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How College Teams Race Solar Cars From Minneapolis To Amarillo · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:05
  Don Armstrong: And welcome to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show from our dual city studios in Texas, USA.
• 0:12
  Don Armstrong: Just ahead, we talk to the event manager of the American Solar Car Challenge, Gail Luck.
• 0:18
  Don Armstrong: Uh, Jeff has the motor minute.
• 0:20
  Don Armstrong: I'll review the 2026 BW Tig Wad.
• 0:24
  Don Armstrong: Howdy.
• 0:25
  Don Armstrong: Along with Mike out of this world, Mars, over there.
• 0:29
  Don Armstrong: We always need more Jeff Zeken.
• 0:31
  Don Armstrong: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 0:32
  Don Armstrong: Glad you could join us on this Saturday for our live broadcast.
• 0:35
  Don Armstrong: If you're listening on a podcast, thank you very much.
• 0:37
  Don Armstrong: We appreciate that.
• 0:38
  Don Armstrong: It's uh a big hot day down here in Texas.
• 0:42
  Don Armstrong: And uh it's an awful day uh up there in the northeast with the Canadian smoke and the floods in central Texas.
• 0:49
  Don Armstrong: It's a mess wherever you go.
• 0:51
  Don Armstrong: Of course, the news media is gonna make it a lot worse than it really is, except for the floods in Texas.
• 0:56
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, it's it's it it's really bad over there.
• 0:58
  Don Armstrong: So uh good luck to all those people.
• 1:01
  Don Armstrong: Um the the governor's been on the air of the disaster areas.
• 1:04
  Don Armstrong: It's uh really a sad situation there.
• 1:06
  Don Armstrong: But that's not what we're here to talk about today.
• 1:09
  Don Armstrong: Our guest is Gail Luck, uh Luke, sorry, and that she is with an organization that uh basically runs, manages, oversees, and puts events together for solar cars across the United States.
• 1:22
  Don Armstrong: Gail, good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, thank you very much for having us.
• 1:28
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, we do have a slight delay in uh her responses to us because of uh the uh crack staff that she's got there.
• 1:37
  Don Armstrong: She's because uh, you know, they know solar cars, but when it comes to audio, mmm, they gotta wait for a minute for it to catch up.
• 1:45
  Don Armstrong: Kind of like it's kind of like a turbocharged car.
• 1:48
  Don Armstrong: You know, you press on the accelerator pedal and you gotta wait five minutes for it to go.
• 1:53
  Don Armstrong: I had I had to say that.
• 1:55
  Jeff Dziekan: So it drives funny cars, yeah.
• 1:58
  Don Armstrong: Anyway, um, well, Gail, so we talked about this off the year before we went on.
• 2:03
  Don Armstrong: FSGP, ASC, event director, and the operations director for IEF.
• 2:10
  Don Armstrong: Could you kind of uh unreel all of that for us, please?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh sure.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: IEF is Innovators Educational Foundation.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: We are the 501c3 nonprofit uh that was formed in the fall of 2009 to continue the solar car events here in the U.S.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: at the collegiate level.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we run two events.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: We run the Formula Sun Grand Prix, uh, which is our uh three-day endurance track event, and then we also run the American Solar Challenge, which is our cross-country road event that teams are trying to qualify for.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so this year we have a title sponsor, Electric.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so our Electric Formula Sun Grand Prix is what teams are going through scrutineering for right now, and they'll be hitting the track July 21st, 22nd, and 23rd here at the Brainerd International Raceway.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then teams that pass scrutineering and qualify during our track event will move on to the road event, the Electric American Solar Challenge 2026, going from Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 25th through August 1st.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: They'll finish in Amarillo, Texas.
• 3:20
  Don Armstrong: Wow.
• 3:20
  Don Armstrong: Man, that you know, I can only imagine the uh motel bill for that trip because it's not it's not one of those that uh we're gonna do, you know, 90 miles an hour on the interstate on, I would imagine.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Nope.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: We are following largely two national scenic byways this year: the Great River Road coming out of Minneapolis and going through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and into Illinois, and then we'll be cutting across over to the Bloomington, normal Illinois area and following Route 66 in honor of the centennial this year out to Amarillo, Texas.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's Amarillo by morning.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well, solar panel, you couldn't go at night.
• 4:02
  Don Armstrong: No, it would be difficult.
