Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / A Four-Door Mustang Walks Into A Dealership

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A Four-Door Mustang Walks Into A Dealership · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:06
  Don Armstrong: Exactly.
• 0:06
  Don Armstrong: All right, uh time now for Mars Driving Destinations, and it's titled Summer.
• 0:13
  Mike Marrs: Trying to make uh everybody's trying to make sure summer lasts a little bit longer because the Well, it's it's still summer, but the school's back and that's screwed everything up.
• 0:22
  Mike Marrs: Exactly, exactly.
• 0:24
  Mike Marrs: So you got to kind of look for something that's gonna kind of extend the summer feeling that's going on.
• 0:28
  Mike Marrs: Um, and one of those things is the Armand, if I'm saying that correctly, Bayou Nature Center down in Pasadena.
• 0:36
  Don Armstrong: Now the idea Let's pass a get down, Dina, to everybody else.
• 0:40
  Mike Marrs: Exactly.
• 0:41
  Mike Marrs: Now, this one uh again, this is Pasadena.
• 0:44
  Mike Marrs: It's basically all part of the Houston Metroplex.
• 0:46
  Mike Marrs: So you're getting out without getting out, and uh because there's plenty of wetlands down here, there's some prairie, there's forests along the bayou, that families can hike the trails, you can look for wildlife birds, got some educational programs that you can actually get involved with, and it gives a good contrast to going to an amusement park or video games or whatever else on a weekend.
• 1:09
  Mike Marrs: And uh, but the only thing you got to do is be sure to bring some water and some insect repellent this time of year.
• 1:14
  Mike Marrs: It's plenty hot out there and humid, and there's lots of little insects around there.
• 1:19
  Mike Marrs: The second one, everybody's heard about it, but I don't think about it very often, and that's the Houston Space Center down in Clear Lake.
• 1:27
  Mike Marrs: Now, the kids can actually you can take the kids down here, and there's a lot of interactive things uh for the whole family, actually.
• 1:34
  Mike Marrs: And it gives the kids and the adults something that they can do to get involved with, see the spacecraft, the astronaut history, a lot of hands-on visits and the tram uh that tour that takes you around.
• 1:46
  Mike Marrs: So you can kind of get the kids involved and start getting excited, maybe about going back to school, about learning some things at the same time.
• 1:53
  Mike Marrs: Get to go down and explore some of the things in the science world that's uh history-making, actually.
• 2:00
  Jeff Dziekan: Real quick, Mike, while Kathy and I were there not very long ago, and those trams, there's different levels you can tour different things of the uh complex or the compound with different trams, they go different directions.
• 2:10
  Jeff Dziekan: But yes, kid-oriented, kid friendly.
• 2:12
  Jeff Dziekan: I was even impressed.
• 2:13
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh, I tried to join the astronaut team and they told me no.
• 2:16
  Mike Marrs: Well, I think it was probably because of uh the glasses, I guess.
• 2:21
  Mike Marrs: You know, I wasn't tall enough or something, yeah.
• 2:23
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, something like that.
• 2:24
  Mike Marrs: I haven't been there in years, and and after I looked at this, I thought this would be pretty cool to go back to.
• 2:28
  Jeff Dziekan: You should do it.
• 2:29
  Mike Marrs: Uh the next one would be the Baytown Family Adventure.
• 2:32
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is actually uh a place to go exploring for the kids to get involved in exploring because it's a geo tour with across the wetlands, and it's down in Baytown, it's a little bit further away, maybe for some people, but you can also you can go in here and they've got the wetland center, which is actually the Eddie V.
• 2:53
  Mike Marrs: Gray Wetland Center, where you can see the wildlife and you can kind of get involved and learn some more about the Baytown Nature Center from there.
• 3:00
  Mike Marrs: And the history, the nature, and the actual going out and exploring things is what gets you involved in all this, and so it becomes part of a destination that you can go to and be involved in that destination.
• 3:14
  Mike Marrs: Again, learning, trying to get the kids back to school, but it's a family event, family fun event.
• 3:19
  Mike Marrs: Then we're gonna buzz up to Lake Conroe.
• 3:22
  Mike Marrs: You want to go out on the lake?
• 3:24
  Mike Marrs: There you go.
