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Buttons Beat Screens · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_03: Put your other earpiece in your earpiece in the gym.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Put your earpiece in, Grandpa, and you're here to hear the whole thing.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: I can't hear the show.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, typically you would you would have a mono voice, stereo, music, but mono voice.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: We've moved up in the world.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, that's going backwards.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's back in the early days of quadraphonic sound.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Remember that?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah?
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is your place for all things automotive and other things.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: The award-winning in real-time car talk show.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Coming up, our story of the week part two.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Part two.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Later, Mars has This Week in Auto History.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Jeffrey has the racing calendar, and I'll get you caught up on the stories making headlights this week.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Howdy, along with Mike Out of This World, Mars.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: We always need more Jeff Zeke and Engineer David Ainsley.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not forget David Ainsley.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Very important.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Very much so.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Glad you could join us today.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so I had a couple of stories.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I've done one, but this is the more expanded one, the story of the week.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know why I you well, you you be the judge of why I selected it.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: You'll see.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: European automakers are reworking interior designs after Euro NCAP updated its assessment protocols in January to discourage touch screen-only controls for essential driving tasks.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: The move extends a safety debate that intensified as touch screen dependent dashboards became standard across the industry.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sound familiar?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: We just had a review.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So starting this year, physical controls will be required for turn signals, wipers, hazard lights, horn, and SOS calls to earn five stars from Euro NCAP, which evaluates the safety of new vehicles through standardized crash tests and safety feature assessments.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Automakers that stick solely to touch screens for these functions will have points deducted from their Euro NCAP safety evaluation.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Euro NCAP is a voluntary safety rating program, so its requirements are not mandated by European law.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: They're just saying, hey, if you want to get high ratings, let's have some knobs and buttons back and not all computer-based touchscreen stuff.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Or move your eyeballs.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Cyber rocket.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that goes into outer space, and they're the guy sitting there in front of a big touch screen.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And if they want anything, they just touch on the touch screen.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: In a car, it's a little bit different.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because you in a spacecraft, you really don't have to watch the road too much.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right, you don't know.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, depending on who's driving.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: I guess.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: But Jeff Heitzman would be able to tell you that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Kane would be able to tell you that too.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um in China, similar requirements could become law.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Bloomberg reported February 13th that proposed regulations from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology say that turn signals, hazard lights, gear selection, and emergency calling must have fixed buttons or switches with a minimum surface size of 0.4 inches by 0.4 inches.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a pretty inch.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: For the button.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: The moves in Europe and China are a challenge to automakers seeking minimalist interiors, such as Tesla, BYD, and Geomi amid safety concerns about driver distraction and screen clearers, which is what I've been saying all along.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, it's great.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, look at how clean the dashboard is.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now I want to I want to find Sirius XM Channel 75.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now I've got to go here, here, here.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: I've got to go drill down through all these menus.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_04: A couple of screens and everything.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think there's there's two things you're saying because you said you drive a car to the car every week, so it's a different, it's a different setup.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Once you own the car, you just put it in save.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_04: But but even that that's a good point to make.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: I understand, but uh, I haven't driven a car, uh, you know, particularly these brands that you're referring to that has the horn inside that I've got to go to the touch screen to honk the horn or turn the wipers on, or are you hearing the signals?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: You haven't driven a Tesla.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_04: No, I I haven't, you know, that's what I'm saying.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_04: I haven't, but I cannot imagine.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, I'm going down the road.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_04: I'm trying to I'm trying to find the horn and I'm hollering, and then your wipers go on and your turn exactly.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Radio goes up in volume.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: But to bring it home, and in reality, the bottom line is there are certain functions, like for instance, yes, on the steering wheel, there's a thing for the volume control.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I find it with my thumb.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still driving, I'm still looking ahead, down going down the road, right?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I can find that on my thumb and I can turn it up or turn it down, or whatever the case may be.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, here on the right-hand side, I can change the channels.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: I got that.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: But let's say, for instance, that I want to change the treble.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or um I want to balance whatever the case may be.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want it, I want it so I don't have to take my eyes off the road to do whatever.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: If I want the temperature to go up or the temperature to go down, I don't want to have to look at it.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I know that on that knob, I can turn it up and it makes the temperature warmer, or turn it back down to the left and it's cooler.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever the case may be.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: You see what I'm saying?