Indy’s Fastest Decade

Welcome And Show Preview

Don Armstrong 0:06

And a pleasant Saturday morning to you, and welcome to the Inreal Time Car Talk Show. We are so glad to have you with us and welcome. Just ahead, author Rick Schaefer, and his book, An Incredible Decade of Speed at Indy. It's a new track record. It's a great book. We just had a little conversation with him before we went on the air, and great guy. You're going to really enjoy this interview. Jeff has uh car culture. His feature this week is going to be on four-wheel steering. Yep. Do they even make it anymore? Mars has off the beaten path, carting around the Houston area. That's K-A-R-T-I-N-G, not carding. Howdy, along with Mike Out of This World, Mars. We always need more Jeff Zeken. I'm Don Armstrong. So glad that you could join us for our live version of the in-real-time car talk show. All right. Jeffrey, how have you been?

Jeff Dziekan 0:58

Good, good. We're like the uh the uh black shirt gang this week. Uh I had a uh wardrobe malfunction. My blue shirt was interfering with the internet, so we all went black. So there you go. But good, it's been a good week.

Don Armstrong 1:15

That's what I heard.

Jeff Dziekan 1:15

Yep. Hey, went to uh uh Space Center Houston this past week, and it was awesome. If you if you're in Houston or if you come to Houston, you need to go see it. It is incredible. Yeah. It really is.

Don Armstrong 1:26

Mr. Mars, uh, you survived the rains over there?

Mike Marrs 1:29

Yes, we did. We're starting to dry out a little bit.

Don Armstrong 1:32

Well, that's got uh gonna change again here.

Jeff Dziekan 1:34

So is it is it is it the whole county's going dry or just your city?

Mike Marrs 1:37

No, just this this area.

Jeff Dziekan 1:41

The world's going dry over here.

Don Armstrong 1:43

Well, let's get to our guest here, shall we? He's

Rick Schaefer On Indy Speed Decade

Don Armstrong 1:45

been uh sitting around doing nothing, waiting for us to start the show, and let's just get right to it. His name is Rick Schaefer. And uh the book is it's a new track record, decade of speed, indie 62 to 72. What a great decade. I don't know how you came up with that, but talk about a decade of speed. Let's talk about a decade of change. You go from front engine to rear engine, and uh my god, everything really changed in that decade, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Well, actually, there's a story behind how I came up with this idea. It isn't my idea. Uh though when I my first book came out in 1999 on the first 20 years of the cart indie car series. And um after I came out, a photographer friend of mine named Steve Stotty said, Hey, if you think you want to do another book, I got a great idea for you. And I said, Well, what's that? And he said, Well, think of the year 62 to 72 and all the interesting cars, drivers, and teams that came through during that era, and I thought, that's a great idea. Well, unfortunately, Steve passed away in 2009, but I thought if I get this book uh written and get it published, I'm gonna dedicate it to Steve. That's exactly what I've done.

Don Armstrong 2:50

Well, you know what? The first thing that comes to my mind when it comes to that decade, Andy Granatelli, the STP team.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

That yeah. He was, you know, he was actually in 62, he brought the Novi back for the first time since the 50s. And uh they didn't make the race that year, but uh that's where we start out with no eyes, and then he brings the you know, he had the first successful tournament cars, and uh of course that Davio orange color they painted their cars. That was you know, they stood out. It was just he was an incredible showman, and it was it was neat that you know he was a major part of this era.

Don Armstrong 3:22

So well, I'll never forget the team, the team colors, those white kind of jumpsuit things with STP stickers all over them.

Mike Marrs 3:30

Yeah, yeah, everybody had the STD STP stickers on your toolbox and on your notebooks and binders everywhere.

Jeff Dziekan 3:37

They looked like this was this was wearable. They looked like gas station attendants.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

They used one, actually, that was the kind of short sleeve cover all that the European teams were wearing, but they just put their logo all over it. Andy himself, he had a regular suit made with entirely covered yes.

Jeff Dziekan 3:53

Sure did.

