Two Seats, Big Grins; Three Rows, Bigger Payments

Opening And Review Setup

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Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast. Alright, so let's do this hour's car review, shall

2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata Design

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we? Had a chance to drive the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miyata. Final assembly location, Hiroshima, Japan. Yes, home of the atomic bomb. Available trim levels come in sport club grand touring and 35th anniversary edition. If you're watching, what you're seeing there is the 35th anniversary edition. This is a two-seater. It's classified as a two-seater. And uh exterior changes from the last model year. Well, it is part of the fourth generation that was originally introduced in 2016. This is the best looking Mazda MX5 Miata that has ever been in existence, as far as I'm concerned. I love the peaks on the fender wells up front. Notice how they it's almost a Corvette-like look up there. Long hood, short deck, classic sports car shape. Crisp top of the front fender, low-to-the-ground grill, uh bulging rear fenders to carry the rubber back there. Unique taillights fit its unique overall design. What I liked about it, everything. Uh I love the fact that the shape of it, including the grill, all proportionate. Nothing is overdone, but what is there is really outstanding, I think. Interior highlights. Uh love your passenger because it's very tight confines on the inside. And six footers, beware. Oh boy. Modern infotainment system and instrument cluster. Um clean look dash design with no passenger side glove box. The tiny storage area is behind and between the two seats. It's interesting. You can't actually look in there if you're driving. You just got to kind of feel around in there and hopefully you remember where you put whatever it is that you put in. Trunk room is tiny. One overnight bag, and that is all. What I liked about it, the easy-to-use top, uh, it's a one-click thing for the top, and you put it down manually right behind you, and the same thing to put it up. There's no electric top or nothing like that. It's manual, but it

Interior Space And Usability

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works so well, it's unbelievable. Uh the manual shifter that you see there, it is butter. It works like butter. I have never driven a car with a shifter like that. It's so smooth, unbelievable. Um could use improvement? Well, it is what it is, it's tiny. I remember when they came out with this car and they sent all the press out there to debut the car. And um everything about it, there is a name that they used, and it's a Japanese name. I can't remember what it is. For instance, like the steering wheel, where the steering wheel is placed in the car, it's dead centered up in front of the driver. If you will notice your car offsets, they're offset the steering wheel is a little bit offset one way or the other to accommodate the mechanics underneath the hood. Anyway, just a bit of trivia. Two-liter four-cylinder engine turns out 181 horsepower, 151-pound feet of torque. But let me tell you this that is all about the fact the power to weight ratio. It car weighs nothing. And at 181 horsepower, it feels like it's got a great big block, Chevy, 400 horsepower motor. Well, it's because you're in a small environment and you're low to the ground. And the car doesn't weigh anything. Yeah, till rating, no, there's none. Hall rating, it hauls butt. How about that? Uh, manufacturers set up as far as uh miles per gallon is concerned. 26 city, 34 highway for combined at 29. I got 34.5 miles per gallon out of 453.1 miles. What I liked about it, power to weight ratio is awesome. What could use improvement? This is a purpose-built sports car that can cut a rug around a road course racetrack. And if you want to go and have some real fun, get yourself one of these. What I liked about it, handling on this thing is awesome. What could use improvement? It may be a bit too stiff for those looking for a highway cruiser because that it is not. You

Driving Feel, Shifter, And Power

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will cruise the highway, there's no doubt about it. But the ride, well, it's a sport car ride. Here's the pricing. Base trim price is $37,485. Price is tested, $37,435. Now, I don't know what happened to the $50 there. Just by looking at it, I guess they want you to say, I like the car. Base model price. You can get in one of these for $29.530. Yeah. So here are the competitors. The Toyota GR86 starts at $30,400. Its cousin, the Subaru Brz, starts at 33210. Well, the other competitor, if you want to call it that, the Mini Cooper, is $28,950. That's my review of the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata. Love the car. As far as a six-footer person is concerned, it's a little tight.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

I was going to say, so when you go to an amusement park, you have to be taller than this line to get into that car. Yeah. If you're and with the car, if you're taller than this line, you can't drive it. Yeah. Well, I will tell you this.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

So I have my my buddy that I work with, uh Matt. Matt got in it. Matt is a little heavier set than I am, and by golly, he could fit. Now his knees did touch the dashboard, but he can make it work. So I'm telling you, if you really want to, for no other reason, go out, take a look at it. I think that you'll really have a good time looking at the car if you don't want to buy it.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

And a step up from that would be what the Mazda 3 to be a little bit larger vehicle kind of. I guess.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

But it's like you lose the whole two-wheel thing, though, when you do that.

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You lose the performance. Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email. The address here is info at inwheeltime.com. We are back after this quick break. Stay with us.

