Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / 2022 Nissan Frontier and the State of Mid-Sized Pickups

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2022 Nissan Frontier and the State of Mid-Sized Pickups · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I am
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: your host, Scott Brady, and I'm here with my co
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: host Matt Scott and I've somehow forgotten how to use
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: all of these controls on this thing. I didn't hit
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: record the first time and then I just let the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: music keep. Computers are hard, I know, I dislike them.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: There's just a few buttons on here, and I can't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: seem to master any of them. And that's a lot
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of buttons. There's at least nine nine oh no. So
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: we're talking about the all new ish I can't say
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: all new. We're talking about the mostly new, mostly new
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two Nissan Frontier. It is always good to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: see companies like Toyota or Nissan or like in the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: background right now we have the new four Bronco behind Matt.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: We're seeing this kind of golden age or I think
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: you summed it up like the Swan song of the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: internal combustion fold drives. And it's almost like every engineer
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: knows that, and it's like the last time to make
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the great Frontier are the last time to make what
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: will be now the new Tacoma or the new Tundra
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: that we're going to be seeing here in the next
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: couple weeks in its entirety, the Bronco, all of these vehicles.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: It's almost like they're all taking it really serious and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: we're all benefiting from it. One of this week's sponsors
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Rumpel Blankets. Rumpell started literally in the back of a van.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Their story is interesting. They were on a surf and
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: ski trip through California and the founders of Rumpel were
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: sleeping in a van several miles up a dirt road
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: near a secret hot springs. They woke up the next
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: morning and sub zero temperatures in a car that wouldn't start.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: They were outside of cell reception and confronted with the
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: real possibility of a long walk into town. So instead
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: they decided to bundle up in their sleeping bags and
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: drink whiskey while they waited for someone else to show up.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: And that turned into hours, and the conversation extended on
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to the subject of bedding and they came up with
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Rumpel Blankets. Their most popular product is the original puffy blanket.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: It is their flagsh product and it's available in a
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: one person, a two person, and a junior size. I
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: have used the two person for many years. I keep
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: it as part of my kit that lives in the
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: vehicle just in case I run into a situation similar
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to what they did where I'm stranded and need some
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: additional warmth and insulation. It's also really useful for around
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the campfire when you want that little bit of extra comfort.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I'll also use it when sleeping in the vehicle, and
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: then they are just the right size or a roof
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: tent as well. So these are really high quality blankets
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: that are weather resistant. They're made from recycled materials, they're washable,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: and they have very durable fabrics in construction, which makes
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: them ideal for overland travel. Check out Rumpell or your
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: next blanket. Well, they have to otherwise. The internal combustion
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: engine was just kind of a failure, right, I know
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: people hate hearing that, but I mean they cannot match
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the performance of electric cars, and the form factor will
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: drastically change. You no longer will have to you know,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: have the design necessity a large engine and cooling and
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: all of these different things that come along with it.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: So it'll be really interesting to see where it goes.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: But you know, I really do think that a lot
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: of people you know, love to hate on modern four
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: wheel drives. Sure, but maybe they just haven't driven them.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of times that they haven't driven them. Yeah,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: And I think if you look at how most people
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: view the world is that they they've invested a lot
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: in whatever they drive. Yeah. Right, So if they're driving
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: like a mid nineties Ford pickup truck or Ford Ranger
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: from the mid nineties, and they've got fifty grand in
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the thing, it's going to be really difficult to wrap
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: your head around the fact that the new vehicle from
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Nissan is going to be better in almost every single way.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: And I think that's that's difficult. It is difficult for
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: all of us to make a big investment, get really
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: personally invested in something, a brand or a particular model,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and it's really hard, especially on the interwebs, to like
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: acknowledge it something it's just okay, if something's cool, Well,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: there's that intern meme hard pills to swallow, Yeah, exactly,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Like that was like my eighty series for me. You know,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: it's got the diesel, it's got everything on paper that
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: everybody on the internet says is great. Well, and Dan
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Grek has got an article in the next issue of
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Overland Journal, where he does I think a very compelling
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: job of making the argument for driving around the world
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: in modern vehicles, and he brings up a bunch of examples,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: including my own Defender that I have with Marcos, and
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: he was here to like hang out. So we go
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: to the coffee shop and I'm like, like, so, you know,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the breaks don't work, I mean, or the break lights
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: don't work, and the turn signals that's the classic, are
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: exactly like you're you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. The
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: people in the dealership take a take a Defender to
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a land Rover dealership anywhere now other than land over
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas. Probably probably that's it. They're great, But that's
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the reality of it is that he drove essentially a
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: stock TJ around South America with no failures. He tightened
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: up some like shift or linkage that was getting loose
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and that was and TJ's weren't like they weren't super reliable. Yeah,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and then he takes his JK around Africa and essentially
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: has no mechanical failures. So now we have to look
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: at the contrarian view of that. If you do have
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: a failure with a modern vehicle. Yeah, that's going to
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: become very complicated, so the likelihood of it failing is lower.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: But if it does, you can't like Ray Hyland did
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: where you make a seal from someone's hat, you know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and to like reseal the engine, Like it's going to
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: be a problem to get a technician in parts and
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: everything in to repair it, right. Yeah, Yeah, it's interesting.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: We've both put a lot of miles on Jeep products
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and I've never had a single issue. I can't think
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: of a single issue I've ever had with one. Yeah,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I mean the JK that I bought in two thousand
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and nine that ended up becoming the earth Romer XVJP
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that I had zero issues with that, including all the
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: way down to Panama. Nothing. I mean I had some
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: problems with the earth Romer parts, but like nothing with
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: the GEP. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's interesting and I think
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: modern vehicles are well. I mean, first off, let me
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: preface this by just saying drive whatever you want, it
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter, just just actually get out and do something
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: like don't be somebody that like lives on Instagram and
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: doesn't actually do it or does it for Instagram do
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: it for the do it for the gram. Yeah, but
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: you know, modern vehicles are cheaper to service, cheaper to
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: run my Gladiator, and I was lucky enough to have
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator and the Diesel eighty at the same time,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: both relatively similarly equipped, you know, to the proportions of
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the vehicle. You know, the the eighty would get a
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: little bit better gas mileage, but it required oil changes
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: every three thousand miles with expensive filters like seventy four
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: gallons of diesel oil. It didn't stop diesel diesel is more,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: it didn't stop very well, even though it was the problem.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: It's actually a great any of the go. If you're
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: listening Kevin, it is a really great car. But I
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: don't try to stop it quickly. You know, the Gladiator
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: ran on regular gas, runs on regular gas. It is
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: twenty nine dollars to get an oil change. Anywhere you
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: know there's jeep dealers, you're getting attacked by a fly.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Right it is the monsoon season in Arizona, so there's moisture.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: It's the land cruiser fly. He's like, it's like the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: land cruiser. Gods, the land Cruiser by a troopy. But