• 3:24
  Mike Marrs: It beats going to the beach sometimes where you go get into the sand.
• 3:27
  Mike Marrs: But let's suppose you don't have a boat.
• 3:29
  Mike Marrs: You can actually go to Lake Conroe and go up there for the day, and there are facilities up there that you can rent a boat.
• 3:35
  Mike Marrs: You can rent the water gear to go out play on God help us all.
• 3:39
  Mike Marrs: Exactly.
• 3:41
  Mike Marrs: So the family can go up there, go boating, they've got camping up there, of course.
• 3:45
  Mike Marrs: Around the edge of it, you've got a lot of restaurants and things.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: But again, it's basically boating, tubing, fishing, and swimming for the family.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh again, if you don't have a boat, you don't want to haul your boat, you can take it.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the last thing we wanted to look at was Columbus.
• 3:59
  Mike Marrs: Columbus is a couple hours away from us, and and it's a place you go through.
• 4:04
  Mike Marrs: I always go through there going wherever we're going, but there's a lot of things there, including the Colorado River runs through there.
• 4:11
  Mike Marrs: So there's parks, there's museums, there's a few quirky attractions to get around downtown, and you can actually spend the day there.
• 4:19
  Mike Marrs: Basically, like a little small Fredericksburg or or someplace that's not quite as crowded, not quite as so many people, but there's plenty of things to go and see and spend the day here without going off into another part of the world.
• 4:30
  Mike Marrs: It takes you all day just to get there.
• 4:32
  Mike Marrs: So that's just a few things you might can do to kind of extend the feeling that you're still in the summer vacation without going too far.
• 4:46
  Don Armstrong: That piques your interest.
• 4:47
  Don Armstrong: Time now for Jeff's car culture.
• 4:49
  Don Armstrong: Four-door Mustangs.
• 4:51
  Don Armstrong: Uh-oh.
• 4:51
  Don Armstrong: Is it a station wagon?
• 4:52
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't know, but we talked about the Camaro last week when we did the feature there, and then you had mentioned, hey, is a Mustang coming up.
• 4:58
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, here we go.
• 4:59
  Jeff Dziekan: So the number four might be Ford's new favorite number.
• 5:03
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh at the dealership last week, uh, they they Ford showed uh at a dealer event last week, Ford showed an early prototype of the Mustang, said Dan would have four doors.
• 5:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Hit 60 miles an hour in four seconds.
• 5:14
  Jeff Dziekan: It cost under$40,000, according to the reports of the Wall Street Journal they reported to you.
• 5:19
  Jeff Dziekan: Though the name hasn't been confirmed, Ford reportedly calling it the Mach 4, which would align with the trademark filed in 2025.
• 5:27
  Jeff Dziekan: The Mustang's current lineup is fairly robust with three engine options and the choice of a manual or automatic transmission in most trims.
• 5:34
  Jeff Dziekan: However, the Mustang only comes in a two-door setup.
• 5:36
  Jeff Dziekan: Its biggest competitor, the Dodge Charger, is offered as a two or four-door model, though it offers fewer engine options and does not come with a stake shift, so poo-poo.
• 5:47
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh Ford hasn't sold a sedans since it discontinued the fusion after the 20-20 mile year.
• 5:53
  Jeff Dziekan: Since then, the company has focused on the SUVs and trucks, according to the CEO Jim Farley.
• 5:58
  Jeff Dziekan: He hinted that bringing back sedans for a while back in June.
• 6:02
  Jeff Dziekan: He talked about it before.
• 6:03
  Jeff Dziekan: The current president, uh Andrew Flick, president of the Ford Blue and Model E, said the sedan rival was possible.
• 6:10
  Jeff Dziekan: A revival was possible.
• 6:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Fricks uh said in a said a sedan would make the most sense and fit with the existing model, adding that they would consider expanding the Mustang family in the future.
• 6:22
  Jeff Dziekan: It looks like the future may be closer than anticipated, though there's still plenty of time for the project to get scrapped or altered.
• 6:28
  Jeff Dziekan: The reports say that the sedan is expected to go on sale in 28 or 29, 2028, 2029.
• 6:35
  Jeff Dziekan: Two sources said that the sedan would feature a hybrid powertrain, and one mentioned a hybrid V8 engine.