Fuel Economy, Ride, Pricing, Competitors

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Fitment For Taller Drivers

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2025 GMC Acadia Denali Overview

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I'm talking about the 2025 GMC Acadia.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

No, you're going to be talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

No, I

Sponsor Breaks And Show Plugs

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am talking about it now. The Denali all-wheel drive version of this vehicle. Now, this is a mid-size crossover SUV. It comes in three trim levels: the Elevation, which has an all-wheel drive variation to it, the AT4, and the Denali. And we happen to have the Denali with the all-wheel drive. Now, this is the third generation of the Acadia. It was introduced in 2024. So 2025 is kind of some tweaks, some updates on it. And we happen to have a seven-passenger model. I found out I haven't seen it, but in the elevation, you can get an eight-passenger seating arrangement on it. Out front, you're going to find rain sensing wipers, LED lighting, you got a panoramic sunroof, you got roof rails on it, you got an auto sense power lift gate that works pretty good. And then you got a 22 by 8.5 inch aluminum wheels on this vehicle that look really well. Now that is the optional package. And we also had the trailering package, which I'm mentioning that here because that's part of what we'll get to in just a little bit. The interior, we had the leather seating, which is a denali. That's what you expect. Front seats are heated and ventilated. The second row are bucket seats in this model. Again, if you happen to get the eight-passenger seating arrangement, that would be a bench seat. Then we had the third row, is a 6040 split with the one-touch fold option. When you lift up the gate, there's a button right there, you push it, and everything starts folding. And it's really, really cool if you're trying to put cargo in and you don't think to fold it down before you get to it. Up front, we had the 15-inch display. Now that's standard in this vehicle. That's where you're going to find all your convenience controls, the nav, your uh surround vision cameras to see around all the vehicle. We also had the 11-inch driver

Interior Tech, Seating, And Cargo

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information center right in front of us. Got a lot of different ways that you can configure that to however you want it, to where you get the information you need about the vehicle. The rear camera mirror works great. It's got a really good picture on that. And I've come to like that a whole lot, and I miss it when we don't have it. Uh this unit happens to have a rear air conditioning system on it, too. Bose 16-speaker audio system will fill this thing up with plenty of sound. Now, up front, the only engine you're going to get in this is a 2.5-liter turbo. It has 328 horsepower, it's 326 pound feet. Four cylinder? Yes. Four cylinder. 326 pound feet. Maybe losing eight-speed automatic transmission. Did you lose your place? Well, no, I was looking for something else. When you said that, I said, well. Anyway, it's rated to tow 5,000 pounds when properly equipped. Now that's where the trailer package comes in with this vehicle, so that you can get to that. Now the EPA says you should be looking for 19 on this in the city, 24 on the highway, and combined 21. Now, I drove this vehicle 138 miles the days that I had it. And I got 18 miles per gallon as an overall average on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

You only drove it 100 miles? 130. Ooh, okay, 130.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Well, my cross-town commute is four miles.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

So why didn't you drive it over here last week?

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Well, because I had to drive the truck because we were bringing gear and loading gear up and stuff and all that.

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Sorry, I didn't mean to sidetrack you. Go ahead.

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But but out on the highway, I did push it out on the highway some, and it was surprisingly quiet for that big of a vehicle. Sometimes you think, well, it's big and it's open and it's going to have a lot of echo and a lot of noisy. It's got responsive steering. Uh is very responsive. It has the performance suspension on the Donali.

Powertrain, Towing, MPG, And Drive

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So it not only is it roomy, but it's very responsive and it doesn't wobble all over the road. Now, uh base model price on a vehicle like this, $42,900. The base trim price is $55,900. And MSRP, as we got it, was $64,410. Oh my god. So it's it's kind of up there when you look at the Ford. The Kia Telluride, which I happen to like that vehicle as well, $36,390. So at the base trim level, but again, you're talking about this is the Donali, so it does have a lot of extra things on it, a lot of extra touches that are considered upgrades in it. But if you're looking for that size of vehicle, I was really impressed. My wife was impressed with it. Uh you know, it's something that you should look at. Heck yeah, if you want to go to the $2,000. It almost feels like you're you're driving the bigger Tahoe. To me, it's like it's like a I don't want to use the term downscale Tahoe. It's a little bit smaller than a Tahoe, but to me, it's the luxury is there.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

That thing that you're driving today, what is that thing out there? The one that traverse is it Traverse? Yes. The Traverse. That's another one. You pulled, yeah. You pulled up in that, and I thought, well, that's a suburban. Oh no, it's a Tahoe. So they're making these vehicles, they're changing the body style, yeah, and they they look really good, and they look a lot bigger than the original version of that thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Well, I think absolutely all of them have gotten bigger slowly but surely, you know, over the last 10 or 12 years, everything has, but they just they look they're taking on more of a luxurious trim

