Driving the 2024 Lexus GX and Land Rover Defender 130 | Autoblog Podcast #818

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. We kick off the week by reviewing cars we've been driving, including the new Lexus GX, Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound, Jaguar F-Pace, Hyundai Kona and our long-term Subaru WRX. Next, we break down the best wagons of the 21st century, before discussing the Audi Sport RS6 GT. Finally, we discuss a bit of the 2024 Chicago Auto Show.

Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.

Video Transcript

[THEME MUSIC]

GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to The Autoblog Podcast. I'm Greg Migliore. We've got a great show for you this week. Lots of things to talk about. We have our senior editor for all things West Coast and reviews, James Riswick.

He's been driving all sorts of things. Things like the Lexus GX, the Defender 130, the Jaguar F-pace, in the Hyundai Kona. We'll try to get to as much as we can. You've heard me talk about our long-term Subaru WRX for the last few weeks. I have a mini update on that. It's still orange. I can tell you that.

Our new section is going to consist mainly of station wagons. So hey, that's kind of cool. If you have a Spend my Money, please send that to podcast@autoblog.com. And as always, if you enjoy the show, please give us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get the show. James, welcome aboard.

JAMES RISWICK: Thank you. So the appropriate, appropriate terminology there is, I'm in Southern California here. And I haven't needed a boat, but some have. And I got to tell you-- so I have the perfect car for it at the time-- at this time. I have the Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound. This is the most off-road overlanding version of the Land Rover Defender.

OK. So it's really long. So its departure angle does kind of suffer as a result. However, this would be the three row Defender. That's family friendly three row, except the third row is chucked in favor of having the most cargo capacity possible. It's still a Defender, so it can jack up the ride height. It has the all terrain tires.

So if there was ever a "I need to survive the atmospheric river," I got the car for it. So it's perfect, perfect timing. The BMW X1 that's replacing it on Friday, it would not have been up to the task. Not that I'm like fording overflowing rivers and mud flows or anything, but still perfect timing.

GREG MIGLIORE: Historic storms is how they've been characterizing it. So whenever they say historic, that usually means, like, a crazy amount of rain, I guess. So this thing is-- this is impressive. It's very rare that we get something in the press fleet, we actually get to test things like, you know, departure angles and wading depth. I don't know if you had to use the wading depth yet?

JAMES RISWICK: Well, no, because you don't want to be running into the massively overflowing rivers. But nevertheless, it is an appropriate car. I thankfully, was able to-- I don't-- I have a very cool bike rack for my electric bike. And I don't really have a vehicle that has a trailer hitch on it. And test cars don't have them. This one does. So I was able to set up the bike rack and use that element. It is kind of the outdoor adventure model.

So I was able to sneak that in on Saturday before the atmospheric river arrived. And then unplug that. And then it was just making sure the windshield wipers worked, and they do. Lots of outdoor adventures, to be sure.

GREG MIGLIORE: This thing is monstrous. As I look at the pictures, when you said Outbound, I actually had to look up, I'm like, what the hell is the Outbound here? There you go. It's definitely pretty beastly. And--

JAMES RISWICK: I got some pretty cool-- got some pretty cool pictures of it with the bike on it. Because the rack and my bike actually matches this thing perfectly. It's matte gray with gloss black trim. Well, the rack's gloss black and the bike's matte gray. So it looks like went out of my way to match it all, even though I didn't.

But I took the photos of it on the surrounding mountains that, after the winter, it's very green and it was cloudy. And it looked like Scotland. It was very-- it was just absolutely perfect. So I was pretty pleased with those. And yeah, it's a matte gray. Because it's the third-- it's the three row defender. But the 110 has a third row too available, but please.

So do you remove the third row? Well, you don't really need those windows back there. So they actually cover them up with body panels that are painted. So there's kind of like this work van vibe at the back that's kind of cool. And then they do mount this fold down ladder, which is available on other Defenders. But it's there. And this gear locker on the side. I don't know, do you know what a gear locker is for outside the car?

