starts next week, and it's going to be raining cars
for the next six months. But which new models are
we looking forward to? I've got Alex Nunez from
RoadandTrack.Com on the couch today. We're going to talk
about that. That's today on "After/Drive." [MUSIC PLAYING] MIKE SPINELLI: So what are the
cars that are coming up that we're looking forward to? "Road and Track," Alex Nunez,
RoadandTrack.Com? ALEX NUNEZ: Yes.
MIKE SPINELLI: Good
to see you, sir. ALEX NUNEZ: What's up, Mike? MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. Last time you were here, we
were talking about the-- what was it-- the Chevy Code
130R Concept thing? ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. And that whole Chevelle-- MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] Chevelle versus Vega.
ALEX NUNEZ: That Chevelle Idea
that that could happen. MIKE SPINELLI: Yes. But today we're going to talk
about cars that we might actually see-- although-- ALEX NUNEZ: That we know
are coming that we may not have seen yet. MIKE SPINELLI: Exactly,
exactly.
So this is the latest "Road and
Track." We're going to be going on this September issue,
the new car issue-- ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: That you guys
put out last month. So new cars-- this is the season
for new cars. What's going on right now up
through the middle of next year that everybody
has to know-- ALEX NUNEZ: Pretty much.
It starts with the
show season. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: And Frankfurt really
kicks it off for real. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
ALEX NUNEZ: You know,
next week. MIKE SPINELLI: Frankfurt being
the city of lights, is that what they-- ALEX NUNEZ: Right. I believe-- MIKE SPINELLI: City
of headlights? ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: Head lice? I didn't say head lice.
ALEX NUNEZ: No. MIKE SPINELLI: I said
headlights. ALEX NUNEZ: I don't think
you said that. MIKE SPINELLI: But the Frankfurt
show is really the first show of the new car
circuit, I guess they call it.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. Yeah. And because it's the biggest
European show-- MIKE SPINELLI: Yep. ALEX NUNEZ: There's gonna
be a ton of big-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
ALEX NUNEZ: You know,
Euro stuff. MIKE SPINELLI: Exactly. And then the next show after
that is really LA, which is sort of biggish. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah, LA.
LA is biggish. I mean, LA's going to have some
important stuff as well. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. And, then of course, Detroit
is after that.
And then Geneva. And then we go into next year. But the cars-- the ones that-- ALEX NUNEZ: And then the cars
just-- and then all those cars just start trickling out, and
it's just never ending. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
Exactly. But this is the time of year
that everybody starts getting really excited about what's
coming up, and thus, you guys do your new car issues and
all that stuff, so-- ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: Let's talk about
some of the ones that we want to see that you
guys talked about. But I want to mention-- I'm gonna throw one out there.
ALEX NUNEZ: Mm-hmm? MIKE SPINELLI: Alpha Romeo 4C. What's the deal with
that thing? ALEX NUNEZ: It's going
to be fantastic. MIKE SPINELLI: It's gonna
be fantastic. OK.
I'm just going to say-- the problem is that everybody's
talking about-- only going to be a dual clutch,
kind of like the-- ALEX NUNEZ: Porsche 9-- and the turbo-- MIKE SPINELLI: Porche 911 GT3. And the turbo. ALEX NUNEZ: Yep. MIKE SPINELLI: So no manual.
So people are a little
bit pissed off? ALEX NUNEZ: Some people are
pissed off, but it's not going to change how good the
car is gonna be. MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, the reality
is, the dual clutch transmissions-- I don't have the big hangup
about this that a lot of other people have. Yeah, manual's awesome.
But a good dual clutch is really
rewarding to drive. And you can really kick the
piss out of the car. MIKE SPINELLI: That's
the thing. I mean, at this point in the
development of them, they're really good.
I think that the skill of
driving is probably going to be one of those things that
will actually have some bragging rights, eventually,
where people can do a heel-toe shift. ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: You know,
and actually-- [LAUGHS] oh yeah, and I drive
a Caterham, and that's the only-- ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: Car that
comes with manual.
ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: So, of
course, you know. But it'll be more like it
actually will have some power sport cred. So, the Alpha Romeo 4C-- probably won't see
it too soon, and it won't have manual.
But one car that we will see
sooner than that with a manual is the BMW M4. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. So the reason why-- there were reports saying that,
oh my god, BMW is going to go DCT only with this. And our sources pretty
much say that's not going to happen.
And it's because the M3-- the E90 series M3, throughout
its run-- 40 percent of the take rate
of that car in the US-- MIKE SPINELLI: Really! 40 Percent-- ALEX NUNEZ: Was manual. And they only sold 60 percent, I
think, of what their initial projection was. So the ratio is just massive. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: There's no way BMW
is going to walk away from that base of customers. MIKE SPINELLI: No way. I mean, Ferrari was seeing
10 percent take rate-- something like that. 10 To 15 percent take
rate on manuals.
And that's why they were like,
yeah, I don't think we need to do this anymore. ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: And
then there were other performance reasons. I mean for the M3-- ALEX NUNEZ: But for the M4, the
business case is there.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, it's right
there in the take rate for the manual in the current car. So-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah, so maybe it
won't launch with the stick.
But there's no way that car's
not gonna have a stick. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. So we saw it in Pebble Beach. ALEX NUNEZ: Yep.
MIKE SPINELLI: It looks
really, really nice. The funny thing is that
when we posted it-- Jalopnik posted it-- ALEX NUNEZ: Mm-hmm. MIKE SPINELLI: There
was a really mixed reaction to the styling. So in some ways, I think it kind
of splits the difference between the E92 and going back
to the E46 a little bit.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: It's a little
more rounded, but it still has that aggressive front. Now, the one thing I noticed is
the amount of intake space in the front. So that means-- obviously people know
this, but it's not going to be a V8 anymore.
ALEX NUNEZ: Right. It'll be a twin turbo
inline six. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: So imagine--
basically, a monster version of the 435i.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: At the very least. And whatever the number is,
if it's 420 or whatever-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right. Because they were talking about
420, that's the number they always throw around.
ALEX NUNEZ: BMW is just going to
be lying anyway, because I. Think that they wildly underrate
these engines, too. If you've driven the new M6,
or like the M6 Grand Coupe, it's 560 horsepower and it's a
big-- and it's not a light car or anything like that. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
And it's as fast
as a Stingray. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: It's
Corvette fast. So-- ALEX NUNEZ: At least.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. I mean, and it's what-- 4,200 pounds, something
like that? ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. I mean, you're getting
close to sort of Bentley weight there. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
Sure. And it's still quick. So 560 seems a little
bit light. But otherwise, it'll be lighter,
so more aluminum and carbon fiber, right? 220 Pounds or so lighter,
they're talking about.
ALEX NUNEZ: More like, it's
going to be more of a traditional M car, compared
to the current one. And that's not even-- I'm not even trying to throw
dirt on the current one. The current is a sick car. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
ALEX NUNEZ: And it's
a ton of fun. But this is going to be-- this should be really,
really good. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. So they're actually going-- hopefully going back a little
bit, maybe back to what the M car-- I mean, everybody looks at
the E46 as kind of a high watermark in terms of-- maybe not in power, but in sort
of driveability, and sort of driving experience-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's the
perfect Venn diagram of all the things-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
ALEX NUNEZ: That
you would want. MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: And I think this
is a step back in that-- MIKE SPINELLI: More towards
that, which is good. Design-wise, I really like it.
It looks great up close. I don't think the photos do it
much justice, because I took them, and they kind
of suck, because-- ALEX NUNEZ: I didn't see it. I wasn't at Pebble, so I didn't
see it in person. I've only seen the photos.