• 6:41
  Jeff Dziekan: Attendees at the dealer event said that the prototype was roughly the same size and shape as the Porsche Panamera.
• 6:48
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh, that's a little bit longer vehicle.
• 6:50
  Jeff Dziekan: And executives reportedly said it would have more rear leg room than the Panamara.
• 6:55
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh Mustang, uh the Mustang has been continuous production since it launched in 1964.
• 7:01
  Jeff Dziekan: We all know that, making it the longest running muscle car in production.
• 7:04
  Jeff Dziekan: Its closest competitor, the Chevrolet Camaro, has been discontinued, while the Dodge Challenger was also killed off, essentially replacing by the two-door charger.
• 7:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Chevrolet, however, is reportedly reviving the Camaro.
• 7:17
  Jeff Dziekan: We talked about that as a four-door, which was rumored to go on sale in 29, so they're all kind of being competitive in the years of release.
• 7:23
  Jeff Dziekan: The Mustang expected release date would put it either ahead or in line with Chevy's debut.
• 7:29
  Jeff Dziekan: The sub-40,000 starting price would put it on more of an affordable side of the Mustang lineup with the V8 horsepower.
• 7:36
  Jeff Dziekan: They would likely be priced closer and in line with the V8 powered Mustang GT, which starts at just under 50K and the current Mustang's trim level lineup.
• 7:46
  Jeff Dziekan: Powertrain menu could uh mirror the Mustang, including the turbocharged 2.3 liter Eco Boost 4 cylinder and the naturally aspirated 5-liter Coyote V8, with room for a high output version.
• 7:58
  Jeff Dziekan: So oh yeah, tub it.
• 8:00
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh the bigger draw is the V8, which would be paired with the manual gearbox and genuine selling point of for the enthusiasts of that vehicle.
• 8:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford is not uh committed to a debut date for the Mach 4, but production should start sometime between 28-29.
• 8:15
  Jeff Dziekan: With any luck, the company would give us uh something to chew on early teasers and spy shots.
• 8:22
  Jeff Dziekan: That's all going to be available as they're released.
• 8:24
  Jeff Dziekan: So there you go.
• 8:25
  Jeff Dziekan: Who's next?
• 8:26
  Jeff Dziekan: That's what I got to say.
• 8:27
  Jeff Dziekan: Exactly.
• 8:28
  Don Armstrong: All right, uh time to all right.
• 8:36
  Don Armstrong: So I had an opportunity to drive the 2026 Lexus LX 700H.
• 8:43
  Don Armstrong: Now, we are familiar with all sorts of different Lexus models, and I had to really put on my thinking cap, which is almost worn out.
• 8:54
  Don Armstrong: I had to put that on and thinking, an LX.
• 8:58
  Don Armstrong: Now, this is not an LS.
• 9:00
  Don Armstrong: I'm familiar with the LS, the big sedan.
• 9:02
  Don Armstrong: LX.
• 9:03
  Don Armstrong: Hmm.
• 9:04
  Don Armstrong: Gotta be an SUV and wait at different number destination here of 700 with an H at the end of it.
• 9:12
  Don Armstrong: Well, it is a great big huge SUV.
• 9:16
  Don Armstrong: And the 700 doesn't mean anything other than the fact the H at the end, it is a hybrid.
• 9:22
  Don Armstrong: So there are seven trim levels of this car.
• 9:25
  Don Armstrong: Um, and the price ranges from$107,000 up to$143,000.
• 9:33
  Don Armstrong: It ain't cheap and it is real nice.
• 9:37
  Don Armstrong: Uh the review trim level is the hybrid over trail.
• 9:42
  Don Armstrong: It is a$117,000 trim package priced uh hybrid.
• 9:48
  Don Armstrong: Standard SUV, meaning that it is a body-on frame SUV with only two rows of seating in this one.
• 9:58
  Don Armstrong: Other trim levels you can get three rows of seating.
• 10:00
  Don Armstrong: This one is two.
• 10:02
  Don Armstrong: And um, I will tell you that the frame underneath it is semi-tundra truck.
• 10:09
  Don Armstrong: Okay, so keep that in mind.