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: And to Jeff's point, if it's your car and you've driven it for a while, I mean, even after a week, you get some of it, but you get the muscle memory where I can reach over there and I can feel that fan knob and I can turn it up or down without really looking at it.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Does it say anything about hands-free driving in that?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's pursue it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Continue on.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: All right, let's go to the next slide.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: The thing is that the risk of crashes increases as drivers hunt through touch screen menus to access basic functions.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the EU's voluntary guidelines are not working because current touch screens and infotainment systems are distracting and unsafe.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Frank Mutes, vehicle safety expert at European Transport Safety Council, said in a statement, Euro NCAP requiring physical controls for some functions, such as uh welcome step in the right direction.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: But we now need EU regulators to follow up and adopt legally binding requirements for all vehicles.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now you know, we always change with what if Europe does something that we like, then we're going to steal it from them, and vice versa, right?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: For automakers, the new protocols mean a major move away from touchscreen dependent dashboards.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Volkswagen brand's response could be seen in its new full electric ID polo, which includes physical controls for key functions such as climate control and hazard lights.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: In addition, the driver can adjust audio volume and skip tracks with rotary control knobs.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: VW's rethink of its new generation interior comes after the brand's design chief, Andreas Mint M-I-N-D T admitted to the ETSC XYZ that the shift to touch screens for vital controls was a mistake.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: He said it.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: He designed it.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: He said it's a mistake.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Mercedes-Benz acknowledges that physical buttons are better for certain functions.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: The new generation GLC and CLA models are equipped with a steering wheel that replaces haptic swipe surfaces.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I hated that thing.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: That little black button that you swipe with your thumb with physical rocker switches, rotary rollers, and hard buttons.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hyundai, opting for a hybrid approach, keeping physical knobs and buttons for frequently used functions such as volume control in a bid to reduce driver stress.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Tesla, which clusters nearly all controls on a touch screen, plans to reintroduce physical turn signal stocks in some models, according to media reports, at least those that they're going to continue to build because they just cut out two more vehicles.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: BMW, meanwhile, started removing its physical rotary eye drive knob from cars in 2021.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Its new class generation of vehicles, starting with the iX3, debut BMW's panoramic eye drive system, which has a full-width pillar-to-pillar display and haptic touch controls on the steering wheel.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: BMW said key functions such as an emergency call function and the hazard lights will continue to be controlled by buttons.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Automakers in Europe have a three-year window to redesign interiors to qualify for a Euro NCAPS top safety score.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: Can you imagine if they take, you know, people don't use the turn signals now, and all they got to do is push a lever.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_04: And now we're gonna you go to tell them now you've got to drill into this touch screen, two screens down.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_04: That ain't gonna happen, brother.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, I've I've driving a car that's got a 30 plus inch glass screen, you know that.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I've got toggles for my air conditioning, up and down a fan, and all that stuff for heat for the seats, they're toggles.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I've got a dial for my volume for the radio, a push button on and off, and dial of that.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it is going to be car of the year this year, I hope.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but it is a Buick.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Made in China.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but I would imagine that it was designed here in the United States by a very smart individual.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: From Detroit.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, probably.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_04: But like you say, it gets very irritating, like with all the little buttons.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_04: The car that I was driving last week had two of those uh on the wind on the steering wheel, and I had to figure out how which one of them did what and how to maneuver it.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_04: It was like maneuvering uh a little the little button on the old laptops, you know.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_04: You used to have the little button right in the middle of the keyboard, yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: Drive you insane.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you didn't talk about it.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's a short drive, but still the uh hands-free steering.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they introduced that at the automotive show.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: People were talking about that.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: Now, why would you put all of those functions, like you said, look, on the steering wheel to let go of it?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: You've been you've been you've been a salesman, you've driven millions of miles selling your wares with your suitcase and all that stuff.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And for that guy that drives on the highway between cities all across the United States, it's great.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: You press the button.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: If it sees something that it's not right, it turns it off.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: It has a beep, beep, beep or buzzes your butt, whatever the case may be.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you and if if something is awry, it will actually slow down, take its foot off.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, they got it down pretty pat.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: My cruise control does that if you if it catch it up to a car in front of you, cruise control, of course.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: But uh the drilling down in the menus when you're doing 70 miles an hour down the South Sam Houston tollway, that does not work.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you drive in the slow lane.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: You get it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I you don't think I'm gonna admit it because you know who listens to this show.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that'd be Sergeant Woodard.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, DPS.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: I drive the speed limit, Sergeant.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: He does not.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, he does.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: He drives below the speed limit, which drives everybody insane.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_04: But traffic back up to the city.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's Jeff up there in the front.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Who is that moron doing 50 in a 70?