Wheel Bearings

This week both Sam and Nicole had the 2026 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy although in different colors.
Nicole has had several first drives to report on including the Kia K4 hatchback, refreshed Honda Pilot and Honda Prelude. Congress voted not to kill the mandate for a drunk driving disable system while Tesla has decided to kill the Model S and Model X and Hyundai is ditching the Santa Cruz. Rolls Royce is working on an electric Cullinan and Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a next-generation S-Class. Ineos tweaked the steering on the Grenadier and Genesis has a high-performance off-road concept the X Skorpio.
Chery is launching an electric mid-size pickup in China for just $18,300 and Mary Barra isn't sure why Canada is going to let people buy cheap Chinese EVs. Use of hands-free Super Cruise and BlueCruise is growing and people are willing to pay for it while Tesla robotaxis are crashing more often than human drivers. Finally we answer some listener e-mails and Nicole talks with Honda sales chief Lance Woelfer.
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Links
2026 Kia K4 Hatchback Road Test and Review | Autoweb
2026 Honda Pilot first drive: The family hauler gets even better
Car ‘kill switch’ rule divides GOP
Tesla is killing off the Model S and Model X | TechCrunch
Rolls-Royce priming electric Cullinan with dramatic new look | Autocar
The 2026 Ineos Grenadier’s Steering Sucks A Bit Less And Its Electronics Suck A Bit More - The Autopian
GENESIS UNVEILS OFF-ROAD X SKORPIO CONCEPT; NEW CONCEPT CAR STRATEGY
China Just Got an $18,300 Electric Pickup That Puts the U.S. Market to Shame
GM CEO 'Can't Explain Why' Canada Would Welcome Chinese EVs - Jalopnik
Ford Drivers Logged 264 Million BlueCruise Miles as Comfort With Autonomy Grows - Autoblog
Hyundai Santa Cruz faces early end with larger pickup planned - Automotive News
Tesla's own Robotaxi data confirms crash rate 3x worse than humans even with monitor | Electrek
The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class: Refined in every detail.
Robbie rides the Honda Motocompacto

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At CES 2026 Sam and friend of the show John Voelker sat down for a conversation with Giovanni Lanfranchi, CEO of Zeekr Technology Europe to learn more about the Geely Group's approach to product development

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Unfortunately, Robbie had a migraine this morning so it's just Nicole and Sam. Nicole has been driving the latest Toyota Prius with AWD in New Hampshire snow and Sam had the Cadillac Lyriq Signature Sport AWD in Michigan winter weather.
Volvo finally dropped all the details on its new EX60 midsize electric crossover including the missing door handles and touchscreen vents. Tesla has moved the safety monitors from some of its "robotaxis" to a following vehicle. Tesla also killed off Autopilot and moved lane centering to its subscription only full self-driving. GM is moving production of the next-gen Buick Envision to Kansas and the current administration in Washington will no longer seek criminal penalties against businesses that remove diesel emissions devices. Chinese automakers now have 1/5 of the Mexican market and may soon do the same to Canada. Subaru is launching a lower priced base model of the WRX that keeps the 271-hp turbo boxer. Rivian is driving its manufacturing validation R2s across Route 66 and might, maybe, hopefully put some switches and knobs in future models. Finally, a dealer in Michigan is asking nearly $70K for a 35 year old Toyota pickup.
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Links
The car that changes the game – meet the new, all-electric Volvo EX60 | Volvo Cars Media Intl
The Tesla Robotaxis Roaming Austin 'Without Safety Monitors' Are Accompanied by Cars Full of Safety Monitors
Tesla finally kills Autopilot in a bid to boost FSD subscriptions | The Verge
GM to move production of China-built Buick SUV to U.S. plant
Rolling-Coal And Emissions Cheating Devices Are No Longer A Criminal Offenses In Donald Trump's America - Jalopnik
Don’t Hate — eCVTs Are Genius Transmissions!
Led by BYD, China’s cheap EVs, cars take over Mexico’s streets as tariffs take hold
2026 SUBARU WRX BRINGS BACK THE AFFORDABLE RALLY-INSPIRED SPORTS SEDAN STARTING AT $32,495 MSRP
Route 66 roadtrip in R2 - Rivian Stories | Electric Vehicle Adventures
If You're Willing to Pay $70K for a 35-Year-Old Toyota Pickup, Get Some Help
Rivian May Be Giving the R1S a Smarter Tailgate—and Bringing Back Buttons - Autoblog

