The Underpowered Hour

Steve Beres and Ike Goss kick off the Underpowered Hour by reacting to a Range Rover SV Ultra (and “Ultra Mega”) promo highlighting a 21-speaker electrostatic sound system, haptic “sensory floor,” and wellness modes that spark jokes about cost, recalls, and a 4D in-car experience. They then discuss conflicting Jaguar Land Rover financial headlines, including profits reportedly down 99% due to warranty costs tied to a 170,000-vehicle recall, cyber attacks, Middle East war impacts, and tariffs, though the loss “beat expectations.” Next, they cover the UK Ministry of Defense seeking a classic Defender replacement, with potential bids from Land Rover, the Ineos Grenadier, and other manufacturers, plus rumors of a smaller Ineos EV partnership tied to Chery and the name “Fusilier.” Ike recaps attending Oregon’s Rover Rendezvous in a 1957 Series I 107 station wagon, including minor repairs and a failed voltage regulator, and they close with upcoming guests and Steve’s excitement about a Dutch Bros opening in Valencia.

00:00 Show Intro and Hosts
01:20 SV Ultra Mega Tease
02:59 Electrostatic Audio Demo
05:22 Wellness Modes Mockups
07:50 4D Haptics and Price Jokes
09:12 JLR Profits and Recalls
11:04 MOD Defender Replacement Race
13:28 Military Needs vs New Defender
14:32 Who Will Build It
15:07 Tiny Grenadier Rumors
16:18 Chery Partnership Speculation
17:08 Fusilier Name Reveal
18:12 Tranquility Mode Banter
18:47 Oregon Rover Rendezvous
19:55 107 Wagon Road Trip Fixes
20:59 Event Trucks and Activities
21:53 Anarch 80th Planning
22:47 JB Weld Head Gasket Saga
24:14 Bad Repairs Philosophy
25:29 Next Week and Dutch Bros
27:03 Signing Off

Steve Beres hosts The Underpowered Hour with Ike Goss, joined by Linus Tremaine and Jenna Fribley (with Liza Beres present), covering news and an event recap. They discuss Warn’s updated 8274 winch now rated to 10,000 lbs, joking about special editions and waterproof claims, and mention a restored 1967 Fiat Ferves Ranger listed for $48,000. The main story is Pangolin 4x4’s nine-day drive to the Mendo Recce gathering at Salmon Creek Ranch in Bodega Bay, including visits with Land Rover enthusiasts Terry Ann Wakeman and Tom Charters. At the event, their Series 1 “Cow” loses power and is found to have a head gasket blown between cylinders three and four; with help from friends, they attempt a field repair using fine copper wire and JB Weld, successfully get it running, and immediately test it on the trails while reacting to viral comments on Jenna’s video and hoping to get MacGyver’s Richard Dean Anderson to see it.

00:00 Show intro and crew
01:29 Warn  8274 gets beefier
04:30 Waterproofing and service debate
06:10 Fiat Ferves Ranger listing
08:21 Heading to Mendo Recce
09:18 Visiting Terry Ann Wakeman
13:03 Tom Charters stop and Highway 1
17:52 Arriving at Salmon Creek Ranch
19:43 Trail prep and tire chains
21:26 80-inch loses power
24:12 Field diagnosis head gasket
26:14 Camp Breakdown Drama
26:41 Diagnosing Blown Gasket
28:47 Copper Wire Bodge Plan
31:45 JB Weld Overnight Cure
33:43 Morning Start And Misfire
36:48 Trail Test And Recovery
38:48 Jeremy Stories And Turkey
40:07 Viral Reel And Merch Ideas
43:54 Mean Comments Readback
48:12 MacGyver Reaction Quest
50:26 Wrap Up And Next Time

Steve Beres hosts The Underpowered Hour with Ike Goss, joined by Linus Tremaine and Jenna Fribley (with Liza Beres present), covering news and an event recap. They discuss Warn’s updated 8274 winch now rated to 10,000 lbs, joking about special editions and waterproof claims, and mention a restored 1967 Fiat Ferves Ranger listed for $48,000. The main story is Pangolin 4x4’s nine-day drive to the Mendo Recce gathering at Salmon Creek Ranch in Bodega Bay, including visits with Land Rover enthusiasts Terry Ann Wakeman and Tom Charters. At the event, their Series 1 “Cow” loses power and is found to have a head gasket blown between cylinders three and four; with help from friends, they attempt a field repair using fine copper wire and JB Weld, successfully get it running, and immediately test it on the trails while reacting to viral comments on Jenna’s video and hoping to get MacGyver’s Richard Dean Anderson to see it.