Don Armstrong 3:55

So um what what so okay, so we understand how how you got to write the book, but this isn't your first book from what I understand.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Right. This is my fourth book on racing. So I I after the current book, I got to co-author the autocorse history of the 500 with Donald Davidson, and then my most recent book was uh I also be needed to do a story, uh but this was nothing but nondescript stories that weren't widely known because so many of the 500 books have the same stories over and over again, same photos. So then I I uh had an outfit called uh Coastal A One, published uh uh 500 on the Indie 500. And then uh, of course, this is this new book is some of these people from England, wonderful people. They never publishing limited, and uh it was my first uh effort with them, so I've been very happy. They put out a beautiful product. They I've had some of their books before. I have a racing book collection of about 500 copies.

Don Armstrong 4:48

So wow. 500 copies. So, in other words, we'll all get one.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

And uh well, this there's been 500 different titles, actually.

Don Armstrong 4:56

So oh, I see 500 different books. Yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

That's my library, that's my research center.

Don Armstrong 5:01

So well, hey, we're always looking for a freebie. Hey, you're a media guy, you know about that.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Oh, yeah.

Life As A Racing PR Pro

Don Armstrong 5:08

As a matter of fact, a little bit of background on Rick. Um, he used to work for a uh very well-known newspaper there in Indianapolis, and he was also part of an indie team. Tell us about that, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Well, uh, when I decided it was time to leave my newspaper career, I had a chance to be the public relations director for uh team called Bettenhausen Motorsports, and this was run by Tony Bettenhausen. He was the youngest son of a uh same name driver, who was you know such a standout in the late 40s and 50s, and uh uh I I worked uh six years with him, and uh for the years my driver was uh an examined driver named Stefan Johansson, who's now gone to be the manager of uh people like Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenquist. And uh we had a year with a French Canadian driver named Patrick Raponte, and then my last year with a team we had this uh wonderful Brazilian working named Castro Mavis. And I always ask people who are this guy. So he we found a nice friendship from that, and and when I my previous book, he actually did the forward. So naturally, when I did this next book, I had to get another full-time layer, so I I uh was very blessed to have AJ Foyt do that, and uh, his publisher said, you know, he's the only driver still living. It was in all those races that I covered in that book. So that kind of put the deal over the top, I think.

Don Armstrong 6:26

Well, you know, I'll tell you, I had the opportunity to actually have lunch with him one time several years ago, and uh, you know, once you take off the anger and the competitive thing that he's got going on, the aura around him, he's really a nice guy.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Yeah, I you know, the the thing about Mr. Foyt is is how you approach him. And uh I being a rather shy person, uh, I decided the best way was to go through the public system. That seems to always work. Anytime I've dealt with him, he's just been you know extremely you know cordial and accommodating. And uh actually I'll tell you a little story. Uh I was doing I used to write for a now defunct magazine called uh Vintage Motorsport. And uh I was doing a story on the 64500, and so eventually I had to talk to him because he won the race. And uh we were at the Houston Indicar race, and so uh he was finishing up breakfast, so I go on to his coach and I said, sure, you you have come on back, and he said, Do I know you? And I said, Well, yeah, AJ, I used to work at the star with Robin Northern. He goes, Well, we've been in friends for 30 years in Hamlet. That just broke the ice, had a wonderful interview with him.

Don Armstrong 7:34

So Well, uh, I was I was quite surprised, pleasantly surprised. Uh really a nice guy, and um I I thoroughly enjoyed the interview. So let's talk to your

How Indy Jumped Toward 200 MPH

Don Armstrong 7:44

talk to you about your book. Um so 62 to 72, 10 years at the ND500. And um what what really surprised you that you would point out to anybody that reads your book, hey, be sure and check this section out.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Well, actually, overall, is if you look at 1962, there were still skeptics that thought it was impossible to go to 150 mile an hour until Pernelli Jones goes out and breaks the track record. And two years later, Bobby Marsman had a practice lab at 160, so they jumped 10 miles over what was slowly impossible. By the end of my era 72, they're nudging the 200 mile an hour market. I mean, it's just the thing, was it? It was just uh in those 11 races, you had the track record broken nine times. So, Tom Carney, of course, the track announcer got to utter that thing was it's a new track record. And uh, you know, it was just really quite an era for technology. Uh we went from all front engine to rear engine cars uh by 1969. Uh by 1970, every engine was turbocharged, and there were no limits. Uh they were getting more than a thousand horsepower, you know, by the early 70s, and then uh the aerodynamics came into play, and of course, with that we also had slick tires for the first time. So, you know, things like that. That's what really made this so special. The different things that happened and uh the people who you know came and went.