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We're back and this week all voices were recorded all the way through the show. Sorry again about last week. Nicole lucked out and had the Land Rover Defender Octa during some serious New Hampshire winter weather and Sam had a Porsche Macan 4S Electric with winter tires during a Michigan snow storm.
Ahead of the Detroit Auto Show this week, Ford previewed the new Mustang Dark Horse SC taking the place of the former Shelby GT500 and the Bronco RTR that's been breathed on by Vaughn Gittin Jr. Sam spokee with Mustang color and materials manager Sarah Watson and Dark Horse SC chief engineer Arie Groeneveld. Chevrolet dropped some details on the acceleration capabilities of the Corvette ZR1X and it is insanely quick off the line. Honda is ending production of the current Acura RDX while it prepares a new hybrid replacement and it has also developed a lightweight camper that can be pulled by a CR-V.
Alfa Romeo brings the refreshed Tonale to America sans the plug-in hybrid and drops the Hornet. Nicole and Sam talked with Stellantis head of North American brands Tim Kuniskis and the Jeep Gladiator will live on for another generation. Canada has signed a trade deal with China will lower tariffs on Chinese EVs north of the border and imported vehicles have become significantly more expensive in the past year.
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Links
Ford’s GT500 Successor Arrives As The 2027 Mustang Dark Horse SC – Wheel Bearings
Born in the Desert, the Bronco RTR Is the Fun High-Speed Racer That Won’t Break the Bank
What's New for 2026: Alfa Romeo Tonale
America's Quickest Production Car: Corvette ZR1X Does 8.675-Second ¼-Mile, Sub 2 Second 0-60
Next-Generation Acura RDX Will Go Hybrid
Honda Unveils Base Station Prototype: A Lightweight Towable Travel Trailer with Modular Design, Smart Technology & Clever Packaging to Democratize Camping
Canada wants to be 1st in North America to build EV with Chinese knowledge: senior official | CBC News
That Dodge Charger Got a Hemi In It? Only If It’s a Hellcat.
That New Car Is About $6,400 More Expensive Than Before, Here’s Why

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Unfortunately, the audio is a bit weird this week, Robbie's audio stopped recording after 26 minutes so there are some gaps, but most of it is there.
Nicole is back and she drove the new 2026 Subaru Outback Premium. It doesn't look much a like a wagon anymore, but its still a Subie through and through. Sam had the Honda HR-V AWD EX-L and Lexus UX300h, two very different compact crossovers.
Lots of news this week with both Sam and Nicole attending CES. Nicole spoke with BMW about the new iX3 and learned about the Tensor robocar. Sam went to the Nvidia keynote to learn about their new world driving model Alpamayo that debuts in the Mercedes-Benz CLA this quarter and is coming to Lucid later in the year. Lucid plans to have eyes-off driving in 2028 and brain-off in 2029. Ford is also bringing eyes-off driving to the new universal EV platform in 2028. If Afeela ever actually starts selling cars they may have brain off around then along with a second model that that they showed at CES. Aptiv's new Pulse sensor could make auto parking a lot faster. Volvo is teasing out its new EX60 and Stellantis is killing off all of its North American plug-in hybrids. Sam went for a ride in a Zoox robotaxi while he was in Vegas. We've got more listener suggestions for Nicole's car buying journey and Sam has a conversation with Glen de Vos, CEO of Microvision.
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Links
NVIDIA Announces Alpamayo Family of Open-Source AI Models and Tools to Accelerate Safe, Reasoning-Based Autonomous Vehicle Development
Lucid Gets Nvidia Driving Model, L3 in 2028
All Jeep and Chrysler Plug-In Hybrid Models Are Officially Dead: Exclusive
AFEELA Prototype 2026
Kodiak AI and Bosch Partner to Scale Autonomous Trucking Hardware
Ford's Simple Vision for Smart Tech: Make It for Everyone
Aptiv PULSE™ Sensor
Walk-Around of the Pre-Production Afeela 1 at CES 2026
The new Volvo EX60: best-in-class 810km range and charging as fast as a stop for fuel and coffee
250000-Mile Champions: Commuter Cars That Last The Longest

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