• 10:11
  Don Armstrong: This is a very rugged SUV.
• 10:14
  Don Armstrong: Look at that beautiful interior.
• 10:15
  Don Armstrong: We're gonna get to that in a minute.
• 10:17
  Don Armstrong: This is fourth generation LX debuted in 2022.
• 10:21
  Don Armstrong: Hybrid began in 2024.
• 10:25
  Don Armstrong: Uh, exterior features include overpowering spindle grill.
• 10:29
  Don Armstrong: I think it detracts from uh its grill look.
• 10:34
  Don Armstrong: Uh it's just it overwhelms everything.
• 10:37
  Don Armstrong: Straight body lines um and bulging front fenders um add to the off-road appearance.
• 10:45
  Don Armstrong: Huge rear hatch swallows everything, probably a couch back there, uh, maybe even uh at least a fridge.
• 10:53
  Don Armstrong: Um rear valance and taillights add to the elegant touch of this.
• 10:59
  Don Armstrong: What I liked about it, I like the overall conservative styling.
• 11:03
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 11:04
  Don Armstrong: The grill.
• 11:05
  Don Armstrong: Interior highlights.
• 11:07
  Don Armstrong: Depending on the trim level, the interior goes from mild to wild with colors.
• 11:14
  Don Armstrong: That one there is the F Sport, and you can see that it's got a really nice red interior.
• 11:21
  Don Armstrong: Don't understand dual screens for the HVAC and radio navigation.
• 11:25
  Don Armstrong: Um, that's something that uh puzzles me.
• 11:28
  Don Armstrong: Why?
• 11:28
  Don Armstrong: Why couldn't you just put it in one screen?
• 11:30
  Don Armstrong: But at least they have done away with the touch screen, the touch pad that you used to have to use your finger to actually put the cursor onto wherever it is that you're trying to go.
• 11:43
  Don Armstrong: Uh huge center console with optional cooling capabilities.
• 11:47
  Don Armstrong: Yes, cooling capabilities.
• 11:49
  Don Armstrong: So if you want to have your Coca-Cola's cooled, there's a place for that in the center console.
• 11:54
  Don Armstrong: Premium leather throughout the cabin, comfortable front seats.
• 11:58
  Don Armstrong: Uh without the third row, there's plenty of room for camping gear back there.
• 12:03
  Don Armstrong: What I did like about it, that Mark Levinson sound system with, I don't know, a hundred speakers in it is really nice.
• 12:09
  Don Armstrong: But could use improvement, again, kill the dual screens and make one big one.
• 12:13
  Don Armstrong: That would be my suggestion.
• 12:15
  Don Armstrong: But who am I?
• 12:17
  Don Armstrong: A 3.4-liter twin turbo V6 is under the hood with 457 horsepower.
• 12:26
  Don Armstrong: Yep, 457, 583 pound feet of torque through a 10-speed automatic transmission.
• 12:34
  Don Armstrong: Again, it is a hybrid.
• 12:36
  Don Armstrong: Its towing capability is up to four tons.
• 12:41
  Don Armstrong: That's 8,000 pounds for those that don't want me to do the math for you.
• 12:46
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, miles per gallon.
• 12:48
  Don Armstrong: Well, 19 city, 22 highway for combined to 20.
• 12:52
  Don Armstrong: Now, mind you, that this is one of those vehicles that used to be like 13 miles per gallon.
• 12:57
  Don Armstrong: So they've bumped up the the party.
• 12:59
  Don Armstrong: 600 twin turbo, yeah.
• 13:01
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 13:01
  Don Armstrong: Uh I got 18.1 miles per gallon over 389 miles.
• 13:07
  Don Armstrong: This thing is heavy.
• 13:09
  Don Armstrong: It weighs almost three tons.
• 13:13
  Don Armstrong: So that kind of mileage um is impressive considering that it's gonna haul around all that way.
• 13:20
  Jeff Dziekan: 10-speed transmission, too.
• 13:21
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 13:21
  Don Armstrong: Uh what I liked about it, the horsepower.
• 13:23
  Don Armstrong: The V6 acts like a V8.
• 13:25
  Don Armstrong: You can't tell the difference, or at least I couldn't.
• 13:27
  Don Armstrong: Uh, what could use improvement?