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: Hello.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's Jeff.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: Hello.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: Because it says do that speed limit.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, all right.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you you go by your rules and I'll go by mine.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: But uh the screen.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, they're the two shall ever meet.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: I I do there are listen, I could find something wrong with every single car made that doesn't that doesn't work for me, Don Armstrong.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: But it may work for you or anybody else.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they don't build if if they built a car just for you, the car would be so outrageously priced you wouldn't be able to afford it because it would be you.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: But they can build a you know uh HVAC system with controls this way for everybody, and everybody understands for the most part.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: There are some systems and cars that are not cheap, somewhere between fifty and seventy thousand dollars.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going, why?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you do that?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Who who said, oh, that's the way we're gonna go?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know who that person is because I want to say this is wrong.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: This is not nobody that I know of, and I I asked you, you, I asked Leslie, anybody, how do you feel about Katie?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Katie, what do you think about the way that you drill down the menus to get to a certain radio station?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: She goes, Well, that's stupid.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a girl that launches satellites into orbit.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's stupid.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Who who does this?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Not real people.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_04: Users don't, but I I have a theory that I've developed over years of nonsense in that engineers engineer.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_04: They have to have something to engineer.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_04: Doesn't that make any difference?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: If it's working fine, let me re-engineer that because I've got to engineer something.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_04: You're thinking about your years and years of nonsense.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: This talk show operated flawlessly for years and years and years, and then we move into a new facility.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Mars says, I'll fix it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do something different.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't have to come over here and do this every week and drive, you know, a million miles a year.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: We are still trying to figure out stuff.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: We're still fixing it.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna call Katie.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: Call Katie because you know what she'd say.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's stupid.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Katie.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: We love you.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we do.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much for being you.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Don't go change it.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, just ahead.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff has the racing calendar, Mars has this week in auto history, and I'll bring you this week's automotive news headlines when the In-Wheel Time car talk show continues right after this.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: The Tailpipes and Tacos renowned cruising expands to Beaumont.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Golden Triangle cruisers will want to experience tailpipes and tacos at the Loopy Tortilla, High Tens South in Beaumont, near Washington Boulevard.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Grab free loopy breakfast tacos with any donation to Shirley's kids.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy a coffee or an adult beverage.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Every cruising vehicle is automatically entered to win one of the beautiful chili pepper trophies for Best Hot Rod, Classic, and Modern Classic.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Tailpipes and Tacos Beaumont happens Saturday morning, March 21st, 8 to 11 a.m.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a car geek like we are, this is the event you'll want to attend.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: The Invent of the Time Cover Talk Show will be online live, and you may be interviewed about your ride.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Tailpipes and Tacos Beaumont edition Saturday, March 21st, 8 to 11 a.m.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: at the Loopy Tortilla 2050 I-10 South in Beaumont.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: The Katie Tailpipes and Tacos happens Easter Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: The Free Tailpipes and Tacos Cruising is a production of Loopy Tortilla Tex Mex, Beaumont and Katie.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: He's pretty good.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Apple or Android InWheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're on the road or at home and Jones in for a different kind of car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture and Mike's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Inwheeltime.com has a list, and we know you love lists.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you'll check us out.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you miss us, you'll be able to connect through a podcast from your favorite podcast channel anytime 24-7.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Time now for the racing calendar, Jeffrey, sponsored by Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for that.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, we've got NASCAR going on today.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's the uh Craftsman Truck Series at Eco Park in Atlanta that goes on at uh 1.30 this afternoon and it's on FS1, which is coming up pretty quick.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then you've got tonight, Saturday night, you've got the 5 p.m.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: uh O'Reilly, which used to be the Xfinity series, that's on the CW, and then of course you've got Atlanta tomorrow on the CW.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you've got Atlanta tomorrow, uh Fox New a Fox channel at 3 p.m.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: You've got NHRA coming up, that's gonna be uh Gator Nationals, that's March uh 5th through 8th, that's coming up pretty quick.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be next week.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh IndyCar series.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: March 5th through the 8th is not next week.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Two weeks.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Two weeks.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Two weeks.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh two weeks.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be done in two weeks.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: Two weeks.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh IndyCar Series coming up, the St.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Petersburg March 1st.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's coming up very soon.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: You've got the Formula One schedule is out there doing some testing and they're doing some complaining.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh somebody got hit with a purse or something.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um isn't there a race this weekend in HRI doing things?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the purse race.