].
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, that's good. That's what we're supposed to do. It's, yeah, I got to go charge it. I think I found a DC fast charger that's like a mile from me. The plan is I think I'm going to try to go get a coffee, maybe lunch or something. This was originally going to be like a breakfast maneuver, go get like a breakfast sandwich and drink coffee, juice it up for maybe like 20 minutes. That's more than enough, because the car is actually going back on Friday, which will make me sad.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So, all right. Let's move along to a couple other electrics. We'll just like start through this and kind of bang through them. You just drove the EQE sedan.
JOHN SNYDER: Yep.
GREG MIGLIORE: I've been in the AMG EQS and you have been in the EQS SUV.
JOHN SNYDER: Correct.
GREG MIGLIORE: So, why don't you tee it up first with the EQE. This is something I'm super-intrigued by, just because literally you were driving that when I was in the S. But this is the E Class of electric Mercedes. And you've driven the S.
JOHN SNYDER: Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: Does this translate into a smaller, slightly, footprint?
JOHN SNYDER: Exactly. It is, you know, it looks very similar, feels very similar on the road, same sort of cab forward design. Yeah, it's basically a slightly smaller, slightly more maneuverable and maybe not quite as plush version of the EQS. It's remarkably similar. It looks almost identical from the outside. You have to view it from the profile to really see the difference.
And there's a couple of little details, the light, the EQS, you can get the light bar all the way across the front, things like that. But the EQE, remarkably similar to the EQS. So if you don't want to spend EQS money, but you still want an EQ sedan, you're not really losing much by going down into the EQE.
I drove the-- ahem, excuse me. I drove the EQE, the 500 4MATIC. So it's the higher performance version of the all-wheel drive, so two motors, 402 horsepower, 633 pound feet of torque. It feels very quick, you know. It'll do 0 to 60 in a claimed 4.5 seconds. And that seems about right.
And, yeah, there's an AMG version coming out. So I'm curious to hear what you think of the AMG EQS. But, yeah, it's very much just a slimmed down, I mean just slightly shorter, really, EQS, and very smooth, very easy to drive, feels luxurious inside. Really nice materials, I'm really impressed with the materials.
You know, a lot of tech to get used to. It's all the same stuff. You can get the hyperscreen, but whether or not you do, there's still like a little bit of a learning curve with the tech. But, yeah, it's a nice little sort of more affordable alternative to the EQS.
GREG MIGLIORE: It sounds sort of like, and this is exactly how Mercedes slices and dices, it's light up. It's like the S-class is really for the high falutin crowd, if you will. And you get in the E Class and that's a lot of different people. And it seems like that's exactly what they're doing with the EQE.
You know, it's interesting too, just to me, the naming scheme. Like we're supposed to know this stuff. And this is actually not the most like myopic naming scheme a car company has ever come up with. But it gets a little confusing, I guess, let me put it that way.
But, I mean, so you've probably driven an E-class recently. Where would you spend your money? Would you go EQE or E-Class?
JOHN SNYDER: EQE, yeah. You know, if I were sort of a Luddite-- I don't want to say Luddite. Someone who's doesn't need all of the tech. I mean, there's a lot of technology in these cars. And it's very in-your-face. So if it takes you a long time to sort of wrap your head around the tech, and you can find it frustrating, which is completely reasonable, maybe stick with the E-Class.
But just for the electric drive train, and the smoothness and the quietness, and those reasons are enough for me to pick the EQ version.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, I drove the AMG EQS, same time. Had it last week and this weekend. I actually brought it to Tech of the Year, which was quite the way to make an entrance. I didn't crab walk like you did. But, you know, hey, that's how it goes.
I guess the one takeaway I would have, like negative takeaway, is I don't necessarily think you need the AMG EQS.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: If you will. The lower levels, plenty of range, plenty of power, because again these are electric cars, instant torque. Do you necessarily need 700 pound feet of torque with a boost function?
[LAUGHTER]
Maybe not. 649 horsepower. But this is the AMG. So I was impressed. This one came in at $159,000.
