Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Electric Cars Win Early Races And The New C-HR Feels Like A Rocket

Transcript

Electric Cars Win Early Races And The New C-HR Feels Like A Rocket · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:08
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 0:08
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this week in auto history, Mr.
• 0:11
  Don Armstrong: Mars.
• 0:11
  Mike Marrs: Yes, sir.
• 0:12
  Mike Marrs: We found a few things this week in auto history that uh I think people will be interested in and checking it out.
• 0:18
  Mike Marrs: September the 6th, way back in 1891.
• 0:22
  Mike Marrs: Peugeot took their type 3 early gasoline-powered engine, which was a Daimler-designed two-horsepower engine, and they entered it into a race, a bicycle race, and they took it 1,271-mile round trip.
• 0:37
  Mike Marrs: Now, this it only got about nine miles per hour to do it, but it did complete it.
• 0:41
  Mike Marrs: And the whole point of that was to show that automobiles were something that were dependable and could be used.
• 0:47
  Don Armstrong: And one of those one of those guys in the car looks just like you, Mars.
• 0:51
  Mike Marrs: I think it's the one in the back on the left.
• 0:56
  Mike Marrs: The thinner one.
• 0:59
  Mike Marrs: So um then on September the 7th, in back in 1896, this was America's first automobile race that was held on a horse track or trotting track in Cranston, Rhode Island.
• 1:16
  Mike Marrs: Now, this was seven car seven vehicles competed over five laps.
• 1:20
  Mike Marrs: Now they had sixty thousand people actually there to watch this first race.
• 1:24
  Don Armstrong: Although it says, although it says Narragansett Park.
• 1:29
  Don Armstrong: Every time I've been there, I've got the tron.
• 1:30
  Mike Marrs: Well, I couldn't say Narragansett, so I just skipped the Narragansett.
• 1:35
  Mike Marrs: But they had 60,000 spectators watching this and an electric Riker.
• 1:40
  Mike Marrs: The car game was the Riker, one, doing 20 miles an hour.
• 1:44
  Mike Marrs: Second place finisher was also an electric vehicle.
• 1:48
  Mike Marrs: So it was third place, it was won by a gasoline power.
• 1:50
  Mike Marrs: But again, it helped to demonstrate that automobile competition could become a major nationwide spectator sport.
• 1:58
  Mike Marrs: Then uh moving up, jumping up to 1949, uh Volkswagen returns to German control.
• 2:05
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is after the war.
• 2:06
  Mike Marrs: The Volkswagen Company was actually transferred from the British military control back to the Federal Republic, which was new, the Federal Republican.
• 2:14
  Don Armstrong: It's the original split window coup.
• 2:16
  Mike Marrs: It is.
• 3:02
  Mike Marrs: Now they ended up selling about 4.4 million of these vehicles before production ended in 2005.
• 3:09
  Mike Marrs: So it went through several generations, but it lasted a long time.
• 3:13
  Mike Marrs: And the first car here, I was in one of those once upon a time, and it was uh what you'd expect from a 1955 car, but it was really nice.
• 3:24
  Mike Marrs: Uh September the 10th, back in 1897.
• 3:29
  Mike Marrs: This is an important event.
• 3:30
  Mike Marrs: This was the uh the London police arrested George Smith after he crashed his cab into a building while intoxicated.
• 3:38
  Mike Marrs: So George Smith became the first recorded driving arrest.
• 3:42
  Mike Marrs: And uh his fine was 25 shillings.
• 3:44
  Mike Marrs: I have no idea what that means, but uh it is the first person that was arrested for driving under the influence.
• 3:52
  Mike Marrs: Then in uh 1970, September 10th.
• 3:55
  Mike Marrs: This is important because the Chevrolet Vega goes on sale.
• 3:59
  Don Armstrong: Now, this was could you could you could could you repeat that date again, please?
• 4:04
  Mike Marrs: September the 10th, 1970.
• 4:06
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 4:09
  Don Armstrong: I just for my edification because I I I I I had two.
• 4:13
  Don Armstrong: And I had I had the original one like that, except it wasn't that fancy, it was the bottom of the line, but whatever.
• 4:21
  Don Armstrong: I like that car.
• 4:22
  Mike Marrs: My brother had a great one.
