Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / The 2025 Lincoln Nautilus, VW Amarok, and the Ford Ranger!

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The 2025 Lincoln Nautilus, VW Amarok, and the Ford Ranger! · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: time now for this hour's car review.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I got to drive a 2025 not 24, but a 25 lincoln nautilus.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: This was assembled in hangzhou china no no way Hu here, put your glasses on and you tell me Hang Zhu, china, hang Zhu.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: It's even written in Chinese.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Look at that.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Hang Zhu, china, hang Zhu.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: It comes in these trim levels, turned upside down Premier Reserve and Black Label.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I had the all-wheel drive Reserve III.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: This is a midsize SUV Se seats, five exterior changes from last model year.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Well, this is the second generation.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: It was redesigned in 2024, so this one is pretty much brand stinking.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: New exterior features one of the best looking rides in the market in my opinion Symmetrical wheel openings with nice elegant body sculpting.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Beautiful rear lining with a sunshade over the hatch glass, sleek roof line.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The black label grille has a very elegant look.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Looks like little dots up there in the grille area.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: They've just seen the little chrome dots Like little stars.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know what they did, but they did it right.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: It looks good.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Absolutely nothing needs changing on this.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: It gets an A plus for attractiveness.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: In my opinion, If you're in the market for a midsize, this is good looking.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Interior highlights In the cabin, in the dash, a door-to-door changeable display, Seriously all the way across, underneath the glass, it's all a display.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: It's stunning.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Why didn't I think of that?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: And then, if you want to get into changing the stuff, there are changeable little pads on the steering wheel or you can get into it by the center screen above the center stack Mars.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I hope you get the chance to drive this.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I do too, You're going to agree with me that it is.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Everybody that got in this car went wow, look at that, that's nice.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Adjustable seating with massage.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Awesome quality materials throughout the cabin, classy Lincoln grill for the standard folks like I had.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Cargo trunk room, adequate, competitive, plentiful storage space back there what I liked.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: It makes you want to put on an Armani suit with an open collared shirt and drive around with your chest hairs poking out.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: That's too, miami Vice.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Is it.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, but I kind of fulfill that role, the Miami Vice role.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: The Vice part.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can get a little hat and I could be you need a hat anyway.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Um, let's see what could use improvement.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: On the interior, nothing.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: It's brilliant in design and execution.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you, man, don't count america out comes to this sort of stuff.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: It might be built in Jiangsu, china, but it is really a good-looking vehicle 2-liter, turbocharged, 4-cylinder, 250 horsepower, 280 pound-feet of torque.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: It's not a rocket ship but it has plenty of power for us regular folks.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Tow rating 1750, so you can put your little jet ski back there with your open-collared shirt.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: 21 miles per gallon, city, 29 on the highway for combined to 24.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: I got 25.5 miles per gallon over 390.5 miles.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: The smooth pull of that little four-banger engine.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: You can't tell that they're four-bangers anymore unless there's just a base.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: You know, go-kart lawnmower entry level, and this is not that.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Uh, nice power to weight ratio handling, a comfortable american style luxury ride.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: It is so wheat baby.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: I was in it, I liked it.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Uh, what could use improvement?
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Adjustable ride control, but why just let it do its american luxury by itself?
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: It's fine.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I had to come up with something.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Um pricing, here we go.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: The base trim price on this is 61 000.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Price is tested with $70,810.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: You can get in one of these for $51,790.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Hmm, competitors Mercedes-Benz GLC $49,250.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Genesis GV70 $46,200.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Or the Acura RDX for $44,700.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Those are the competitors.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: And that, my friends, is my review of this scrumptious 2025 Lincoln Nautilus.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Scrumptious, I don't get too many Lincolns.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Scrumptious vehicles it is, and they don't have a lot of vehicles in the choices that you have.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: But I'll tell you what that is one fine automobile, I think.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: Anyway you have, but I'll tell you what?