JOHN SNYDER: Yikes.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, so I'm trying to remember the last time I had a car that wasn't six figures in my driveway. I went from-- well, the Denali was 94, just 94. Then I had the AMG, and, of course, the Hummer, which will be soon going back. So, yeah, it's some expensive cars.
But cars are expensive today. Like 100 is like the new 70, if you will, for car prices.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: Which is insane, but that's the world we live in.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: And this is-- Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: What you say about the AMG being sort of overkill, and, you know, the lesser variants being more than enough, that tracks with everything James Riswick has said, Senior Editor James Riswick, who drove them all sort of pretty close together. And I edited his drives of those and got that same sense. And from myself driving other EQ cars in various versions, most cases, I mean the base versions, or if you need all-wheel-drive, you know, the base all-wheel-drive versions, are plenty, plenty of power.
GREG MIGLIORE: A little bit of parallel here with the Hummer, somewhat oddly. The EQS AMG actually again has like all-wheel-steering if you will. So you can turn this like barge practically on a dime. Visibility is outstanding. It has like a cab forward kind of design, just by nature of that sort of teardrop shape. Jeremy Korzeniewski, another one of our senior editors, said something like, boy, this is like the modern Chrysler Concorde which he's not wrong as far as like the layout. I also thought the trunk is super-awesome.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: We put so much stuff back there. We put a scooter back there. Like you can get a lot of stuff in these things. It's like one of the more usable sedans I have tested out in a few years, probably.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, on paper it's not all that huge. But it's just the way the whole hatch lifts up in the EQS is nice.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: The EQE just has a standard trunk. And it's a little on the small side. It's pretty big, but compared to other cars that size, it's a little on the small side. But, yeah, so if cargo is your concern, the EQS is the way to go. It's just really slick.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's highly usable. Yeah, you're right, it's not like from a cubic volume standpoint enormous. But it's just so usable. And all the screens were just like, you know, family loved them. There's just so much to, so much to see, if you will. It's definitely an array, a display for the senses, once you're inside there.
Even the passenger gets their own screen. So that's kind of cool. I've come around to liking the screens in this car. To me it's like the tip of the spear as far as like technology. So, yeah, embrace it. It's cool.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, it took me a long time to get used to it. But, you know, by the third or fourth EQ vehicle I was in, the screen started to make sense to me. And the way this MBUX system works, and sort of uses artificial intelligence to sort of predict what features you're going to need and brings them to the top so you don't need to dig through menus to use them.
Like if you turn on the heated steering wheel, it might know that when you do that, you usually turn on the heated seat. So it'll give you that option. Or if you're at a-- if you call someone at a certain time of day on a particular day, it might give you their contact information on the screen, to make it really easy just to do that.
And there's lots of little things like that, that you might think are kind of weird at first. But once you sort of realize what the car is doing and the way the car is thinking, it sort of makes more sense. And, yeah, the screens start to become more navigable and less-- I mean, they're still very bright and big and omnipresent. But you sort of get used to them.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK, you mentioned you've driven three or four of these EQ models. Tell me about the EQS SUV. I'm very interested, you know, having driven the sedan. And now the SUV is, you know, it's out there, too.
JOHN SNYDER: Well, there's a little theme here. [LAUGHS].
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: It's going to be familiar, if you've driven one of those other EQ vehicles. Obviously, you know, this is the first one in an SUV format. So it's sort of the electric equivalent to the GLS class. It's maybe a little smaller. You know, it's been a while since I've been in GLS. I remember the third row being kind of tight.
It's pretty tight in the EQS, that third row. Kids only, I would say, although you can sort of fit your feet under the seats in front of you. But the headroom, you don't have a lot of it. But sitting in the driver's seat, you feel like you're in an EQS, except you're sitting more upright. And you've got sort of a taller view of the road.
So in that way, you know, the interior feels very familiar, but when you're driving, you know, you're quite clearly driving an SUV. And we actually took it off-road a little bit in the Rocky Mountains, and you know, that rear wheel steering was clutch there. You know, going around switchbacks, you know, you might have a tree or a rock right in front of you.