MIKE SPINELLI: But in person-- ALEX NUNEZ: But I mean-- I like-- I think the 4 Series
looks good anyway. So I mean, this is a really
mean looking 4-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: Which is what
you want-- it's what it has to be, obviously. MIKE SPINELLI: So a lot of
horsepower, turbo charged inline six-- ALEX NUNEZ: Lighter.
MIKE SPINELLI: Lighter. It's going to handle. ALEX NUNEZ: It's going
to handle. MIKE SPINELLI: Is there
anything else we know about it so far? ALEX NUNEZ: Other than-- MIKE SPINELLI: Because
they haven't talked about it at all.
ALEX NUNEZ: No. No, they haven't really. But-- MIKE SPINELLI: Other
than that-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's going to-- there's no way it doesn't-- MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. Also, a footnote to that-- we're also waiting-- although
this isn't definite, this isn't coming anytime soon-- is the M2, which is going to
be the sort of 1 Series M-- the thing that would actually
become what the 1 Series M.
Didn't fulfill, which is-- ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: There weren't
enough of them made. ALEX NUNEZ: Well-- MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: So, we'll see.
I'm not sure-- MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. That's totally speculation
on that one. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. That's total spec-- they'll do whatever they want,
if they see an opportunity to sell a car, they'll make it.
MIKE SPINELLI: I think
that they-- I mean, from what I've
talked to them-- from what I've heard, they're
really-- inside the company, the people that are involved in
M are really excited about doing something like an M2. The business case
has improved. ALEX NUNEZ: But they're gonna
have that 230-- they're going to have a 235i, or they're going
to have an M235i, which might be as far as it gets-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: With that car.
I don't know you'll see a
full-blown M car again. I mean, that M235i is going to
get really close to where it needs to be. OK. MIKE SPINELLI: All right.
So that's BMW. I'm going to throw one car out
here that we're not going to get, because our European
friends are going to be really happy about this. It's the Honda Civic Type
R, the next one. It's going to be a monster.
WTCC racing team inspired,
could be 300 horsepower-- ALEX NUNEZ: The spy shots have
been out there already. MIKE SPINELLI: Yes, true. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: So, you
guys are lucky.
We're not going to
get it so far. But unless-- ALEX NUNEZ: We're not going to
get it because they will never send that body here. MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] That's true. That's true.
There's the body issue too. ALEX NUNEZ: They will never--
it's a totally different car. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah, it is. ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, our type
R would have to be a Civic sedan, or a Civic-- or, more ideally, a coupe.
It's just unlikely. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: We get the Si. MIKE SPINELLI: We do get the Si,
which has no horsepower.
Anyway. So I'm just throwing
that out there. Also, what else? Oh, let's talk Mustang
really quickly. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah.
MIKE SPINELLI: Because that's
another one that we're going to-- it's not going to be out
next year, but it's going to be definitely at the
Detroit Auto Show. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: Most people
think it will be. ALEX NUNEZ: We'll see-- what I understand is, we'll
see the car in December.
It'll be at Detroit. And the Mustang-- I mean, the Mustang is the one
that I'm personally most looking forward to. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: The V6 is gonna-- you're going to have that as the
base car again, you know, 300 horsepower, whatever
it is.
Then you'll step up to the 2.3
EcoBoost, which I think is going to be something
like 350 horsepower. MIKE SPINELLI: Which
is a middle car in between the GT and the-- ALEX NUNEZ: That will be the
sort of step up car, and then the GT is going to be a monster,
because the GT will basically be a Boss 302. Like what the old Boss 302
was is what the GT-- MIKE SPINELLI: Which
was fantastic. But we should mention, right? So here's what-- the solid axle is going away.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: It'll
be probably around the same weight-- ALEX NUNEZ: Roughly the same. From what I hear it's not-- don't look for a big dramatic
weight change. MIKE SPINELLI: The dramatic
stuff will be in the styling, though.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. I mean the new Mustang is going
to be a much more modern looking car, although it's
going to look like-- it's still going to be recognizable
as a Mustang. It's not like they're going to
completely run away from it. But there'll still be
signature elements.