• 4:05
  Don Armstrong: All right, so how many vehicles are going to uh be allowed in the qualification rounds here to go on the actual tour itself?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, well, uh all of them that pass scrutineering and qualify, and we won't know that until after they get through the qualifier on July 23rd.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: But what I can say is we've had 39 universities and colleges from across the US, Canada, and even two European teams come over this year.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've got 39 teams with their solar cars here at Brainerd International Raceway, which is a new exciting record for us.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the most we've had show up at Scrutiny Ring before was 34.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh we've got 39 teams this year.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Very exciting field, and we'll see how many of them get through the process and get on the road.
• 4:59
  Don Armstrong: It's a NASCAR field that you've got going.
• 5:03
  Don Armstrong: I I absolutely love it.
• 5:04
  Don Armstrong: All right, so the first question is um let's talk about the cars themselves.
• 5:10
  Don Armstrong: Uh uh, what are the basic overall, what are the parameters that they have to build these cars to?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's actually lots of parameters.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you go out to our website, you'll see the regulations document for this event is 90 plus pages long.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we obviously don't have time to go through all the regulations, but there's things with the mechanical systems, uh, the electrical systems, how much solar array they're allowed.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: They do carry batteries on board, and so the batteries are controlled as well in terms of how much they're allowed, the overall size of the car.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of safety regulations, of course, as well, uh, to uh to considering these cars are going out on the track with each other as well as out on the public roadways.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so so tons of regulations that we can talk about.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: It really breaks down into two vehicle classes.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we have single occupant vehicles and multi-occupant vehicles, what we call SOB and MOV.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so for those vehicles that are single occupant vehicles, as you might imagine, there's only one driver in the vehicle.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a very aerodynamic shape, trying to get as efficient as possible.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: For the MOV class, the multi-occupant vehicles, a lot of those vehicles are set up with uh passenger seat.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we do have one entry here that is set up with three passenger seats.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: So more typical of your normal car with four seats in a total.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so they are they are a little bit different.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: They're being judged on a practicality uh features and kind of a scoring formula that they're trying to optimize around.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we let them pick their battery pack size, uh, pick which practicality features they want to put in their car, knowing that hauling passengers and putting in some of these features is going to take up additional energy.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: But they're trying to optimize around more being something that might lead towards real road type type uh cars that average Joe consumer might want to purchase in the future.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so those are largely the two vehicle classes for those that want to know all the technical regulations.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, feel free to go to our website.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they're they're all out there.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: But like I said, it's 90 plus pages.
• 7:21
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 7:21
  Don Armstrong: So let me ask you the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a solar car now, I go back a long way.
• 7:27
  Don Armstrong: The great big huge flat panels that collect the rays of the sun, turn it into electricity, and then put it to a battery, runs the motors, all of that sort of stuff.
• 7:37
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, laying down in it.
• 7:38
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, pretty much laying down in it.
• 7:40
  Don Armstrong: Is it still that way?
• 7:42
  Don Armstrong: Because I see I see solar uh arrays now on cars that actually make the shape of the car, the whole nine yards, it it's kind of evolved over the years.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, technology has definitely evolved.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, these type of events have been going on here in the US since 1990, and so it's been great to see the evolution of the technology.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, yes, uh, you know, many of these teams are curving the solar arrays to the outer uh aerodynamic shape of their car.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We've also seen huge improvements in the battery technology.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I actually started started this back in the day as a student at one of these universities, and back in the day we ran with lead asset batteries.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: We had 320 pounds of lead asset batteries in the car.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And nowadays, most teams have transitioned to some sort of lithium ion, lithium polymer technology, and it's only a fraction of that weight.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So so, yes, it's amazing to see how the technology has a base.
• 8:41
  Jeff Dziekan: All right, now what she just said is in on page 43 of the rule book.
• 8:44
  Jeff Dziekan: But yeah, yeah, paragraph four.
• 8:46
  Jeff Dziekan: Yes, yeah, paragraph four.
• 8:47
  Don Armstrong: So uh Gail, I have to ask you, what uh exactly is it a race, a timed race?
• 8:54
  Don Armstrong: Uh uh what are the parameters when it comes to going from point A to point B?
• 8:58
  Don Armstrong: Who wins?