And you're getting ready to do a 3 to 5-point turn. And it just cuts across and you don't have to put it in reverse at all. So that was really impressive. But, yeah, it's, again, you know, quite fast. This one, you're spending over $100,000 just to get into the EQS. That's for the 450 plus with rear-wheel-drive.
The EQS, you know, there's the 450 4MATIC, which splits the same amount of horsepower over two axles, so and then there's the 580, which actually it goes for about $127,000. That one has 536 horsepower and 633 pound feet of torque. It's a big, heavy vehicle, but that again takes that 0 to 60 time down to 4.5 seconds. So it's quick enough to really shove you back in your seat.
And if you're spending over $100,000 already, the 536 horsepower feels more appropriate for this vehicle than the 335 horsepower in the 450s. But, yeah, it is very comfortable, lots of-- you've got the paddles for the regeneration. And this is among all of them. And there's a smart region setting, which is actually pretty good.
The strong region setting, there's strong, medium, and no region. And then there's the auto setting, the smart setting. The strong region is kind of weird to drive, because the brake pedal moves on you. It sort of predicts where the brake pedal would be when it's doing the braking on its own. So it's like moving around under your foot, which is a little weird.
The trade-off is that you don't have to use the brake pedal very often. You're using the strong region. But the other modes don't do that so much. And the auto setting is actually really good. It sort of uses the GPS and the safety systems, the cameras, and whatnot, to keep you at a good distance from cars around you, even when you're not in cruise control.
And, yeah, it just, it does a really good job of adjusting the region for the situation, whether you're going uphill or downhill or in traffic. And I really liked that mode quite a bit. And then I tested out the different sounds in this one, too. I didn't really play with the electric powertrain sounds in the other EQs I was in.
But there are three versions, one of them kind of sounds like a combustion car. One of them kind of sounds like every other sort of spaceship-y electric car sound. And then there's one, there's a sound called roaring pulse, that sounds like a dragon or something. It's just the weirdest-sounding thing. And it was kind of hilarious.
I don't think many people would choose to drive with that on. But I kept switching it on just because it made me laugh every time I heard it. But, yeah, other than that, very much like the other EQs, quiet, smooth, powerful and comfortable.
GREG MIGLIORE: I mean, everything you want, right? I mean, it kind of looks like a Mazda CX-9 to me, looking at the pictures. But I would assume much like with the EQS sedan, which a lot of people have been very divisive on, I would assume it looks better in person. It's got a little bit more of sort of like the jewelry, and the features just pop a little bit more.
JOHN SNYDER: Definitely, yeah. I really like the look of it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, OK.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, in person, especially in certain colors. There was a blue version that I drove that was beautiful.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice.
JOHN SNYDER: And, you know, depending on the trim level you've got, some really cool exterior elements, the lighting looks really great on it, the rear light bar across the back is really attractive. And then, depending on which version you get, you could get the illuminated Mercedes badge up front surrounded by the grille insert has like a bunch of little tiny three-point stars. And again, the interior materials are just fantastic.
There's some faux leather that's just really, really nice. And this, it almost feels like a microsuede or like seal fur on some of the trim, like some of the door trim. And it's called Neotex. And it's really, really nice. So, yeah, and the EQS SUV had those little pillow things on the headrest that I couldn't stand.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: But you can get it without those, too.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, those things drive me crazy. I cannot stand those. They just, ahem, I don't know. They're not that comfy, I don't think. They, yeah, I mean, I'm traditionally somebody who like gets ready three minutes before they leave the house. So my hair is always wet. It's just like, I'm with you there. They're an interesting feature.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So SUV or sedan? It's your money. Which one do you go with?
JOHN SNYDER: SUV. I like having the extra, in this case, I like having the extra capability to tackle, you know, I go up North a lot, and we have a lot of unmaintained roads up there, and a lot of snow. So I kind of want to be able to get through that and over stuff. And just having that third row for emergencies and the-- you know, it's just sort of the extra interior volume, is nice.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, sounds good. Well, let's, we've got to go kick it old school here. Acura NSX, you got to drive that for a little bit. That's kind of a fun one to have here for at least a few more weeks. You have the Type S, which is, of course, the really extreme. That's what they use for their top of the line Acuras.