• 13:29
  Don Armstrong: More mileage.
• 13:31
  Don Armstrong: Um, and I think that I think that this is a nice compromise.
• 13:35
  Don Armstrong: It's a V6 instead of a V8, and it's also a hybrid, so it does have a battery backup.
• 13:42
  Don Armstrong: You start adding batteries and making the mileage go up, then you got to deal with the weight.
• 13:47
  Don Armstrong: So it's a nice compromise in that area.
• 13:50
  Don Armstrong: Um, ride and handling.
• 13:52
  Don Armstrong: Air ride suspension absolutely nails it.
• 13:56
  Don Armstrong: Now, I don't know about you.
• 13:57
  Don Armstrong: Have you ever ridden in one with an air ride suspension?
• 14:00
  Don Armstrong: They're different, they feel different.
• 14:02
  Don Armstrong: You go over the the bumps and the the bruises on the freeway, and you go, that just felt different.
• 14:08
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 14:08
  Don Armstrong: And uh boy, it absorbs those.
• 14:10
  Don Armstrong: Didn't feel it like uh the old GMC buses from the 1960s.
• 14:16
  Don Armstrong: It's nice, it's really nice.
• 14:17
  Don Armstrong: It acts like a luxury sedan from the 80s.
• 14:20
  Don Armstrong: It is smooth.
• 14:21
  Don Armstrong: Well, could use improvement again.
• 14:23
  Don Armstrong: The weight, uh, it feels heavy, and it is almost three tons.
• 14:27
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 14:28
  Don Armstrong: So you want to know about the pricing.
• 14:30
  Don Armstrong: Well, I kind of gave you a tease, but here's the real thing.
• 14:33
  Don Armstrong: The base trim price is 115.
• 14:35
  Don Armstrong: Price is tested, 119,311.
• 14:38
  Don Armstrong: The base model price, gasoline version, is$108,000.500.
• 14:45
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 14:45
  Don Armstrong: Uh competitors, Mercedes-Benz GLS, BMW X7, and the Infinity QX80.
• 14:51
  Don Armstrong: And uh next week I'm gonna review the Mazda CX5.
• 14:56
  Don Armstrong: And that's my review of the 2026 Lexus LX.
• 15:00
  Don Armstrong: Noticed about it.
• 15:01
  Don Armstrong: I don't like that grill.
• 15:02
  Jeff Dziekan: The grill is too obtrusive.
• 15:04
  Jeff Dziekan: It's but it's overwhelming.
• 15:05
  Jeff Dziekan: It is, it takes up the entire front end of the post.
• 15:07
  Jeff Dziekan: I get it that it's a Lexus, but could you scale it back just a little bit?
• 15:11
  Jeff Dziekan: All the attaboys, that one old crap that wipes it all out.
• 15:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, to me.
• 15:15
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 15:21
  Don Armstrong: Great guy.
• 15:22
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 15:22
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this week in auto history, Mr.
• 15:24
  Don Armstrong: Mars.
• 15:26
  Mike Marrs: So a few things we found coming up this week in auto history that you can check into.
• 15:30
  Mike Marrs: Uh, 1994, and August the 15th, Ford began production of their contour and their Mercury Mystique.
• 15:39
  Mike Marrs: Now, basically, all this was was uh the European design Mondeo being brought into America because of their change the way they wanted to do or approach the mid-sized market in America.
• 15:51
  Mike Marrs: A lot of imports were coming in and they wanted to get in uh to that and change to a different style, doing away with the tempo and the topaz that were uh originally competing against the Japanese and European imports, so they've upgraded to this and uh made a big change in Ford's progress there.
• 16:09
  Mike Marrs: Then in 1906, August the 16th, the Mason Motor Car Company in Des Moines, Iowa, of all places.
• 16:18
  Mike Marrs: This is where the Deucemberg brothers built their first cars.
• 16:22
  Mike Marrs: This is what they did before they actually started building the Ducemberg vehicles, and uh it was a two-cylinder vehicle, and it had a lot of uh different implementations of that or technology of the particular time, and this is where they experimented with their their car building and what they decided on that eventually led them to build the the famous Deucemberg vehicles.
• 16:44
  Mike Marrs: Then on August the 17th in 1915, this is something that changed everything for all of us.
