I know how much food have you eaten this this holiday season?
Not as not as much as you And that's that was before we even got to Christmas.
Can you come down and just give me one of those tarts that I brought him to share?
But you just have to be eating a lot. I don't even know how old these are.
They're good enough to eat, that's all I'm saying. I'll have the chocolate, the chocolate looking one.
Where's this from? Ferguson player? So if it makes you feel any better, the owner of this will found or whatever drives rolls. Royce Phantom really so by you stuffing your face with those sweet treats helping fund his extravagant lifestyle. Ferg I love how you're eating it with the fucking the rapper still on it. That's disgusting. It's like an aluminum foil wrapper. It's good disgust.
There go, Lack your buduciary, bro, you're having the rolls rise.
Good now you're right now right Christopher's case, Jesus, all right, here we go. No, no, no, that was that's part of it. You're on.
Hey, listen, we have a tradition every year around this time around Christmas time where I buy We have this tradition every year where I buy you something and.
You get me fuck all. So I thought I would carry that on.
Go on, where's my present?
I've got you a real present. There's a big thing.
Really.
Oh yeah, I'm actually genuinely excited for this.
There's another lawsuit?
No no, no, hang.
On, stay there, stay there. Unfortunately he's rifling through his bag at the moment, but not his middle finger. Yeah, not looking a big deal, not looking.
Don't you love it? It's a B y D.
I wonder where this is made?
Sri Lanka.
It was made in Sri Lanka and not China. But it's made one size fits most. What if you have an enormous brain, Well you.
Have a big head, and that's about it.
Put it on, Put it on, put it on? No, no, no, take your headphones off, no no, put it on. It is it's on.
No no, no, generally because it's a dad heart. There we go, look at it.
Hang on, I'll get the driver's show in the background. Beautiful.
Am I to send that to my good friends at B y D?
Yeah? Anyway, Merry Christmas is a good friend slash sponsors.
Then they're really don't. I wish they were anyway. Yeah, Merry Christmas.
Yeah, likewise, Mary xmis do you celebrate Christmas?
Everyone else is doing like a family sort of situation. Paul's family just goes to the casino.
It's the only place that's open.
The kids in the car and let's go.
Yeah, let's go have a seafood feast.
Well, welcome to the Driver's Show, formerly known as Another Show, Another show, but that's cool following legal action. Okay, yeah, we're going a big show today. We're going to talk about some Japanese car stuff. We're going to talk about some big old trucks and an even bigger truck that is electric. So I'm really looking forward to that. And
thank you also for your emails. It was it was very encouraging to see so much support for us over the break and following the news of everything, news of things, everything that's happened. So yes, thank you for that.
It was a very professional intro by you, Paul. Yeah, god, we were in danger of sounding a bit too professional.
You're in danger of losing your job. I could probably do daytime radio.
Look, I love it.
Oh my god, I would love to hear pretty straightforward. Let's let's hear you do. I think you've done Smooth FM before. Let's hear you do Top forty Radio.
All right, it's one twenty pm, folks, and it's time to play.
Some Taylor Swift with It's a song. It's a song called.
What's a Dance with It? Or whatever? It's called doing dance?
What is it that shake it off?
I don't know so many that one on what radio? You did?
Do? The call sign on The Driver's Show with Him, formerly known as.
Everything's Normal in your World? What have you have you been driving? Anything exciting?
Anything?
You kind of go, wow, that was surprising. Can I tell you one thing that was surprising for me? I know it's been out for a while, but the facelifted palisade.
It's actually like, it does look nice now. It looks so much better, especially with the black package. Yeah you know, yeah, I think that looks good.
The top speck on that is like a weird kind of chroamy pewtery color.
I'm like, well, you guys should not have done that.
You should have just blacked it out because the black looks so much better. And I guarantee now people ordering Topspec are just going to take that to a just dip it or whatever and get that fixed up deleted.
But it's like, that's that. That was a car that has surprised me.