It's going to be getting pretty cold here, like colder, in a few weeks. So it's 65 right now, oddly, 67. It's a good time to get a few more weeks left in your daily supercar. What did you do with this thing?
JOHN SNYDER: Just drove it as much as I could.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: It was great. It was, it's a very rare car to get to drive. I've driven an NSX once before. And I had it for one night. And I think it rained. So it was really nice to have this and to have it for a week, and to really find some time to wring it out and get to know it. It's just really impressive, and dialed in.
You just feel totally connected to the car and to the road. The levels of grip in this thing are just incredible. You know, and the more speed you get going through a corner or something, the more it feels like it bites down and just holds on. I know it has a lot of downforce from the aerodynamics. But just overall, an incredibly impressive car in terms of looks and performance and everything.
Technology maybe not so much, you know, the infotainment is old, which is kind of refreshing. It was nice not to have, you know, after getting out of all those EQSs, to get into this and have just like this tiny little screen that doesn't do much except for what you really need it to do. And you just focus on driving it. And the wheel feels just so good in your hands. There's carbon fiber everywhere, and it looks really good.
Yeah, 600 horsepower, just a really interesting-sounding powertrain, when you combine that twin turbo V6 with those three electric motors. There's just a lot of different sounds going on at different times. It's all very exciting. And this one was in a beautiful matte gray paint called Gotham gray.
GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, nice.
JOHN SNYDER: And with, you know, blacked out badges. It just looked-- and it's got, the Type S has a standard carbon fiber roof, carbon fiber spoiler on the back, and throughout the interior. The brakes on this thing were fantastic. This one has-- this had the lightweight package, so more carbon fiber, and then carbon ceramic rotors and these bright red shiny brake calipers underneath that.
But the brakes just feel so good. You could be really hauling, and it doesn't take much pedal effort. And it just bites down and slows you down really quickly. I mean it's a light vehicle. You don't-- there's not a lot of momentum to fight against. So it just handles just how you want it. The steering's precise. The suspension just traces the road.
You feel like, almost feel like you're driving an electric razor across, like you're shaving the road. It's really something. And then, yeah, and then you can just put it in quiet mode and creep through the neighborhood. And you're not waking everyone up with the loud motor.
Just really sort of chameleonic, this car can do a lot of different types of driving. But you can only bring one person with you, so whoever that person is is pretty lucky.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a fun car. I have been fortunate to drive-- I drove an original NSX. This is probably six, seven years ago. It was actually up in Ann Arbor, on a day like this, actually. It was a cold October day. It was a lot of fun.
It was also pretty easy to drive. So, you know, that's sort of-- it was interesting how that set my view of the NSX, because I had never driven sort of like the newer modern NSX. So I started with the first one. It was actually a retro-drive for another magazine, really got like indoctrinated into it.
Then I've been driving this new one. I've been able to drive it like three times, I think, three or four times, three different instances. So I feel like I have a pretty good feel for it. We talked about it last week on the podcast, that it may go all-electric.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: In fact, that's what they're kind of talking about, how they would allow it to continue. And I think what I said last week and I'll say again is I really do think an all-electric NSX would be a brilliant move for Acura, because it allows them to sort of maintain that like-- like they always aspire to have like technical leadership. I don't think they always do, but it's like it's something they go for.
Other people, you know, whether it's Z06, the AMG, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, they're going for different things. And, you know, Acura has always said, hey, we're going to be different. I don't-- I also think there's opportunity. I mean, there's not a lot of all-electric supercars.
JOHN SNYDER: Right.
GREG MIGLIORE: So, yeah, I think that'd be a great move. And, you know, the last time I drove one, I was basically impressed in most facets of it. You know, I think it looks great. So--
JOHN SNYDER: It does, and, you know, Acura will have a challenge for making this continue to feel unique. I feel like the current NSX feels so unique because of its powertrain. It's just that hybrid plus twin turbo V6. You know, electric powertrains, it's kind of hard to differentiate them. So they're going to have to find other ways to make this, an electric NSX, feel special.
