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How Two Engineers Turned AMG Into A Legend · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another In-Wheel Time podcast.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, welcome, welcome.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome and a one and a two.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: One and a two.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: To the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show just ahead, Matt DeLorenzo, author, Mercedes AMG Race Bred Performance.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: New book that's out.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Gotta start thinking about Christmas, you know?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff has this week's motor minute.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: I review the new Kia Tellya ride here on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Howdy, along with Mike Out of This World Mars, live.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: You Jack Lelane over there or what?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Try it! Somebody asked me the other day, why does he wave like that?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going, I don't know.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: You'll have to ask me.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: I could do the prom queen wave or the parade queen wave.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, the prom queen wave.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's exactly what would be fitting for somebody from Peterville.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: In all actuality, his medication is kicking in, and that's the result.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: What medication would that be?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: He's kicking out.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't take it on Saturdays.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: What is it?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: It's not I don't take it on Saturdays on the weekend.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: All righty.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: We take the uh Margarita medication on Friday nights, and that's what's wrong with us on Saturday.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Take it the night before.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's where I'm going wrong then.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: One of many things.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's the liquid form.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh along with Mike out of this world, Morris, we have next to me.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, we always need more Jeff.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: We do.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: We have uh Chief Engineer David Ainsley, who's listening very closely.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, he is.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: We also have Buzz of Me.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: We also have we also have a uh very important Florida contingent uh that's watching and listening this morning.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, it's afternoon there now.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: But and but they don't know that because uh there has been a lot of liquor served after New TikTok.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they got there a week ahead.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: So there's that.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd like to say hello to them.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: David Ainsley, our chief engineer.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Do we have a guest yet?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yes, sir.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's in the queue.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, he has?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: How do you know that?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: It popped up.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: It says guest in the queue.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Guest in the queue.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Guest in the queue.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Guest is in the queue.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, he's an author.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: His name is Matt DeLorenzo, and he has written the book called Mercedes AMG Race Bred Performance.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Matt, good morning.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Hello.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_04: Good morning.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_04: How are you guys?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're doing very well, thank you.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, where are we speaking to you from?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: I'm in uh California, Orange County.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, are you?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't think that anybody in Texas talks to anybody in California anymore.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I'm sure that you can uh you can extrapolate whatever you want out of that.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_04: But uh I I talked to my brother, he lives in Dallas.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_04: We're still on good terms.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, well that's good.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, what possessed you to write a book about Mercedes and AMG?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I've written a number of books, and um I didn't have anything on my plate, and I talked to my publisher, uh Motorbooks, and they had done a book on BMW M about three or four years ago, done quite well.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_04: And they looked around and nobody had done anything on AMG.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, Well, that sounds pretty good to me.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_04: And I got into it, and uh it's a fascinating story about how they started and how they ended up being the performance uh division of uh Mercedes.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, it's uh interesting because uh as I when we teased the show earlier on, and I told everybody that we're gonna have you on, we talked about AMG.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, if I'm not mistaken, AMG was a standalone performance company that contracted with Mercedes to bump up, if you will, the horsepower and all the performance aspect of their cars.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Am I wrong?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: No, you're right, but um they were frenemies for a long time.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Frenemies see, I didn't know.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Hans Werner Ofrecht and Erhard Melker had worked as engineers within Mercedes.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they had wanted to work on the racing program.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: Unfortunately, the racing program had wound down.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, in 55 they had the bad accident at Lama.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, they had largely withdrawn from motorsports, but in the late uh 50s, early 60s, they went um touring car and um rallies because those vehicles reflected well on their production vehicles.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: So they worked there and they wanted to work on the racing, but at the time uh the factory said no.