But that front end is going to
take on more of that now corporate Ford look, and it's
not going have, like, the big bumper shelf like the
current one has. MIKE SPINELLI: Well, it's not
going to have those very, very specific cues from
the '60s, right? ALEX NUNEZ: Right. That's over. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: The retro
thing is over. Their same shape is there--
wheelbase, I think, is going to be the same. But-- MIKE SPINELLI: Well, it comes
at a sort of weird time, because a study just came out
recently that baby boomers are actually buying more cars than
people who had-- used to be buying more cars, which were
the 18 to 35 or 30-- 18 to 48, whatever that-- ALEX NUNEZ: Right. And that's where all these
retro muscle cars were completely aimed at from go.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. So now they're going to be-- it's going to be a more
forward-looking design, and you're going to-- I don't know if that's going
to matter for Mustang-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's gonna be more
forward looking, but like I. Said, it's still going to be
very obviously a Mustang. MIKE SPINELLI: I'm really happy,
though, that they are actually doing that
instead of-- ALEX NUNEZ: Where you get
stuck, you can't get stuck in that rut.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: Because, I mean--
what's Chrysler going to do? I mean, what can you do
with the Challenger? MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: Chevy-- they have the front and rear
fascia changes for the '14 Camaros, which-- I've started seeing them
on the street already. MIKE SPINELLI: Oh, yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: And it's
really subtle. So I mean, the next-- it'll be interesting to see
where Chevy brings the Camaro when they move it to the alpha
platform for the next generation car. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: And do
all that stuff.
MIKE SPINELLI: That's-- I think it's probably a good
idea for the brands. I mean, it's so easy to get
stuck in that legacy crap. ALEX NUNEZ: I think Chevy's
not going to be afraid to modernize the Camaro,
because look at the design of the new Corvette. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, that pissed
a ton of people off. People are like, oh my god-- MIKE SPINELLI: That's true. ALEX NUNEZ: It doesn't have
round taillights. People think it's the
end of the universe.
MIKE SPINELLI: OK. So we talked BMW. We got Honda Type R, Mustang. What about Cadillac ATS-V? ALEX NUNEZ: Cadillac ATS-V is
going to be-- it should be really good, because the
ATS is really good.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: And ATS-V will
finally get the engine that everybody-- MIKE SPINELLI: Well,
it's true. ALEX NUNEZ: Wants for that. It's getting the 3.6 Twin turbo,
which the CTS Vsport has, and the XTS Vsport
has now, also.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: So it's
410 horsepower, if I remember correctly. MIKE SPINELLI: Now that's-- ALEX NUNEZ: And a
lot more torque. It's like 150 pounds
more in the XTS.
It's something like 150
pounds more torque at some really low number-- MIKE SPINELLI: It's amazing. ALEX NUNEZ: Low rev number. MIKE SPINELLI: Well, I mean--
because the problem-- I mean, I really like what they
did with the ATS, right? I mean, I drove the
2 liter turbo. I drove the 2 liter turbo-- that's the only one you can
get in stick, right? ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah.
MIKE SPINELLI: That
was really good. The chassis dynamics
are fantastic. The weak spot is the engine. So, correcting that-- I mean, the good thing
about the-- ALEX NUNEZ: The ATS with the
regular V6 is not bad.
I haven't driven the
2 liter turbo. I've heard people say, oh,
it's great because it's a stick, but I've heard other
people say, ah-- MIKE SPINELLI: It's
uninspiring? I mean, I think that to
drive the current-- ALEX NUNEZ: Naturally
aspirated 3.6. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. That's a good engine.
ALEX NUNEZ: It's a good
engine in that car. I mean, that engine in an
Enclave, it's like, OK. Is it a 4 cylinder? What? MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] That's so little. ALEX NUNEZ: Exactly.