I imagine they'll pull out all the stops on styling, make it look real cool, and make it handle incredibly, once again. But I'm curious to see what else they can do to make this sort of stand out against other high performance EVs.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, I mean, technically, the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore is a very high-powered electrified sports car. News of that comes out the last few days. I think it's impressive. I'm a little surprised that they're sticking with the GranTurismo, if you will, for a little bit. You know, a couple of years ago, it looked like they might maybe just decide that the GranTurismo and the GranCabrio, there wasn't really a place for them in the Maserati lineup.
But they endure. This is sort of the buyer's choice here. You know, you can get the V6, which is extremely powerful. This is the Tudo, if you know Maserati parlance, which gets you all the way up to like 550 horsepower. Or you can go electric, which is kind of cool, too.
So I'm impressed with this. In some ways, I think this slipped below the radar for me a little bit. And I'm impressed with what Maserati is doing.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I think it's a really interesting approach to release this car with the V6, the twin turbo V6, and the electric powertrain in the same vehicle, and just sort of let people choose. And the fact that it's a big grand touring coupe is interesting to me, too, that they're sort of wringing out a little extra life from that format in a time when that seems like that sort of vehicle is dying off.
So I'm excited to see their approach to it. I think it's really sort of interesting. But I imagine, I don't know. I feel like a lot of people are going to go with the Folgore, because that electric powertrain is pretty bad-ass, 750 horsepower.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: [LAUGHS] And a little more future-proof than the gas engine.
GREG MIGLIORE: Well, it's-- and it really does come down to which way you ought to go here. You just want that like powerful, traditional internal combustion engine, or at this point are you like, hey, I'm done. It's electric. They're going to offer me electric. I'll go that way, you know.
And if you're a Maserati buyer, you're probably not too worried about the cost. So I think it really is just buyer's preference. And I've got to give Maserati some credit here. We're talking about how Acura might make the NSX electric down the road. I was just reading about the final versions of the Audi R8.
There's a lot of like larger, more like well-heeled automakers that haven't quite figured this out. And they're just like, hey, we've got this electric grand tour right here. You can buy it if you want. Like--
JOHN SNYDER: Just go for it. It's great.
GREG MIGLIORE: I could, I mean, I almost like am surprised, it just snuck it under the radar. I was unaware they even frankly were resourced to do this, to have the technology. So I am really excited to drive the Folgore variant, the Folgers variant. They need some more coffee.
JOHN SNYDER: Yes, Folgers.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sipping a ristretto espresso actually, very appropriately, for talking about some Italian cars.
JOHN SNYDER: And they didn't just say, oh, here's an electric version. They used a good electric powertrain with a 270-kilowatt fast-charging 800 volt electrical system, which is great. I mean, it's going to charge faster than pretty much everything else out there. There's a few 800 volt vehicles out there right now.
But, yeah, I think it was good of them to think to the future with that, too. As more of those vehicles come out, this could-- if you're coming out with something expensive that maybe can't charge that fast, you're going to get passed over pretty quickly here.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: But this gives it a little bit of staying power, I hope.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool, well, since we're talking Maserati, let's just talk a little bit Ferrari here. They've rolled out, let's see, last week I want to say, they rolled out the SP51. I think this is one of the cooler one-offs they've done in a while. I think a lot of times they will roll out these like sort of collector models. They'll make one or two of them.
And you're like, OK, what's that. I just say this, you like Autoblog, if you're listening to the podcast, you probably would like this car. I think it's cool with the traditional, like, you know, very deep red paint.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's got that kind of race car look. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think it's interesting. It's a tribute to 1955 Ferrari is what they're saying, as far as like the livery. So I always like when they kind of go back in time and pull back like a retro sort of uniform, if you will. Apparently it was a throwback to some Carroll Shelby woodens, which I did not know about. So that's kind of neat.