Don Armstrong 9:06

So the it it makes me think of the question what do you think of today's cars and today's technology?

Why Faster IndyCars Became Safer

Don Armstrong 9:13

I mean uh uh uh 240 miles an hour? Seriously? Somebody's gonna get killed.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

Well, interestingly, they've gotten safer as they've gotten faster. Uh I know it doesn't sound like that'd be right, but uh, you know, they've they've come up with a lot of ways that part of the main thing that helped them safety-wise was when they went to the ground effects, they put the fuel tank behind the driver, so suddenly fire's no longer an issue that it had once been. You know, you see a fire in a car, it's usually the oil reserve tanks uh ignited. And uh, you know, the the materials, the carbon fiber is much better than the aluminum or than the honeycomb aluminum they use for the tubs. Uh, you know, the helmets are better, the fire suits are better. And of course, uh, you know, they was the first to use this, what they call the safer barrier, which is a uh really, you know, you wouldn't think that it's cushioning the the effects where they're when they're hitting the wall, it's not like they're hitting solid concrete, not you know, no give anyway. So um, but um they've had a knock on wood uh since 1982, they've had uh uh three fatalities of indie car drivers at the speedway. So we're going on like a 23-year-old. The last guy that was was uh killed was uh in a test, uh uh promising looking until he ran out that finished seventh the previous May. This was the fall of 2003, and they haven't had a fatality for indicator drivers since in Indianapolis anyway. And this is this tractor, you know, total like 43 drivers lost their lives there over the years.

Don Armstrong 10:46

So who was the grumpiest driver that you ever interviewed?

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Oh boy, that's a good question. I I I think I was pretty lucky. I didn't really run into you know a lot of terror, you know, but the question is, you know, when you talk to this person, I mean, um uh my first autograph was Alancer. He was a rookie and I was a little 12-year-old kid, and he talked to my brother and I like we were bored. And uh when I went to the star and ready to do my first Alancer feature, I was warning now, listen, you know, he he doesn't see you as a fan like he did when you were a kid. So, you know, he he doesn't he didn't like reporters. I I think he got burned by a couple of people, so uh, you know, it was not the fun interview I thought it was gonna be, but uh really been really lucky that I haven't had any, you know, tattoos with drivers. I I think I tried to be careful about when to approach them, and uh, you know, in the case of AJ Foyt, you know, you you're best served on some of them are better when you go through the public assistance that microphone in their face and uh bothering so right.

Penske Improvements And How Indy Was Built

Don Armstrong 11:55

Well, I I I find it fascinating. Well, tell me about uh the changes at the speedway uh now that uh the boss has taken over that speedway, and and uh there have been quite a few changes.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

Yeah, you know, we're still in the early part of this. Uh he was really kind of hampered because when he brought the track and COVID came on. So I'm not really sure all the things he's gonna do. Uh now uh I'm 73 years old and and I I last five years I've I've gone to the race, not as a journalist, but as a fan again. And my brother and I, we sit on the top row of what they call the VISPA stands and turn four. So that's 44 rows up. And this year they put handrails on the aisles. And boy, for for us, that was a you know a wonderful little thing. You wouldn't think would be a big deal. It's a big deal to your average fan. But uh you know, Roger Penske, of course, he's noted for his uh immaculate-looking cars and and uh crew guides and transporters. So uh, you know, the speedway wasn't really decrepit when he bought it, but you know, you can just see he's really making extra strides to make it even more professional looking facility. And I'm biased, I think it's the greatest racing track in the world.

Don Armstrong 13:06

So I've been there a couple of times, and I have to tell you that uh thoroughly impressed, and I've been to a lot of racetracks around, but there's something extra special about Indy, and uh, you know, it's a great big huge long track, and if you're gonna go pick a seat, well, good luck because you're not going to see the entire track like so many are today, and that's the way that they're built. But uh when this thing was built, they didn't have all of the in-field stuff going on like they do today to block the view.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Well, actually they had a lot more trees in that building, you think.

Don Armstrong 13:37

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah, and and the other thing was the grandstands were just single level, so it wasn't until after the war they put the the you know the double level grandstands on uh the front straightaway, and then of course the Vista stand I referred to, they're in all the turns now. They're really a lot higher than the other ones ever had been. So uh, you know, my top row is 44, and then they some of them have an overhang with two more rows of seats.