Pricing And Segment Comparisons

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to me.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yeah, they are. That's exactly that.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

That that's because I was looking at that one, and I'm thinking, you know, you see all these guys in the black suburbans and all their black suits on TV, you know, and I thought, why wouldn't you drive this? You know, it's it's big and it's nice and four-door. Easy to end it up. Anyway, that's uh the 2025 Acadia Denali.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

All-wheel drive. What does Denali mean? It it means it's a mountain. Yeah, it's it means the high one or tall one. It's an Alaskan name. Yep. I Googled why you're why you're doing it.

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Drawbacks to owning a classic car.

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Yeah, owning a classic car can be a dream come true for many enthusiasts, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. So the first thing that comes to mind is high maintenance costs. Owning a classic car often involves higher maintenance costs. Parts can be rare and expensive, and finding a mechanic experienced in working on it is challenging as

Classic Car Ownership Drawbacks

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well. So regular maintenance tasks such as oil changes, brakes adjustments, carburetor tuning, and all of that is costly. So you've got high maintenance costs. Limited availability of those parts. Finding replacement parts for a classic car can be difficult due to their age, Don, and rarity. Many parts are no longer in production. Owners may need to source them from specialty suppliers, salver jars, or other collectors. Get on the network and find out what's going on that way. So parts are a problem. Lack of modern safety features, classic cars lack that safety feature parts of the of the interior and why you want to do that. Airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, and advanced driver assistance systems are no longer available, and some of those just non-existent. The absence of these can be more dangerous to drive, especially in the event of an accident. So beyond that, how are you going to store it? Well, storage requirements, proper storage is crucial for preventing a classic car's condition. Preserving, I should say, a classic car's condition. These vehicles often require a climate-controlled environment to prevent rust, mold, and other forms of deterioration. Rot. Rot, and you've got animals, creatures, and rodents and things like that, depending on where you store it. So be careful of that. Invest in specialized storage if you can. Next one would be reliability. If you've got reliability issues, uh Is that a Renault? That's a Renault. It's a Renault. It used to be a Renault, and I think it's like scrap now. Uh reliability of classic cars can be unpredictable due to their age and the potential for worn and outdated components. Vehicles may experience frequent breakdowns, especially if you're on tour, you're on a road, or you're you're at a car function and you break down. How embarrassing is that? The next would be vulnerability to theft. Classic cars can be attractive targets for thieves due to their high value and demand. And the ease of stealing one. Exactly. Owners need to invest in additional security measures such as alarms, tracking systems, store uh secure storage area facilities to protect their investment. So uh beyond that, Michael, uh, you've got high depreciation risks. You've got lack of comfort in those vehicles. Are you driving it? Does the seat have have cushion in it? Are you taking a date out for a nice cruise? Uh the difficulty of finding a mechanic. Do you know a guy? Is it a guy that knows a guy, or is it a neighbor, or something like that, or a professional reporter?

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Or are you going to be the moron know it all?

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Poor handling. I mean, you got the proper tires, you got the proper suspension, are you going to take it on long runs? Those are all to be considered as well. Legal and registration aspects. How do you register it?

SPEAKER_02 19:50

How do you insure it?

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Yeah. Well, yeah. So all of those can be an issue, so be careful because hot rod season's coming up once we get past the first. Of the year, it's no holes barred. Let's get it done again.

Personal Story: Resto-Mod Reality Check

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Well, I have to tell you that I when I decided that I was going to get in the show car business and uh get the 77 Corvette that I had driven for two, three years off the road and give it a million-dollar paint job and you know redo the interior with only 35,000 miles on it. Ouch. I was looking for a car to drive. Well, my moronic self decided that he was going to go for the 56 or 57 Chevy pickup truck half-ton that was basically a resto mod. And one of the mechanics over at Richardson Chevrolet had dropped a small block V8 in it, had an automatic transmission, three-speed automatic transmission in it, and had been painted not quite root beer brown, but as dark brown. You don't don't ever buy a brown car. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

I had a cutlass that was brown. It was cat, it was chestnut brown from Cadillac Paint. Chestnut brown. And it was gorgeous. Okay. Well, you stay with that thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah, you keep that. Brown car. I'm not buying any brown cars ever again. It's kind of like buying a green race car. Ain't gonna happen. Anyway, I bought this thing. So it's you know, had all the bugs worked out of it. Baloney, it did not. It was a total pain in my side. I spent more time keeping that car truck running for me to get back and forth to work in than I did with the Corvette. Yeah. It was a pain. But you wanted it. It was it was at the time. Well, it looked cool. It was a dream car at the time. No, it wasn't a dream car. It was a fill the gap car. I've had a couple of those.