JOHN SNYDER: That is interesting. And, yeah, I love it when you see a Ferrari that's red with the blue and white stripes on it. It always looks good. And, yeah, they used that here. It's a really nice livery. And, yeah, I would love to drive this Ferrari. I would love to drive more Ferraris. I've only driven a couple. I've driven the 458 Italia, which is one of the best cars I've ever driven. It's still one of my favorites.
And then the 488, which I didn't think had as much soul as the 458, but obviously looked better. I think the new designs that Ferrari is releasing now, some of them are coming a little bit out of left field, which I think is good. They're not-- there's a lot of retro touches in all of these, including this one.
But it doesn't look old right away. The 458 started to look, I don't know, outdated pretty quickly, as good as that car was, though.
GREG MIGLIORE: So one of the reasons this actually piqued my interest is I'm pretty sure I saw another Ferrari one-off, if you will, at the Detroit Auto Show. I neglected to get a picture. I'm pretty sure, but I think it was the Ferrari Monza. And this isn't like a one-off. It's more like a smaller-- they actually made 500 of these things.
So it's not a one-off. But Ferrari does a lot of limited edition models. So I just, I was stunned to be walking through COBO, and I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. That's a Ferrari. It doesn't have a windshield. What are we looking at here?
So I can only assume that was maybe somebody, one of the collectors up at M1 Concourse or something was sort of showing it, if you will. But that was cool.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, that's a beautiful car.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: With that really long hood, and the two seats set very far back, that would be a fun one to drive. You got to bring your goggles, though. I'm sure the aero, they have it so the wind's not blasting you in the face. But still, no windshield, you know, always feels like an adventure.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so speaking of adventure, we both have kids. And we both I think have noticed testing out some of the different press cars, there's features in there, some of which are very kid-friendly, kid-intended. And there's some that like, they're like luxurious or utility features. But they just really make your life easier when you have kids.
Leading off, the one I always come back with is massagers, like, you know, you're tired, you're coming back from T-ball. Cue up a massage, everybody's quiet. Life is good. I got the one I lead off with here is the Jeep massagers. I think they're the best. The ones in the EQS, for 159 grand, were not living up to me.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: It was sort of like being gently jabbed. Like what is this? So, but, yeah, I mean, nothing like getting a good massage while you're going to soccer or T-ball.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, when you've dealt with kids yelling and asking you when they're going to be there or whining about something, or, you know, it's always nice to have something like that to bring your blood pressure down a little bit. [CHUCKLES]
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. I will, I'll throw another one out here. And this is not even realistic. But as far as just like cool features, the Rolls-Royce like Starry Night Sky I believe is actually what they call it. My son loved it, you know. And he's been in a lot of press cars. He's in almost every car I drive.
So like it's kind of funny that there's some things that like automakers are like, oh, look at this. Isn't this great? We spent years developing it. And like you know, you sort of like-- you know, you look at it from an industry perspective. But then it's great to get like the four-year-old's perspective. And it's like they'll be, like, yeah, no, that's not cool.
You know, and it's just like-- so I will admit, a Rolls-Royce planetarium in something that's 200 and some thousand, I forgot how much that Cullinan was. But it was very, very cool. And it-- I think the configuration, it's configurable if you want to do it, was how the night sky looked over the Rolls-Royce factory when they like reopened it or something like 20 years ago. Yeah, it actually had shooting stars, which, yes, this is the height of luxury. I know that.
But as far as like a cool feature for kids, it's tough to beat this. So there's some other less expensive ones on here. But as far as impressing like, you know, the kids, nothing beats a planetarium.
JOHN SNYDER: I got to say, Wally is always-- my son-- is always super-impressed with any sort of animation on the infotainment system. Like the Hummer, he just kept wanting me to switch through the modes, so he could see the different animations.
GREG MIGLIORE: Nice.
JOHN SNYDER: And if you could take that and put animation all over the roof, [LAUGHS], that's a really cool thing.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, another one that we were really excited about was-- this is strange-- the moving center console of the Yukon Denali Ultimate. It just, I didn't mean to do it. I was trying to open the moonroof. And all of a sudden I'm like, wait, my coffee is going back. But my son loved it. He's like this is great.