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: even then, like a two hundred series land Cruiser is
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: one of the most durable, reliable land cruisers ever made,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: and it's well documented, well documented, very very durable. Yeah,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: but we're talking about the twenty twenty two Nissan Frontier
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: tooar which is based on the two thousand and five
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Nissan Frontier. I have to say that. Yeah, the frame,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the frame is very similar. There are some chain It
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: looks great. It does of like minded vehicles, the you know,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the Ranger Tacoma, Yeah, Colorado. I think it's the best
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: looking in the market, right, I agree, Yeah, it look
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: it looks great, and I was I was fortunate to
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: be able to go to their press event and get
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: a chance to drive the vehicle. And one of the upsides,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, I shouldn't even say it that way, but
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: due to COVID, you cannot drive with another driver in
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the vehicle, so they hand you your own truck. I
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: love when you go to press events and you like
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: say something semi intelligent and ends up in like four
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: other stories. I know you can't. You cannot disclose your findings, yeah,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: no matter how much you like them. Because a lot
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: of the wonderfol wheel drive side. I mean, I'm not
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: trying to toot my own horn, but generally when we
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: go to press events, we're probably the more four wheel
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: drive oriented people. Sure, it's it's no disrespect. I mean
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: a lot of these guys are, you know, usually reviewing
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: like cameras or something totally and there's a larger market
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: for that than there is four wheel drives. And there's
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: always guys that are there like Sean Holman and others
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: that are fantastic drivers and super experienced and those are
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the ones, yeah, and those are the ones that are
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: fun too. Yeah. And Sean writes for four Wheeler and
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: in some and Motor Trend and he has his own podcast.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: What's his podcast, The Truck Show? The Truck Show sponsored
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: by Nissan. Oh there you go back to Yeah, back
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: to the Nissan exactly. That was a tangent, but that
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: was kind of a fun one though. Yeah. Yeah, so yeah,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the new Frontier is notable in a couple of years. Yeah.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: So you drove this, I did, and they throw us
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the keys hop on the road and you immediately notice
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: the performance. So three hundred and ten horse power V
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: six nine speed automatic, naturally aspirated and naturally aspirated. Although
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: we were at altitude in Utah. So, you know, I
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: hope that the opinions that come out on the drive
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: train taken to consideration the fact that we were at
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: six thousand feet or more. Yeah, which is going to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: affect how much power you feel that the vehicle has
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: because of the elevation. But given the elevation that we
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: were at, it was a great performer. On the high
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: end of the RPM range. It does get a little rough,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: kind of like the previous model did, so it's not
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: smooth all the way up to redline, but it's certainly
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: not annoying or even really also not a super expensive
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: vehicle totally, it's not going to be a selling machine
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: nine to eleven. But what what is the contrary to that?
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: They have done such a good job with, you know,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: attention towards ENVH so noise, vibration and harshness have all improved.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: They've got hydraulic dampers, they've got better insulation in the cab.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: They're using this higher quality glass that reduces themated glass.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I believe it's in the front and on the side
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: on the driver and passengers dead reside, which it is
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: very noticeable because I have recently driven the previous edition,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: and it's night and day. It is much more comfortable. Yeah,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and you notice it. And plus with the nine speed,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: it just kind of stays in the power band and
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: all the touch points have improved quality wise. The seats
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: are nice and comfortable, you know, for a mid size,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: value minded truck. I think it's something you could enjoy
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: driving for decades. So you have that reliability of the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: previous models. But the technology is there now, the comforts
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: there now, and definitely the on road driving performance has
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: improved a lot. So you know, there's a couple things
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: that immediately come to mind for me because most of
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: our audience is going to be interested in the Pro
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: four X. So the Pro four X it gets you,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: you know, a fifty four to one low range, which
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: in an automatic is more than sufficient. In fact, the
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: lower range is so low that the hill descent control
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: is almost not even needed a consideration, even though we'll
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: talk about the hill descent control in a little bit.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: But you know, so a five point four to two
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: to one first gear, which when you compare it to
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: the Tacoma with a six speed automatic and that has
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: three point six to one first gear, I mean that's
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: always been My concern with the Tacoma is they didn't
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: gear the transmission correctly. So you have this engine that
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: develops lower torque at lower RPMs, and you combine it
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: with too tall of a first gear. It actually just
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: it feels not only uninspiring if you're doing any towing
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: or the vehicles heavily loaded, it feels dangerous. Fact that
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the Frontier addresses that with this five point four to
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: two to one first gear I think is a real
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: advance in my mind. You know, you got a locking
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: rear deferential. You have traction control that works when the
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: lockers on, and it works when you're left foot braking,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: which most manufacturers get that wrong. You know, Toyota gets
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: it right with the A track. Land Rover always gets
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: it right, of course, but a lot of the OEMs
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: when you're left foot braking with an automatic transmission, it
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: cancels the trash control. It's defeating the purpose. I mean,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: it's not an advantage to the driver. Yeah, it's got
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: this these Bilstein shocks front and rear with an all
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: new suspension architecture, and the rear suspension has got these
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: progressive jounces just like a timberan does. So you. Yeah,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: you've got these super progressive tall jounces that they work great.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I mean this the Nissan has less suspension travel than
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: the Tacoma. We know that. I mean it's like in
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: the order of like an inch in the front, which
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: is all an infinity in an ifs. But they have
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: done such a good job of tuning these Bilsteen shocks
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: that you don't even notice. Well, there's definitely something to that.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I mean there's there's the amount of travel, and there's
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: and there's how much do you use it? Right? Yeah,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: how you take advantage of it? Right? And they did
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: such a great job with that, and then in the
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: rear they put in these progressive jounces, so even on
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: larger events and g outs, it's just very progressive. It
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: feels a super smooth solution to a you know, just
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: something that a lot of other manufacturers kind of turn
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: to more expensive or more complicated true ways, yeah, so true.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: And you're saying thirty seven thousand dollars for that pro
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: four X, yeah, which is like it's a bargain in
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: my mind, I think so. I don't think you can
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: buy a ten year old Tacoma for thirty seven thousand
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: dollars I don't know if you can buy it's a
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: coma for that. Yeah, like well yeah, I mean they're
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: just so then, even a used one, they're so valuable.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: I have When people buy used tacomas, I'm like, I
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: think it's because like right now, you can't can't get
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: it right now, so you're buying something used. But you're right,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: I think the the financial argument for a used a
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: few year old tacoma just isn't there. You just wait,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: you just be patient. I mean, what's the starting price
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: of a glad. I think it's thirty thirty four to nine? Yeah,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I mean I know that you can. You can buy
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: a seventy thousand dollars sure, Gladiator if you're Diesel, Rubicon, Rubicon,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: all that stuff. And I think mine was sixty two. Yeah,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: it was so long ago, and the realm of how
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: long I usually keep cars, like in fact, I'm always
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: surprised when it shows up. I'm like, oh he still
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: has that. I really like it, Like what else? It's great.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: The only thing I want more than my Gladiator is
