Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Redefining Luxury and Versatility: 2025 Lexus NX 350h, the 2025 Subaru Outback, and a look at the Pontiac Grand Prix

Transcript

Redefining Luxury and Versatility: 2025 Lexus NX 350h, the 2025 Subaru Outback, and a look at the Pontiac Grand Prix · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: time now for this hour's car review.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Had a chance to drive the lexus nx 350h for 2025.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: This car is an suv built in canada.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Comes in three trim levels the base base, the premium and the luxury.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I think I would call the base something other than nothing other than just the plain.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: You know you call it.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Does it say base on the?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: name no it doesn't.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I called it that but what else would you call it?
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Just because you can get more options on other stylings?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Well, I understand, but I mean you still got to have a name Whatever.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: So I have the Luxury, which is the top of the line all-wheel drive.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: This is a small SUV Seats.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Five Exterior changes from last year none it was all new in 2022.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Nose looks heavy on this vehicle with that protruding spindle grille, but somehow it works.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Sculpted sides give it an hourglass figure.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Looks good.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Rear hatch mimics the nose, but on a much smaller scale.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Obviously, attention to design detail is outstanding on this car and very noteworthy as well.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it the overall design gets high marks, including the wheels on this car, and I never really talk too much about wheels, but I like them.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Good job.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Lexus.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Interior highlights Awesome design overall with the built-in large infotainment screen, which is.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I don't understand why manufacturers don't build the infotainment screen into the dash, like this one is, but they continue to stick them on top of the dash and look like an afterthought.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Contrasting soft surfaces exude a luxury feel.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Make-believe wood trim is high quality and fit and finish overall is superb.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Door handles are electronic and add a nice touch to it, so you just kind of press the button on the door handle on the inside to get out.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: It's really cool Cargo trunk room adequate for its small size.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it speakers built into the door panel.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: It's a really nice design touch that I liked.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement the ability to change commands of ancillary equipment from the steering wheel can be confusing because it has dots painted dots on this four button thing and you can see what you're changing up there on the dashboard.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: But it's confusing to me.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: But you know, so is most of life.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: 2.5 liter four-cylinder hybrid motor with 240 net horsepower combined.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: What you were going to say something Jack was agreeing.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you know, jack and I kind of are on the same track when it comes to these things.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Transmission, CVT, very smooth, it works perfectly for this car.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Toe rating 2,000 pounds, if you dare.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: 41 miles per gallon in the city, nice, 37 on the highway, for a combined of 39.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I got 37.9 over 348.1 miles.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Well, let's see Mileage yeah, I don't think anything could use improvement there.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think anything could use improvement there.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: You know, lexus has this thing that they kind of match up powertrains with the vehicle and it just works Ride and handling, superb.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Not sure why you would want the F Sport which is available.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: It's not a trim level per se, but it is a package that you can get on the different trim levels An F Sport and an SUV.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: It's a luxury.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: SUV.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: It's performance, isn't it?
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: No, it's a ride handling thing.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense for this particular car.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: It's one of the big reasons.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: You buy a Lexus Pricing Base trim on this $52,340.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Prices tested $57,275.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: By alexis pricing base trim on this 52 340.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Prices tested 57 275.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: The base model price is 45 125.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: This is about 2700 more than the gas only 250 model.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: So you decide.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: But I'll tell you what I would pay the 2700 extra for the smoothness of this hybrid combination drivetrain.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Competitors to the vehicle Well, none of them are hybrids like this.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: The BMW X3 starts at $49,500.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: The Acura RDX starts at $46,050.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And the Genesis GV70, with which it competes, $45,700.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I'd buy this.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: It's a nice car.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: It is a very nice car.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: It rides great.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: It kind of reminds me of the original RX that came out way back when I bought one, loved it, drove it for years and it was a beautiful car.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: When I bought one, loved it, drove it for years and it was a beautiful car.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: The only drawback to that was the turning radius, which was huge.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: But who cares about that?