You know, he was like put my food in the console and move it away, then bring it back to me. So I mean, it's a cool feature. Kids, you know, kids like it when stuff is like different in the car. And when a piece of the car is moving forward and back, that's kind of cool. So--
JOHN SNYDER: And, you know, in some cases it's the seats that move that way, like the--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: --the Honda Odyssey with the magic sliding seats that slide inboard and outboard, and as well as forward and back. That's incredibly helpful. The kids think it's neat because they get to pick where they put their seat. But also it's useful for getting them in and out. And, you know, if you need to separate them, if they're bugging each other.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, that is true. Now I know you have, let's see, you have the Honda Odyssey cabin watch on the list. That's very useful. You're being a little more realistic that me rolling out Rolls-Royce features.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, that one's more for the parents.
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN SNYDER: But, you know, you don't, you do see in certain vehicles the thing where you can speak to the kids in the rear seats through the speakers. The Hyundai Palisade has that, for instance. The Honda Odyssey has that. What you don't see very often is a way to-- I don't think, and I don't use the speaker talk--
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah.
JOHN SNYDER: --ever really. I can just holler. But the Honda Odyssey cabin watch was fantastic, especially having a rear-facing child seat back there. You know, we try and put the mirror on the headrest of the seat that the rear-facing seat is in. And it never-- you can never quite see their face fully. Or, you know, it shifts. And you're looking through your mirror at that mirror and then at your kid.
You know, a few degrees of separation away. That cabin watch, you can just look down and see them, a camera feed of them, and make sure-- parents out there will know. The other parent will be like, are they still breathing? [LAUGHS]. So, or making sure they're not spilling their milk or whatever. But, yeah, I wish that feature was in more vehicles.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think the sound of nature that you've put on here, too, those are in Hyundais, Kias, Genesis vehicles. There's nothing like some white noise to get everybody to calm down a little bit.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, I mean, I originally was using them for myself, just, you know, it's nice to have a little bird chirping or waves lapping at the shore on those, you know, when you're in traffic, and maybe gripping the steering wheel a little too hard. But we found that it just instantly puts our toddler daughter to sleep. If she's fussing around on a trip or like maybe missed her nap and is fighting sleep, put that on.
Or if she's just crying because she's tired of being in the car, put that on, and she calms right down. She always just goes to sleep. It's great.
GREG MIGLIORE: Very relaxing, very relaxing, and one thing, I will say this, that just seems to win regardless. My son always loves a Jeep Wrangler. Like that's like the ultimate kid feature. You roll up in a Wrangler and he's like, cool, let's go.
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah, for my kids, it's pickup trucks. They always want to climb in the bed, especially if there's a step back there, they want to climb in the bed and hang out. And they just play back there. They love it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good, any fall beers you're enjoying these days. It's the heart of October. We should at least name one.
JOHN SNYDER: I actually went to the cider mill down the road in South Lyon, and it got bought by Blake's Hard Cider
GREG MIGLIORE: OK.
JOHN SNYDER: And so we went there and sampled some of their hard ciders. So it's also cider season. Hard ciders are good. Yeah, the Blake ones are good. They've got some good flavors. My favorite hard cider is this one called Nomad.
GREG MIGLIORE: How interesting, OK.
JOHN SNYDER: From North Peak, which is related to Grizzly Peak and Jolly Pumpkin. But it's a nice dry, very dry, hard cider, and I like that quite a bit. So that's what I've been sampling lately is some of those hard ciders. There's also, I'm still working through some Gosas, some tart Gosas from the summer.
You know, try and capture that last bit of summer flavor. The nice crisp citrusy Gosa.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. I actually have enjoyed a Blake's Flannel Mouth hard cider.
JOHN SNYDER: How nice.
GREG MIGLIORE: I like to grab, I think they sell them in fours or sixers. Had one of those. It's just spring, fall obviously, sometimes spring can be good. Even winter, but it's definitely October, November. That's when a good hard cider is tasty, so--
JOHN SNYDER: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, if you enjoy the show, please give us a five star rating at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get the podcast. Send us your spend by monies at Podcast at autoblog.com. Be safe out there and we'll see you next week.
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