I was like, ah, well, actually that is surprising, but also the newness and pathfinder is surprising. I just drive that recently, and that thing is really good. So you can get it in seven or eight seats, and in the seven seat version as captain's chairs in the second row, and you can remove the second row sort of storage thing to create a walk through for the kids so they can walk through to the third row.
Oh you mean like the what is effectively the boot.
No, but they've got if you come into the car through the second row, they've got like a sliding storage box with cup holders. You can take that out entirely and then use that as access for the kids. And the doors open almost ninety degrees so you can actually get baby seats and stuff. And it's a really clever car. So yeah, that was quite surprising.
It just doesn't like to me, I was expecting more with the looks of it.
It just doesn't look face enough.
Yeah, it looks okay, it looks fine, but I'm like, bring something like striking to the party.
It might be hard to please you know.
Who, please me, Donna.
Daniel gives it a fair old as well, start even getting started. Daniel is probably the one that started that, the reason why we had to take a bit of a break. Thanks Daniel, Daniel, Thanks Daniel. He's like, no worries, mister Gordy's Hey, I've noticed there's a nice.
Little Scottish car out there. They've built a brick.
They've built a brick, an electric brick.
It looks like the cross between Elon's cyber truck and something I made in grade six.
It just looks like a school project.
It's a it's out of Monroe, that's the company, and it's a four x four and it's I'm sort of in two minds because it's sort of kind of cool, and then you look at it from all sorts of angles and you're.
Just like, Jesus, what is going on?
It honestly looks like it looks like the project someone did it like sheet metal tape.
Yeah, it kind of does look like that. And I love their sketch. It's literally two bricks on top of each other.
This sketch is literally like something someone would have drawn in primary school.
It's so interesting. So it's a really just fascinating vehicle because they're saying it's the world's most capable off road all electric four by four and some of the specs of fascinating. So they're saying, enters production in twenty twenty three, we'll see about that one thousand kilos payload, thirty five hundred kilogram towing capacity, and a sixteen hour off road duty cycle on a single battery charge, which is interesting.
So they're saying that it uses electric motors that aren't quite like electric motors in other evs, So between five thousand and eight thousand rpm. Sometimes electric motors can spin up to twenty thousand rpm. So that means that those RPMs allow it to effectively have a low range transfer case without having a low range transfer case. It's actually hold on it says this negoates the need for a reduction drive, enabling drive to be taken directly to the
transmission transfer case from the motor. Interesting, so by combining a two speed transmission, the motor can work at low speeds with greater efficiency. Yeah. Wow, two hundred and twenty kilowats or two hundred and eighty kilowatts and two battery pack sizes as well.
This is what I love. Zero or one hundred and nine to five seconds really.
Yeah, I don't know that i'd want to be doing one hundred in that thing.
I mean they've got a good testing ground Scotland is if you're going to test a four by four, yeah, that's that's where you want to go.
Yeah, twenty two kilowatts three phase A C charging, which is pretty good. So look, the specks actually look pretty decent. So yeah, and it's very basic inside. It doesn't.
Sort of a fairly new company. Monroe too. Twenty nineteen. I think they started, and I think it was started from privately funded investors, like a it's a real startup.
I'm having Look here it says here Monroe claims it will be the first automotive manufacturer to build cars at scale in Scotland since Pergio Talbot closed It's Lindwood plant nineteen eighty one. So there you go. They're bringing Scotland back on the map of manufacturing.
Fun were they ever on the map?
Well in nineteen eighty one. Yeah, So I think it's cool. I'll be keen to see what this is like, and I hope it eventually comes to Australia. I don't.
I will sit on that and just kind of put my foot down and go. I could not give a shit if this car comes to Australia. I'd prefer the Bronco to come to Australia, and that probably won't be happening. No, what about the one fifty that is coming. That is coming, isn't it. They're doing right.