00:00 Show intro and crew
01:29 Warn  8274 gets beefier
04:30 Waterproofing and service debate
06:10 Fiat Ferves Ranger listing
08:21 Heading to Mendo Recce
09:18 Visiting Terry Ann Wakeman
13:03 Tom Charters stop and Highway 1
17:52 Arriving at Salmon Creek Ranch
19:43 Trail prep and tire chains
21:26 80-inch loses power
24:12 Field diagnosis head gasket
26:14 Camp Breakdown Drama
26:41 Diagnosing Blown Gasket
28:47 Copper Wire Bodge Plan
31:45 JB Weld Overnight Cure
33:43 Morning Start And Misfire
36:48 Trail Test And Recovery
38:48 Jeremy Stories And Turkey
40:07 Viral Reel And Merch Ideas
43:54 Mean Comments Readback
48:12 MacGyver Reaction Quest
50:26 Wrap Up And Next Time

Steve Beres and Ike Goss welcome listeners to The Underpowered Hour, share two major Jaguar Land Rover safety recalls (a widespread DC-to-DC converter issue that can cut drivetrain power and affect brakes/lights, and a 2026 Defender fuel-tank defect that could leak or cause fire), then interview Defender Trophy trials finalist Nathaniel Biggs alongside Jenna Fribley about the North American Defender Trophy event near Stave Lake, British Columbia. Nathan describes team-based challenges including knot-tying and tripod skills, a high-lift jack winch task, interviews, a ropes course, a large-group “pencil” coordination game, compass navigation to collect codes, a run carrying a rotopax, night driving, and a group recovery using people power. Day two included vehicle-focused tasks like a wood-pyramid pull, a low bridge build, an off-road course with hole-punch targets, a mudflats trials-style navigation drive, and a tire-retrieval/change challenge. They discuss unclear scoring, strong camaraderie, and Nathan advancing to a New York stage announcement for who goes to Africa, before closing with Destination Defender info and teasing “Headgasket Gate.”

Steve Beres and Ike Goss discuss a Range Rover presence at Milan Design Week celebrating Range Rover Bespoke through a three-chapter installation—“memory and color,” “memory and motif,” and “memory and material”—including films, illustrations, embroidery, soundscape, and a one-off Range Rover Bespoke commission called the “Pearl of Tay,” inspired by the River Tay in Scotland, along with furniture partner pieces. Joined by Jenna Fribley and Liza Beres, they shift to updates on a shop project: building a 1972 two-door Range Rover for desert racing. They postpone an all-female, all-American Dakar plan and pivot to running the NORRA Baja 1000 in late April/early May 2027, citing easier domestic logistics and a more open, party-like event with classic-vehicle classes. They cover rule-book-driven build decisions (carburetion requirements, roll-cage compliance across rule sets, wheel-size exemptions), current roll-cage fabrication progress, plans for a YouTube build series, and challenges keeping the original dash while fitting safety bars, and they ask viewers with NORRA experience to help with logistics and accommodations. They also note plans to run the Rebelle in the fall.

Steve Beres and Ike Goss open with news from the UK about a military Defender towing a trailer that swerves to avoid a car on the motorway, flips multiple times, scatters gear across the road, and injures two soldiers. They then check in live from the SCAR event in Texas with Tom Pickford and the Pollyanna crew, who completed a 2,850-mile trip across the southern United States with their main issue being a snapped fan belt at the Louisiana border; they discuss public reactions, route highlights including Mobile, New Orleans, Cajun country, and Galveston, and the Barbara Toy tribute run and its impact. The episode closes with a Bring a Trailer feature on a refurbished 1994 Defender 90 300Tdi loaded with accessories, heavy rope, and diamond plate, bidding around $12,000.