• 8:59
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, how do you know you win?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So so for the single occupant class, uh it's pretty simple.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's the most miles covered.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we're a mileage-based event.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is a base route from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Amarillo, Texas, with various stage and checkpoints along the way.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: And at those locations, for teams that have extra energy uh, you know, in their batteries, uh, you know, it's good weather, they're getting extra power from their solar array, we have optional challenge loops that they can run.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so the overall winner for the single occupant class will be the team that completes the most mileage over the eight days of the event uh in the defined driving hours.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: For the multi-occupant vehicle class, it's a more complicated thing.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's a scoring formula that uh those that are interested can look at in the regulations, but it takes into account things like how many passengers are you taking, how many miles.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: They're also allowed to externally charge their battery pack for essentially an energy penalty.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, think more like normal EVs, where you would go so far and then plug in if you need a little bit of extra boost.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then they also have this practicality scoring factor.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, one of the things that we will be doing in Minneapolis on the display day is those vehicles will be going through practicality judging.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have a few judges coming in from uh various companies and sponsors that will be looking at the cars and doing some evaluation of do you have cup holders?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can you luggage in your vehicle?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: How comfortable is your driver's seats?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those types of things uh to factor in a practicality score as well that the teams are trying to optimize around.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so the winner will be whoever has the best score of that formula.
• 10:46
  Mike Marrs: Go ahead, Mike.
• 10:47
  Mike Marrs: So you got 39 entries basically that are gonna go through this qualification inspection process.
• 10:53
  Mike Marrs: Assuming all 39 of them make it, and they're all going.
• 10:57
  Mike Marrs: Is this gonna be like one really long parade?
• 11:00
  Mike Marrs: They're gonna go out one right behind the other one.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they start out getting released in one-minute intervals from each other.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Each solar car is escorted by two vehicles that we call lead and chase.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Those are normal production vehicles, usually SUVs, 15 passenger vans of that nature with amber flashing lights and signage to alert people of what's going on.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um but even though they start out in one-minute intervals, they quickly end up getting spread out as each team is trying to target the speed that their car runs most efficiently at and the speed that they think they can run and not run out of battery by the time that they get to Amarillo.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so each team will be doing that.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: They'll obviously be following the rules of the road, so they have to adhere to speed limits and stop signs and traffic lights and train crossings and everything that we do in our day-to-day driving as well.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it it won't really be a parade.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: You might see one or two cars grouped up together, but they uh they kind of get themselves spread out.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And during the event, we will have live tracking on our website so you can follow the dots along as they are making their way uh down the Great River Road.
• 12:14
  Jeff Dziekan: I'm hoping they got an in-car camera or two.
• 12:16
  Jeff Dziekan: My question is so the single occupancy vehicle, could that be a motorcycle?
• 12:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Could it be a motorcycle?
• 12:25
  unknown: Sorry, I I didn't catch that.
• 12:27
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh, you got some drag racing going on behind you there.
• 12:30
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 12:30
  Jeff Dziekan: Could the uh SOVs be a motorcycle?
• 12:36
  Don Armstrong: So the question is, can it can it be a motorcycle?
• 12:39
  Don Armstrong: Does it have to be a three or four-wheeled vehicle?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, all the vehicles in our event are three or four-wheeled vehicles.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: There are no motorcycles.
• 12:49
  Mike Marrs: Could be a tricycle.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there goes your shot at it, Mike.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: You can't ride your bikes.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Are there in-car cameras?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there are no in-car cameras.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I take electricity unless a team chooses to do a point-of-view camera on their own, cuz because all these teams have their uh media teams as well.
• 13:08
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm sure.
• 13:10
  Don Armstrong: So, how big is the event?
• 13:13
  Don Armstrong: How many people are going down the road following all of the guys with and girls with the cars?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, well, we won't have the final headcount until we know who all qualifies, but but I can say that we've had over 700 team members check in here at the Brainerd International Raceway.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a party! We got some teams uh because because students have you know co-ops and internships and summer jobs, some of them uh some of them are swapping out people in Minneapolis.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: So our overall roster right now is at almost 900 uh team members participating, and then of course the actual people being impacted by the event is much larger than that, because many of these teams send uh you know their top 15 to 20 people uh to the track to compete.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And but back home they may have 50, 60.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: One team even reported 200 team members working on the project back at their university throughout the year.
• 14:11
  Jeff Dziekan: And all the municipalities you go through too.
• 14:13
  Jeff Dziekan: All of those people.
• 14:14
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure that you've worked ahead and got all the municipalities on board this huge event.
• 14:19
  Don Armstrong: Okay, I have to ask you another question.