Hand drive conversions for that in Australia as well, so they have prototypes ready and everything is sort of coming along nicely. So that will go on sales. Right hand drive vehicle, that's what you should get.
You should get that.
Yeah, but it's only just the normal one. They're not bringing the Raptor or anything like that just yet.
There is a there is an F one fifty Raptor though, right.
No, yeah, but just not for right hand drive just yet. And they've just done a Raptor R, which is a supercharge V. To answer the baha, yeah, to answer the t rex. Oh okay, yeah.
You know what I've seen on the road a lot rams, I've seen a lot. I'm talking about the car I've seen a lot.
I was driving out.
Territory and Jesus keep away from his bloody sheep.
All right, Yeah, no, I've seen a lot of Rams on the road.
It's so funny because there's a lot of body kits on them and I can't tell if they're factory like genuine or not. They really just go all out with the weirdest shit. Some of it looks amazing, some of it not so much. But there is a lot more here in Australia now right, and the sales are killing.
Yeah. I love this because Walkinshaw who is basically doing all the conversion of the Ram trucks and also the Silverados as well. These guys basically worked on HSV's back in the days hot up commodorees and that was.
That's a family company that still gets going too, so it was.
A lucrative business. But no one ever thought that, you like, when these first started coming out as right hand drive, I was like, oh, I didn't know that there's really a long term business case on this. They have just constantly broken records. They're on track to sell almost ten thousand rams this year. Last month they delivered seven hundred and ten rams, which is ridiculous. They manufactured nine hundred
of them out of their remanufacturing facility. And the other cool thing as well is they outsold last month the Nissa Nevara. So more people are paying over well in excess of one hundred thousand dollars for a Ram than they are well under one hundred thousand dollars for in this and Navara, which I find absolutely staggering. And we recently did a big yut comparison that'll be coming out soon where we tested the Ram TIERX. That thing is
an absolute beast. That is well north to two hundred grand worth of worth of car, and you see a few of those on the road now as well.
So here's my thing. Though Australian roads are different from Oaken roads. They're a lot narrower, they aren't really built for speed in a lot of ways.
Well you say that, but I didn't have any issues driving TRX around. Our roads are no sort of smaller than American rale, I don't think so. I've driven plenty of these pickup trucks locally and they don't feel any worse on Australian roads.
I don't think they feel worse.
I just think it's probably a little bit tougher to kind of get along in a lot of ways.
Well, it is if you go into a shopping center or something like that, but.
Which you don't do you just had the maid to do that. Yeah, it's half of a reason why you got married.
Even parking a dual cab ued at a shopping center, it's a normal sized one, is hard work. So this is always going to be tricky. But yeah, to me, I think that I think that we're going to see more and more of these on the road, and the
appetite for them is growing. Eventually, we will get to the stage where the sales of these are so high that they actually start manufacturing them out of the States in right hand drive, and that's when I think we will see just a huge over run of these because they will be priced competitively with standard sort of duel cabute. So yeah, it is. It is fascinating times. And I can see you.
In one of these, actually absolutely, I can see you in there.
Bloody kicking back American style, eating a bloody hot dog with Trevor, Like I can see it happening, just listening to some Kenny Rodgers or something.
You and Trevor.
You guys would be sharing like the same foot Long, it'd be like lady in the trap, just like sucking down a bit of spaghetti. But it just seems like your wildest dream here at the moment, getting closer and closer as you double.
Dog that double dog a little bit of double dogging. But yeah, so it's really cool. So they Ram Trucks Australia employed six hundred and forty one Australians, so, which is pretty cool. So it is a big industry at the moment and supporting locals as well, which I love to see too.
So you know who I haven't heard from him in a while is Trevor Long, who you two would have some sort of hot dog rendezvous in one of these cars. And I saw him on Twitter the other day. I'm like, oh fuck, jeez, I'd love to piss you off again.
We should get him on at some point, what do you reckon?
I know we were like, we're not disgrace yourself.
I know we're already like that.