Mike Marrs 14:00

Yeah, so the track had to grow around the track, if you will, because the the track, the race surface, is pretty much like it was, other than you know, being fixed up and maintained. But it sounds like the track itself grew around that.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

Well what happened actually was when they were planning the track, uh they wanted to build a five-mile-long circle. And so the property they bought after they they they hired the engineer after they bought the property and and they get in together and they show him a map that's got their property, and it was 328 acres of uh farmland, so it was flat. And uh uh they went in, they told him this is what they want. Well, problem was the the configuration of the property was a mile long going north to south, half mile wide, east to west. So it's like you do the math, can you put a five-mile circle inside a half-mile rectangle? Of course, you can. So this engineer seized the moment because he could see these guys are ready to sell this property and start looking elsewhere. And uh he laid out a three-mile rectangle. That's the thing, it's not an old, it's a rectangle of nine-degree round corners. And uh it was a three-mile track that took up all the room, but then he realized he had not left any room for uh um uh grandstands. And he said, You did say you're gonna have races, right? And they said, Yeah. He said, Okay, I need to shorten the track by half a mile because we need to put the grandstands on the outside of what would be the front straightaway, and that half mile will give me enough room to do that, and uh so that's why the track is shaped like it is, and of course, you know, the grandstands, I don't think they envisioned having them all almost all the way around the entire track now. Now the golf course came around in the late 20s, and uh what was funny was they originally were going to build an infield road course, but Carl Fisher, the the main driving force among the founders, decided let's make this an aviation automotive facility. So for a while, you actually had a running uh runway that went diagonal between turns one and three, and a large building inside of turn two, which we call a hangar today, they call it an aerodrome, it's the biggest in the world at the time. So and all that got demolished when the great aviator Rick Eddie Rickenbacker bought the track and puts you in a golf course.

Book Plug And A Surprise Photo

Don Armstrong 16:06

Well, a fascinating story. And listen, we could we could sit and talk to you for at least a day and pick in your brain about Indy and uh the Indy 500 and uh the cars, the drivers, all of that. But the new book, it's it's a new track record, 1962 to 72, an incredible decade of speed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The author, Rick Schaefer, uh, and we certainly appreciate the time that you've spent with us today, Rick, and and we wish you the best of luck. And hey, uh call us anytime, because we we can talk to you about the book all we want, but you know, we we also like a fellow journalist, and uh and uh know that you've got tons of stories to tell.

Jeff Dziekan 16:46

We could meet him at Indy next year.

Don Armstrong 16:47

Yeah, that's right. So we'll meet you there. You can buy us a hot book. Okay, we'll we'll we'll we'll look forward to that. Rick, thanks so much again. Before you leave, I did want to mention to you this is a tabletop book. Father's Day is coming up, and as you mentioned off the air, Rick, that uh go to uh any just Google uh the the book or Rick's name, and uh I'm sure that there are probably a dozen different places that you can get the book, and it would be a great one to have uh to give away to dad.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Well, thank you for the kind words. And and can I say one quick thing before we leave?

Don Armstrong 17:21

Please, please do, yes.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Okay, uh, you were mentioning a four-wheel steering car. Yes. Well, Mickey Thompson brought one in the speedway in 1967, and there's a picture of it on page 153 of the book. So well, there's my segment.

Don Armstrong 17:38

I know I'm kidding. All right, Rick. Well, thank you. Thanks again. We really appreciate you, and best uh best of luck to you in the future, and we'll talk to you talk to you down the road.

Mike Marrs 17:46

Thank you, sir.

Break And Where To Listen

Don Armstrong 17:48

Thank you. Hey, just ahead, Jeff's car culture, four-wheel steering, as we just mentioned. Mars has go-kart tracks around Houston and his driving destinations feature. All that and more coming up right after this break on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show. The Texas Max dining experience is defined by Lupi Tortilla, your destination for Texas' best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, Lupi Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Lupi Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I town in Houston. Visit any of the Loopy Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location. Start your loopy experience with quiz of flammiato and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita. Right on famous loopy beef and chicken tomatoes or pepper shrimp crochet, or a fruit or vegetarian entree and finish with this grumpy blande for dessert. Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-tested. The ingredients always fresh. Loopy tortilla is pretty good. Apple or Android In Wheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads. Whether you're on the road or at home and searching for a fun car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try. Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture, mic's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time. Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music. In Wheeltime.com has a list, so check us out. That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show. I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning, eight to eleven AM Central on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheeltime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartPodcast, Podcast Addict. Tune in, Pandora and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.