• 16:52
  Mike Marrs: If you've worked on cars and missing very long, you've got these.
• 16:57
  Don Armstrong: Can you imagine without that?
• 17:00
  Mike Marrs: I mean, I I I can't.
• 17:02
  Mike Marrs: I mean, uh it would not only was it a safety issue, people got hurt with the hand cranks and stuff, but you know, just this and the progression of it.
• 17:09
  Mike Marrs: I mean, how many times did you take a screwdriver and get down there on the solenoid to jump it because of the windings are shot?
• 17:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, there should be a sticker that says hit it here.
• 17:16
  Jeff Dziekan: Or hit it here.
• 17:17
  Jeff Dziekan: That's right, with a broomstick.
• 17:19
  Mike Marrs: Exactly.
• 17:20
  Mike Marrs: I mean, but it just so Cadillac did this and they set it up and they started in 1912, which I didn't really understand or know that it went back that far.
• 17:28
  Mike Marrs: But this was a Cadillac deal that changed everything for all the automobiles.
• 17:34
  Mike Marrs: So then on August 20th of 1960, this is this one kind of fabricasted me.
• 17:40
  Mike Marrs: You remember the Dodge Dart?
• 17:42
  Mike Marrs: This is the original Dodge Dart.
• 17:44
  Mike Marrs: What I remember was a little mid-size sedan or a coup.
• 17:47
  Mike Marrs: Uh, if you were lucky, it had a hot rod motor in it.
• 17:50
  Mike Marrs: But this is the Dodge Dart in 1960.
• 17:53
  Mike Marrs: And they started really seeing how things were going to go.
• 17:55
  Mike Marrs: They sold over 306,000 of these vehicles, and uh it actually helped them out through the 1957-58 Depression, and it gave them a stronger full-size offering at a time whenever they were everybody else was starting to cut back and the sales were getting weak.
• 18:12
  Mike Marrs: So, this is the original Dodge Dart.
• 18:15
  Mike Marrs: Even got a wagon for you, Jeff.
• 18:17
  Mike Marrs: I see that.
• 18:18
  Mike Marrs: I love it.
• 18:19
  Mike Marrs: August 20th, 1969.
• 18:22
  Mike Marrs: The Skyline, the Nissan Skyline that everybody sees is fantastic hot rod from the imports, Fast and Furious Mutis.
• 18:30
  Mike Marrs: This is the original Skyline that was built by the Prince Motor Company.
• 18:36
  Mike Marrs: Nissan took them over and eventually molded them into uh the Nissan performance packages and the vehicles that we know now.
• 18:44
  Mike Marrs: And the one on the bottom right, the red, was wasn't actually the last one that the Prince engineering, the Prince Motor Company engineering was all involved with.
• 18:53
  Mike Marrs: So it was started out as a modest four-door family design, and now it's ended up on a movie screen of hot rod that'll jump tall buildings and swim massive streams and go really fast.
• 19:05
  Don Armstrong: So that's just a few of the Did you did you you you just did that to put make a little dig at me when talking about swimming again?
• 19:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Did you write that?
• 19:18
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, with a with a little shrug.
• 19:21
  Don Armstrong: Well, you know, you got time now for the much delayed and much sought-after review of the Subaru Outback.
• 19:33
  Don Armstrong: And Mr.
• 19:34
  Don Armstrong: Mars, my apologies.
• 19:36
  Don Armstrong: I know that I skipped over you last hour, but we're gonna make up for it now.
• 19:40
  Mike Marrs: We got plenty of time.
• 19:41
  Mike Marrs: We got plenty of time.
• 19:43
  Mike Marrs: So again, we're talking about the 2026 Subaru Outback.
• 19:47
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is all new design for 2026, so it's actually the seventh gen oration of this vehicle.
• 19:54
  Mike Marrs: Now, the final assembly location is in Ota, Guma, Japan, or something to that effect.
• 20:00
  Mike Marrs: It's available at six trim levels: the premium, the limited, the limited XT, the wilderness, the touring, and the touring XT.
• 20:09
  Mike Marrs: Now, I happen to be driving the wilderness for the review time.
• 20:12
  Mike Marrs: Now, the government says this is a small SUV.