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: It is uh, you know, I don't know.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I know I just Chase made a comment whenever uh I was talking to him that he was with Stan and they were at the races, and I just assumed that oh no, that was over in they're over uh in Louisiana.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh at the horse races.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: What's it called?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Beaumont Rose or something.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's a racetrack over there.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: I've been there.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of stuff going on.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's a quarter mile drag strip.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: The uh quarter tracks, half mile tracks, dirt tracks, they're all coming to life.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we need to have Rodney on.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was thinking about that too.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_04: Got a got a note out to him.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_04: He's he's been pretty busy with uh O'Reilly and the things he's got going on there.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_04: That's good.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he can take some time for us because he wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for us.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Damn it.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_04: Well, he's still holding that against us.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: There is that.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: There was that restroom incident.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, uh time now for this week in auto history, Mr.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Mars.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, sir.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: Got a few things here that we thought was pretty interesting.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: And um the first thing up is in uh 1923.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_04: Now, this is interesting because this is when Dodge Brothers was the company was incorporated.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_04: Now, the founders, John and Horace Dodge, both died because of the flu epidemic that was going on.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh damn near died when we got the flu this year.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean it was tough, particularly back then.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_04: So it actually got incorporated in 1923.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I thought this was really interesting whenever um the uh because I got to go to the Dodge house one time up there in Detroit, and it had all of the stuff that was um the house was there, we got to tour part of it.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_04: They brought a bunch of the cars out of the museum and put them out there in the parking lot, and and we got a little bit of history about the Dodge brothers, and it was so much involved in all that earliness that was going on whenever the automotive industry was starting to get.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_04: In the early 1900s.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_04: That's the word I was looking for.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_04: Then in 1928, Volvo introduced the V4 to the wider markets.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: Now, this was important because this is their first uh big vehicle that really developed their reputation for safety and solid engineering.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_04: They made 10 of them to kind of push them around the world, let everybody see them, and there's one left, and the one we've got pictured here is the one that's left in the museum, and they've got a replica of the body framework that they made out of wood at the time, and that's what they would actually cover it up.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_04: Then in 1934, the Citroen Traction Avant was rolled out in France.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_04: Citroen.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_04: Citroen, yeah.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_04: And it was actually uh this is the first mass-produced front-wheel drive car.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_04: It united unit had the unitized body construction and independent front suspension.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: Now, all these advances.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_04: When year was that?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_04: 1934.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's actually really ahead of its time.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_04: It was, it was very much, and with the low stance of it, it really had some nice handling and stuff that went on with it.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_04: Now, in 1954, first production of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: Now, this is the famous Gull Wing doors that uh have been mimicked forever and effort, and even now, Hot Roders will take and put these Lambo type doors that kind of fold up, not like the Gull Wings, but uh it's a very popular and there's very collectible cars.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_04: And very expensive.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_04: In 1962, now this is all I brought this one up.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: John Deere enters the consumer.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_04: Now, you know, they've all been building tractors and stuff and a lot of stuff, but they got in the consumer lawn and garden segment.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_04: Now, I thought this would be a little interesting because even though it's the tractors, this particular vehicle that we've got pictured here, this is actually a horse-drawn manure fertilized spreader.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_04: I thought that would be kind of appropriate.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_04: Well, that would be appropriate for this show.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_04: Sponsored by Inwheel Time.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_04: 1985.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: Manure spreader.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_04: The uh Acura Legend was introduced, and this was part of the new luxury models uh brand from Acura that was spun off.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: And so it came with a lot of the European premium seats, and uh the styling's not what it is now by any means.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_03: But the first one that came out at the time, that was the latest, greatest.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_04: It was a cat's 151 horsepower, two point five liter V six was uh the sedan.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_04: That was the original one, and then about a year later, they came out with a coupe that had a hundred.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_04: Then in 2008, the big one hit the Dodge Challenger SRT 8.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, this was the Retro Inspired Challenger that was coming out with from the SRT group and the SRT 8.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_04: And what I did not know, that the first cars all came with 6.1 liter hemis.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_04: Now, the first ones, the first 6400, were all built in Canada.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_04: They were all pre-sold before they ever got the first one out the door.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_04: And they came with a 370 cubic inch five-speed automatic.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_04: Now, they also built a hundred down in Mexico that had the 6.1 liter with the 425 horsepower motor.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_04: Those two were all sold, and they all sold for the same price, a$40,095 list.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_04: And that is some of the things we found in this week in automotive history.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_04: I've got kind of a longish story about EVs here.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_04: I've got to do it.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_04: It's shocking.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's shocking for a lot of people.