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: my Gladiator with a three ninety two. Yeah, and and Jeep,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, I mean think of I mean the Diesel though,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: was really nice. Have you driven the Diesel one? I
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: think so. Didn't we have one? Yeah? We did. I
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: liked it really but then again this, But then again,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: though you and I have totally different we were actually
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: in two different planets when it comes to enjoyment of horsepower.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: So like, like, it doesn't mean that I don't enjoy horsepower,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: but for whatever reason, when it comes to fold drives,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I don't even really think about it. Yeah, so I
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: like the hearse purse. I just bought a TRX for
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: for listeners, which is how many horse powers? Seven hundred
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: and two? Baby, that's incredible. That's incredible. It's amazing. Yeah,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: it's amazing. I love this car. We'll do a podcast
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: on that later. I mean that is that is it
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: has launched control. Yeah, and that's three ta comba's worth
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: of horsepower. That's incredible. Yeah, yeah, that's that's really amazing.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: But when you buy desirable cars and you don't keep
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: them for too long, you don't really lose money on them,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: so you can kind of cycle through things. You can't
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: drive bitcoin, man, you can't drive bitcoin. But yeah, you've
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: done really well. Used cars are up twenty percent this year,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: that's right. So and bitcoin is down at least that much. Yeah,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: it's like the mythical Bitcoin millionaire that everybody knows. It's
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: like it's like an MLM for millennials. Well, I think
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: a lot of them did make money, but then they
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: didn't sell, yeah, when they had the opportunity to, and
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: then they just wrote it right back down again. Although
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: if you bought bitcoin ten years ago and you still
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: have it, or a mini Mini Schoollionaire, Yeah, but they
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: just don't. Those people just aren't really out there. You
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: read about the guy who had it on his laptop
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: and then he threw his laptop away, and he's trying
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: to the guy that spent like seven hundred Bitcoin on
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: a pizza. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, interesting how these all work together, right,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Sure he's not happy with them, hopefully that pizza was
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: really good. When you look at the frontier, it's always
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: been the and this is even not even fair to say,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: but in a way, I think the market has seen
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: it as they also ran despite the fact that it's
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: sold in excellent numbers seventy thousand units regularly, like them
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: regularly in recent years. It won our Value Award for
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the Overland Journal Mid size Truck of the Year test.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: It really is, and it's also the most reliable vehicle
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: according to JD Power and Associates, which there seems to
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: be on the interweb some confusion around JD Power results.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: So people will say, ah, you know they bought that
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: JD Power award, But I know a Nissan doesn't spend
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: money on any So you know, I don't think Nissan
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: paid off JD Power. Again, I think they send you
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: like surveys because I think I get JD Power surveys
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: exactly grow in the trash. Yeah, well, so you're not
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: part of that factor like I've seen some of them.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Like it's because you don't own the car long enough
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: to be able to do the three month quality thing, right, Hey,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I mean maybe I could do the six month six
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Like you said, you have owned the Gladiator since twenty nineteen,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: twenty eight the end of twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. April, Yeah,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: April twenty nineteen. That's when she was born, my little
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: baby forever ago, my little Gladiator. Ye, whatever it is,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: whatever it wants to identify us, that's fine. I don't
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: really care because it's awesome. Yeah, so it's it's got
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: great reliability legacy. I mean you're thinking about the same
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: company that makes the Patrol. I mean, so Nissan does
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: make good quality vehicles, and I think that that's a
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: consideration when you look at a vehicle like this. In
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: my mind, yeah, and you combine that with the fact
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: that it's a great looking truck, a really comfort truck
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: to drive, plenty of power, which is like, it makes
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: it fun. It makes it where you can tow. Almost
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: seven pounds, I believe is the rating on it. And
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: when I drove it, I had some takeaways that really
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: stood out. I mean, it's got the best steering feel
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: of any midsized truck. So the Ford was really good,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: but this is even better because it's variable rate and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: it's electrically assisted, So you get this heavy truck feel,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: this mechanical heavy truck feel, but then at low speeds
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: it gets this electric assist and then it varies the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: rate based upon speed and a bunch of other things,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and as a result, on the trail you get good
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: feedback and not too much effort, and then on the
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: road you get this very on center, very direct feel
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: out of the steering. So Nissan nailed it on the
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: steering in my mind. Like we talked about the NVH
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: noise vibration harshness is way down, so way more comfortable.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: There was a couple things that I noticed. One of
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the things that I didn't like is when you go
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: into manual mode on the transmission, you typically want it
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: unless it's way outside of range. You want it to
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: stay in the gear that you've selected. And there's a
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: lot of reasons for that, Like you could be driving
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: very spirited where the transmission shifting could upset the stability
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: of the chassis. And so I was driving in a
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: very spirited manner and I'm keeping it in third, and
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: you're relying on engine breaking. That's right, and I want
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: lots of engine breaking, but I also want this like
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: smooth transition through the turn. So like I'm coming into
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the corner, it's a decreasing radius uphill corner, and I
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: start feeding into the throttle and I'm met probably forty
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: two hundred RPMs now and it downshifts. It down shifts,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: and look, because I didn't ask it to, it just
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: downshifted and went to the moon. It went almost to redline.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: So now I've got nothing left and it totally upset
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the vehicle. And so that was one thing that I
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: noticed is when it's a manual selection mode, I get it, like,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: if you're lugging the thing at twelve hundred RPMs, go
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: ahead and downshift. But if someone's already mumping along at
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: forty two hundred RPMs, don't send it to redline. It
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: had just enough room in the gear to make the
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: down shift and then it went right into red line.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: So I'm banging off the rev limitter and I'd like
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: to see that improved. So that's one, But that's a
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: minor gribble. You know, it'd be pre production tuning as well. Yeah,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: for sure. So that was the only thing that I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: really noticed on the road stuff. I mean, it's better
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: than the Tacoma in most ways on the road, much quieter,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: much more responsive, I think. You know, it's hard to
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: argue against the Tacoma. Yeah, it's just that drive train. Yeah,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: that's it. Literally, I know that I rag on the
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Tacoma a lot, one hundred percent because of the drive train. Yeah,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: and the payload. Those are the only two things that
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I would possibly it's a small truck, but you know, yeah,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: but I mean it should be able to it should
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: be able to have a higher payload than a jeep wrangler.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: The jeep wrangler now has a thirteen hundred pound payload,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: maybe even thirteen ninety five. I would think of Tacoma
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: TRD pro should it as a truck, should at least
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: be able to carry as much weight as a jeep wrangler.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying I have received feedback that I am
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: not kind to the Toyota Tacoma. Oh so I am trying.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: The thing really sucks, man, I mean like that we
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: still need that. We we were talking about getting the
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Tacoma button, like the easy and Tacoma button, Like like
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: every time I hit it, I insult the Tacoma. That
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: three point five Atkinson like, I think that's this is
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: the biggest case for the Frontier. Sure, you know the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one Frontier, the D forty. I believe that
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: it's that it's called. It's hard to argue against the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: utility of it, but it just it didn't compete in
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: my opinion, it wasn't a modern offering, right. You know