The last sort of legal issues have just settled down and we could potentially start some new ones.
We should do a check in. Should I call him up?
I've got his number, you don't I don't think he'll answer you don't reckon, No, I wouldn't.
I'm gonna try it. Oh, this would be amazing if he answers. I'm gonna make sure it's on a private number, though.
Should I talk? Should you talk?
Ring?
Ring?
Ring? I'll talk with you.
Hello, God, even the way he answers the phones annoying.
Hello, is that Trevor long Steak. It's Gordy and Paul here from the Driver's Show podcast.
How are you?
Who else would be calling me on this day?
Well?
Who else would be calling you in general?
I mean, well, I've.
Got a long list of quaints to Sinka rama.
Yeah, sure, so, welcome to the show.
By the way, it's great to be here, isnt Trevor? About fifteen exactly?
I'll make it known to you that Gordy has just gifted me a BYD hat and I'm convinced that he's on the take with BYD.
I'm really not well.
Else would what else would he be so angry about me just getting the driver's vehicle? I mean, it's just remarkable how up tidy is about the whole thing. He shall be the reason they put the price up by three grand?
All right, all right, Trevor, coming down with your little flex of knowledge there, Hang on, we should do a bit of backstorry for those who don't know. Basically, a long time ago, I was given the Australian first. I was given the Australian.
Exclusive to drive the by d at oh three.
Now how it went?
Was our good compadre Trevor Long. He was showing it off on his little program on.
The what is it called the Today Show or something?
The Today Show with Today? Yeah?
Right, they don't even have a blood do they even have two hosts at the moment. They don't even know who's feeling in that. That thing is just a revolving tool.
Carl steff and over against Sarah Arbor. It's going to be great twenty twenty three.
Yeah, who is it?
Cart?
From January sixteenth?
Carlos and who?
That's what we need to remember.
Okay, Jesus, did you just sniff?
Then?
Have you got a plate of bloody cocaine in front of you? What are you doing?
I've been quite sick all week, but I've got out of my sick there to speak to you.
Oh that's kliness all right.
Anyway, A stupid backstory, A no.
No, So then I was I was promised this, and then you did your little show off on the Today Show and then handed me the keys, and I was like, okay, cool. And by the way, you weren't driving, and you weren't supposed to give any driving impressions on it. You were just supposed to showcase it on there next to whatever your segment was. Things to have in fucking twenty twenty two. You should have this fridge, this vacuum, this car. I'm Trevor long Sea later, right, That's all you're supposed to do.
And then you handed the keys to me, and I was supposed to have the first drive, drop out driving impressions, all that sort of thing, and then within twenty four hours of doing that, you jumped on your little YouTube channel and put out first fucking driving impressions.
It went well too, Jesus. It was a good video. Numbers shot up Marreck nos this. You know you have a good burst of early numbers. It was great. The problem with your funal little story is I don't know what you're talking about. No one knows what you're talking about. You've made this story up on your own, haven't made I I've been I've been working alongside Luke and the team at BYD for two three years.
Dropping the CEO. Look at you dropping CEOs. Now, I've been working alongside with Luke. What have you been doing playing golf and eating hot dogs?
Playing the game? Mate, It's what we do. What we're doing this game exactly, the networking game exactly. I want assured you of something. And then here's what they shouldn't have done. Here is the first tip you should have had that that wasn't going to happen was when they said, can you come pick up the car? You're picking it up from another journey.
Yeah, you're playing in the first indicator.
I'm We're gonn't fade this clown down Jesus for someone who's apparently had COVID or whatever it had, cheesy talks a lot.
Here's the situation. The thing that you just said there is the game. And that's exactly why.
We started this thing, because all these journeys in the fucking pockets of these car companies there, Bloody b one e. You want to talk about someone who's in cahoots, mate, you just said it yourself. You've been working with these guys for three years.
Anyway. Well, I am convinced that you are in the pocket cording because I don't know where this hat comes from.