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um they left the company, they started racing, and um, you know, again, the the older generation within the company looked upon uh Ofrecht and Melker as kind of uh shade tree mechanics, if you will, who were tuning cars.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_04: And at the time nobody tuned Mercedes because they were supposedly the perfect car.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: And the luxury perfect car, yeah.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, what a what a what that you know it's a very interesting story, and I assume that their last names are the A and the M.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: What does the G mean?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_04: The G is gross ospach, which is the hometown offlet.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I was guessing.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, would you could you could you say that one more time?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_04: Gross ospach.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_04: Now spell it.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And what yeah, and would the Harry Potter Potter or something?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I don't know.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_04: Big big patch.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go with that.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go with the that's good.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh clearly they were very successful.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: How long did they goose up uh under undercover, if you will, uh from Mercedes, the Mercedes-Benz lineup before Mercedes-Benz bought them?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_04: Uh almost 30 years.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_04: So uh Mercedes bought uh 51% interest in AMG in in 1999, and then they bought the entire company in 2005 and turned it into the Mercedes AMG division as we know it today.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um, back in the when they were starting out, it was really interesting because in 65, um Melker and Offrecht tuned up a 300 um uh SE with a six-cylinder engine and showed their boss, Rudy Uhlenhout, who was a famous engineer who worked on uh Mercedes Grand Prix cars in the 30s and in the 50s.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, they showed him this car and they had ended the program in '64, the racing program, but he said, okay, you guys can go race it, but if you don't win, you're out of the company.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, they went and they raced the car.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_04: They won the touring car championship.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_04: Their driver, who also was a Mercedes employee, unfortunately got killed in a rally before the end of the season.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, totally unrelated to their to their uh efforts.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_04: And the board came back and said, Hey, cut this out.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_04: So they they kind of moonlighted and tuned privateer cars while they still worked for uh Mercedes, but then in 67 they left and set up, and then they were they were tuning race cars um on their own after that.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Did they have their own shop?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: So they they had set up a place, they had worked out of um uh uh Off-Rec's home when they were moonlighting in Gross Ospoch, and then they they opened up a place in an old mill in a town called Bergstall, and that's where they they they built a lot of race cars.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um they they started the racers would come and say, Hey, could you do this for my road car?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_04: So they started doing uh tuning road cars as well.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_04: But their big breakthrough came through in 1971.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_04: A couple of years earlier, Mercedes had put a V the first V8 engine in um the SEL, which was essentially their S class.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_04: The um the V8 came from the big uh 600 limo.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_04: And um there was an engineer inside Mercedes who tried to race it in '69 at Spa at the 24-hour race, but at the last minute, the board uh told them to withdraw the car.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_04: They had qualified for the race, but then they said uh you can't race.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_04: So they they pulled the cars.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_04: Well, um uh Offrecht and Melker built another car similar to it, went to Spa in 1971, um, and they finished second overall.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_04: This car was called the Red Pig because it was such a big, honking luxury car with a really loud V8 engine, and uh it did really well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_04: The car sitting on the pole, by the way, for the race was a V8 Camaro.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_04: Did eventually a Fort Capri won and they came in second and won their class, and that uh got them a lot of notoriety.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Did did these engineers did they work in aircraft plants before that?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: Is that how they got their their upbringing in in mechanical plants?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_04: No, they they worked for Mercedes.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: So didn't Mercedes have aircraft plants at the time, back in World War II?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_04: They they did, but they worked primarily in the in the um uh passenger car um racing division.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_04: Melker was a mechanical engineer, and Offrech was kind of a bench test engineer.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_04: Oh when they first met, they didn't like each other.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but then Offrecht recognized what a brilliant engineer Melker was, and and and they started on their way.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_04: Now there's an interesting sideline.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_04: That car that won in 1971, they sold to Matra.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: They modified the car and it was used to test um jet tires.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_04: It was the only car that could go fast enough that could recreate how quickly a jet would take off or how quickly it would be coming coming in for a landing.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: And uh they modified it to test the tires.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_04: So this car was used until 1994 and then it was destroyed.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, after Mercedes bought AMG, they decided that they were gonna try and find it.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_04: They couldn't find the red pig.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: So uh you know, this whole thing really smacks of Carol Shelby to me because it didn't.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, and they were competitors really, uh at the same time, Carol Shelby here in the United States and these guys over in Germany.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_04: And and they were mainly doing um uh sedans, and uh actually they did uh they did a little work on the uh G-Wagon in the late 70s when that came out.