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it was originally launched in two thousand and four. Yeah,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: it ran until twenty twenty one in this market, Like
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: that that is we'll go into Yeah, we'll get into
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: you know, so that means that it was it started
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: to be designed in the nineties. Yeah, and it is
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: still sold. I'm just not crazy about that. Oh well, So,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: I mean I guess that makes means that chassis that
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: this is based on, it's getting up there. It's getting
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: up there. But I mean, like, how much do you
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: need to change? Yeah, I think there's definitely an argument
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: for not spending the money on that. Spend the money
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: on the suspension and the tuning and all that other stuff. Right.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: The thing is is that we don't hate Tacomas. We
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: just know Toyota can do a little bit better because
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: they're so it's such a great company and they make
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: such great vehicles. The argument that I will make is
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: that if you don't, if people with a little bit
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: of a voice or in the media do not push
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: these car companies, you end up with you know, even
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: though this is a nice option, you end up with this.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Nissan is only spending the money that they have to
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to be competitive in the market, same as same as Toyota.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Right when I was running unsealed four by four, I
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: drove the D twenty three, which launched in twenty fourteen. Right,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: that's a five link Frontier. They call it a Navara
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: basically the same thing. That's a five link, coil sprung
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: rear end, really balanced, really modern interior. Loved the look
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: of it. Yeah, you can get it with the diesel.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: They sell it in Mexico, which is the crazy thing.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: But they only have to be as competitive as their competition.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And you have Ford who's selling Americans a truck that
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I want to say has been manufactured since two thousand
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and eleven. Yeah, which isn't that bad. Although they win
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: on that. I mean that drive train, it's great. Yeah,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: four dis great things at drive train, But Takma they
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: didn't really try that hard. So why would Nissan try
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: very hard. They don't need to retool that frame because
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: there's really no necessity for it, you know, other than
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I think that for me, and this is purely personal,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: it's not a negative about the vehicle because they did
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: such a great job of tuning the rear suspension. But
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: I was fully expecting to see the five link because
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Nissan has always done that. They were the first to
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: come out with the four or pick up. They were
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the first to come out with you know all these
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: little things, you know they were they had all these firsts.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I was totally expecting a five link. I mean I
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: was told by the CEO of Nissan Australia at the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: time that this vehicle would be in the United States
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen. Right, And maybe it's not because Toyo
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: showed their cards right around at the same time. Sure
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: they did. That's that's that's speculation. But I know that
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: that chassis was designed to be launched in the United States,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: and it's like, well, if you could offer a better product,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: why not. Because the problem that this Frontier is going
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: to have, in my opinion, is it is competitive. Now
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: you have a new Ford Ranger coming out, you have
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: an inevitable update to the Tacoma, which has the Tacoma
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: has a lot of advantages, as you're saying, it has
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: more ground clearance, the way it's kind of engineered and designed.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Everything in the aftermarket, all they have to do to
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: fix that vehicle is find a little bit more payload
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: and a different drive train, which is which is super easy,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Like this is relatively relatively easy. Right. I think that
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Tacoma looks good. I think the Frontier looks better. You know,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: So it's competitive now, but why are they It would
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: be interesting to be a fly fly on the wall,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: sorry they fly. For those that aren't watching us on YouTube,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: they're being attacked by a single It must be the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: pr Minder from Nissan. Maybe it's not actually the Coma.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: What was the decision to not bring that here? I
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: just think it has to said. I'm sorry, I'm going
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: to stop talking about it. But it's a really great car.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: I mean Mercedes for the X class the only pick
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: up truck Mercedes has ever done limited production. They only
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: ran it, I think for two years. They used the
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Nissan chassis. Yeah, Like if that doesn't say something, Yeah,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Nissan would not use a chassis that came out in
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: two thousand and four. Mercedes would not use a chassis
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: that came out in two thousand and four, right, you
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: know it wouldn't be competitive. Yeah. I was just fully
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: expecting Nissan to grab that first and have the fire,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: especially with this fantastic exterior. It looks great. Yeah, and
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: if you think about it, I mean, by the time
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: this podcast goes to air will be past the embargo.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: But the new Tundra is a five link coil sprung
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: rear suspension. Raptor has gone to it. Yeah, fifteen hundred's
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: gone to it from the twenty five get ram. You know,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: there are some advantages I think, you know, two coil springs.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Just some people on the thirty five hundred round prefer, sorry,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: they prefer the leaf spring. Something to do with how
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: it tracks down the road or something. I never really
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: experienced any issues with my twenty five hundred, but it
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: handles a wider range of payload. Yeah, a coil spring
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: has a narrower operating range, but they ride better to
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: begin with, so you don't need to make them so
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: progressive like you do with a leaf spring. But it's
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: an interesting we're at that, you know, to kind of
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: go back to where we were at this you know,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: kind of golden age of the you know, internal combustion. Yeah,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: for wheel drive six swans stuff on the market right now, Yeah,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: really really good stuff. I mean, you know, Chevy's killing it,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: you know with a little Colorado. I mean and I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: drove them at four Yeah, when I drove that aev
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Bison bison from the Colorado, that thing was incredible. Little
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: diesel front rear lockers, that multimatic suspension system. I mean
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: it was it is class leading. I mean you just can't.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: You just cannot get that combination for what we want
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: in anything else, which is why it won our test.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: But you know it's yeah, it's pretty impressive everything that's
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: going on. And and I guess maybe just to kind
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: of wrap up Frontier, you know, off road, the rear
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: suspension was great. The Bilstein tuning whoever at Nissan tune
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: those shocks deserves an award because I've never seen an
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: out of the box, you know, mid size truck that
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: has that size of damping. It's cool to see Bilstein
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: stepping it up. Yeah, there's been a lot of emphasis
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: on oh it's called Fox shocks, like yeah, cool, Yeah,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I mean Fox makes great shocks, but like it's not
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: it's not just stick a Fox sticker on something and
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: now it's yeah. But I think that's what a lot
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: of the manufacturers are doing, is they're they're not really
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: really tuning it. They're just saying we're going to go
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: with Fox and then the customer is going to be happy.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: Whereas what I found with this one. And also this
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: is personal preference too. I prefer a vehicle that has
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: a heavier rebound, and I realized that because of the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: fact that the Nissan has less suspension travel, that's part
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: of the reason why they have to make the valving
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: a little firmer on rebound so that they still give
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: some compliance on compression, but then the rebound helps control
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: the jounce and the vehicle extending off of an event.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: But I did find that I was getting some pretty
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: notable clunking out of the front suspension on like a
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: little bit not big events. It's like the vehicle wasn't
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: even being pushed hard. It was just loose babyhead rocks,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: kind of bouncing up off of rocks and things like that,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: and I was getting some clanking out of the suspension.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: So I think this may have been early production, so
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: maybe it didn't have an internal jounce and the shock fitted.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: But that was one thing that I noticed there. Again,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the steering off road was excellent. The hill descent control