• 14:21
  Don Armstrong: I know that in the news here, especially in the past week, there are a lot of uh wildfires going on in Canada, and much of that smoke is coming right down to parts of where you are gonna go.
• 14:34
  Don Armstrong: How do the teams handle that?
• 14:35
  Don Armstrong: Because obviously it blocks the sunlight in some cases a lot.
• 14:39
  Don Armstrong: Looks like nighttime up there.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was super hazy when we uh got up here uh to Minnesota a few days ago.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Luckily, most of it is blown off now uh to where we can once again see the sky and see clouds and sun and that type of thing.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but really, whether it's haze or rain or any other weather condition uh that would impact the amount of solar power the teams are getting, that's all part of the challenge of going on the road.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what the strategy teams within the teams are monitoring.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, what's the weather forecast?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: How many much energy do we think we're gonna be getting so we can determine what speed can we travel, how many passengers can we haul, and still make it to Amarillo.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, if it's uh rainy or you know super hazy and the sun's blocked, uh the teams will probably be going a little slower.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, to give you some perspective, when I got started with this uh my first year, it rained every day of the event.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so we we we ended up, I think, uh averaging for the event like 26 miles per hour.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so but obviously I was with lead acid batteries.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Teams are more efficient these days.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but yes, uh the event continues.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they they just go a bit slower.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be you.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to be involved in this.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, the best way to get in is to be a meteorologist.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean get in there.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a meteorologist?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we do not have a meteorologist, but we do have uh great data partnership with Soulcast, uh, who actually uh sponsors by providing all teams uh weather data and that type of thing uh for free during the event, as well as historical data so they can set up their models accordingly.
• 16:24
  Don Armstrong: Gail, we're all jealous and envious.
• 16:26
  Don Armstrong: You want to have a great job.
• 16:28
  Don Armstrong: You're a great spokesperson, very knowledgeable.
• 16:30
  Don Armstrong: And listen, we can't thank you enough for being with us today.
• 16:33
  Don Armstrong: It it I know it takes uh a lot to do what you're doing up there, and we're gonna be following you.
• 16:39
  Don Armstrong: And so keep in touch with us and let us know.
• 16:41
  Don Armstrong: We'd love to do a follow-up interview with you in the weeks ahead.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank those audio guys for us.
• 16:46
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 16:46
  Don Armstrong: Thank those audio guys.
• 16:48
  Don Armstrong: Well, all right, Gail.
• 16:50
  Don Armstrong: Thanks again.
• 16:51
  Don Armstrong: We appreciate you.
• 16:52
  Don Armstrong: Gail Luke, the event director up there with the solar car challenge.
• 16:56
  Don Armstrong: Great uh, great time to be had by all, no doubt about it.
• 17:00
  Don Armstrong: All right, just ahead, Jeff's motor minute and a review of the redesigned VW Tiguan when the in-wheel time car talk show continues after this 90-second break.
• 17:08
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
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• 18:59
  Jeff Dziekan: Tight now for the motor minute, Jeffrey.
• 19:01
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, here we go.
• 19:02
  Jeff Dziekan: IndyCar.
• 19:03
  Jeff Dziekan: We haven't talked about them specifically in a while, but IndyCar announces a start time for the highly anticipated Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, D.C.
• 19:12
  Jeff Dziekan: That's coming up.
• 19:13
  Jeff Dziekan: The MTT Indy series is geared up for the streets of Washington for the first time.
• 19:17
  Jeff Dziekan: It will be on August 23rd.
• 19:19
  Jeff Dziekan: And they're getting ready for the Great Flag right now.
• 19:22
  Jeff Dziekan: So there's absolutely no question about it.
• 19:24
  Jeff Dziekan: The Freedom 250 at Washington, D.C.
• 19:26
  Jeff Dziekan: is going to be a full spectacle of cars, uh racing future past events, uh, some of the most iconic moments to be around.
• 19:34
  Jeff Dziekan: Now, the practices for one and two will air on Saturday, the 22nd on FX1 and FX2, respectively.
• 19:39
  Jeff Dziekan: Qualifying will take place on the evening of uh the 5th, from 5 to 6.30 on that 22nd.
• 19:46
  Jeff Dziekan: And then uh Sunday, the morning of the broadcast, it's uh lap-by-lap coverage with uh Will Buxton, along with the former drivers, turn broadcaster Townsend Bell and James Hip Cliff.