• 4:23
  Mike Marrs: A lot of people like that car, and it was really it was designed to challenge the imports of the domestic rivals that were coming in.
• 4:31
  Mike Marrs: The EPA was shutting down the muscle car world, and and the world was changing from an automotive perspective.
• 4:36
  Mike Marrs: And this car was what they designed to compete with it.
• 4:39
  Mike Marrs: They also made a hatchback in it that I thought would be so cool to have an engine in the back, a rear-mounted engine in that hatchback for Saturday nights down on the drag strip.
• 4:50
  Mike Marrs: But uh, and this was also one Jeff did a feature once upon a time about how they shipped these cars upright on the rail cars so they could get more of them in that place.
• 5:00
  Don Armstrong: That didn't last long, though.
• 5:01
  Mike Marrs: No, it didn't.
• 5:02
  Mike Marrs: Uh it's kind of like the car didn't last that long.
• 5:05
  Mike Marrs: Uh, then September the 8th, 1904.
• 5:08
  Mike Marrs: Now, this isn't necessarily an automobile, but it is automotive in that 1904, the first Harley Davidson prototype was actually built functional.
• 5:20
  Mike Marrs: And now, of course, William Harley and the Davidson brothers, they went on to create Harley Davidson, that's worldwide, world-known uh at this point, as far as the motorcycles go.
• 5:30
  Mike Marrs: So it was very important.
• 5:32
  Mike Marrs: And um, this vehicle, this prototype was actually 400cc, had a one-speed transmission on it.
• 5:38
  Mike Marrs: And it had wide whites on it.
• 5:39
  Don Armstrong: Oh, yeah.
• 5:40
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:41
  Mike Marrs: I think they were all whites.
• 5:43
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, they're all whites.
• 5:44
  Mike Marrs: But anyway, that was just a few things in automotive history this week that we thought were rather interesting.
• 5:48
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, well, that was a trip down memory lane.
• 5:52
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, the uh I bought two Vegas, a 70 and a 74.
• 6:00
  Don Armstrong: And uh I didn't have any problems with either one.
• 6:04
  Don Armstrong: Now, the first one, four-speed manual transmission, no air conditioning.
• 6:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, my brother had a stick in his.
• 6:11
  Don Armstrong: Well, I couldn't afford it.
• 6:12
  Don Armstrong: That was my very first new car.
• 6:14
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, I was I was still proud of it.
• 6:17
  Don Armstrong: And the second one, then I bumped it up to the GT and only had that for one year, and then I bought the Monza.
• 6:24
  Don Armstrong: Listen, I was on the cutting, I was on the cutting edge of new car uptake.
• 6:31
  Mike Marrs: And I was so I was so cool.
• 6:32
  Mike Marrs: I had an aunt who her husband had a Cosworth Vega out in California.
• 6:37
  Don Armstrong: Oh, wow.
• 6:37
  Mike Marrs: Well, he died and she called me and said, Hey, you want to buy this car?
• 6:41
  Mike Marrs: I don't want the Vega, a Cosworth four-seller Cosworth Vega.
• 6:44
  Mike Marrs: Nah, I don't want it.
• 6:45
  Don Armstrong: If you had it today, it'd be worth a lot of money.
• 6:47
  Don Armstrong: It's like the Yanko of its day.
• 6:49
  Mike Marrs: There you go.
• 6:50
  Don Armstrong: Factory Yanko.
• 6:51
  Don Armstrong: Hey, Tesla's time now for this hour's car review.
• 7:01
  Don Armstrong: I got to drive the Toyota CHR.
• 7:07
  Don Armstrong: Do you know what CHR stands for?
• 7:09
  Jeff Dziekan: We're about to find out.
• 7:12
  Don Armstrong: It stands for compact or coop, which is not a coop in my mind, but a compact high rider.
• 7:23
  Don Armstrong: Compact high rider.
• 7:25
  Don Armstrong: I had no clue.
• 7:26
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 7:26
  Don Armstrong: I thought, what does that what does that mean?
• 7:29
  Don Armstrong: Well, there you go.
• 7:30
  Don Armstrong: There's your definition.
• 7:32
  Don Armstrong: Okay, so the CHR that I got to drive comes in two trim levels, the SE and the XSE.