GREG MIGLIORE: Whatever you might want to put in there. Your sandals, maybe, a kazoo.

JAMES RISWICK: It can't go in the car. I can only think of poopy diapers, honestly.

GREG MIGLIORE: That's a really good idea.

JAMES RISWICK: But otherwise, it's just slapped on the side of the car, creating noise and drag.

GREG MIGLIORE: Side note, do you a really good place to put poopy diapers, is the like trunk in the bed of the Honda Ridgeline. So you kind pull it up. You don't want that-- it's a pretty tight cabin, put it in there. It's outside. It's covered. It's everything you need.

JAMES RISWICK: Roof carriers as well.

GREG MIGLIORE: Roof carriers as well. Yes. That's true. That's true.

JAMES RISWICK: Yep, needed to take care of that advantage. So yeah, this thing is really cool. I dig it. The interesting-- like, driving a Defender with like all terrain tires, like, hard sidewalls, you'd think that's kind of a normal for thing for the Defender, but no, not actually. So it does make the ride a little worse. But that thing-- the Defender is so good. It is really so very good.

And this is an unusual version. Unfortunately, because it's the Outbound, I don't get to test the three row-- the third row seat of the 130. I haven't done that yet. I can't do a luggage test on it. Because normally, three row vehicles, I test behind the third row, like, duh, all of my bags are going to fit in this humongous cargo area of a 130 Outbound.

So maybe I'll try and get that in at another time. But it looks cool. It's great to drive. I love the interior functionality. Interior is lovely. And it's also a good time because, hey, I just drove the Lexus GX.

GREG MIGLIORE: That sounds good. That's an excellent transition. Let's talk about that. That is-- looking at just the auto journalism socials, which could not be less representative of what mainstream consumers think about, cars, frankly, at times. But the GX really just lit up. I think it was last week when you were on that. I mean, generally, people really liked it. But people were not shy about their opinions about it, that's for sure.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah. And I mean, talk about the Defender. I mean, it's the closest-- I mean, there's not many-- the Defender is kind of like the luxury real off roader. So it's above the Wrangler or Bronco, in that respect. And that's what the GX is as well, specifically, the Overtrail version, which has the all terrain tires. And it does have the electronic stabilizer bar disconnect, which [MUMBLES] that's a long explanation. Locking rear diff.

It also does not have a third row, this Overtrail version, which is the coolest looking one. It has the raised roof rails. It's like the one that, if you looked at all the GX's you probably go, yeah, I want that one. But it's five passenger only. And unlike this Defender 130 Outbound, that's just a special version.

You could get a lot of the Outbound stuff on other Defenders. That is not the case with the GX Overtrail. You can't get E-KDSS-- that's the stabilizer bar thing-- or the locking diff, or the proper all-terrain tires, the higher roof, the more functional roof rails.

That's five passenger only. And Lexus said that they viewed it as, this is the one envisioned for Overlanders. And they found that most Overlanders who were currently using-- who currently had GXs, of which, it was a popular car because they sold them for 14 years. And despite the kind of Kardashian land grocery-getter vibe of it, it actually is a very capable vehicle.

So most of the Overlanders who bought that they hauled out the third row anyway. So they're like, OK, well, we're going to not put it in the Overtrail. And we're going to give you a five extra cubic feet of space for your gear. Logical. However, 30% of GX's Lexus figures are going to be Overtrails, which works out to over 10,000 cars. How many of those buyers do you think are Overlanders?

GREG MIGLIORE: It's a good question. 15%.

JAMES RISWICK: Pooft. Right. If that. Most people-- because it looks cool, right? But at least give them the option of the third row. And they said, yeah, we've already had that feedback from potential customers. And the marketing guy-- when I made that observation, the marketing guy perked up and introduced myself and wanted to know more about that thought. And you get the impression that fact will-- there there'll be a seven row-- or seven row, jeez, seven passenger one in not too long.

GREG MIGLIORE: OK.

JAMES RISWICK: So that's something to keep in mind.