• 19:56
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh cover starts at 11:30 a.m.
• 19:59
  Jeff Dziekan: Eastern with the race getting started at about 1 p.m.
• 20:02
  Jeff Dziekan: So there's a lot of coverage, it's gonna be a lot of hoopla.
• 20:04
  Jeff Dziekan: You're gonna be selling a lot of stuff on TV, especially Fox and FS1, for the advertisements you'll see going on.
• 20:10
  Jeff Dziekan: But sounds pretty exciting.
• 20:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Kind of looking forward to it.
• 20:12
  Jeff Dziekan: Don't know what to expect being in the city.
• 20:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh could do it in other cities, but I just kind of Washington, you know, the Capitol and all that stuff.
• 20:18
  Jeff Dziekan: So we'll see how that goes.
• 20:20
  Don Armstrong: You know, apparently that is a big deal.
• 20:23
  Don Armstrong: And uh very a lot of people are involved and going.
• 20:27
  Don Armstrong: It's a free event.
• 20:28
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 20:28
  Don Armstrong: Oh, is it free?
• 20:29
  Don Armstrong: It's a free event.
• 20:30
  Don Armstrong: Wow.
• 20:31
  Don Armstrong: There's gonna be a bajillion people.
• 20:33
  Jeff Dziekan: A bajillion and two, because I think you and I are going out.
• 20:35
  Don Armstrong: I wish yeah, I think we need to do the show from there, Mars.
• 20:39
  Don Armstrong: Just say it.
• 20:40
  Jeff Dziekan: Our luck we do it on the car four after the race.
• 20:43
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 20:44
  Don Armstrong: That's right.
• 20:45
  Don Armstrong: Well, yeah, that would be the delay part of it.
• 20:47
  Don Armstrong: There you go.
• 20:48
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 20:48
  Jeff Dziekan: What's coming up?
• 20:49
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this hour's car review.
• 20:51
  Don Armstrong: I had the opportunity to drive the 2026 VW Tiguan.
• 20:55
  Don Armstrong: Now, I have some experience through a friend of mine with a Tiguan, and um I was not impressed.
• 21:03
  Don Armstrong: However, let me say this it's been completely redesigned for this 26 model year.
• 21:10
  Don Armstrong: Actually, it was all new in 25, but you know how they do model years these days, you can't ever keep it straight.
• 21:15
  Don Armstrong: Anyway, so it comes up in these trim levels, the S, the S E, the S E R line black, and the SEL R line turbo.
• 21:27
  Don Armstrong: What did I have?
• 21:28
  Don Armstrong: The SEL R line turbo all-wheel drive.
• 21:32
  Don Armstrong: This is considered a small SUV.
• 21:34
  Don Armstrong: I don't know where they come up.
• 21:36
  Don Armstrong: Well, I do know where they come up with a size ranking, but uh this is not small.
• 21:40
  Don Armstrong: This is what I would call a midsize, but that's just me.
• 21:44
  Don Armstrong: Um it fits between the Tau's and the Atlas uh versions of their SUV from Volkswagen.
• 21:54
  Don Armstrong: Exterior changes from last model year, as I mentioned, complete redesign for the 2025 model year.
• 21:59
  Don Armstrong: Up Dated front fascia has larger horizontal lines and a bigger grill opening up there.
• 22:05
  Don Armstrong: They've brought it up to date.
• 22:07
  Don Armstrong: Thank you.
• 22:08
  Don Armstrong: Flattened wheel well openings are attractive and hide the plastic surrounds of those wheel well openings.
• 22:15
  Don Armstrong: Rear hatch uh holds uh fender-to-fender lighting.
• 22:19
  Don Armstrong: Uh the sun shade and small rear window give it a fastback look.
• 22:24
  Don Armstrong: What I liked, the overall uh design uh is modern but conservative.
• 22:32
  Don Armstrong: Just grab grab her by the collar.
• 22:34
  Don Armstrong: We're having an issue with the dog in here this morning, and uh it it's it's turned into a it's turned into being a pest.
• 22:42
  Don Armstrong: It is what it is.
• 22:43
  Don Armstrong: Uh overall design, as I mentioned, modern and conservative.
• 22:46
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 22:48
  Don Armstrong: Uh, not a fan of non-functioning roof rails and why manufacturers feel that they have to put them up there, I don't know.
• 22:55
  Don Armstrong: If it's a look thing, great.