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_04: But it's it's interesting that um there were very they were the only ones tuning Mercedes, but at the time you had companies like Alpina, uh Schnitzer, Hartman, all these other stores for for Ford Capri's and um opals and and BMWs.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_04: So uh they were kind of alone at the time.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you so you got the charge to do a book uh on these guys and AMG, and uh I assume that you really didn't know a whole lot about them before you got the charge to do it.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I I knew I've I've been writing about cars for a long time, and uh I was familiar with AMG because um, you know, we had tested when I worked at the car magazines, we had tested AMGs.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, by 1990, they were actually selling AMG cars through uh the Mercedes uh dealer network.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh in the 80s, uh uh AMG released a car called the Hammer, which was a uh E-Class with a big V8 engine in it.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what really kind of put them on the map in the performance circles in the US.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_04: And then they also managed um uh Mercedes uh uh German touring car racing team and was very successful, and that's what opened the door for them to sell their cars through Mercedes.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_04: And then as that relationship grew, they they actually developed their first car together, uh the C-36 in 1994.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_04: And then by 1999, Mercedes decided to buy them.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to ask you a question kind of related.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Were you the guy that was in the library all through high school and you spent all of your time in there?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Were you were you that guy?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: He looks familiar.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you were uh no, not really.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_04: I I kind of hung around with car guys, and that's how I got into writing about cars.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: The car guy I know is in the library.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_04: No, yeah, they were I I will tell you, I did go down a lot of wormholes on the internet, and Mercedes was absolutely fabulous in the uh access they gave me to their archives.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_04: There's in the book, there's over 300 uh images of different things, different cars, race cars, things like that.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So did you go over to the factory at all?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: I did.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_04: I I went to uh so uh after they had started in uh Bergstall, they had moved to Alfalterbach, which is their home today.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_04: And I've been to uh I I went there, I I actually saw the old mill building that they uh in Bergstall.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, they're starting to put together kind of a museum with some significant cars from their past.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um and uh the complex there in Alfalterbach, even though they don't build any cars there, they still build engines and they have a one-man, one-engine philosophy towards, you know, they just have one technician.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen a video on that where it's one guy that built or a girl, actually, the video that I saw was a female, a woman that was building the entire engine.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and I was going, oh my god, look at that responsible for it.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, so they still do that today, and and they'll put a a plaque on there with the signature of the technician who built the engine.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: So truly amazing.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yeah, yeah.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's a great story, and it's their complex is huge.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_04: They they employ about 5,000 people now, they do all the engineering, and um starting in uh with the uh SLS uh Gullwing uh from 2011, uh that was uh AMG's first uh uh built from the ground up AMG exclusive car.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_04: And now they have the AMG GT, which is uh the successor to that that car.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Truly amazing.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: What a great story.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Do you drive one?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have one?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_04: No, I couldn't afford one.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, there's that.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but they're very exclusively.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_04: I've driven them.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_04: They're they're fabulous cars.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_04: I you know, I've I've had the uh the great experience of being able to drive the SLS.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_04: I've driven um while I was over there in Germany, they had lent me uh one of the GTs to drive.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh it's a it's a great story, and uh kind of an interesting side note is that Hans Werner Offrecht always wanted to be in racing.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_04: So after he sold the company to Mercedes, he set up his own company called HWA, which is Hans Werner Offrecht, and he's right next to AMG, and he built all the GT race cars uh for Mercedes at at his little factory right next to uh to the AMG complex.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: What a fascinating story.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um listen, I you know we're short on time, but I I didn't want to ask you where uh where can we get the book?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Can we get it at Amazon and all the other yes, it's on Amazon.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and I I believe it'll be on other like uh Barnes and Noble and other sites as well.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a big, beautiful book.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but uh in fact, before you came on, I said, you know, this you've got to start thinking about Christmas and what a great Christmas book.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's great.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh it's a real pleasure, honor to talk to you, Matt.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we thank you very much.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, uh let us know what your next project is gonna be.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: We want to ride along with you on that one.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, sounds great.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Matt, thanks again.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: His name is Matt DeLorenzo, and the name of the book is Mercedes AMG Race Bred Performance.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right, just ahead, a review of the Kia tell you ride plus Jeff's Motor Minute when the N-Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this.