I don't have a hat. Let's put it that way.
Exactly.
Do you know where I found that?
Maybe they gave me my hat because he didn't get the first one.
Although you didn't get the first rof, but he got the first hat.
No, I'm actually genuinely concerned about Trevor. I can hear his breathing, and I think you need to sit down. I think something could happen.
What do you what do you like? You relaxed?
Oh God, Jesus, do you know what I love about this show? Right?
Is it not?
You so just hide down to its?
I just love that you'd never get this unlike what's under the bonnet, Like you never get like just a couple of guys talking about Trevor and hot dogs. And you know that's the thing about the car industry, right, it suffers a lot from representation of females and like black representation and LGBQ, but not anymore thanks to our guest, Trevor Long, I represent.
The fad community. Yeah, wait things out a little bit.
That's where me and trev unite.
Yes, we we're from that community and Paul.
Had a stint but into shape exactly.
Well, actually, I have a genuine question forever are you going to see Yes?
Absolutely, you know it's the biggest event of the year for me. January one, we leave. I take a team of four because it's epic. It's the biggest show.
Okay, So can I just poise you there?
So I have a question for it?
No, no, no, I get it, I get it.
I just want to for those who aren't engineers or whatever the hell you guys do, can you just explain what that is?
What that expo is.
You go to. This is the consumer electronics show. It's been running for I think fifty five years. It used to be where companies would announce something like a brand new product, and then it's where retailers, liking in our old Harving on the JB hih I go and they do all the deals to actually get the rucks that
they're going to bring into Australia during the year. A little bit less like that now it's a little bit more just you know, show off the showcasing, but there's still deals done by the retailers to bring products and there's a bunch of car companies that go there as well. They don't launch cars, but they do spruit their technology. You know, they'll talk about their autonomy or their battery parerent stuff. So there'd be a bunch of cars there as well. It's pretty big car show at the same time.
Do you get a bit of a taste of what to expect? Do you know what you get kind of get to see, like is there anything you're looking forward to, like, oh the new I don't know. Well.
Last year, as in twenty twenty two's event, it was this weird because of the first time back since COVID. The show floor map had all these big car companies there, but they didn't turn up because they shouted themselves at the last minute and went, oh it's COVID drama. And so I think there's going to be a lot of the stuff we expected last year turn up this year, like concept cars from Mercedes. They've got an equxx Paul, you know, they've got a bunch of concepts out there.
BMW last year had this color changing car, the paint change colors like eating I'll do something fun again. I don't know, to be honest, what to expect that that's the front of it.
Well, can we maybe while you're over there or when you get back, get you to fill us in on all the car stuff that's gone on there?
Yah? Bloody oh something. I love it, this weird, weird thing where it's the only time of the year where I'm happy to talk about things that aren't real, if you know what I mean. Like I don't like talking about phones that are only released in China or you know, phones that only sell in Europe because it doesn't matter to Australians, whereas this is the one time of the year it's kind of that beyond two thousand. Look, you
know this is just cool Staff. It might not be on sale this year, it might be on SEF for teen years, but just to know that a company can achieve a certain thing, whether it's a level of autonomy or arrange in kilometers on an electric car, I think it will make a difference in the long term. So yeah, it'd be great.
I love how you just compared that to be on two thousand. I've always said you're the Amanda Keala of now.
I think Amanda would be deeply offended by that, So I'm glad you don't listen to this show.
Does actually she really does. She told me she's coming on the show next week.
I saw the other day and I said, I'm going on with Gordion Portuguess. What the hell are you talking about? She actually had no idea who you were?
Are you kidding? I? Actually, again, you.
Are so so precious. I mean, if I didn't just make that whole thing up, I.
Didn't make me listen to me.
You're on my show, all right, listen, you just shut your little man?
Paul doing this show? Bad people. That's all I've heard.
Yeah, I didn't bag anyone, just Paul.
How good is the coopra formentive vs?