MIKE SPINELLI: So-- but twin turbo. I mean, well over
400 horsepower. I mean definitely an M3-- or M4? M3-- well, I guess M3. ALEX NUNEZ: M3.
It'll be M3. MIKE SPINELLI: Right. Because
there's no coupe yet. Definitely an M3 Challenger? I mean, it's going
to get closer-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's going
to be there on power.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, it's
really going to be-- it'll be interesting to see how
the ATS-V versus M3 story parallels the ATS versus
3 Series story. Because people do comparisons
and it's basically-- it goes back and forth
between those two. Now, I can see BMW making this
new M3 good enough that nothing else is going to touch
it, because I don't think BMW.
Wants to deal with any of
that noise anymore. MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] It's interesting. Looking at the new M4-- and even the M3-- and hearing about the
technology of it. I mean, the aluminum and the
carbon fiber and stuff.
They really seem to have taken
it up a level, that whatever Cadillac does, it still going
to be down a level. It's probably going to be
a great car to drive. ALEX NUNEZ: It's going
to be great. Just like-- I mean, the ATS-- the starting point for the
ATS-V is about as good a starting point as Cadillac
has ever had for any car.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, I would
argue that it's true. It's a better starting point
than even the current CTS-V. Had, going in.
MIKE SPINELLI: Cool. ALEX NUNEZ: The current
CTS-V is awesome. And that car-- it's all because
of the engine. That engine is so awesome
in that car.
This is more of a total
package going in. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. All right. So, ATS-V is something
we're not going to see next year either.
Right? Or-- ALEX NUNEZ: I have a feeling-- I think we might see it some
time calendar year '14. MIKE SPINELLI: OK. ALEX NUNEZ: I don't know when
they're going to unveil it. It'll probably be a model
year '15 car, though.
I would guess. Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: All right. So let's keep going.
What else we got? ALEX NUNEZ: We got
NSX percolating. MIKE SPINELLI: NSX
percolating. Has been percolating
for a while. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah.
MIKE SPINELLI: We talk a little
bit about it on another show that we did. But just quickly, V6 hybrid
made in Ohio. It looks really good in the-- ALEX NUNEZ: It does
look really good. MIKE SPINELLI: In the current
concept form.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. And I think that's what the
car is going to look like. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: For the most part.
MIKE SPINELLI: But that's
another one that we're going to have to skip a year. It's gonna be a 2015. ALEX NUNEZ: Right. Which means we will see it at
some point in calendar 2014.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. So one of these auto shows
we've been talking about, it's going to-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's going to
show up at one of these. They will have a production
NSX somewhere along there. MIKE SPINELLI: Exactly.
ALEX NUNEZ: And the other one to
look out for is going to be the Corvette Z06. MIKE SPINELLI: Corvette Z06. There you go. All right.
So OK, let's talk two things. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: Corvette
Z06 and Camaro Z28. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah.
So here's my theory. I know-- now, "Car and Driver" had a
report this week where they say that the Z06 is going
to be a twin turbo V8. MIKE SPINELLI: Hmm. ALEX NUNEZ: And it might get a
different name, and there's other stuff going on.
I think that the Z06 is still
going to get the L S7, because I think that's why the Z28 got
the L S7 to begin with, because is there enough demand
to keep that engine production going just for the Z28, which
is about as niche a car as there's going to be? Will it be awesome? Yes. But that is not going to be-- MIKE SPINELLI: So it's a
carry-over platform for that-- By the way, the engine is
fantastic-- that's one of my favorite V8s-- ALEX NUNEZ: Oh, it's great. It's fantastic. MIKE SPINELLI: Ever created.
I mean, it's fantastic. So, Z28 will have that. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: And then-- but the next car-- the car
that we don't know about completely is the Z06, Z07-- people are talking about.
ALEX NUNEZ: The Corvette
Z06 we will see-- I'm guessing-- at Detroit. And they will also formally
unveil the race car. The C7R will be unveiled
at the same time. MIKE SPINELLI: At
the same time? ALEX NUNEZ: Yes.