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: that is one fine automobile, I think, anyway.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: And let's now get to Jeff's car culture the VW Amarok.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: What Right.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Well, last week, before we went to the Hot Rod Tour early morning watching TV and I was watching a little bit of the Pope's funeral they had the procession on TV.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, this vehicle was in the procession and I could not understand what it was because it looked like a mini pickup.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: It looks like a.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: Honda.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: It looked like a VW because of the emblem.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: So here we go, michael.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: So for its second generation, the VW Amarok gets Ford's underpinning that grows the mid-side truck towing, hauling and cabin size.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Following months of teasing, volkswagen has finally revealed the next generation Amarok pickup truck.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: Ford is partnered with Volkswagen.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: They offer more toughness, more capability, along with more space and more technology into this vehicle.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: Somebody wrote that Absolutely.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: What's left for Volkswagen is to confirm when this vehicle is coming to the US, not just yet.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: Volkswagen sold more than 800,000 copies of the first generation of the Amarok in the worldwide market, but Ford sold over 800,000 vehicles just in the F-150 series.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: So there you go, volkswagen.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: Might be a big part of why Ford and Volkswagen are partnering.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: They want to get the vehicle over to the US and the underpinnings from Ford's new Global Ranger that helped Volkswagen offer the vehicle with more features and capabilities.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: The vehicle with more features and capabilities.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: The new Volkswagen Amarok is a 210.6 inch long vehicle.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: It's around four inches longer than the model it replaces, the previous gen one.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: The truck is seven inches longer between the wheels and yet Volkswagen has it shortened up after the wheels, after the rear fenders and the bumper spacing that they have on each end.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: The side benefit is the shorter overhangs.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Truck is better approached on off-road angles.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Both the towing and payload have increased.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Amarok will be able to tow a maximum of 7,700 pounds.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: That's a lot, very competitive in this segment.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Its peak payload is a little over 2,500 pounds higher than the capability of many light-duty trucks and considerably higher than some of them in the us market.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Toyota tacoma is around 1600.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: As an example, volkswagen plans to offer the tdi diesel in the worldwide markets from 148 horsepower.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Two liter four cylinder version to the african market and other parts around the the europe.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: They got a 3-liter V6 that makes 247 horsepower, which will only be offered in the premium markets, which the United States will be once it happens.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: The only gas engine is the 2.3-liter turbo, 298 horsepower.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: It's rumored that it's going to be in North America, but we'll see.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: With a 10-speed transmission attached to it.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Though its bones are shared by Volkswagen, the truck is clearly all Volkswagen.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Styling is heavy influences from the VW's SUV and the three-row Atlas, so that's another kind of strange vehicle for Volkswagen to be copying.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: More than 20 new driver assist features will be offered.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: These include adaptive cruise control, road sign recognition, six different terrain models.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: The cabin will also get Volkswagen's digital cockpit display as an option, with a 10-inch infotainment screen, so that's very good for them.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: Other handy helpers electronically operated roll tonneau cover, which is very cool, high to reveal your truck's cargo inside the cab.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Remote control offering that for handy loading and unloading.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: The truck bed supports about 1,100 pounds, so that's cool.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: You can stand and sit and use that as a jumping-off point, so to speak.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Amarok's roof can hold a static load of 350 kilos, which is 772 pounds.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: So, yes, you can put your mother-in-law up there.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: This actually goes into what Mercedes was saying about having the camping on the roof of that.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: The vehicle they have, the amrock, will be built in south africa for sale in africa, mid-east europe and australia.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: This truck should be, uh, subject to hefty fees of the tariffs if it comes to the us under, uh, the normal plans that we have.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: So there you go.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: How fun, yeah.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: It's a Ford.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Ranger.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: It's a Ford Ranger.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: And what's in your driveway right now?
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: A Ford Ranger.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Mike's going to do a Ford Ranger.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Mr Barnes does have a review right now, as a matter of fact of the Ford.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Ranger.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: It's Michael's review yeah, buddy, it's the Ford Ranger, lariat, lariat.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Lariat, not Lariat, oh my God.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: And this man was born in texas, larry I got that twang.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Now the final assembly location of this is actually in michigan.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: It comes in, uh, four trim levels the xl, xlt, lariat and the raptor and it's considered a standard size pickup.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: However, most of us call it a mid-size pickup and of course they've gotten a lot bigger, so maybe it is really and truly a standard size.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Sits five people?