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: was the best I've ever used, even better than the
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Defender for smoothness. The problem with it is that it's
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: not adjustable, So if you go into manual mode on
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the transmission and you go from first a second, it
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: doesn't change the threshold. If you how else do we
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: do it on those vehicles when we want to make
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: it go slower decent control, I refuse to use it. Yeah,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: it is not very hard to just like put it
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: in a low gear and then like occasionally use the
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: brakes when you start overdriving it. Well for me, it's
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: the yeah for you and I, I I can see
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: that because I don't use hill descent control typically, but
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: for someone who's maybe new to driving off highway it
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: would be such a confidence booster because this thing, it's
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: so smooth, terrifies me. Yeah, I know, can letting go
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: up and letting go of control? Yeah, exactly, because you're
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: literally like, okay, I'm going to take my foot off
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: the brake as I go off of this precipice. Right.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: But it it was super good, but it isn't adjustable.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: It isn't driver adjustable, so it's just one speed. You
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: can't change it on this on the cruise control nothing.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: So I'd like to see that. Taking your footstal break
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: and trusting it to Japanese electronics is one thing. Yeah,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the land River stuff terrific. Sorry, but like like I
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: love the lander Over people. They're wonderful, but like they
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: haven't had a great track record with electronics, and then
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: especially with hill descent control, it regularly went out. We
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: have a problem with electronics. Let's keep digging the whole
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: that we're in and adding more electronics on top of
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: more electronics that continue to not work. Yeah, right, well,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: and and on my I had a Discovery one and
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: it would regularly the hill descent control would stop working.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I get get the on the D two. Yeah, yeah,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry on the D two, say D one. Yeah,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: on the D two, the two thousand and one Discovery
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: two that I had, And then you would get the
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: three amigos, and so you could you could be trusting
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the hill descent in the middle of a descent and
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: it would just stop stop working, you know, which of
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: course was terrifying. So but then because I'm the lander
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: over guy at heart, of course we are. We love them,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: like there's so much about it that like they get
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: so much right, and they just missed the market. It's
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: just why I don't trust electronics. Yeah, for sure, we
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: have a we have trust issues with electronics from being
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: a land Over runners. Yeah, the crawl ratio is great.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: The tracks fifty four to one, Yeah, fifty four to
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: one which is for an automatic, is unbelievable, right Mick.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: It the tracks control is super smooth, like you don't
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: even really notice that it's intervening, and it's constantly working,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: and it works with the left foot breaking, which is
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: really important.
• 31:19
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• 32:11
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• 32:21
  Speaker 2: does feel like the suspension's locked down, but I think
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: that's because it's It doesn't have a lot of travel,
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: so they really did what they could to manage that.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: But you really only notice it like higher speed gravel
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: road corrugations. It tries to step out a little bit. Well,
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: that's where that older chassis is.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: You know, we fit larger tires to vehicles now, we
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: sure effect more suspension travel. We expect more out of
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: vehicles in twenty twenty one than we did in two
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: thousand and four. Well, and again that Bronco that's just
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: right behind you there, what does that have in the
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: rear lots. It's got coil over basically got a sixty
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: one hundred you know, spec trophy design kind of with
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: this big trailing arm, and like it's amazing, it's amazing,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: it's pretty awesome. I like it. And then I think
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: that a couple little downsides. I did notice the clunk.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: This suspension is locked down a little bit. The rear
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: locker switch position is like totally in the wrong spot.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: And you know the people that were there, of course,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: that denise On people are they're truly wonderful, Like they're
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: one of the nicest groups that you deal with, and
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, we know, we know. It was so
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: far like when the steering wheel locks off road, because
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: I mean not the steering wheel, the seatbelt locks off road.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: You cannot reach the locker button, so you're like bouncing
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: up which is it. It's way down like by your ankle.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: It's like it's as far away as you could possibly
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: put it from the driver. Oh, on the left side
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: of the dash. Oh, so it's like it's like down
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: where you'd put the parking brake thing, right, Yeah, you
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: can't get it. You can't get to the locker button.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: So if you're you're kind of like bouncing up a
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: trail and you need you're like, oh, this is getting
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: a little rowdy, and you want to lock the rear
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: diff you can't actually each the rear dif without stopping,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: which of course is a big problem, or removing your seatbelt.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: So anyways, I went with the removed the seatbelt option
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: and supposed to stopping body boy. Yeah, so it's an
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: easy thing for them to fix, but it is worth
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: noting since we like to include the full spectrum of
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: what we liked and didn't like. So four wheel disc
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: brakes too. What else has that in the segment? The
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Colorado does, the Ranger does well. Only the Tacoma had
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: the Tacoma may be the only remaining well now with
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: now the whole rist in the segment, or would Colorado
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: have come out slightly before that? Yeah, they were pretty
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: contemporary to each other. Yeah, I mean the Tacoma may
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: be the only remaining passenger. It's interesting. It's interesting that
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: the segment is heating up. Yeah, right, I love it.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: That's going to be good, you know, for everyone. I
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: think it's important to I don't want to say, you know,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: call out things that they could have tried harder on,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: but kind of have to. Yeah, we've got to be
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: able to share our full experience. But I really like, like,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: would I drive that truck, the Nissan Frontier, every day? Absolutely? Yeah,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: And it looks great. I think it looks great. The
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: only negative that I can find that's like a glaring
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: negative is that there's not a lot of aftermarket support
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: for Nissan. And if there's anything that Overlanders like to do,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: it's too well. I mean maybe that's the diamond and
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: the rough with the fact that it's very similar to
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: previous vehicles. Mean, it's the same same chassis. Yeah, I
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: don't know if the suspension is that much the same
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: but yeah, and the truck also doesn't need much. I
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: think it would benefit from a little bit of a lift.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: It's lower than the Tacoma by a little bit. Especially
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: at the quarter panels. You can really tell the difference.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, Tacoma's look lifted from the factory. They look tall,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Like if you get a TRD, Nissan's going to kill
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: it with this thing. It's going to be really popular
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: for him. It's a I think it's a great truck.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: I think people should take a look at it, at
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: least go drive it because it drives really nice. Yeah,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: and then hopefully the after market responds. You know, it's
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: seventy thousand units a year. That's a lot of trucks,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: So it seems like that there's a benefit to having
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: some after market support of it, you know. And then
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: the I guess I'm moving on to like the mid
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: sized truck segment as a whole. I mean, we've got Colorado,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: We've got Canyon, which are they're very very similar vehicles.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: We've got the Gladiator, got the Forward Ranger, We've got
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: the Tacoma, and then we've got the Nissan. There's the
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Gladiator and then a bunch of other stuff. Okay, so
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: I'll bite, I'll bite. So tell me what you believe
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: makes the Gladiator the superior choice in the segment. It's
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: designed to go off road, not to deliver parts at NAPA.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Oh gotcha, Yeah, fair enough. It is the only vehicle
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: on the market where it's primary purpose, the only vehicle