MIKE SPINELLI: So are they
going to call it Z06? Are they going to
keep that name? Or are they gonna jump
into these 7s-- ALEX NUNEZ: I don't know. I don't know. I mean, technically-- MIKE SPINELLI: Because
they've never-- I mean, this is like, it would
only match that it's a-- ALEX NUNEZ: The current Z06,
I think if you get the performance package, I think
that option code is called Z07 or something like that. I mean, if you go on
Corvette forums-- and feel free to flame
away, guys.
But people that refer to Z07s
now are basically talking about the Z06 with the
competition package with the carbon ceramic brakes
and that stuff. MIKE SPINELLI: But I
don't think they will change the badge. ALEX NUNEZ: I wouldn't
run away from that. MIKE SPINELLI: Because-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's been since
C5 now as that sort of top performance model.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: And I say that even
including the ZR1 in the conversation, because the Z06
is clearly the most extreme track focused one of all. The ZR1 is completely insane,
but the Z06 is-- MIKE SPINELLI: The Z06
is the better car. It really is.
ALEX NUNEZ: The Z06-- that's not afraid
to punish you. MIKE SPINELLI: No. No, it's not. No, it's not.
ALEX NUNEZ: And think about--
again, think about the starting point. You have a lighter Corvette
going in-- a better car in every measurable
and tangible respect, according to
everybody that's driven it so far. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: So, that's a
pretty exciting thing.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. It'll be cool. It'll really be interesting-- because, don't forget, the great
thing about the Z06 was also the aluminum chassis. ALEX NUNEZ: Right.
MIKE SPINELLI: The chassis
was different that the base chassis. ALEX NUNEZ: Right. MIKE SPINELLI: Now the base
chassis is just as good. ALEX NUNEZ: Yes.
MIKE SPINELLI: And that's
just chassis-- frame. I mean, whatever-- ALEX NUNEZ: Everything. No. MIKE SPINELLI: The whole
structural components.
ALEX NUNEZ: The new Corvette
is such a better car. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. So it's on par or better
than the current Z06. ALEX NUNEZ: So drop that
monster engine in.
MIKE SPINELLI: I mean it's
going to be amazing. ALEX NUNEZ: It's going to be-- MIKE SPINELLI: All right. So Z28-- where does that-- OK, so that's got the same-- ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. I think that is launching-- MIKE SPINELLI: That's a
limited edition model.
And that's-- ALEX NUNEZ: Pretty much. I mean, it's a stripper. It's going to be really
fast, it's gonna be-- MIKE SPINELLI: Track focused. ALEX NUNEZ: Totally
track focused.
I mean, I love the attention
to detail in stripping that car. It has halogen lamps,
because they're lighter than the xenons. There's no sound insulation. AC is deleted by default.
You have to-- MIKE SPINELLI: Right. You have to add it as
an option there. ALEX NUNEZ: And the only reason
it has the radio is because they need a speaker
for the door chime. MIKE SPINELLI: That was
a great detail.
It was like, oh yeah. How are we going to
get a door chime? Well, I guess we gotta
have a radio. ALEX NUNEZ: And then
it has that engine. I mean-- MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: That's gonna be
so much fun to drive. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. That's going to be-- the Boss 302 Mustang-- ALEX NUNEZ: That's going to
be the Boss 302 killer. MIKE SPINELLI: It Is.
It is. Although once the Mustang comes
out and everything is as good as the Boss 302
was, perhaps. ALEX NUNEZ: Well, I mean,
this is the arms race. I mean, think about it.
You're at the end of the current
Camaro for all intents and purposes. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: It's got a couple
years left, and then it'll be time for the new car. MIKE SPINELLI: That's true.
OK. So, is that it? What else have we got? I mean, obviously you guys have
been adding-- if you go to the Facebook page,
we'll put a link up down in the comments-- have been adding a lot of cars
that they want to see. I'm going to just read off
a couple, because-- Oh. Fiesta ST? ALEX NUNEZ: Fiesta ST.
