Wheel Bearings

We're back with a regular episode with Sam driving the Acura TLX A-Spec and Dan expounding upon the  . Last week Sam spent a couple of days crossing the heartland in a Cadillac CT6 with his hands mostly off the steering wheel. Along the way, it seems like everyone from vacuum cleaner maven James Dyson to Ford CEO Jim Hackett was talking about building EVs with GM in the middle. Advertising Inq...

Navigant Research senior analyst and Wheel Bearings co-host Sam Abuelsamid delivered a keynote presentation on the ADAS (advanced driver assist systems) and Autonomous driving landscape at the TU-Automotive ADAS to Autonomy conference in Detroit on October 2, 2017. Here's the audio of the presentation.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.co...

This week Dan and Sam have both recently driven the off-road specialist from Ford Performance, the F-150 Raptor. It's got visual presence and a great engine, but would your humble hosts actually want to own one? Sam has also driven the Hyundai Elantra Sport, but unlike the manual transmission version Dan drove a few weeks ago, this one had the seven-speed dual clutch transmission. Volvo has re...

The guys return after a week away with Dan getting his turn at the Kia Niro while Sam tours in the Lexus LC500. We review the highlights of  the Frankfurt Motor Show plus the hideous BMW X7, discuss what the NTSB had to say about a fatal Tesla crash, ponder stolen VW diesels and marvel at the creativity of Mazda's engineers. We also answer some really old voice mails. Advertising Inquiries: ht...

Sam tells us about driving the Acura NSX for a weekend, and we also discuss hatches warm and hot. The Hyundai Elantra GT Sport is the warm one while the Honda Civic Type R is on-boil. Speaking of hot, we finish up by discussing the partnership Ford and Dominos Pizza have just announced so both companies can learn more about autonomous logistics and customer behavior. Advertising Inquiries: https:/...

The guys are back with a regular episode wherein we drive sibling vehicles from Korea, the Hyundai Elantra Sport and Kia Niro FE. Sam was wiped out last week after a whirlwind trip to San Francisco for the City of Tomorrow symposium hosted by Ford. While there he got the chance to talk with Bryan Salesky, one of the most experienced software engineers working on automated vehicles. Fiat Chrysler i...

Sam is recovering from a redeye flight, but we’ll be recording the next episode soon. In the meantime, we’re sharing recordings made during the New England Motor Press Association MIT Technology Conference. Held annually at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this year’s theme was Lighter, Stronger, Faster. This week, we’ll present the first two panelists: Doctor Jody Hall, Vice President o...

This week, Sam is again driving a Mazda Miata with brilliant steering while Dan fights the steering in the Ford Edge Sport. Another Hespen Rally is in the books and Sam goes off on a tangent about what happens to engineering development vehicles. Mazda announces the first production HCCI engine for 2019 and one of Uber’s biggest investors sues former CEO Travis Kalanick and guys try to give some a...

This week Dan takes his turn in the Mazda Miata RF while Sam does a road trip to the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars in the Mercedes-AMG E43. While at MBS Sam talked with Nvidia's director of automotive, Danny Shapiro, heard Mazda SVP Robert Davis extol the virtues of internal combustion and saw his friend Bob Gritzenger struggle with EV charging infrastructure in n...

This week Sam is in the slightly quicker Civic, the Si sedan, Dan stays on-road in the off-road Jeep Compass and the guys delve into fixing diesel Volkswagens, regulations for automated driving and whether anyone will ever make any money on self-driving software. Also, Waze comes to Android Auto, the end of big cars and a contemplation on how to fix Lincoln. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircl...

This week Sam has driven Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid and compares the latest Mazda Miata to the original. Dan spends the week with a very different kind of convertible, the Mustang GT. When the new Nissan Leaf arrives this fall, it will have e-pedal for strong regenerative braking and ProPilot Assist which is automated but not self-driving. Before some listener questions, the guys dive into the latest pl...

This week Sam and Dan discuss the merits of the Subaru Impreza vs the Mistubishi Outlander Sport, the Merccedes-AMG GLA45, the all-new 2018 Honda Accord, the Aston Martin Valkyrie and a preview of the 2017 Concours de'Elegance of America.  Don't forget to join the Hespen Rally if you are in Michigan on August 6, 2017. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: h...