GREG MIGLIORE: So what really, I think, piques my interest is-- and you used a line in your review called, it's not insane to call it the Lexus Land Cruiser or something. Because obviously, they share some underpinnings. There's a pretty good resemblance to the two.

JAMES RISWICK: Oh, yeah.

GREG MIGLIORE: Both of these are, I think, among the SUVs I'm most excited about driving this year. Every year we see what's coming out and these two definitely are at the top of the list. You have not driven the Land Cruiser yet. But do you have a sneaking suspicion as to which one you might prefer.

JAMES RISWICK: So one, it's very smart for them to bring out the Lexus first. Because then you don't have the, oh, this is just a rebadged Land Cruiser. So Land Cruiser comes out second. They have a very different face to them, but you look at the side of the car, they are the same. Same body. And they have-- so much is shared. It really is like the old Land Cruiser and the Lexus LX. The similarities are very strong.

Personally, I think the GX looks better. It's just-- I think this is just a classic SUV. I think it's one of the best looking SUVs ever. It looks-- it's both rugged and very handsome. Kind of like a Defender. It kind of has that, kind of, well-dressed person-- I don't know, rugged thing going on. It just-- you know what, when you see it with the Defender and the GX has that same thing, whether it's the Overtrail or even just the more luxury versions, literally called the Luxury or the Premium.

The interior, kind of the same too. That's one of the lower points of it, is even if like the quality is OK in places, it doesn't look that luxurious, especially compared to the Land Cruiser. Key differences between them is what's under the hood. So the Land Cruiser is the four cylinder hybrid. That engine is not available on the GX. That's available with the turbocharged V6, whose facts and figures, I can't actually find at the moment. Where are they? Hello.

It's the 3.4 liter twin turbo V6, good for 349 horsepower and 479 pounds feet of torque. For those of you who are sadly lamenting, oh, there's no more V8. Yeah, OK. The hill you're dying on made only 301 horsepower and 329 torques. So that's not very good. It just made a lot of roaring noise and was incredibly slow.

It also had a six speed automatic and it could only tow 6,500 pounds. The new one, 9,000 pounds. So huge performance upgrade. There is eventually going to be a hybrid.

We don't really know, but presumably, it will be more than the Land Cruisers, which might be good because fuel economy is terrible. It's 17 miles per gallon combined. The old V8 was 16. The Defender 130 Outbound I have out there is also 17. But it is-- it's more powerful and it's attached to a much bigger vehicle.

The 110, the Defender 110 is 20 combined, which is a big difference. I don't-- I regret not noticing the fuel economy until after I left the event. I was talking to the engineers about a lot of the suspension stuff. So I did not-- unfortunately, this is on me, did not get the opportunity to ask them about the fuel economy, specifically, or what's the deal.

There's a lot of things that would indicate it should be more fuel efficient than it is, but dude, it really isn't at all. That's a main problem with this GX compared to, say, the Lexus TX, which is, effectively, the new Lexus three row family hauler, allowing the GX to be the off roader it always has been. And it doesn't need to be the suburbanite going thing.

The old one wasn't really good at split the three row market there. The other thing is third row space, it's actually decent for people-- for luxury vehicles, which isn't saying much. But the third row-- but the space behind it is LOL. Like, no bags can fit. Like, my backpack barely fit back there. So that's another thing that compares to other more crossover luxury vehicles.

GREG MIGLIORE: OK. Yeah. I think there's a pretty interesting entry for Lexus. The approach they took, I mean, the whole repositioning of this, and of course, the Land Cruiser. It's a little bit of a risk. Because then you've got the 4Runner, which we expect to see a new version of that somewhat soon. Somewhat in the same field here. So I'm somewhat a little surprised. I think it's a big risk how they're sort of positioning these different off roading, off road styled crossovers and SUVs.