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: They fixed that shortly after everybody complained about it.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Good deal, yeah, all right, if you'd like to get in touch with us, shoot us an email.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: The address is info at inwheeltimecom.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: We continue Now to move on and Jeff has a feature on facts you may not know about the Pontiac Grand Prix.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: That's right four facts.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: The auto industry's longest-running nameplates, like CJ7, CJ5, likely come to mind, but the Chevy Suburban has had 12 generations of a run.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: The Pontiac Grand Prix badge has been around for 47 years.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: Its introduction in 1962.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: The Grand Prix's name was borrowed from the French term that's commonly used in the international races on Formula One circuit as the big prize.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: That is a beautiful car that I would love to have it was originally called the Ventura in 1962.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: It was a big year for Pontiac.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: They sold over half a million vehicles, 521,000 vehicles that year best second ever to 1955.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: The 75 millionth Pontiac rolled off the line in the spring and it was a Bonneville convertible.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: The Le Mans, which evolved from the GTO in 64, made its first appearance as the Grand Prix.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: So moving on, there were eight generations of the Grand Prix.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: The 1964 model year marked the end of the model's first generation.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: The original engine choices carried over to the second generation In 1969, the Grand Prix moved from a midsize G-body platform it shared with Chevy, Monte Carlo, malibu, buick, regal, of course, century and the Oldsmobile Cutlass, regal, of course, century and the oldsmobile cutlass.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: In 1997 through 2004, the supercharged 3.8 liter v8 could produce 260 horsepower.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Wow and a five uh.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: And a 5.3 liter v8 generated a third of 303 horsepower at 323 foot pounds of torque.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: So moving on to that, the.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: The next fact that you didn't know was the Grand Prix convertible was only made in 1967.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: I like that.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I do too.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I like that one.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: The Grand Prix was available as a coupe from his birth in 2002.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: The anomaly was in 67.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: The only time the convertible version of the Grand Prix was produced.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Despite its gorgeous sweeping lines and vast open-air cruising deck, the Grand Prix convertible was not a hot commodity.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: People didn't like it.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Like just Don said, they produced 5,800 of these convertibles.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: You may think of it as a rarity, based on the original price of $3,800 for that car back then.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: That's a lot.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Today it's about $36,000.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: You really can't find any more because nobody wants them and they're kind of just going away.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: The last one that actually got some money was the Hurst Edition.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: It was a 455 cubic inch for $100,000.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: But that was a classic.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: It was all redone and refurbished and looked pretty.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: The last one we have a fact that NASCAR had the Pontiac it.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: The last one we have a fact that NASCAR had the Pontiac.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: It was a repeat NASCAR champion.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: The Grand Prix was popular as a mass market vehicle but it also had success on the racetrack.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Nascar champions who had driven the Grand Prix stock cars included Dale Earnhardt, rusty Wallace, bobby Labonte, tony Stewart and Richard Petty.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: So during that time the championship years Earnhardt's Grand Prix ride came in 81,.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: So during that time, the championship years, earnhardt's Grand Prix ride came in 81, and he was 29 in defending the series champion when he drove that car back then.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: So there you go, just four facts about it.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: And like the Pontiac, Like the Pontiac.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: I will tell you, I have an idea for General Motors, and that was the fact that if they're going to do nascar without a brand, the chevy camaro anymore, pick up the pontiac, just put pontiac on the back of it.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: They don't make it, well, they don't make this car that they're going to race, so just put pontiac, put some grand prix on it, just get another car.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: We got a few in mind.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: We mean, there's a few chevrolets out there, I mean there's some yeah well, they don't make the Malibu anymore.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: No, what Chevy would that be?
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: They don't make the Camaro.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: What's wrong with the Corvette?
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: They're going to put a Corvette on.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: NASCAR.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Why not?
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: You'd have to restyle it and make it it's fiberglass.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: No, it's not, it's fiberglass.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: No, it's not.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: It's plastic Size, weight and all that.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Plastic fiberglass same.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Thing.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: I think there's some other engineering specs on that.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: I saw a show called Trans Am.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: It's been out for a while.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: They're watching a rerun.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: You can't say that on the radio.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Trans Am, trans Am, okay.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Well, it was about a car that they did some work to, yeah, and it's been on for years ago, but they remodeled the new Firebirds to look modern, like a Camaro.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Have you ever seen those?