Banned, Crushed, And Forgotten Muscle

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Banned, crushed, and forgotten muscle. That's right. So not every muscle car made it to glory. Some were banned before they even hit the streets, others were quietly crushed after their moment had passed. So this first one up on the block is a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL1. The 69 ZL1 was technically a production car, but just barely. Chevy built just two of these powered with an all-aluminum 427 V8 designated for racing. The engine alone added four grand to the price, doubling the cost of that standard Corvette and that year make model. Too expensive, too aggressive for the public roads. The ZL1 faded into obscurity.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Well, it didn't fade that much because you got it on this thing.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Well, both examples survive, but they're uh it they're in private collections and not used. So, next one 71 Ford Torino King Cobra. Ford's response to the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Super Bird was the Torino King Cobra. Sleek, fastback, and radically sloped, nose, designed for NASCAR. That's ugly. Who only three prototypes were built before NASCAR changed the rules after they built them and said no more, no more of that. Uh with the program scrapped, the King Cobra never reached production. The prototypes were kind quietly shelved, and the 429 jet engine silenced before they can make the headlines. It's a museum piece. 65 Pontiac Catalina 2 Plus. I remember 421 high output. I remember these. I love that car. Pontiac's Catalina 2 plus 2 is built to move, especially when equipped with a 421 high output engine, making 376 horsepower at the time. Though it was a full-size coupe, it had quarter mile performance that rivaled mid-size muscle cars, but overshadowed by its GTO sibling. So it's a little bit smaller on the GTO side, but that's a beautiful car. Plus, it's a ragtop. That's good. Next one we're going to go to, Mike, is the 71 AMC Matador Machine. The machine. AMC planned to follow up with the Rebel Machine with a more aggressive Matador version in 71. The idea was to carry over the machine's 401 V8 and the graphics, but marketing didn't back it. They didn't like it. A few prototypes were made, but the project quietly died before mass production. What's left of the Matador machine concept is mostly photos, paperwork, and a few scattered parts. No one completed, no, no, no one completed cars have survived, uh making it one of the strangest EC.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Wait just a minute. That's a late model Tahoe back there in the back. So somebody's got that there.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Somebody's got that there, but that's just what I can tell you.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Okay. Maybe it's a photo shop. It could be. Uh 1966 Fairlane GTX prototype. This Fairlane uh was a Ford prototype created to bridge the gap between the Mustang and the full size.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

So what are the valve covers that have shot through the roof the hood there have been? What the hell is that?

SPEAKER_03 25:22

They're loose bolts. I think it's been recalled.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

No, but if you think about if you think about the the later models of the Roadrunner and stuff, the head hoods. Not like that.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

That's really near that tall, but I mean it wore a unique badging interior trim, reported uh reportedly tested a few suspension tweaks that would later show up on the GT and the Cobra models. It never intended for production, but after a few developmental changes, it was reportedly destroyed. What makes it interesting is how the little photographic evidence remains. Uh one of these cars you hear about, engineering's performed executives, all that good stuff. Uh no one knows where it went. What so that that is a new explorer or something? Yeah, it's an expedition reduction. There you go. Uh 73. Somebody has that car. 73 Pontiac Transam SD 455 with an aluminum block, or as they say, aluminium block. SD was super duty. Super Duty 455 is already a rare piece of Pontiac history, but there's a subset of prototypes that took things further. A handful of pre-production cars were fitted with experimental aluminum blocks for weight savings and better heat disput uh distribution. Only a few were ever built, and most were destroyed after testing. None were sold to the public. Uh rumors persisted about one surviving car at private hands, but nothing has been confirmed. That's a pretty car. I like that car.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Well, that would be easy to

Closing Sponsors And Show Wrap

SPEAKER_00 26:46

do. You could hide that all aluminum V8 underneath the hood. Yeah. Even though it was just a regular trans am at the time or a Camaro or Firebird, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

All the externals.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

And there's companies that make the retro. They'll take a new Camaro and they'll make it look with the old body styling and stuff. It's still new, but they'll make it kind of retro looking. That's no fun.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

I had an aluminum block car one time. Uh it was the lightweight, I understand, but it it always had a heating problem. You had to be careful that you didn't cook the engine because it just didn't take much to heat it up.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Well, you're probably using the mechanical fan in the front there of the motor. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

1963. Oh, oh yeah. They didn't have electric fans too. So it was, you know, I can see why they tried it, but uh didn't work so good.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

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