• 22:58
  Don Armstrong: Then make it an option.
• 22:59
  Don Armstrong: Do you want roof rails?
• 23:00
  Don Armstrong: You don't want roof rails.
• 23:02
  Don Armstrong: If it comes with roof rails and I don't like them, then take them off and charge back to the company because I don't want them.
• 23:09
  Don Armstrong: That's just me.
• 23:10
  Don Armstrong: Just saying.
• 23:11
  Don Armstrong: Interior highlights, top of the line SEL R Turbo offers quilted and perforated seating surfaces.
• 23:19
  Don Armstrong: And boy, does it look good.
• 23:20
  Don Armstrong: There you get a picture of it right there.
• 23:22
  Don Armstrong: Huge screen in the middle, easy to view and use.
• 23:25
  Don Armstrong: The new design offers uh more second row leg room because it no longer has a third row.
• 23:32
  Don Armstrong: So keep that in mind.
• 23:34
  Don Armstrong: They squeezed in a third row, and I think that they figured out, you know, just not selling that many because there's just not enough room in this small SUV for a third row.
• 23:44
  Don Armstrong: So they dropped it, and now it offers a lot more room in the back.
• 23:49
  Don Armstrong: Uh, what I liked about it, high marks for the design and execution and materials.
• 23:54
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 23:55
  Don Armstrong: Nothing on that interior.
• 23:56
  Don Armstrong: It's hot.
• 23:57
  Don Armstrong: Hot meaning good looking.
• 23:59
  Don Armstrong: Uh, engine is a two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and this is the optional upgraded engine with 268 horsepower.
• 24:07
  Don Armstrong: Now it's got a lot of horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque, and it runs uh through an automatic eight-speed transmission.
• 24:15
  Don Armstrong: Toe rating, 1800 pounds.
• 24:17
  Don Armstrong: So a small trailer.
• 24:18
  Don Armstrong: Uh miles per gallon, 22 in the city is what it's rated, 29 on the highway for a combined at 25.
• 24:24
  Don Armstrong: Uh, I got 28.7 miles per gallon over 451 miles.
• 24:30
  Don Armstrong: Hmm, not bad.
• 24:32
  Don Armstrong: What I liked about it, plenty of power once that turbo spools up.
• 24:36
  Don Armstrong: And there's the key.
• 24:37
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 24:39
  Don Armstrong: The transmission is slow to downshift and has significant turbo lag.
• 24:44
  Don Armstrong: It may be fine for you or somebody that drives conservatively, uh, maybe mom, grandma, whatever.
• 24:51
  Don Armstrong: Uh, in a big city, it doesn't work because if you're trying to get across a very busy intersection with stop signs, you need to have that car's power right ready to go right then and there.
• 25:04
  Don Armstrong: And um it's not quite there yet.
• 25:08
  Don Armstrong: Riding handling.
• 25:10
  Don Armstrong: What I liked, comfortable ride quality.
• 25:12
  Don Armstrong: We could use improvement.
• 25:13
  Don Armstrong: Well, nothing really, it's a good middle-of-the-road drive at a comfort level.
• 25:20
  Don Armstrong: Here's the pricing.
• 25:22
  Don Armstrong: Base trim price,$43,085.
• 25:26
  Don Armstrong: Price is tested,$45,015.
• 25:29
  Don Armstrong: Now, I will tell you this, as far as price is concerned, compared to other vehicles, I think that there's a lot to offer here.
• 25:37
  Don Armstrong: Competitors to this vehicle in base size and price, the Mazda CX50 for$29.90,$900.
• 25:46
  Don Armstrong: Sorry,$2,990.
• 25:47
  Don Armstrong: Now remember, the base model price on this Tiguan is$30,805.
• 25:52
  Don Armstrong: So it's right in there with it.
• 25:54
  Don Armstrong: The Honda CRV starts at$3,920.
• 25:56
  Don Armstrong: And the Kia Sportage goes at the beginning at$28,790.
• 26:01
  Don Armstrong: So that gives you uh some options there to look at if you're in the market for this size vehicle.
• 26:06
  Don Armstrong: Next week I'm going to review the Toyota Rav 4.
• 26:10
  Don Armstrong: And again, big changes to this very popular vehicle, the Toyota Rav 4.
• 26:14
  Don Armstrong: That's going to be next week.
• 26:16
  Don Armstrong: And that's my review of the 2026 VW Tig one.