To go back to something you said earlier about the classic design. When I'm looking at this Lexus, I almost think, man, that GX reminds me of the old XJ Cherokee a little bit. It's got that classic three box design. It's squared off. And back from the 90s and even the 80s. So I think from a design perspective, they appear to have just totally nailed it. So I'm excited to drive it.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah. And how many times have we said that about Lexus?

GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. That's a good point too. I think it's very rare that we're as excited about the Lexus counterpart as maybe the original Toyota version of it. And I think they got-- not to harp on the styling too much, but again, I didn't drive it. I think they kind of have the right blend here of giving it maybe purposefully that Land Cruiser vibe.

But still having some of the Lexus stuff in there too. Because I mean, Lexus with their spindle grilles and angles coming at you from every, well, angle. They're a lot to take. And I think most people have decided they like them because people like Lexus.

They like the luxury and premium image that it conveys. But it's a bit of-- it's a polarizing design. And I think this new GX really strikes the right kind of balance.

JAMES RISWICK: Well, it's also important to note that like that last GX, which was sold for 14 years, had multiple faces put on it. And the signature Lexus spindle grille was never meant for that vehicle. And any time they put that stupid thing on anything, be it just a rebodied thing like, the GX was a Land Cruiser Prado. And the LX to the Land Cruiser. It just didn't work.

You're putting a face on something that was never really meant for it. But it works really well on the LC. Because that was meant to have it from the beginning. And this thing, which is different. It is not-- it is not the Lexus signature spindle grille. It is the evolution of it. It is related, but still new and different. And it just works because it was meant for it from the very beginning. And it's also not overwrought. It's like just the right size.

Anyway, I think it's a very successful design. And it's a very appealing and capable vehicle. It's not just the looks. We could go into the weeds a lot about what makes it so good off road. But it is, certainly.

GREG MIGLIORE: I believe you. I believe you. It's been a minute now. Shifting gears over to the Jaguar F-Pace. We're kind of doing some British stuff here. That's kind of a good angle here for this podcast.

I have not driven an F-Pace in almost two years, as I'm looking at some of my own clips. They're not super abundant in the press fleet, for starters. The last one I drove was the SVR, with the 5 liter V8 550 horsepower.

So this was an absolute rocket ship. I actually drove it almost exactly two years ago. It was kind of one of those winter drives. Now which version of this F-Pace have you driven?

JAMES RISWICK: So before this, the only time I had driven the F-Pace was at the first drive launch in Montenegro in 2016.

GREG MIGLIORE: OK. I think Jeremy Kwasniewski was on that one.

JAMES RISWICK: He did. And it was a long-- that's a long time ago, right?

GREG MIGLIORE: Really was.

JAMES RISWICK: Also it was one of the best press trips I've ever been on. It was really interesting. When are you going to go to Montenegro? It was really cool. But it's not exactly experiencing the car, like, in anything resembling a normal environment. And I never drove it again, which is kind of unfortunate.

GREG MIGLIORE: Eight years later, it comes back to your fleet.

JAMES RISWICK: And despite being eight years old, this car has held up very well. Very well. They redid the interior at some point, both to make it nicer, which it did need. The fanciest versions of the F-Pace originally were covered in leather or pleather and looked very nice. The bottom ones were not. The new one has the latest Pivi Pro touchscreen infotainment system, same thing that's in that Defender. And it's perfectly fine.

It works and that's all you can hope for. The interior quality is excellent. And I tell you, it is so enjoyable to drive. I don't think we talk about this enough. The Porsche Macan is very called out for being exceptional to drive, period, not just for an SUV. This is in that same league, at least the P400 version that I was driving with the big 395 horsepower engine in it.

It is genuinely enjoyable to drive. Excellent steering. And really, I think it needs to be in the conversation more with the Macon. It certainly is similarly priced, but it's bigger. So the Macon's major downside is it's small. Well, this isn't. This is bigger. It's an appropriate bigger. It still looks great.

They tweaked the design slightly over the years for the better. And I really enjoyed this car. Awesome seats. It has these, like, razor thin sports seats that I don't know for sure, but sure seems like they came out of an F type, at least they look like them. Really firm sports seats.