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Automakers are unwinding their electric vehicle bets at a cost approaching$50 billion.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's with a B.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: A stark measure of how much the industry misjudged what buyers would embrace and how fast.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Write downs of investments in EV factory capacity, vehicle programs, and battery manufacturing have stained the balance sheets of General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, and Honda in recent months.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: The charges range from an expected$1.9 billion by the end of March for Honda to roughly$26 billion for Stellantis, which didn't specify how much of what it called a reset of its business was EV related.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: The massive price tag is a product of how aggressively automakers focused their capital investments on EVs, said ET Mikhaile.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: ET ITAY.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Hey E.T.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: An equity auto analyst at T.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: D.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Cowan.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yet the charges don't necessarily reflect a complete about face, blah, blah, blah.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: The charges follow years of dialing up EV development to keep up with increasingly stringent zero emission regulations in the US and Europe.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Automakers also had to respond to competitive pressures from Tesla and startup EV manufacturers.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Did anybody say, okay, we're going to make these EVs?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: How are we going to get the people to charge them?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: How?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's that.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_04: And we talked about that for years.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_04: They were not making those cars because buyers wanted to buy them.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Mainstream U.S.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: mainstream U.S.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: buyers have proved reluctant to switch from combustion vehicles, citing higher purchase prices, concerns about battery range and charging speeds.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: President Trump also moved quickly in his second term to relax federal regulations, ending penalties for noncompliance with fuel economy standards and scuttling a$7,500 federal tax credit.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: The result?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: EV sales slowing, automakers reassessing how much production capacity they need, converting some factory space back to combustion vehicles, and canceling entire programs.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: U.S.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: buyers registered 1.3 million EVs in 2025 for a 7.8% share of the new light vehicle market, down slightly from 8% in 2024, according to SP Global Mobility.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's ugly, and automakers are really paying the price for jumping the gun on the EV stuff.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Look, not that I'm anti-EV, but you know what?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Go a little bit slower.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Why go all in with something that you know nothing about as far as uptake?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_04: Well, that's that, but they were pushed into it.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_04: That's the problem.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_04: Because they can automakers can figure out, well, this isn't selling, so I'm going to quit making it.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_04: But if they're forced to make it no matter what, then any market, whether it's automake it or whoever, is that got that problem.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: The In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll wrap things up right after this.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: The Easter Bunny's coming.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: To the Tailpipes and Tacos cruise in at the Loopy Tortilla Tex-Max in Katy, April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you're invited too.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Bring the kids and grandkids.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's a cruise in like you've never attended before.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: With a donation to Shirley's Kids, you'll get a free Loopy Tortilla breakfast taco.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: There'll be coffee and adult beverages, plus chili pepper trophies for the best hot rod, best modern classic, and best classic.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's no entry fee and no registration.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Just bring your ride and the kids.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Bad bunnies aren't allowed, but the Easter bunny will be there, and he'll be full of joy to help make this tailpipes and tacos a very special one.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Photo opportunities abound.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: The Inmodel Time Car Talk Show will be streaming around the globe, and you can be selected to tell your car story to a global audience.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's the Tail Pipes and Tacos Cruise in Easter edition, Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: at the Loopy Tortilla Tex-Mex in Katy, located on 99 the Grand Parkway, just south of I-10, the Katy Freeway, in Katy.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Make plans now.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: Loopy Tortilla is pretty good.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Houston, get a remedy, Siguman is hosting the medical car meet at the Lord Complex after a monster.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: Super.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're collaborating with the Car Meet Network, so you know it's gonna be crazy.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not enough.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be wrestling up six cards to be sold at$1,000 each.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: See below for more details.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna want to miss this Houston March 14th.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: We can't wait to see you here.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's it for this week's In Wheel Time Park Talk Show.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to check us out online at inwheeltime.com.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're always looking for new, informative, and great automotive things to bring to our global audience.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you have an idea, the event, road trip, tall tale you'd like us to let us know.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: We like tall tales.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Our email address is info at inrealtime.com.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: When you're looking for award-winning car talk, you can find the In Real Time Car Talk Show 24-7 on the In Real Time app and website.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Grab a podcast from your favorite podcast store.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: We video stream our live show every Saturday, 10 to noon on Facebook, YouTube, and InRealTime.com.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: The In Real Time Video Coordinator is we always need for Jeff Captain Booking Agent, video editor, Mike out of this world, Mars.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Chief Engineer David and Don Armstrong.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to our weekly show contributors, Jeff Heitzman and George Skelton.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great week.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: A safe one, too.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so long for that.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our In Wheeltime.com website.
• 29:14
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• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.