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: in that segment where it's primary focus and purpose is
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: off read first, is designed that way. So thirty seven's
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: factory lift. Yeah, shall we move on? Well, and there's
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: even more if you think about it. You can get
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: a diesel YEP, which you can't get the diesel in
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: the Bison anymore, I believe, which is which is sa
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: Inevitably we're going to get that Recon. I think it's
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: the Recon package that's on the Wranglers right now. That
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: was kind of a response to Ronco. That gives you,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: at least on the Wrangler, gives you four fifty six gearing,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: and that gives you thirty five inch tires available, steel
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: bumpers front and rear, Winch capable front bumper from the factory,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: factory rock sliders, and with all of that still has
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: some of the best payload in the segment. If you
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: took a Ford Ranger, which has also very good payload,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: and you added steel bumpers front and rear, rock sliders,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: skid plates. You don't have much left. You don't have
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: locking differentials, all that kind of stuff. It's it's more
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: money to purchase up front, but you're getting something with
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: a factory warranty. Yeah, and if you get the Sport
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: with the Max Toe Package sixteen, get sixteen hundred pounds
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: of payload with seventeen hundred pounds. Actually yeah, I think
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: they updated it. It was sixteen hundred pounds at launch,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: and then with a manual transmission you get seventeen hundred,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: which is awesome. Well, maybe you can't get them. There's
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: some configuration that you can do that gets you to
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: seventeen hundred pounds. It's some like obscure and that's another thing.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: You can get a manual transmission in the Gladiator, which
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: you can only get in the Tacoma otherwise. I believe
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: that's the only other option for a manual Tacoma and Gladiator,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: which like hats off the jeep in Toyota for at
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: least giving us the option of having a manual. I
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: think that for me, I would be very tempted to
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: go buy a manual transmission to coma because it's like
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: they're just going to not be a you just won't
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: be able to get it, you know, those cars will
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: just be gone, or or like the base Sport Gladiator
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: with a manual and then just add a few things
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: that I want to add to it. But I mean
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator that I drove with that diesel, I drove
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: it out to New Mexico, all off road on the
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: way there, and then I got a U trailer, double
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: axle trailer, and I put the AEV brute of Mike
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: mcmod's on there with a diesel in it, and I
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: pulled it all the way back to pull it brutishly
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: it you know, it pulled it great, except for and
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: this GP has to be aware of this, but like
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: it has some cooling trouble, Like it has some cooling difficulties. Yeah,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: I could see that though. I mean it doesn't have
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: a wide grille, it doesn't have a lot of ways
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: to shed that heat. Yeah, part of the form factor. Yeah,
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: if you're pulling six seven thousand pounds with it, I
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: think it's really pushing it, Like if you're pulling a
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: three thousand pound boat or a four thousand pound or
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: a three thousand pounds off road trailer or whatever. It's
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: going to be great, or camper or something like that.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: I think it'll be great, but it does struggle with
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the heat a little bit. So you make a great
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: point on the Gladiator. I mean it's it's literally so
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: purposely made for around the world travel right out of
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: the box. I mean I'm biased, but I paid full
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: retail for mine, like I I didn't get a deal
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: from FCA or something. It's just that I happen to
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: be really enthusiastic about that product. Yeah, I've taken mine
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: all over the country. It's been flawless. And you make
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: a good point about thirty sevens. What else can you
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: put thirty sevens on with very little modifications? Nothing drives
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: like stock. Yeah, like you can even write thirty sevens
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: and you're gearing into the factory traction control and PCM Like, wow,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: now we have two flies. Geez, Nissan and Tacoma owners
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: trying to kill me. It's the flowers on your shirt, man,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: They're they're really they're attracted or attracted to my ginger.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not ginger. I think we should pull our audience.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: We should we should do that on like when we
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: do our first ask me anything, which will be very soon.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: By the way, those of you who are listening, please
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: send any questions that you've got about anything, including Matt's
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: hair color, and we'll talk about it on the AMA
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: because I think we should think we should not Ginger.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: You know, I think that the the z R two
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: and the AT four, why are they separate companies? I
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: don't understand, Like, yeah, I don't know. I mean, like,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: is GM supposed to be more premium than GMC is
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: supposed to be more premium. Yeah, sounds that's why they
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: have like the dnali and then sounds like something that
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: will go with the next time they go bankrupt. Maybe, yeah,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: I mean it not that I'm singling them out. They've
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: all gone bankrupt. Yeah, except for Ford, I think. Yeah, yeah,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: I think except for Ford. I mean, I don't know.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Toyota hasn't gone bankrupt. Yeah, because they're still selling us
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: drum brakes. Yes, they've amortized the development cost over It
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: shows how little we know, right, Yeah, you take the
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: motor from this minivan. Toyota's got it figured out, right,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: they know how to stay profitable. But it is so
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: hard to argue against the Tacoma. I know, I kind
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: of rag on it, and I rag on it because
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: I've seen what Toyota is capable of. Yeah, they just
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: kind of consistently by choice, seem to lag behind in
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: the marketplace. That's what I have a little bit of
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: an issue with, and that's what I'll take issue with
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: with Nissan on This is again, like the D twenty
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: three is a one full chassis. I don't know. And
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: it's such a competitive marketplace. I mean five years ago
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: it was the Tacoma and the Nissan. Yeah that was it. Yep,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: there were they only had they only had to compete
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: with each other. And that's when we started seeing that
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the US companies come in. That's right. You know, there's
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: been a lot of rumors about a you know, a
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: mid sized RAM coming out. That'll be that'll be interesting
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: to see what stillant is? Yeah, I hate that name.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: Yeahs interesting one, Like like I could get behind fc X.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, Chrysler Automobiles, but now like Pujo, it
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: sounds like Synergy, which why even change it? Like Pugio
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: is never going to sell a single vehicle here, like
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Fiat I think has sold like five yeah, like not
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: very many. I mean Chris Cordez bought a Fiat. Yeah,
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: I don't think. I still don't know, Like I still
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: don't know how he fit in that how he fit
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: in that car. I remember the first press car I got.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Scott Brown sent me like a Fiat five hundred ragtop
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: convertible I me and Charlie were in. It was like
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: pearl white with a red interior. You've had some interesting
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: experiences in Fiat's, like coming back from outdoor retailer with
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: Brian McVeigh the rental. Yeah, you were in a rental
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: Fiat five hundred and nearly died from a deer impact.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: I just remember like screaming, this is the last car
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: you want to be in, a Fiat five hundred hitting
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: anything in Flagstaff exactly, but surprisingly, like the rental car
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: company didn't even know well and I didn't have just
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: like slaughter slabber all the way over the road and
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: it had like a little chunk of hair. Mean, the
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: deer like was probably shaken up, like you know it
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: was it was just gone, like there was nothing we
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: could do. It was it was like two in the
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: morning in Flagstaff, like we had just made it through
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: the res without getting hit, and we're and then all
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: we're like twelve red bulls deep after Easter, Jeep so
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: far and then this thing was on my side. I
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: just remember Brian telling the story about him screaming, which
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: woke you up because you were sleeping and then you
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: just started into screaming. You didn't even know it was
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: when it happens. Is what we're doing now, Okay, okay,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: So Ford Ranger, you have more experience with that than