And I think because they're thinner, they probably free up back seat space too. But I kind of got it, just like, OK, let's see how this thing held up. And it's really held up well. I think it deserves more attention than it gets, even eight years later. It's really good. Pleasant surprise, and it is one that in terms of SUVs, I would happily drive this one every day. Yeah, really nice, pleasant surprise. And yeah, it's a good one.

GREG MIGLIORE: Honestly, I've always had kind of a soft spot for the F-Pace. We had a deep blue one that was almost purple probably back in, I think, that was 17, 18. It was a long-termer. It was quite good. We didn't really have any major issues with it, as I think back. I took it to all sorts of things. The family rolled around in it. The dog was in it all the time. She was a puppy back then.

And other than the fact that you've got to jump into narrow seats, which is not ideal for a golden retriever, It is reasonably comfortable. I think it looks good too. I think they-- I think this was part of Ian Callum, when he was still running things, that was part of his design studio back then. And it's always had a good character.

I think comparing it to Porsche is a good one because it has a unique, again, character spirit that frankly, don't always get when I drive a German crossover in this segment. And I'm not just saying that because I drove the SVR one. I've always thought this about the F-Pace. Interior is pretty good. Again, it's been two years. So I'd be curious to see what they've done to it, you know, some of the upgrades you mentioned.

The infotainment always was a work in progress. So you get Pivi Pro in there. Perhaps that gets things a little more tolerable. But I mean, it's a muscle SUV in many ways too, whether-- it just has that like spirit of Jaguar, which is a total cliche. But not every brand can make an SUV and make it feel like some of their other things that maybe you might rather drive, if given your druthers. And I think they did that with the F-PACE.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah, I'd be curious to drive-- I now want to drive the 4 cylinder version, see what it's like with 246 and 269 pound feet of torque. The other thing about the F-PACE is it's a different size. So it's not really-- it's bigger than the compact SUVs, the X3's, and all that. But it's not as big as an X5. It's closest comparison is a Lexus RX.

I actually had an RX before it. And not surprisingly, I like the Jaguar more. But in terms of the size, it's kind of closest comparison, which sometimes that makes it hard to compare to things, but also it puts it in a unique position that might be appealing to more people.

GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah, myself included. I think many car buyers shop in ways that, as auto journalists, we don't always think of. We try to-- well, this fits in this segment. Here's the C-class here's the E-class.

I think car buyers oftentimes, are like, well, I like this as a crossover. Maybe the sedan might fit what I'm looking at. Naturally, I want to consider a Wrangler because, you know, everybody thinks they want to drive a Jeep Wrangler.

So sometimes these tweener segments I think can be very spot on. Cool. The F-PACE. That's definitely a Back to the Future one there. All right. Let's talk Hyundai Kona. One more from fleet de Riswick, Kona.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah, the inline. The inline, which is the little turbo engine in it. It has the racier styling, which is pretty racy. It looks pretty cool. And has this weird split spoiler in the back. And it's not the full on N version, not that they have that-- not that that's back yet.

But this looks pretty wild. It is the same mechanical-- it's the same platform as the Kia Niro, which I happen to own. And you can really tell when they're sitting next to each other, they're exactly the same size. The cargo area, virtually identical. Back seat space, the same.

Because the Kona is newer, it has the newer version of the Hyundai Kia infotainment system. It looks nicer. I think it's worse to use, specifically, the radio. They've added a bunch of complications that have made it annoying, whereas, they kind of nailed it before.

Anyway, there's some little things that are-- I think is worse. But the rest of the interior is neat. They moved the-- it's the same shifter as the Ioniq 5 and 6. So it's the little doohickey underneath, attached to the wheel. So that frees up the whole center console for storage.

That's very clever. Yeah, back seat. The new Kona is much bigger than the old one. So the old one was like, the quintessential subcompact one. But then everything got a lot bigger, to the point we started having to come up with a new term for these things. We call them mid compacts. But now everything, including the Kona, has caught up to the mid compact. So they're subcompacts again.