Seven Underrated Racetracks Worth The Trip

Don Armstrong 19:59

Time now for seven racetracks worth visiting.

Mike Marrs 20:03

So we looked at seven. I mean, we started looking at racetracks. There's racetracks all over the state, all over the country, different kinds, everything. But are they still open? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So so this is more of uh seven underrated U.S. racetracks that are worth visiting if you really decide you just want to go. Some people go to baseball parks and football stadiums, go to racetracks. So one of them we want to talk about is Road America. Now, this is the classic natural terrain road forest. Yes, it's four miles. It goes through the hills and forests of Wisconsin. You got a lot of long straights, so you get a lot of speed up, technical corners to make them slow down and try to maneuver around through the lamps. But the thing about this track is there's a lot of fan freedom. There's a lot of places the spectators can run big areas of the track to see it. And because of the elevation in the hills and stuff, you can get up and you can kind of see it. And then uh it's special, it's considered one of the purest road courses in North America. Now, the another one I wanted to mention is the Virginia International Raceway. This one has a lot of elevation changes, which is what makes it kind of work really different from everybody else. You got uh a lot of places you can get the speed, but they've got flowing corners. It doesn't have the really long, straight speed uh straightaways to where you're gonna get up the maximum speed that you're gonna get in a lot of people.

Don Armstrong 21:23

And what's the name of that place?

Mike Marrs 21:24

Virginia International Raceway. Now it's called VIR. That's kind of the abbreviation for it. I've heard of that, but it's Virginia International Raceway.

Jeff Dziekan 21:34

I've heard of VIR.

Mike Marrs 21:35

And uh it's considered one of the better driving tracks that's in the country. And it because people go out there, they think feel like it's like a more like a country club track where everybody's just it's not like real media heavy whenever people go out there. Then the other thing is going up to uh the Weather Tech Raceway at Laguna Seca.

Don Armstrong 22:00

But weather tech is sponsored. They're paying them a lot of money to have the name of the topic.

Mike Marrs 22:06

And if you don't look at any topic, it says for weathered weather tech. Anyway. But it's one of the things that it's famous for is because of it's got a coarse crew turn with a sudden downhill left-right sequence that drops several stories in elevation. So you really kind of drop down on it. I've never driven that track. I've seen the time races on it. But uh it's uh in the hills near Monterey, California. Got a lot of scenic views, so you get a lot of exciting racing. Fans can sit on the grassy hillsides and watch them, which is one of the things that makes these tracks a little different. You're not parking with your butt in the stands on all day. You can actually get out and enjoy some of the outside of it. Um another racetrack is going to be the Steabring International Raceway. It's one of the oldest and toughest circuits in North America, originally built on an old World War II fairfield. So it's a whole kind of concrete surfaces that can get kind of rough and uh makes things really challenging for the cars and the drivers because it's gonna eat on the tires pretty hard as well as the car. Now, this is where you're gonna find the 12 hours of steavering sometimes. I mean, that's a race that you can go there to see, and it's more like old school racing, so a lot of people like there going to that gritty atmosphere, uh that racing tradition, and you can actually camp there. So if you're really interested in that, it's a really great place to go. It's bumpy, it's brutal, and one of the toughest tracks for the drivers. The another one, uh the barber motorsports park. Oh, yeah, that's a good one. Wait, let's get the middle honour. Uh-oh. Where did Middohano go?

Jeff Dziekan 23:44

Here it is.

Mike Marrs 23:46

Yeah, Tinohano. Midohano is a technical layout track, and it um flows to the wooded hills and elevation changes. And it's called major series like indie card series there. It's kind of a small track, but it's considered to be very technical. We'll go to Barber. Barber. Barber Barber Motorsports Park is considered one of the most beautiful racing facilities. Why did it in the world? It's got a lot of grants, a lot of sculpted places around the circuit to kind of make it look really nice. Kind of a botanical garden area. It's got smooth pavement, blowing corners, so they get a lot of racing for motorcycles there, and the cars alike. Kind of um actually also has the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum on the site. So you get a combination of the two, including the indie car Grand Prix of Alabama. Rhodent Lana is the last one that we're gonna talk about right quick. It's known for its fast flowing line, dramatic elevation changes, and uh got a lot of high speed, steep downhill run. The uh instant sports car championship season runs through there, and they have again fans like the uh classic feel of it, being able to sit on the grassy hillsides, being able to get to the areas to where you can see the cars really well. And that is seven racetracks that uh are much underrated and uh offer opportunities to go and see some different kinds of racing and different feels to the track.