Can I just say I've driven that too? That that as well? You could have asked me as well. You could have included me.
But I wanted to actually ask.
The funny thing is, actually haven't driven it? So how good is it?
What you reckon of?
I think you actually liked it? Didn't you got it? Yeah? I did. I did.
It's sort of I don't know.
It's it still feels a bit like underwhelming to me, a bit like I mean, I.
Think the hybrid's great. I think it's it's a really nice uh really nice kind of movement from the electric to the to the petrol. I love it because I love the look of it. I love the brand. My first car was A say it so I'm a little bit biased, but a good car, I don't. I don't. I don't think they're priced well enough to make it properly work in Australia. But that's another problem for another day.
I think no, I agree with that point, actually, but I think everything generally is put together really well in this The interior looks stylish.
I reckon that.
Did you have the matte paint.
On the Yeah? I didn't on the vz D, on the original four Mento I drove. I've got the white one of the Moment, which is a vs D. The matte paint is a little bit much for me, but I think it shows up every bloody speck of dirt and water. Be horrible to keep in your driveway.
Trav's a conservative man.
Your conservative, well, you know I.
Think about I'm just such a big hater of things that cost too much money. I think cars today cost way too much money. I don't know why. I think the market has not. I think the car company is probably making more money out of every car than they ever did before because cars just seemed so much more expensive today, and.
People are like, what what gets me is people are prepared to wait the crazy amount of wait times that they are, do you know what I mean? And it's getting worse, Like the whole the whole chip shortage thing is just such a fast do you.
Guys reckon that's a real thing anymore? Because I obviously twelve eighty months ago that was a genuine thing, there was chip shortage and all that kind of stuff. But I think the car company is now realize that they can essentially manage the supply by just taking orders. Now. I don't think they're ever going to get back to a point where they just have swaths of stock sitting on show room flaws anymore.
Yeah, because every two months Toyter puts out a press release saying we're cutting production again because of semik and but you still have a two year weight on a four and dealers earn more margin. There's not cars sitting around. It's actually a pretty Lucra.
There's no competition. You can't ring one dealer to another Kenya, and you can't actually shop around anymore.
And I think what will happen is ringing dealerships will probably narrow down anyway, It'll probably be done more on a website.
Yeah, I know that's.
What your temple started that, and Mercedes had started doing that, bowl I was doing that. It's a good thing because it means everyone's getting the same price, but it's a bad thing because it means you're never negotiating on the price of the car, and that means they can continually
just put a price up. It's like you know what the bid example, they just go the price has changed as of now, and there's no there's zero chance to negotiate that because you don't have a dealer, there's no intermediary, and so you are literally stuck with whatever the heck sticker they put on the car.
What was your first car?
Did you say say it?
I'd be is that where you went on schoolies as well?
The Gold Coaster?
Of course, I can't imagine you at schoolies on the Gold case.
Actually I was very boring.
I was pretty much designated driver, although I was actually seeing some don't really matter.
Yeah, you can't to me, come across as a bit of a where'd you go to schoolies? Lake's entrance.
Yeah, thanks, well, Trevor.
Thank you for actually coming on the show that we're not done with, Trevor, is this started?
Like?
What is this just a show? Is this what you do?
Just talk?
Yea?
So tell me about your podcast there, Trevor, what's that called?
Which one? I'm going to do about five a week? THEFTM podcast, which is talkback technology podcast, tech question. I can answer it like talk back radio and there the two Bokes Talking tech podcast been running for twelve years as of February, so that's like tech news every week. Is the best movie You've never seen, which is me watching movies since the very first time and seven rabbiting on about how he's seen them a million times.
Pornos, Yeah, whatever you want, mate, They all sound shipp by the way.
Well, can't be any worse than what I've just listened to for last Sinday move.
No, look, hey, here's the thing.
Going to go on forever.
I'm I'm gonna.
Calm down, mates, God, I'm worried about your health now. I want to I want to bury the hatchet. I want to genuinely say I didn't I don't have any apology.