But that means that it's actually kind of family friendly. This back seat is genuinely big, kind of like the Niro. Trunk, one of the bigger in the segment. Really, only the VW Taos and the Bronco Sport are bigger the-- the Seltos is just a little bit bigger. So enjoyable little car to drive.

Fuel economy wasn't that great. I was getting, like, 25 out of it, which it's a little subcompact SUV, probably should be getting closer to 30. I think the turbo's probably not helping it. You want to use it and that's going to end up with some bad fuel economy. But just an enjoyable little runabout. I found that size is really good.

I think it's smart. It's one reason we like our Niro. Because it's smaller. We live in-- we live in the burbs, but the parking spots are still small, easier to maneuver. And just enough interior space. So similar thing with the Kona.

GREG MIGLIORE: Looks like you were able to wedge four pretty large bags in there, suitcases--

JAMES RISWICK: Six.

GREG MIGLIORE: In the back. How many?

JAMES RISWICK: Five.

GREG MIGLIORE: Five? OK.

JAMES RISWICK: Two check-ins, three carry-ons, one duffel bag.

GREG MIGLIORE: That's pretty remarkable for what's-- not an extremely large vehicle. So check out Jim's luggage tests, not just for the Kona, but for all of the things that come through. What fits, what doesn't, who's to say? All right. So that's the Kona. Let's move on over to the WTX. Joined the fleet in January. It went to road test editor, Zac Palmer.

After a few weeks, he traded over to me. And this is my-- actually, this is, I believe, my final full week in it. So I just gassed it up. So whoever gets it next, although I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend. Maybe I'll need to fuel it up again.

But I've enjoyed my almost a month in it. It's interesting when you drive, especially a long-termer. Sometimes those posts can write themselves.

Because in our long-term blog, if you will, you can write whatever you want. Whether it's what you did with it. Whether you go on some epic road trip or do a luggage test, or whatnot. Or maybe something-- misfortune also lends your way, which check out our Toyota Sienna if you want to look at some misfortune that's befallen that vehicle.

But I've liked it. It's bright orange. It's got the six speed manual. It's got that boxer 4 turbo. It's pretty powerful. It's everything I've always hoped and wanted the WRX to be.

We've talked about it a bit, the styling. It's gotten a little clunkier. The wheel well's stick out.

There's a lot of plastic going on on the sides and the back. Zac and I generally like that, although I don't think I like it quite as enthusiastic as he does. But with that big hood scoop, you got the LED lights. It's a fun looking car.

You pull up and people are looking at you like, who is this dude? You just don't see a lot of WRXs on the road, especially in Michigan, but really, anywhere. I mean, it's a lot to handle. I keep coming back to the notion that I'm going to be really bored, especially because my next vehicle coming in is, I think, I'm the closer for the Sienna. It's heading out. So I will be likely the final editor in the Intuit.

And that's the opposite of driving a WRX. But it's a lot of fun. And there's a CD player. I've gotten reacquainted with The Wallflowers, Counting Crows, all my old CDs.

JAMES RISWICK: I believe that was my demand. I think I demanded that, even though I will never see the car, let alone drive it. But yeah, I insisted that you get the aftermarket CD player. Because if you're going to offer it, we should ask for that.

GREG MIGLIORE: I think so. I completely agree. It's frankly--

JAMES RISWICK: In fact, I'm going to write a note right now to tell Zac that he needs-- somebody needs to do that post immediately.

GREG MIGLIORE: The CD player one?

JAMES RISWICK: Yes. Yes. We got it for a reason.

GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, yeah.

JAMES RISWICK: It needs to be a post by itself.

GREG MIGLIORE: That is-- I think that's a good idea. I think-- honestly, it's been in my backlog of things I may do. I've been kind of reticent to sign on for that with Zac because hey, there's a lot of different things on my plate. But I also feel like I'm uniquely qualified to do it because I actually have a case logic CD sleeve.