• 20:15
  Mike Marrs: With it parked in the side in the driveway next to my wife's mid-size, I would think it's more of a mid-size, but being that what it may, seats five passengers.
• 20:24
  Mike Marrs: Now, new this year, it's got a taller roof line on it, so you've got a lot bigger windows, which improves the view outside of it.
• 20:31
  Mike Marrs: It's got plenty of black trim to give it that off-road look.
• 20:34
  Mike Marrs: Uh, it's got power heated side mirrors, got black uh roof rails on it.
• 20:39
  Mike Marrs: Up front, the LED lighting package goes all the way around it, but the front headlights are steering responsive headlights, which at night you got to kind of play with a little bit, but it's pretty cool to watch it.
• 20:50
  Mike Marrs: Uh, even got uh the daytime running lights and the fog lights are also LEDs.
• 20:54
  Mike Marrs: It's got a moon roof on it, again, the black roof racks, and it's rolling on some 17-inch black wheels.
• 21:00
  Mike Marrs: Now, this all works together to give it that rugged off-road look that they're looking for with the wilderness brand.
• 21:06
  Mike Marrs: But on the inside, we're gonna find black Napa leather.
• 21:10
  Mike Marrs: The front seats are heated and ventilated.
• 21:12
  Mike Marrs: The second row seats are also heated on the outboard seating positions.
• 21:17
  Mike Marrs: Got a 12.1 inch multimedia system right there in the middle of it.
• 21:21
  Mike Marrs: Big nice screen with navigation, got your surround view, hardened, Harmon card and speakers for the audio, kind of fill it up really nice.
• 21:29
  Mike Marrs: A 12.3 inch LCD instrument cluster gives you all the information the driver's gonna be looking for, and you can adjust it, of course, to whatever you want.
• 21:37
  Mike Marrs: Wireless charging for your phones, uh, it's got front and rear USB ports for everybody to have plenty of times to places to plug in their stuff.
• 21:45
  Mike Marrs: And the rear seat is a 6040 fold down, and it does have a cargo cover in the back, which a lot of people kind of eh, but that's really important, I think, because it keeps all your good stuff back there out of sight, out of mind, so people don't even think about trying to steal it.
• 22:00
  Mike Marrs: Now, the Outback can come with two different engines.
• 22:03
  Mike Marrs: The wilderness has the 2.4 liter turbo boxer.
• 22:07
  Mike Marrs: This has got 260 horsepower, 277-pound feet of torque on it.
• 22:11
  Mike Marrs: It's backed by a CVT, but you can put it into a manual mode which mimics an eight-speed transmission.
• 22:19
  Mike Marrs: The tow rating is 3,500, so that'll take care of your small boats, your kayaks, and maybe even a small pop-up camper.
• 22:26
  Mike Marrs: Now the EPA says you should be looking for about 21 miles to the gallon in the city, highway 27, combined 23.
• 22:33
  Mike Marrs: Now I got 21.8 across 292 miles.
• 22:37
  Mike Marrs: Most of my time was spent in town.
• 22:39
  Mike Marrs: Done a little bit out on the highway.
• 22:41
  Mike Marrs: So I was well pleased with what I got out of it because with the turbo, it's got a quick power.
• 22:46
  Mike Marrs: There's really not a turbo lag to it that I really felt was uh important to notice, but it was very quick and had plenty of power and very responsive steering.
• 22:57
  Mike Marrs: And the lane keeping system was really strong.
• 23:00
  Mike Marrs: In other words, it will you knew it had it.
• 23:02
  Mike Marrs: You could almost fight it if you wanted to change lanes without turning on the turn signal.
• 23:06
  Mike Marrs: It would let you know that you're doing it, and it would you'd have to kind of fight it a little bit.
• 23:11
  Mike Marrs: And I really liked driving it because I had a lot of glass, the big glass on it's got a lot of view.
• 23:17
  Mike Marrs: You can see outside real well, almost like driving a big bus.
• 23:20
  Don Armstrong: That's for those people that are uh really getting bad at seeing things.
• 23:23
  Don Armstrong: Can you see over the steering wheel?
• 23:25
  Mike Marrs: Exactly.
• 23:26
  Mike Marrs: But it was it was really cool like that.