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: I do. Yeah, we had a long term loaner from ARB.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Their blue one looked really great. It did look really great,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: and it worked really great. I like the fact that
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: it's very compact. It's like the smallest of all of
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: the truck feels a little bit bigger inside. Yeah maybe
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: I thought, yeah, maybe I hadn't thought of it in
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: that way. But you know, Ford with their like turbo
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: charged anything with a ten speed attached to it so good. Yeah,
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, I mean that that's where Jeep needs to
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: be careful. Yeah, it's Ford drive lines. Yeah, they are
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: the best. Let's go from the top, you go get
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: a tremor. Yeah, with rear locker front limited slip over
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: a thousand pounds pound feet of torque and a ten speed.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah exactly. It's just it's literally the most powerful thing
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: I've ever driven, Like, not the fastest, but it was
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: so Yeah, it was so unbelievable. You felt like you
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: were literally ripping the asphalt off the earth. Yeah, it was.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: It was like, you wonder, how do they keep tires
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: on this thing? I mean the only thing that works
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: is traction control, right, I mean, it just it makes
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: so much power. And then this Bronco we've been driving
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: totally rips. Yeah. I mean it definitely is faster than
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: a Wrangler. Probably not a faster than a Wrangler three
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: nine to two, I have no chance, but three horsepower
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: versus four seventy Yeah, sure exactly. But it feels great
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: with the with the turbo and the ten speed, and
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: it just moves it around. It's really fun, super fun
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: to drive. Yeah, and okay, so what's your ranking top
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: to bottom? Well, I guess we got a real quick
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: You know, the Bison is still available, which is really impose. Yeah. Yeah,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: so we you know, the the suspension on the z
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: R two, in my opinion, is the best suspension on
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: any of them because of that Multimatic. It's it's just excellent.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: The Multimatic stuff is like it's it's no joke. Yeah,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: I mean my argument against it has always been that
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: really great shocks. What's the first thing that people do
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: to a four wheel drive. Yeah, they change the shocks out,
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: They change the shocks and the suspension and YadA and okay, boom,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: there you go. This is what they that's the suspension
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: that they use on the four GT. Actually, Multimatic builds
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: the four GT in Canada, not an American made car.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: By the way, it is the suspension on Ferrari challenge cars.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: It's serious. Yeah, and it seems like the only people
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: who kind of rip on the suspension just don't think
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: about how they don't drive it in a way that
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: maximizes the way that it works. And it doesn't mean
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: that you have to drive it fast. It just means
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: understand the capability of the suspension and then let it work.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: And it's really it's I mean, it's great. You know.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: I think that we're going to keep seeing GM respond
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: in that way. I think we're going to get I
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: love their new facelift. I mean front locker. That's I
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: would love to spend more time in that vehicle. Yeah. Oh,
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: we need to get another one in for some more testing,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: I think. But it's the only other option other than
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator, the front locker. So and a diesel engind
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: it is it is. Actually, it's like somebody was listening
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: and they're like, what do you want? A full drive? Okay,
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: So you want front and rear lockers, okay, cool? You
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: want crazy suspension okay cool. You want wider fenders like
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: the Raptor, but on a smaller truck, okay cool? Or
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: on steel skid plates. Yeah, and the TV treatment exactly.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: It's good. Yeah, it's really it's really good. Riquel has one.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: Oh I didn't know that. Yeah, she loves it. She
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: loves it. Oh that's cool. Well that's awesome. Yeah, well
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: because Raquel is awesome. That's we're talking about Raquel from
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: X Overland, by the way, amazing human being. So, yeah,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: my ranking, this is interesting. You put me on the
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: spot here. I think this is important though to think
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: about I would say that, so or is this like
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: what I would buy and drive right now? Or would
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: I would buy and drive around the world? Well, we
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: are about overlandude. So which one would you put your
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: pith helmet on? Yeah, and drive around the world tomorrow.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: I would be really tempted to go with the Diesel Gladiator.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: I think that. I think that or thex TOE Package
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Sport Gladiator because I like the fact that the vehicle
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: has so much capability, So I would be inclined to
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: making that first. Because unfortunately, when it comes to Toyota reliability,
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Toyota the Tacoma is not the class leader anymore on reliability,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: so I wouldn't buy it for that reason. I do
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: really like the Tacoma, but I would take the Gladiator
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: or the Bison, either one of those two. Yeah. I
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: think the Gladiator has more payload, so like the Bison
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: just needs that extra two to three hundred pounds. The
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: Gladiator would probably be number one for me, or the
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: or the Bison. Where Ever, the Frontier Land, Yeah, I
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: guess that's what I'm trying to make a point on,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: is that it is now the newest vehicle in the segment. Yeah,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: but is it even competitive at the top? You know
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: what I think I would want to do with the Nissan.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: I think it would be a great exercise in a
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: great tool for the job, and you literally you just
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: leave with it stock. Maybe you put a little like
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: an at overland habitat or something on the top of it,
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: and you just go like you buy the truck, you
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: put the little habitat, whatever you want on it, go fast,
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: take your pick right, and then you drive away and
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: you and like you never instagram a thing, you become
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: like you just go enjoy an adventure on a vehicle
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: that will most certainly bring you all the way around
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: the world and back again for thirty seven thousand dollars
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: plus how much is a habitat. Let's call them ten
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: with some options. Okay, so you're at forty seven thou
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: let's just run through the math real quick. You're at
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: forty seven grand with the habitat. You don't do any
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: other modifications to it because it doesn't need it. If
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: you look at a seventy thousand dollars gladiator, you would
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: have enough money to buy the truck, put on the habitat,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: and drive around the world for less than it would
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: cost to buy the gladiator. So to me, it always
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: comes back to like just being open and honest about
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: the influence our ego has on our decisions like like,
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: if if we just want to travel, then why why
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: don't we get the most reliable one. That's Nissans are
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: sold everywhere in the world, you know, except that this
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: is a US only model. Yeah, but like you can
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: go into a Nissan dealership and like they'll they could
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: probably send you send some parts or whatever. Yeah, exactly,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: And not that I'm making the argument in that perspective,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: but it is a global brand and then just make
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: it about the trip, whereas like that little like I
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: want to do the Camel Trophy Saba Malaysia thing it
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: like I want the Gladiator. I want this, Like I
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: want that capability and that like adventurous projection out into
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: the world of like I am adventuring now as opposed
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: to a delivery truck, you know. But the reality is
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: that we should probably get the Nissan and spend the
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: extra thirty grand going around the world, right, I think
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: it's it's really attractive. Yeah, I think it's. Uh so
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: what would your what would be your or I would
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: and you can take any Comma. Yeah, I'd take it
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: to Comma. I put like thirty sevens in long travel
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: on it, and I'd spend like one hundred and fifty
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: grand and perfect to the Mahabi road. Sorry, it's just
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: too easy. It's too easy. No, I mean I would
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: drive what I would want to drive. Yeah, and you've
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: already got it, and I've got it's parked right here
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: in the you know, I think although we should probably,
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, what was the most recent modification that you
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: did your your Gladiator and how did that turn out?