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• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that that event is next weekend, friends.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh can't wait.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Let me hear it.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'd know it's Ao.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Ao.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, whatever the case may be.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Mars tells you all about other state.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's my cage of the state.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a difference, Mars?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, there is.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Is there one still?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: One of them's one of them's from uh below the Mason Dixon line, the other one's from the north of the Mason Dixon line.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, which line do you hear the banjos?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's the east-west line, that's Mississippi River.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Time now here on the in-wheel time car talk show to uh get Jeff's motor minute.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: Here it is.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Marco Andretti, former Indy 500 poll winner, announces his retirement.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: I know, it's sad.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: A member of one of racing's most prominent families announced his retirement from motorsports this past week.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: Marco Andretti is the son of Michael Andretti and grandson of Mario Andretti, announced on social media posts that he's retiring from racing.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: The 38-year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania person is a veteran of 253 starts at the NTT Indy Series uh car racing, including 20 starts at the Indianapolis 500.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Marco Andretti won two indie races in the pole position for the 2020 Indianapolis 500.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like his grandfather, uh he's only four foot three.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'm just kidding.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Andretti also believed, uh briefly ventured into NASCAR, making 11 starts at the ARCA Menard series, eight starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and one start in the NASCAR Xfinity series.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Marco will always be tied to Indianapolis.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh his legacy will forever be the most foremost part of the Indy 500, where he made the final five starts of the Indy 500 in his career.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: So uh good luck to him.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he's on pace to be uh do other things with with his life and also with racing.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll see more of him later.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Did you see uh Michael Andretti's house was for sale in Indianapolis?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: I did not.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like fifty million dollars.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta pay for the name, but it's only got two bathrooms.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: So no, that's one of the things I was gonna say.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably got five hundred bathrooms.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: This thing is magnificent.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I did not see that.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Look that up.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna go, wow.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Amato lives in Pennsylvania, not Nazareth, Pennsylvania, but well.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Joe Amato.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Joe Amato went by.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, it it's amazing.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, amazing hillside.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And what a great guy.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: I told you I had lunch with him.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um anyway.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Met him many times.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh time now for uh uh an extra bonus car review this week.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: All right, because we didn't get to it last week, so we wanted to stick it in here right now.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: I had a chance to drive the 2025 Kia telluride.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a three-row SUV, and I thought that this was interesting.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: The final assembly location is West Point, Georgia, made here in the US of A.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Available trim levels include the LX, the S, the EX, the SX, and the SX Prestige.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: What did I have?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: The SX Prestige, X Pro V6, All-Wheel Drive, Plus, X Line and X Pro.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's what it said on the window sticker.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: They had to make the window sticker extra big to get that.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: Kind of a wraparound.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and can you imagine in the back of the car the the the nomenclature back there?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: They do runs across the whole back of the car.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is a standard SUV.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it competes up there with the Chevy Suburban.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is a big SUV.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh seats including the driver, seven.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: All new in 2020.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And here we go.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Exterior features include modern, overall clean design with that familiar Kia pinched grill, wheels, and some trim change with the trim level that you choose.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: It does have a hockey stick rear lighting configuration back there with a sunshade over the back glass.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: All of the manufacturers seem to be doing that sunshade thing.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh dual exhaust tips on the lower right of the car.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can see it in this picture.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, there they are.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Not dual exhaust, one on each side.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: No, this is two on one right hand side.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what I liked, the clean look.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Roof rack is old school and not necessary.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I why why don't I just make it an option?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't understand.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do you how many people do you see going down the road with the luggage on top?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know the car I looked at before the Buick had that?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: It was a Toyota, and I said, That is the hideous thing.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And the guy tried to sell me, I said, No, did you have one without a roof rack?