Don Armstrong 25:17

You know, you know. And a happy 4th of July to you. Time now for this hour's car review.

2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee Verdict

Don Armstrong 25:24

Had a chance to drive the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Whew. This thing has got an interior like you wouldn't believe. Here are the available trim levels: the Laredo, the Laredo X, the Laredo Altitude, the Limited, Limited Reserve, 85th Anniversary Edition, and the Summit. I happen to have the L for long summit 4x4. This is a standard SUV, seat six in this particular configuration in three rows. You can get a bench seat in the second row if you want, but that does away with the console, and I think I would prefer the three-row all buckets. Anyway, fifth generation, it was all new in 2021, so it is five years old as far as the design is concerned, but is updated this year. Exterior features, one of the best looking SUVs in the market, in my opinion, with a modern seven-slot grille, typical for Jeep. Conservative design throughout the body, squared off wheel openings, contributes to its off-road demeanor. The rear hatch and lighting, very familiar, traditional look. What I liked about it, the overall design, very conservative, but it's ready to go, and I think that if you like conservative designed SUVs, you're gonna like this one. What could use improvement? It is ready for a more modern exterior update. Now, some bits and pieces have been uh actually redone for this particular year, so it has been updated, but ready for a little bit more modern design, I think, overall. Interior highlights, one of the most beautifully designed interiors on the market. Infotainment screen is not so intuitive as the outgoing model. Overall, seating is roomy and comfortable on the inside. Available second row screens will entertain the passengers like your thirteen-year-olds that you're toting around. Cargo? Well, it's uh third row up still allows for some storage back there. Not a lot, put the third row down, and you got tons of room. What I liked about it, pretty much everything on that interior. Quality materials, fit and finish, design elements, it's all there. What could use improvement? New operation system for the infotainment is not as intuitive as the old one. I like the old one a little bit better. You'll get used to it. Uh it took me a while, and um it's just a little bit different and more modernized. It has a 2.0 liter Turbo 4 with a start-stop feature on it, which they could do away with, but helps the gas mileage. Horsepower, get this. 324 horses out of this little two-liter turbo four. Torque 332, eight-speed automatic transmission with a tow rating of three tons, 6,200 pounds. That's significant. As far as miles per gallon, 20 in the city, 25 on the highway for combined to 22. I got 21.1 miles per gallon, a lot of highway driving I did, over 413.7 miles. What I liked about it, well, on paper, the turbo four with 324 horses looks enticing. However, the turbo lag can be significant in certain scenarios, and it grabbed me for several times while I was driving it the week that I had it. And um, if you're not an aggressive driver, maybe you're good with it, but I think it's something for Jeep to look into. Ride and handling. The air ride suspension is a definite must-have. Makes it smooth as glass as far as ride and handling is concerned. It is an option on lower levels on this top-of-the-line model. It is all there included in the price. What could use improvement? Nothing as far as ride and handling is concerned. Now I didn't take it off-road. If that's what you're looking for, uh only the Land Rover can compete, in my opinion, uh, and it's a lot more expensive. Uh, this is an off-road vehicle. Jeep knows how to do off-road, and maybe this is right up your alley. Okay, here comes the pricing. Base trim price, $62,195. Now remember, this is top of the line. Price is tested, $72,770. That's a lot. Base model price, however, you can get into one of these for $40,415, that's more like it. Now the competitors include the Hyundai Palisade. It's at $39,435. That's where it starts. Also, the Toyota Grand Highlander starts at $41,860. All very competitive there. And then the Honda Passport jumps up to $44,950 as the starting price. So there are three, but there are more, obviously. But those are the three that I picked for you to give you some comparison. And that's my review of the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Next week, I'll review the Land Rover Range Rover Hybrid. And I think that you're gonna like that one as well. And that's this week's car review.

Final Thanks And Sign-Off

Don Armstrong 30:48

I'm Don Armstrong. Thanks for joining us. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.