Music queued up but Trev is.
Actually a genuinely brilliant tech reviewer. I watched his videos, Believe it or not, I do watch videos. I watched that expo you went to it in Berlin, and I thought that was really cool.
You ate fake meat or something.
Something for meat?
Yeah, horrible, And I think what he does is really good and it's entertaining.
Let me say this then, all right, let me say this. No, I genuinely had no idea that someone else was promised a first drive. I didn't ask for a first drive. I just had the car and studio had twenty four hours before to take it back. So I hooked up a GoPro. What do you do? What do you do?
What do you do?
I'm just a man with a GoPro in fact podcast.
Yes, well, now we're going to end it and we're going to chat to you once you come back from CS and we'll we'll have it talk about car stuff.
Good boys, Thank you, thanks, true thanks. Right before you go before we go, just hag up the phone before you go.
I just want to say one thing. I love you.
I love you too.
Yes see, I love him.
I'm telling you.
Here's the part love you.
The twenty twenty three.
Subaru WRX and WRX sports Wagon. Prices start from forty thousand, nine ninety dollars for the basic trim levels.
You do in two sixty two.
Thousand, four hundred and forty dollars for the top of the range, Todam WRX s TI Final.
Edition, Suberu WRX, and the I want to put the sports Wagon in this review too, because I'm going to try both and they're both similar cars. One's just a bit of a different shape to the other, and I know there's a lot of interest in the sports Wagon as well as the standard, So that's what we're doing with this.
What are you do you think of these?
Because we were talking about the new Subi before it was released and before we got to see the car, before we got to drive the car, I remember my impressions being it just didn't look because cosmetically design wise, it didn't.
Sort of look it just it didn't look that drastic.
And I know I'm hard to please with this sort of stuff, but it just didn't look that drastic, And you know, I thought the interior was and suber who have kind of been always a little bit guilty with this on the WRX. It just was never kind of flashy or just seemed very basic. But now we've driven it, has my opinion changed slightly.
Well, look, for me, it's it has two personalities. So I drove a manual one and I quite enjoyed it because it was a visceral experience. Everything was happening, I was doing everything, but I was a bit underwhelmed with how quick it was in the noise, it really sort of made no sound and it wasn't that fast. Yes, I then briefly drove the CVT and I thought it was going to be terrible, but it wasn't as bad
as I thought it would be. But the downside with the manual is it misses out on half the safety tech that you get with the CVT, and at the price that they're asking for this it kicks off what does it kicks off from? Around forty five grand for the entry level manual, there's a lot of money to be missing out on basic safety tech that you can get on virtually every car today. But for me, I like the interior tech. I just didn't like the materials.
They are a bit sort of scratchy in parts, but I thought the tech was pretty cool, and I like the design as well. I know that's probably a little controversial, but I think it looks cool.
Yeah, look, I don't mind it. Now that I've got to see it in the flesh, I don't mind it. I was saying to you before we aired this. The design has now just kind of settled in. You know when something like shock value or interesting aspects of a car sit for a while and then they soften. To me, Yeah, the cars softened even further, so I think it's very much a normal fixture design wise.
Could they have done a bit more perhaps.
I still don't think it's the best looking WRX. Yeah, it's not the best looking WRX that they've put out. It's not the bug Eye. It's not as shit as the bug Guy looking one. You know, that car was so ugly it's almost become some people like it. Yeah, I know they do, no, but it's it's now become almost a cult classic because it's so out.
From everything else that they've done.
Anyway, But yeah, look the interior again, it was it still feels a little bit. Plain definitely enjoyed this car, like you're right with It's slowish, I think by today's standards, it feels it's they've.
Gone from a two letter to two point four. Power is up five kilotz. The talk is the same at three p fifty. Yeah, it's like, how exactly that was not even possible?
And that's the thing.
Those numbers in twenty twenty two to twenty three, they don't really stack up as much as they used to with Subaru WRX. You know, I know that they are taking.