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: Are you ready to talk about this? Let's see how
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: it pans out. But I decided to do a MAGNUSM supercharger,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: and currently my car drives like a bucking Bronco. Yeah, yeah,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: apparently apparently because kit's not designed for heavier vehicles than
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: stock and vehicles with larger gear or larger diameter tires,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: which is every jeep in the world, which is every
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: jeep in the world. So how much have we learned
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: about like trying to modify these cars, like unless it's
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: told so many times have I pontificated about leaving the
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: drive line stock? And then I mess with it and
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: I get bit Yeah, So, you know, I think what's
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: interesting with my particular Gladiator is it has a lot
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: of firsts on it. There's not many long range tanks.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: There's not many that are supercharged. It had the first
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: aty habitat kind of camper. Yeah, I have a summit,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: not a habitat. I always mix them up years ago
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: instead of Yeah, and I just put the new AV
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: suspension on it. So really an AV snorkel. I mean,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: now that the AV stuff is available, it's just like
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: slend it to AV because it works. Yeah, every time,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: every time. Yeah. Now we have we're getting close to
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: the end of the podcast, and we have not been
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: totally fair to the Tacoma. And again, I think it's
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: just because Matt and I love Toyota vehicles and we've
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: driven them around the world, and the Tacoma is, no
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: question and one of the most capable off road. Yes,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: it has the most aftermarket support, and I'm gonna I'm
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: going to argue on that. You think that the Gladiator
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: has more? Sure, half of it's half of it's a wrangler,
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: you know, like I wonder what the Gladiator would have
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: that you couldn't get for the This is a few
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: a few year old data in terms of aftermarket spend.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: According to Sema, Wrangler first, Mustang second, and then I
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: don't know where the Tacoma falls on that. But yeah,
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: you know, there's only so many different varieties of ucas
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: that you can do well, and maybe that's it. You
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: can get anything you want for Tacoma. Yeah, maybe not
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: as many different options that's the way you can find
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: with a Gladiator, but all of the aftermarket support that
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: you would want you can get with that. There's a
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: huge community of owners that can help you, huge community
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: make decisions on what to buy. The vehicle's very confidence
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: inspiring off road. It does have that Toyota heritage of reliability,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: and I think that there's just something very familiar about
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: buying a vehicle like a Tacoma. And it's also a
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: pretty good financial decision. I mean, I don't know if
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator has a higher resale value, but like if
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: you go to try to buy a two year old Tacoma,
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: you basically spend what you bought for what you would
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: spend on a new one. Well, so the resale value
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: alone makes it a great argument. This is an area
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: that I have some knowledge and because I'm always buying
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: and selling cars. It's a hobby. Like I work in
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: the auto industry during the day and I play around
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: with cars and stuff at night in my garage. I mean,
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: what else are we're doing during COVID? You know, very
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: fortunate to be able to do that. I guess I
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: should say that Toyotas have and always have sold for sticker.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: If you get five hundred dollars off on a Toyota,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: you're doing good. Yeah, you know you can go and
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: get a at a certain point, you could go and
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: get five six grand off of a Gladiator. That was
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: never the case with wranglers. Wranglers were, like Toyota's, wranglers
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: sold for what they sold for. That's why they've always
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: had stellar residual values. But you know they're chasing the
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: volume game, you know, so I don't know if that's
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: true anymore. I don't think that the resale value of
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator is poor. No, I wouldn't say so at all.
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: And I and yeah, I don't. I don't think it's poor.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: I think that you maybe don't. You know, you can
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: really option these things up, and I don't know if
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: you see all of the value back on those options,
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: financially buying a new Tacoma like it's a I mean,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: I had a Toyota four Runner, which I really I
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: liked it. There's things I didn't like about it. I
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: didn't like the gas mileage. I did a really modest
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: lift and a really modest tire size. I mean you
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: could kind of tell it was modified if you looked
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: at it. And with the rooften, I was getting like
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: ten or eleven miles of the gallon. That's what my
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: Earth Roamer gets, right, you know. So again it's like,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: it's not that I'm criticizing the vehicle. I'm criticizing Toyota,
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: and I'm just saying do better. Yeah, right, Like I
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: think that the previous generation Tacoma I liked more. Oh yeah,
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: your current generation Tacoma I liked the four leader more.
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: I want to say, you still had a six speed
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: or you had the five speed that speed because they
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: shared the four runner drive train. Yeah, yeah, anyways, Yeah,
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: my first my first big project was a two thousand
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: and four Tacoma TRD and I double drove it. Yeah.
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: I drove it all all over the place, grossly overloaded,
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: which I learned a lot from. But the vehicle never
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: failed and it went from Tuck Tiuktak all the way
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: to the Darien Gap. I mean that truck was really,
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: really robust, and I think if I could like swing
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: a magic wand and somehow like tell Toyota what I
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: would love to see with the next Tacoma. I would
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: love to see the five link coil sprung rear suspension
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: we're going to see in the Tundra. I'd love to
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: see that in there. I would love to see an
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: eight or ten speed transmission with a five and a
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: half to one minimum first gear. Yeah, give us some
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: really low gearing because once these trucks start to get
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: loaded up, they need that mechanical advantage. And I can't
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: imagine that they're going to go with the same engine again.
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: There's going to probably be something hybrid or something turbocharged
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: or whatever, which I think will be great. I mean,
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: Toyota will do We'll build it. When when the mid
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: cycle refresher that vehicle comes out, it will likely I
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: will I will likely change my opinion on it based
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: on what happens. Right, But make no mistake, Toyota is
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: selling you a minivan engine the same frame from the
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: previous generation, the same greenhouse in the previous generation. You know,
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: the same rear axle with drum brakes because they can
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: not because they're offering value, and we're now in this
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: market segment where you have the ZR two. You know,
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: you have the Colorado, you have the Ranger, you have
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: the Gladiator, and brand loyalty which we will have to Toyota.
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: If I'm going to do a serious trip around the world,
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: you get a Toyota. Yeah, you get a seventy, you
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: get a two hundred. It's just it's not really a question.
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: They're great, but they can do better. And if nobody
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: says do better, they're not going to. It's literally just
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: because we care. It's like, and that sounds kind of cheesy,
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: but it's literally because I've entrusted my life to Toyota
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: products and literally trusted my life to them, and I
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: want to see them reach their full potential with the
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: mid When you're on the skeleton coast, what do you take? Yeah,
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: that's right, you take a land Cruiser. Anyways, Well on
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: that twenty twenty two Nissan Frontier and the midsized truck recap,
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: I like this, Yeah, talk to you next time.