I didn't
drive it, but our editor, Chris Cantle,
just drove it. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: He likes it more
than the Focus ST. He said it's more fun.
MIKE SPINELLI: It's
the car to have. It's the one. ALEX NUNEZ: From what I'm
told, it's the one. MIKE SPINELLI: OK.
Let's burn through these-- oh. OK, another one-- the new Mazda Miata and the
Alpha Romeo Mazda Miata Spider collaboration. ALEX NUNEZ: Yes. MIKE SPINELLI: So, that's
looking out further.
That's one from Facebook. I can't wait to see that. ALEX NUNEZ: And I saw somebody
else mentioned-- there was one sort of left field
car in that list, too. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
Well, there's the Supra. ALEX NUNEZ: I'll believe
it when I see it. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. I'm going to have to wait until
Lexus puts out their coupe, and maybe if Toyota
brings over a version.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: They don't have
a platform for it right now. ALEX NUNEZ: They don't have
a platform for it. There's not even a turbo
charged FRS.
So they don't have a turbo 86,
and there's no evidence that that car is ever coming here. MIKE SPINELLI: Right. ALEX NUNEZ: So, would it be
great for there to be a Supra? Yes. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: Like you said, I'll
believe it when I see it. MIKE SPINELLI: OK. Also, we did mention with
the Miata, lighter-- sort of more stripped down. Kind of-- they've been letting journalists
drive that Super20 concept that they did.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yes. MIKE SPINELLI: I think they've
been doing that because they want people to feel what
the next Miata-- the benchmark of the next
Miata's going to be like. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. That Super20 concept
has a huge amount of miles on it now.
MIKE SPINELLI: It has
30,000 miles-- of journalist miles. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. Those are not-- MIKE SPINELLI: It's
pretty insane. ALEX NUNEZ: Those are
not soft miles.
MIKE SPINELLI: No, those
are not soft miles. And it's funny. I drove that a year ago, and
Travis from Jalopnik just drove it again-- ALEX NUNEZ: At Pebble. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
At Pebble. Davy from Auto Week had
it two years ago. It's like for two years
they've been driving-- I mean, they don't
have anything else that's that exciting. And it's such a great-- ALEX NUNEZ: Oh, it's
great looking.
MIKE SPINELLI: It's
such a great car. ALEX NUNEZ: It has all
the things that you want that car to be. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. Exactly.
It's got the torsion bars
that are bigger than the current ones. It handles better. I mean, it just feels like
the Miata should feel. It's the reason why people
mod their Miatas.
ALEX NUNEZ: Right. I love the fact that that's a
show car that they built that has now-- that they just are
continuing to keep running and putting in as many people's
hands as possible. MIKE SPINELLI: Exactly. All right, real quick.
I guess whatever the
BRZ STI Subaru is-- ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. Listen, that whole thing was
ridiculous when everybody went bananas when those
images came out. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: And that's all that
car's ever going to be.
I think-- what is it-- 500 cars? Like all those TS
cars always are. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah, yeah. That's another one that
remains to be seen. ALEX NUNEZ: You're not
going to see that.
You're not going to see that
at like LA or anything. What you'll see in LA
is probably going to be the new WRX. MIKE SPINELLI: Well, those
sort of have to start coming out. ALEX NUNEZ: It is time now
to see those cars.
So WRX, STI, the
current ones-- it's time to go. It's time to go. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah,
it's time to go. ALEX NUNEZ: Great cars, but-- MIKE SPINELLI: Time
to upgrade those.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yes. It's time to upgrade. MIKE SPINELLI: OK. The smaller Z car-- the Nissan-- ALEX NUNEZ: The Sub-Z? MIKE SPINELLI: The Sub-Z.