A very much approach. I believe from what I've heard very much.
Numbers on paper don't sell cars, which I kind of get, but it.
Also makes it hard for people to test drive if they see the numbers.
That's true, What's what's going to get them over the line. It's it can be a numbers game. I mean as well.
I think for me, why I enjoyed this was a nostalgia. It was it brought back the Subaru is such a brilliant car. It's such a great driver's car. I didn't get to drive the manual as much as you did. I spent maybe an hour with that, to be honest, and I had the.
DCT for like a week with the sports Wagon CVT whatever fuck put it, I say, DCTCD.
Look, I think The tech in it is good, but I think it's where it needs to be. I think it's sitting kind of where it needs to be twenty twenty twenty two.
But big screen was that? Was that wireless Apple car play?
Yeah?
Yeah it was.
Wasn't it massive tick for me with that sort of stuff has its own It has a few in built apps as well, I think too a few er. They've got an STI logo on.
The wheel where why why?
And they're from like official word from Subaru was oh for nosulgic reasons.
Yeah, Well there's not going to be an STI. No, they're saying that the SI will be electric and later on. So it just feels weird to me. Maybe it's like how BMW does m Badgers. Sure, maybe tuned by a STI. It's not like you're.
Getting like an STI package though, No, do you know what I mean? Like not with like an interior fit at or anything like that. Yeah, exhaust or body kit or anything. But I still think this has got life in it.
Yeah.
I think it's definitely a great car if you're considering it, it's damn it's a great car to get. It is what it always has been it's a great driver's car. Does it stack up with their faster cars out on the road for a similar price point?
Arguably? I completely agree, And I think this will have a certain type of buyer. It's the type of buyer that's always wanted one of these and always had one of.
These, and they just want one with new attack.
Yeah, pretty much. The fact that you can't get the wagon in a manual, I just don't know why that's not a thing, But yeah, I think that. Yeah, I think that people will enjoy it. I think once you modify it, that's probably where you'll start getting proper enjoyment. So sticking in isourced on it, bigger turbo, that kind of thing, I think that's probably where it'll be. But I haven't really seen many modified ones, so it's like people are just keeping them fairly stock and not really
doing a great deal to them. That's the thing it is. I can hear from your voice. I'm in the same boat.
It's like, it's fine, yeah, I'm under look in all understand I'm underwhelmed. I think what they need to do. Super were doing this thing where they're just I feel like they keep on keeping on.
And it's like Toyota. They just continuously just deliver just what you kind of expect. There's nothing surprising there.
Yeah, it's solid. There's always going to be something good, but it's never Yeah. I just it's not the evolution I wanted. I kind of feel like, imagine if they rested this car for ten years unheard of, and then they just relaunched it and it was a complete beast of a car as it once was.
Is the rally scene as big as it was in the mid nineties, No.
But it's still pretty decent.
Yeah.
I just think this is an iconic car.
Everyone's got their favorite model, everyone's got their favorite year. The Subaru fan club is strong, and they deserved something a.
Little bit better.
Yep. Agreed, as always.
Contacted The Drivers Show dot com dot au on Instagram to the Driver's Show.
What do we called the Drivers.
The Drivers Show dot com dot au is where you can find us on Instagram.
That'd be great they listen to this.
Now send us a DM.
Yeah, slide into our DMS.
Slide into our DMS and I will get Paul to send you a photo of his Willie, which is very underwhelming. Yeah, I've got some amazing news I'll say for episode three.
I'll save it for episode I'll say it for the episode anyway. Amazing news.
Yes, and let us know if he want us to chat with Trevor about anything else, like if there's anything. I'm personally just between the listeners and I I think it'd be a great replacement for Gordy. So sorry you heard that. My apologies. It just the Driver's Show with Paul and Trevor just it just slides off the tongue a little better.
Yeah, you know what else slides off the tongue. Trevor's dick, go sucker.