I remember when CDs were how you listen to music in your car. So we'll see. I think most of the staff is Gen X to Gen Y. But you get into Gen Y and there weren't CD players in cars.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah, it's been pretty recent that they haven't been in. My last two cars had them. Our 2013 X5 and All Road both had CD players.

GREG MIGLIORE: Oh, that's a very-- that's a tribute to the X5 for having that.

JAMES RISWICK: And then the All Road, it made a difference because it had the Harmon Kardon-- or no, Bang & Olufsen sound system, which was exceptional. And the sound quality difference between your phone and CDs was definitely noticeable. And it made a big difference. That sound system was great.

So yeah, it is a little sad. If you want sound quality, it's still the way to go. I would-- one thing about the older cars is you can still get a CD player.

GREG MIGLIORE: Well, it's a different vibe to versus Spotify or satellite radio or talk radio. Because you just-- ideally, you put a CD in and you-- I like to listen to it all the way through. And when you're working a manual transmission, perhaps you have a nice hot cup of coffee. It's very cathartic way to approach driving. You're very-- that's what you're doing.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah, that said, I still have transferred most of my favorites in high def to my phone and have purchased many albums on iTunes over the years. I still buy music. I don't actually have a Spotify account.

GREG MIGLIORE: OK. Wow.

JAMES RISWICK: I listen to my own stuff or Sirius, both in car Sirius and then through the app. There's a lot of extra channels on the Sirius app. It's really good. I think people should give it more of a chance.

I kind of like the-- it's more curated by actual human beings, as opposed to some algorithm that just puts you into your own little silo, listening to your own stuff. So I'm a fan of it. I like both the app and listen to it at all-- like, just around the house, we have it on the various channels, both the actual channels that are in your car and then tons of bonus channels. So pretty cool.

GREG MIGLIORE: That was one of I think the mind blowing things when I first got into press cars. And frankly, Sirius and XM were still in their early days. I was like, this is fantastic. You get-- back then, Sirius and XM hadn't quite merged. They then merged. So Ford's had one, and Chevy's had something else. And Honda-- it was definitely a different thing. I remember writing that story about the merger, the Sirius-XM merger.

JAMES RISWICK: Well, I always liked XM better. I liked the channels a little bit better. And they carried baseball. That was the big thing. Because now I was listening to, in Los Angeles, Blue Jays games happening throughout the country and in Canada, which blew my mind. That was so cool. And that was such a big deal. Because of that, I actually had a portable Sirius player that I would carry that I would plug in using an using an aux jack into press cars that didn't have XM, or my own Z3.

GREG MIGLIORE: I tell you what, listening to sports on satellite radio is definitely one of the-- that's one of the joys of it, if you will. During baseball season, in particular, but you can even get spring training games on there, which is cool.

JAMES RISWICK: Yeah. The MLB app--

GREG MIGLIORE: Also will do that.

JAMES RISWICK: Made it that-- made it defunct. But you know. Anyway.

GREG MIGLIORE: Pitchers and catchers report in about two weeks, if that. So baseball season is coming. All right. So that is our long-term WRX. Let's move on to a little bit of news here. Frankly, I think the coolest bit of eye candy on sight this week was the 2025 RS6 GT, Byron wrote the headline, Ultra Limited, which is true. Just 85 are coming to the United States.

It is intense. It kind of is the spiritual successor to the GTO concept that was, yes, an Audi, not a Pontiac, not a Ferrari, from a little while ago. And it's pretty powerful. We're talking 630 horsepower, 621 stateside. We lose 9 as you make the voyage across the Atlantic. And it just-- it looks like some of those great 1980s rally cars.

It's got the right color scheme. It's low to the ground. It's everything you want in the wagon, the sport wagon, a speed wagon, and you will not likely get it. Just 85 of these things are coming here. But reminds me of transformers a little bit that I used to have back in the day.

JAMES RISWICK: I think it kind of looks like a running shoe. Multicolored Asics running shoe.

GREG MIGLIORE: OK.