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Uh, it only comes at a crew cab short bed.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: You don't have a lot of choices on this.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Particular one has automatic led projector headlamps, led fog lights.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: You got tow hooks up front body colored door handles and side mirrors.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Got, uh, running boards on it and I'm not sure why, for somebody like me, they don't help me get in or out.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: In fact, they kind of hinder it because I've got to step over them and climb over them.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: They look good.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: The cargo bed has LED lighting as well, and then the locking tailgate.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: You lock the doors, it locks the tailgate as well, and we're rolling on the 18-inch aluminum wheels.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Now inside, because of the trim level we have, we have the leather seating.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: The front seats are heated, but there's no venting, there's no cooling on those seats.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: Got a fold-up rear seat.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: It's got storage areas underneath it.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Got the 12-inch digital driver display so you can configure that a lot of different ways.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: The 12-inch center stack that's where you're going to find your convenience controls, your nav, your 360-degree surround view camera.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: You also have the power sliding rear window, which I'm not sure.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: That's another one of those things.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: I don't open it much Never did actually so maybe you need it If you do.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: There it is.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: It had the B&O sound system with 10 speakers and a subwoofer.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: That's a Bang Olufsen.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, I wasn't sure I could get all that out, so I went with B&O.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: There is so I went with B&O.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I think there's a railroad company called B&O Railroad.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Monopoly.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: It does have USB A and C access points, which I think is great.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Some people have already gone to the C and you don't have the capability of using the A's anymore unless you've got adapters.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Apart from the hood, we had the 2.7 liter EcoBoost, and this is a $2,100 option 315 horsepower, 400 pound-feet of torque, backed by 10-speed automatic transmission.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: So this vehicle is capable of towing 7,500 pounds and you can load it up with a little over 1,800 pounds in the bed.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Epa says you should be looking for about 19 in the city, highway 23, and combined 20.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: And this is a regular fuel vehicle, even though it's turbo.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: So I got 21.3 miles to the gallon across 327 miles and I was very happy with that.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Driving this vehicle, it's got a lot of power on it.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Once you get it rolling it's a little uh, a little weak off the line maybe, and the engine can be noisy if you're sitting there, putting it under a little bit of duress going down the highway duress.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I like that word, yeah, yeah, um, as far as riding or so I'm told it was.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Anyway, it rides still like a truck, but it's a nicer driving vehicle.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Um, you got plenty of room in the front seats.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: The back seats are a little bit tight for what I think it would be an adult, but it's usable for a while.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Pricing on this thing now.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: The base trim price for this vehicle was $47,165.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Our MSRP is tested $54,375.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: But you should know you can get into a base model of the Ranger for $34,265.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Looking for something to compare that to.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Toyota Tacoma immediately comes to mind $33,085.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Toyota Tacoma immediately comes to mind $33,085.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Chevrolet Colorado another popular midsize pickup truck, at $33,595.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: If you're looking to step up a little bit, you might look at the Jeep Gladiator.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: That's going to start at $40,000.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Or the Honda Ridgeline, which is another midsize, even though it's kind of a unibody more of an SUV to me than a truck, but it's considered a midsize at $41,600.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: So there's a lot of choices in there to look at.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: You know one of the things I'm driving I think the same truck Probably.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, anyway, I'm driving it this weekend.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: The one thing that came to mind was this truck they call it a midsize was in the 1960s and 70s a full-size truck size.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: If you stop and think about it, that used to be a full-size truck size.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: If you stop and think about it, that used to be the full-size truck.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Because they've grown the full-size truck into such enormous proportions it won't fit in the garage anymore.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: No, it won't, and that one barely will.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: I remember my dad had a Ford Ranger for years.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: It had the little jump seats on the side of it and it would almost fit in the bed of a full-size truck now so it's a lot smaller.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: But that's my review of the Ford Ranger Lariat 4x4.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: In Real Time Car Talk continues after this.