The
Nissan below the 370. That's still like in the
ether somewhere? ALEX NUNEZ: I would
love to see that. I mean, I'd love to see
that because the Zs get expensive now. I just drove a Z Roadster
and it was 51 grand.
MIKE SPINELLI: What? ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: 51 grand? ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: That's like
the $102,000 Boxster.
ALEX NUNEZ: Right. Well, I mean, that's
easy to do. You could probably get
that $102,000 M3 too. MIKE SPINELLI: Right.
ALEX NUNEZ: I mean, if you're
talking about Porsche and BMW, it's like engineered to be able
to cost six figures if you want it to. MIKE SPINELLI: Not
hard to do that. OK, here's one. The Cherokee Trailhawk V6.
ALEX NUNEZ: I'll tell
you something. I was so-- when I first saw the first
pictures of that Cherokee, I. Was like, oh, that's
a disaster. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah.
ALEX NUNEZ: And then at New
York, that Trailhawk-- I personally like the way the
Trailhawk looks in person. MIKE SPINELLI: You know what? It looks much better
in person. ALEX NUNEZ: The Trailhawk
does. And listen.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah,
the Trailhawk does. ALEX NUNEZ: You have to get
the Trailhawk, because the Limited is not good looking. It's just not good looking. But the Trailhawk with the matte
black, you can get that sort of light blue, and it has
the gray bottom, and it looks jeepy and cool.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. And you can tow your Caterham
to the track. ALEX NUNEZ: You can tow your
Caterham to the track. Or tow your Caterham
to the shop.
MIKE SPINELLI: Or to the shop. [LAUGHS] All right. One more. The Volkswagen Mark 7 Golf R.
ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. MIKE SPINELLI: Which we haven't
seen the GTI yet here. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. So, I mean, the GTI we're
not going to see-- it's going to be several months,
probably closer to a year before we see that.
MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: And the Golf
R will come after that. But the current Golf R is so
much fun it's ridiculous. MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] It's ridiculous.
ALEX NUNEZ: It is
ridiculously-- MIKE SPINELLI: It's
the car to have. ALEX NUNEZ: It is. It's funny. MIKE SPINELLI: It's the
city car to have.
If you're anywhere where you
have to be practical sometimes and just go balls out
some other times, that's the car to have. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah. So in Ann Arbor, I don't know if
they still have the Golf R, but they had a long term Golf
R, and there's a long term Focus ST. And so the last time
I was there I drove both.
And yet the Focus ST's
engine is killer. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah ALEX NUNEZ: But the Golf
R is so dialed in, man. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: Yeah, the Focus ST
will dust it, I think, if you line it up.
MIKE SPINELLI: Probably, yeah. ALEX NUNEZ: But the Golf R is
really, really just a really nice car to drive. MIKE SPINELLI: It's
a great car. I mean, they just
keep upping it-- ALEX NUNEZ: It's like almost
boringly good.
MIKE SPINELLI: Right. That's the thing. I mean, obviously, you drive the
older one, they feel like there's more stuff going on your
hand and all that stuff. But the new ones-- they're just so good.
They're just so dialed
in and great. But there you go. Alex Nunez-- ALEX NUNEZ: Thank you, Mike. MIKE SPINELLI: Those are the
cars we're going to look forward to, and you can see
them on RoadandTrack.Com Obviously, your gig.
Pick up the new issue. When is this coming out? ALEX NUNEZ: It should
be out any day now. MIKE SPINELLI: Yeah? ALEX NUNEZ: I would say
sometime this week. So if you have an iPad
subscription, you'll get that issue before it hits
newsstands.
MIKE SPINELLI: Cool. ALEX NUNEZ: iPad subscribers
get it first. MIKE SPINELLI: Oh. In other words-- ALEX NUNEZ: Please subscribe
to the iPad edition.
MIKE SPINELLI: [LAUGHS] Please subscribe. Cool. Thanks, man. That's "After/Drive"
for today.
We'll see you guys next week. Later. [MUSIC PLAYING].
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