• 26:20
  Don Armstrong: Comments, suggestions?
• 26:22
  Don Armstrong: It's a good looking car.
• 26:23
  Jeff Dziekan: I like the car, the shape of it.
• 26:25
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh, it does look rather large when you see one on the road.
• 26:28
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh it's not bad.
• 26:29
  Mike Marrs: I mean, kind of it's kind of bulbous, I guess.
• 26:32
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, a little bit.
• 26:33
  Jeff Dziekan: And it's got that Volkswagen look, you know, the front end look.
• 26:36
  Don Armstrong: I I I like the look of it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:39
  Don Armstrong: I like the I love the interior.
• 26:41
  Don Armstrong: Of course, this was the top of the line.
• 26:43
  Mike Marrs: Yeah.
• 26:43
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 26:44
  Don Armstrong: This is the top of the line vehicle.
• 26:46
  Don Armstrong: But that uh transmission, uh, engine and turbo lag doesn't do it for me.
• 26:54
  Don Armstrong: And I was expecting more because this friend of mine has one very similar to it.
• 26:59
  Don Armstrong: It's not the it's not the upside engine that uh this person has, it is the lower entry-level engine, but they act the same because they've got the same turbocharge system, and um the transmission doesn't know what to do.
• 27:15
  Don Armstrong: If you are, let's just say, for instance, you're coming up to a stop sign and the vehicle is in third gear, so it downshifts to second, and it's supposed to downshift to first.
• 27:24
  Don Armstrong: Okay, the light turned green, stab the accelerator pedal, don't floor it, just you got to go through the intersection.
• 27:30
  Don Armstrong: Jump on it.
• 27:30
  Don Armstrong: It doesn't know what to do, and it has to think about it, and sometimes up to a three-second delay before you get going.
• 27:37
  Mike Marrs: And to me, um, that just doesn't work, but that's yeah, we've talked about that before about the smaller these motors get, the harder they seem to have to be able to match up that transmission.
• 27:48
  Mike Marrs: Uh but not smaller, maybe less power that these motors have.
• 27:52
  Mike Marrs: They have seem to have a harder time syncing up with the transmission.
• 27:56
  Don Armstrong: But I will say this there are others in this class that have the same kind of setup, but they don't have the lag that this one does.
• 28:09
  Don Armstrong: So if the lag doesn't bother you, go for it.
• 28:13
  Don Armstrong: But if the lag bothers you, continue shopping, is my recommendation.
• 28:17
  Don Armstrong: All right.
• 28:17
  Don Armstrong: Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email.
• 28:20
  Don Armstrong: The address here is info at inwheeltime.com.
• 28:22
  Don Armstrong: We're back after this quick break.
• 28:24
  Don Armstrong: Stay with us.
• 28:28
  Don Armstrong: Your car is a direct reflection of you, so don't be satisfied with color fade or a dingy dull appearance.
• 28:34
  Don Armstrong: Get rid of those terrible automated car wash scratches.
• 28:37
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your save the paint company.
• 28:40
  Don Armstrong: John Gray and his team of detailing experts can help your cars finish without a full repaint.
• 28:44
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• 28:49
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• 28:54
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• 28:56
  Don Armstrong: If you don't know which of the multitude of protection products to go with, John Gray will give you an honest opinion and won't tell you something you don't need.
• 29:03
  Don Armstrong: John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot.
• 29:07
  Don Armstrong: He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too.
• 29:11
  Don Armstrong: See the state-of-the-art shop yourself, free tours anytime.
• 29:14
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway.
• 29:19
  Don Armstrong: Gulf Coast Auto Shield, full service luxury car care today and online at GCAutoShield.com.
• 29:27
  Don Armstrong: Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea: a hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists.
• 29:34
  Don Armstrong: Now you can get one or a car show poster customized for you, a friend, or a loved one.
• 29:39
  Don Armstrong: Bill Sights will be happy to guide you through the process.
• 29:42
  Don Armstrong: No matter what the day, birthday, anniversary, or any day, an autographics custom illustration adds an extra touch of class to any home.
• 29:50
  Don Armstrong: Call Bill today, 832-922-0963.
• 29:53
  Don Armstrong: That's 832-922-0963.
• 29:59
  Don Armstrong: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 30:02
  Don Armstrong: 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.
• 30:12
  Don Armstrong: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
• 30:21
  Don Armstrong: Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.