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: They all come with roof racks.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Mine actually has a style rack on it, but mine's different.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what they call it?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: A style rack?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's something that they invented.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: But go on, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rep.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's that's perfectly fine.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Interior highlights, huge infotainment screen with easy-to-use controls, digital instrument cluster with white faces, which I thought was a nice touch, comfortable seating surfaces, steering wheel-mounted controls are not overdone, which so many manufacturers tend to do these days.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Very much so.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Cargo trunk room, great.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: What I liked, uh the roominess and the quality materials, plus the well-placed controls.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: What could use improvement?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: How do you improve on that?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Look at that.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a spaceship in there.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: 3.8 liter V6 motor in this that turns out 291 horsepower, 262 pound feet of torque, eight-speed automatic transmission.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: It will tow up to 5,500 pounds.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: All wheel drive is standard on this model.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: The lower models, it's an option.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's got knobs, not knobs.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's got knobs on it.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's got knobs on it.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Miles per gallon in the city, it's rated at 18 on the highway 23 for combined to 20.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: I got 22.2 miles per gallon over 426.6 miles.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: What I liked about it, the power is nicely matched with the eight-speed automatic transmission.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think you can improve on this.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Ride and handling, very compliant.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's lemo-like.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: What could use improvement?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh ride lessons are available uh to many competitors.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so they're going to take them to school on it.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: So you uh you compare this to a suburban?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think it's that big.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is it a little bit more than that?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's it's it's three rows, is it?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh your United States government uh they classify this, and this is is in the same classification as the other.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think the suburban's actually gotten a little smaller compared to what it used to be.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well base trim price 53,685.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Price is tested 56,240.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the average overall price of a new car is now at$50,000.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, jeez.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can get into one of these.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: Base model price$36,390.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Overall, I give it high marks.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Competitors, Toyota Grand Highlander, that's the three-row starts at$44.2.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: The Subaru Ascent.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Did bars go away?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: The Subaru Ascent.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um it starts at$39,995 and the Honda Pilot starts at$40,200.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this one again starts at$36,390.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you are into big SUV three rows, I would definitely shop this.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's affordable for starting price.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: I would definitely shop that thing because uh I think that you're gonna be impressed.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're impressed with the keel line or not, I I'm just telling you, somebody somebody that drove it for almost 500 miles, I can tell you that this is one nice vehicle.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: Good deal.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: The address is info at inwheeltime.com.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: We are back right after this quick break.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Who doesn't like a social event?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: How about one that centers around your love for all things automotive?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Another Gulf Coast Auto Shield Car Social is back Saturday, December 6th, 9 to noon, at 11275 South Sam Houston Parkway, just south of the Southwest Freeway.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's a morning packed with incredible cars, some of the finest rides in town, from classics to modern exotics.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Here's your chance to talk to fellow car lovers.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Grab a coffee, and check out how Gulf Coast Auto Shield keeps these rides looking perfect.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Meet the team, take a look around the shop to see firsthand how Gulf Coast Auto Shield gets the most of the look you're trying to create.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: In real time, we'll be there with their live car talk show.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: You might just be one of the guests.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this free, fun, and fast-paced car gathering of fellow car lovers and their rides.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Saturday, December 6th at Gulf Coast Auto Shield, 11275 South Sam Houston Parkway.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Bring your car, bring your friends, and bring your love for all things automotive.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you then.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: The award-winning Inwheel Time Car Talk Show now reaches 5.3 million folks each year.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Check us out on Inwheeltime.com, YouTube, Facebook, and podcasts available from your favorite go-to source, including our live broadcast every Saturday, 10 to noon Central Time.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: The Inwheel Time Car Talk Show has informative automotive guest interviews, new car reviews, along with popular features including driving destinations, Jeff's car culture, latest car news, cruise ins, and racing dates.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's all on Inwheeltime.com.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Join us.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheeltime.com website.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.