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, okay.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Well, they had a customer come in with a Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: So just fix it up, don't make anything fancy about it.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Frame off restoration.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: They went overboard.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: The guy wanted to keep his engine complete.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: It was a 455.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: They dropped an LS whatever number in there, built it up, supercharged it, put like $130,000 in it.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: And the guy says I don't want it, that's not what I wanted.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: So they ended up buying the car back from the guy.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: They lost money.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: It was on TV.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: They showed it.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: Wow, really.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: I'm going to make it look good for my customer and I'm going to do this and this.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: They never honored what the guy wanted to do to the car.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: So they ate it, they ate it, they're trying to outthink you.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: I know better than my customer.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: We're going to do your car review on the other side of the hour.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: So let's do this car review.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: So we're talking about the 2025 Subaru.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: No, not we, you.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: I am talking about the 2025 Subaru Outback Touring XT.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Now, this is the Subaru.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: It's been around quite some time.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: This particular model model the Outback Is one of the larger ones Comes in nine Available trim levels, so we're not going to Go through all of them, but there is a base model and it goes up to the Touring XT At the top of the line, which is what we just happen to be driving Now.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: This is considered A small SUV, five passenger, and on the outside of it, you're going to find a lot of things that you expect from a vehicle of Subaru's caliber that's kind of focused on getting people through bad weather, bad road conditions and things.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: So you've got LED fog lights, led headlights that are steering responsive.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: They also have the auto off and on.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: It's got a lot of satin chrome that is on the side, folding mirrors that are heated and retractable, the roof rails that are very usable on this vehicle.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: They've got a retractable crossbars and, because this vehicle isn't so tall as some of the other suvs that are out there, you can actually put stuff up on it while you're standing on the ground.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: You don't need a ladder.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Now it's got the hands-free power lift gate, in the back of it's got a power moonroof and it rolls on some nice 18 inch alloy wheels.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Now you get inside of it because this is the upper trim level.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: We've got a napa, leather trim seating surfaces and uh does have the subaru starlink 11.6 inch multimedia with navigation monitor in it.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: So it's got plenty of napa leather.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Does that also come with a bottle of wine, or should?
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: How does that when they ship it in?
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: that's where they ship it in.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: They get the leather from all the cows that are eating all the grapes that are out there.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: So the um it does have lots of.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: It's got four usb ports in it.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: The front seats are heated and ventilated seats, while the second row it's the outboard seating areas only are the ones that are heated.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Now it does have the front view monitor.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: So again, this is kind of centric to going off-road, light off-road.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: You could probably do some rock climbing if you wanted to in it, because it does have over eight inches of clearance in it.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: It's got a rear view camera.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: It's got a rear view camera.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: It's got a rear seat reminder in it, retractable cargo cover so that when you put stuff in the back of it it's out of sight, out of mind.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: If they can't see it they're not going to want to break into it.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: And it comes with a Harman Kardon audio on it.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Now, up under the hood, since this is the larger trim level or the upper trim level, it's got a 2.4 liter turbo boxer type engine.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: So it's still the flat engine but it's got the turbo on it.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: It's backed by a cvt.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: That's got an eight speed manual setting on it for shift mode.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: So if you get out into the mud or someplace where you really want to have a little more control, you can kick it over there and and it'll respond like it's a eight speed manual transmission instead of the cvt.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: This vehicle only weighs41 pounds, so it's not that heavy but it will tow 2,700 pounds.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Now the EPA says you should be looking for about 22 in the city on the highway, 29, combined 25.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Now I drove this car 345.8 miles and got 24.7 across.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: That Not bad.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: And I really enjoy driving this vehicle because even with it's got the four-wheel independent suspension on it and it is raised so it gets the 8.7 inch clearance but it gives the the suspension a lot of travel in there.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: So when you hit the bumps and stuff it absorbs a lot of things on the road a lot better.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: And it was really a nice comfortable drive.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: It like like driving grandpa's deuce and a quarter, something like that, oh yeah, it was really a nice, comfortable drive, like driving Grandpa's Deuce and a Quarter, something like that, oh yeah.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: It was surprisingly compliant, but it was firm.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: You felt confident in what you were doing.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Now the base model on the Outback is at $28,895.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: So it's kind of down in there.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: But since we were at the number nine trim level, up there the base trim price starts at $42,795.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Had a couple of little options, had some destination fees.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Msrp is tested.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: It's 44 331.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: It's right there in the sweet spot it is it is because if you look at the honda crv, which is again another small suv, uh, that's considered a competitor.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: It's 30 100.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: The niss Rogue you don't hear much about that anymore, but it's $29,230.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Or the Toyota RAV4, $30,245.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: They're all small SUVs.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: They've got a little bit of off-road ability about them as far as getting into mud or gravel or something like that, without getting out in there and too serious.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: So if you're looking for something in that category, the Subaru is obviously one you need to look at.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: And that's my review Very good Of the 2025 Subaru.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Outback.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Speaking of Subaru, for the second time in four years led Consumer Reports annual brand report card, as domestic automakers struggled in a ranking that measures factors including vehicle performance, safety and reliability.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: You