• 7:39
  Don Armstrong: This is an electric only.
• 7:42
  Don Armstrong: There is no gasoline or hybrid version of it yet.
• 7:46
  Don Armstrong: Reviewed trim level was the top of the line.
• 7:48
  Don Armstrong: XSE, all-wheel drive.
• 7:50
  Don Armstrong: And by the way, all models come all-wheel drive.
• 7:52
  Don Armstrong: This is a small SUV, two rows of seating in it.
• 7:56
  Don Armstrong: I like the looks of that car.
• 7:58
  Don Armstrong: Uh, exterior changes from last model year.
• 8:01
  Don Armstrong: Well, this is the second generation.
• 8:03
  Don Armstrong: Now there was a gap between the first generation and this one.
• 8:06
  Don Armstrong: So this is the second generation.
• 8:08
  Don Armstrong: It is an all-new model.
• 8:10
  Don Armstrong: It shares, which I thought was interesting, most of its parts with the Subaru Uncharted.
• 8:18
  unknown: Oh.
• 8:18
  Don Armstrong: Which, as you remember, I had one of those not that long ago, and I liked it.
• 8:22
  Don Armstrong: I actually saw one the other day.
• 8:23
  Don Armstrong: I like this.
• 8:25
  Don Armstrong: Exterior features.
• 8:26
  Don Armstrong: Overall, modern design with split headlights, creased side sculpture enhances, bulging fenders.
• 8:36
  Don Armstrong: Optional two-tone paint gives it a more upscale look, if you notice.
• 8:42
  Don Armstrong: Fast back roof leads to a sleek rear glass, kind of like a little hot rod.
• 8:48
  Don Armstrong: But I like the overall exterior, it gets high marks in my book.
• 8:51
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 8:52
  Don Armstrong: Nothing.
• 8:53
  Don Armstrong: Interior that you're looking at there now.
• 8:55
  Don Armstrong: Dual phone charging pads.
• 8:57
  Don Armstrong: See them there?
• 8:59
  Don Armstrong: I thought that was pretty cool.
• 9:00
  Don Armstrong: Rotary dial transmission selector, good for you.
• 9:04
  Don Armstrong: We don't need to have that big, bulky steering wheel, although they took up a lot of room with this thing.
• 9:09
  Don Armstrong: Uh, unique cloth vinyl interior materials.
• 9:15
  Don Armstrong: I'm not too sure about the cloth aspect of it.
• 9:18
  Don Armstrong: Tight leg room in the back seat.
• 9:20
  Don Armstrong: It's a small SUV.
• 9:22
  Don Armstrong: What I liked about it, the sporty nature of the interior and the exterior.
• 9:27
  Don Armstrong: Uh what could use improvement?
• 9:28
  Don Armstrong: Another choice or two for the interior coverings.
• 9:32
  Don Armstrong: You may like it, good for you.
• 9:34
  Don Armstrong: And that that's what they're hoping for, that you'll buy it.
• 9:37
  Don Armstrong: Engine, dual electric motors, uh, 338 total horsepower through the system, uh, 323 pound feet of torque.
• 9:48
  Don Armstrong: And by the way, if you didn't know, this is direct drive, so it has no transmission.
• 9:54
  Don Armstrong: Okay, on a full charge, I could get up to, according to the calculator inside the vehicle, 233 miles.
• 10:04
  Don Armstrong: I got 3.6 miles per kilowatt hour.
• 10:10
  Don Armstrong: Uh that would mean 417 miles.
• 10:14
  Don Armstrong: Well, depends on how you drive it.
• 10:16
  Don Armstrong: What I liked, 0 to 60 time in 4.9 seconds.
• 10:20
  Don Armstrong: It's a rocket.
• 10:21
  Don Armstrong: Screamer.
• 10:22
  Don Armstrong: It is a screamer.
• 10:23
  Don Armstrong: Uh, what could use improvement?
• 10:24
  Don Armstrong: More of that.
• 10:25
  Don Armstrong: They should have a plaid version.
• 10:28
  Don Armstrong: And that's with two motors.
• 10:29
  Don Armstrong: This is only with two motors.
• 10:30
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, but the you know, the battery.