• 23:28
  Mike Marrs: Now the base trim price on this is$44,995.
• 23:32
  Mike Marrs: Now the as tested price is$50,534.
• 23:37
  Don Armstrong: Wow.
• 23:37
  Mike Marrs: And a Subaru, yeah, uh mid-trim level Subaru.
• 23:42
  Mike Marrs: And the of course you can get a base model price at$34,995.
• 23:46
  Mike Marrs: So using that, went over and looked at the Chevrolet Blazer,$34,300 is the base model on it.
• 23:52
  Mike Marrs: The Mazda CX70,$42,750, and the Honda Passport is$44,950.
• 23:58
  Mike Marrs: And again, I thought that that's where it fit in better because it's a little bit bigger, it's square, it looks much more like a mid-size to me than the smaller ones, and these all seem like fairly comparable, other than the price.
• 24:10
  Mike Marrs: Subaru is definitely a better price in that range.
• 24:13
  Mike Marrs: So that's some of the things that I found on the 2026 Subaru Outback Wilderness package.
• 24:20
  Don Armstrong: You know, I I will have to admit to you that I actually like the Subaru brand.
• 24:27
  Don Armstrong: Um, I think that uh it's a different way to build a car.
• 24:31
  Don Armstrong: I like the boxer engines, I like those a lot.
• 24:34
  Don Armstrong: They do a very good job with those.
• 24:36
  Don Armstrong: And you know, the CVT transmissions have actually been bumped up.
• 24:41
  Don Armstrong: They remember the original ones, God, they were just awful.
• 24:44
  Don Armstrong: You know, rev up to 6,000 RPM and sit there forever and ever and ever until you got it up to 60 miles an hour.
• 24:51
  Don Armstrong: They're not like that anymore.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 24:53
  Don Armstrong: Um, and Subaru has come miles and miles now with their new interiors.
• 25:00
  Don Armstrong: They've they've been working at it.
• 25:02
  Don Armstrong: And um, I think that they're doing a much better job than they used to.
• 25:06
  Don Armstrong: And for those that are in the market, I would definitely suggest that you at least give them a try.
• 25:13
  Don Armstrong: Shop it.
• 25:14
  Don Armstrong: You may not like it, but shop it because uh chances are you're gonna find something in there that you're gonna like.
• 25:20
  Don Armstrong: I just that that's me.
• 25:22
  Don Armstrong: Uh would I go out and buy one?
• 25:24
  Don Armstrong: I wouldn't, I'm not in the a new car buying mode, but uh I definitely would put it on my shopping list.
• 25:31
  Don Armstrong: Wouldn't you, Mr.
• 25:31
  Don Armstrong: Mars?
• 25:32
  Mike Marrs: Particularly this Outback because of the size of it, this new generation of 2026 by it being new, the changes they've made, it's gone away from all that swoopy stuff that you used to see in the small ACT.
• 25:43
  Don Armstrong: Well, and they all look like grown station wagons.
• 25:46
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, and they've got to and this one is definitely, to me, looks better and more like that in what a lot of the bigger full.
• 25:52
  Jeff Dziekan: Wheel trim packages and things is kind of hard to get used to for me.
• 25:55
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, I think that they I think that they've come a long way.
• 25:58
  Don Armstrong: And uh they've allowed themselves to change it up and make the different models that people are actually looking for.
• 26:04
  Don Armstrong: I I I'm I'm kind of impressed with the Subaru.
• 26:07
  Don Armstrong: You know, it's the other Japanese automaker.
• 26:10
  Mike Marrs: Right.
• 26:11
  Mike Marrs: I got a friend that he's on his second outback, and he he wouldn't drive anything else.
• 26:16
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:17
  Don Armstrong: And from what I understand, very reliable.
• 26:19
  Don Armstrong: They last a long time, and you rarely hear of one of those being recalled.
• 26:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, yeah, my sister in law had one, and it she had an accident and that was the end of that car, but you had it for a long time.
• 26:29
  Jeff Dziekan: They loved it.
• 26:29
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 26:30
  Don Armstrong: Okay.
• 26:31
  Don Armstrong: Thank you, sir.
• 26:32
  Don Armstrong: Hey, if you'd like to get