• 10:33
  Don Armstrong: The battery is uh where it's at.
• 10:35
  Don Armstrong: Uh ride and handling.
• 10:36
  Don Armstrong: What I like.
• 10:37
  Don Armstrong: The suspension is a little bit stiff, but it kind of adds to the sporting nature, the whole look of it, the whole thing of this particular vehicle.
• 10:44
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 10:46
  Don Armstrong: Nothing.
• 10:46
  Don Armstrong: Don't change it.
• 10:47
  Jeff Dziekan: Is it heavy?
• 10:48
  Jeff Dziekan: Is it a heavy driver?
• 10:50
  Don Armstrong: Um, no, not particularly.
• 10:53
  Don Armstrong: Base trim price, base trim price,$39,000.
• 10:59
  Don Armstrong: Price as tested,$43,429.
• 11:03
  Don Armstrong: So it did have some options on it.
• 11:05
  Don Armstrong: You can get into one of these, the same motor setup,$37,000 even.
• 11:11
  Don Armstrong: Competitors, well, both the Toyota and this Subaru, well, the Subaru and the Toyota, the same vehicle.
• 11:20
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 11:21
  Don Armstrong: Uh both come out of Aichi, Japan.
• 11:24
  Don Armstrong: The Subaru Uncharted starts at$34,995.
• 11:30
  Don Armstrong: So the Subaru Uncharted is a little bit better deal.
• 11:33
  Don Armstrong: Um, it's its twin, it's$3,000 less than the Toyota CHR.
• 11:39
  Don Armstrong: Now, another competitor to it would be the Hyundai Ionic 5.
• 11:44
  Don Armstrong: It starts at$35,000.
• 11:47
  Don Armstrong: These are all electrics now.
• 11:49
  Don Armstrong: And the Kia Nero Electric, they're pretty proud of that one, starts at$39.7.
• 11:54
  Don Armstrong: All of them under$40,000.
• 11:56
  Don Armstrong: Well, the base price anyway.
• 11:58
  Don Armstrong: So uh that's my review of the 2026 Toyota CHR.
• 12:04
  Don Armstrong: What does CHR stand for?
• 12:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh high high rise.
• 12:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Heavy duty high rise.
• 12:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 12:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Laura bought a Toyota this week.
• 12:14
  Jeff Dziekan: She got one.
• 12:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh really?
• 12:15
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, she got she bought a uh oh god, I can't remember now.
• 12:19
  Jeff Dziekan: Wasn't the CHR?
• 12:21
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh probably something larger too.
• 12:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh, yeah.
• 12:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Listen, Toyota makes hers is a hybrid.
• 12:26
  Jeff Dziekan: She bought the hybrid, and her headlights look just like the headlights on that car you just reviewed.
• 12:30
  Don Armstrong: Um, good choice.
• 12:31
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, that's a good choice.
• 12:32
  Don Armstrong: The the hybrid is the way to go.
• 12:34
  Don Armstrong: And um I'm a I'm a I'm a I'm a big fan of the hybrids.
• 12:38
  Don Armstrong: Um and you know, Toyota makes so many different models, and within those models, they got a whole list as a rule of the trim levels.
• 12:48
  Don Armstrong: So you want the cheap one, they got that.
• 12:51
  Don Armstrong: You want the one that's all loaded out, they got that too, and everything in between.
• 12:55
  Jeff Dziekan: I saw it the other day it was dark out.
• 12:56
  Jeff Dziekan: I really didn't get a chance to look at it, but it's pretty blue, dark blue, really nice.
• 12:59
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 13:00
  Don Armstrong: It did good.
• 13:00
  Don Armstrong: Uh they build good stuff over there.
• 13:02
  Don Armstrong: Uh well, Aichi Japan, isn't that where they had the uh earthquake?
• 13:05
  Don Armstrong: Yes, yeah.
• 13:06
  Don Armstrong: Yes.
• 13:06
  Don Armstrong: They should be up and running.
• 13:08
  Don Armstrong: I haven't I didn't see our story this week, so what that tells me is that their planned uh restart of all of that after they closed for a few weeks because of the damage that was done, that uh that apparently has happened.
• 13:21
  Don Armstrong: Okay.
• 13:21
  Don Armstrong: Hey, if you'd like to get