As we head into the second half of 2017, Dan and Sam have a bunch of stuff to discuss including spending time with the Chevrolet Bolt and the air conditioning capacity of the Mazda CX-9. In the news topics, Tesla responds badly to IIHS crash test results, Volvo adds electrons to its full lineup and sales of the Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq reflect the changing character of the automotive market as a...

This week Sam drives a couple of big American sedans, the Buick LaCrosse and Lincoln Continental and Dan samples the Mazda CX-9. This devolves into a chat about Chris Lattner and working with/for Elon Musk and using rental car companies to service fleets of autonomous vehicles. Then Sam goes all analog with a visit to the Great Race stop in Ypsilanti, Mich. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle...

This week we talk about Travis Kalanick stepping down from Uber, the JD Power Initial Quality Scores, and a bunch of your questions. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week we talk about a diesel powered Jaguar XF, a BMW 5 Series that so good it's boring, the big shuffle at Uber, whether car makers will be the tier 1 suppliers to the tech industry for automated driving and answer a whole bunch of listener questions including some background on Sam's engineering career. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://re...

This week, Dan and Sam talk about driving the BMW 530i, Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit, Ford Escape Platinum and Acura NSX. Then they dive into how a printer patent case might impact the future of automated driving, the Acura NSX racing program and insuring Teslas. Guest: Art St. Cyr, President Honda Performance Development Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https:/...

This week Dan and Sam discuss lots of listener comments and questions throughout the show. Dan has spent the week with the Toyota Tundra and advises a listener to look elsewhere for their hauling needs. Sam has the new Chevrolet Equinox and also discusses his new acquisition, a 1990 Mazda Miata. In the ongoing Uber saga, former Google engineer Anthony Levandoski is now also a former Uber engineer...

This week Dan and Sam discuss driving the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, hauling decking materials with the new aluminum bodied Ford F250 Super Duty and hauling ass in the Shelby GT350. In the news since the last episode, Lyft will be testing Waymo's minivans in addition to Chevy Bolts, Theresa May wants to ban internal combustion engines by 2050 and the first two salaried job losses are anno...

On this week's edition, Dan and Sam discuss whether Fiat might have a better Miata than Mazda with the 124 Spider and whether midsized pickups like the GMC Canyon Denali might be too compromised to be truly useful. Volkswagen has some interesting new ads aimed at attracting buyers to the new Atlas SUV and the brand in general as it tries to recover from the diesel emissions scandal. Sam expoun...

The latest rumor about Fiat Chrysler is that Jeep and Ram will be spun off as their own brand, whatever that means. We discuss how that might work and what it may mean for the rest of Chrysler. Apple is still in the autonomous vehicle game, too, and we discuss how the company has shifted its focus. Finally, we talk about how law enforcement is trying to figure out how to deal with autonomous cars...

We wrap up highlights from the 2017 New York Auto Show including an all-new Lincoln Navigator, Buick Enclave, SuperCruising Cadillacs and aero-vectoring Lamborghini Huracans. We also discuss a Tesla AutoPilot lawsuit and modern turbocharged engines.  In the time gap since we last recorded, Dan has driven the Genesis G90 and Lexus RX450h while Sam has been through the aging Infiniti QX50 and the st...

In episode 20, Dan ponders what to tow with the massive 910 lb-ft of torque available from the redesigned 6.6-liter Duramax diesel in the 2017 Chevrolet Silverado HD 2500 while Sam swaps the BMW 530i for a 330i. Buick has shifted gears with the new 2018 Regal, ditching the trunk in favor of a five-door hatchback or wagon/crossover and Hyundai Motor Group has launched two distinctly different vehic...

This week Dan and Sam drive the 2017 Toyota Sienna AWD and BMW 530i and talk about what happens when a run-flat tire loses pressure. Then we talk about Tesla's market value and why it ranked so low in the new Navigant Research Automated Driving Leaderboard Report. It's going to take decades before the newest technology displaces all the existing cars on the road. In the meantime, there are...

Farmers in the heartland are turning to cracked software from Eastern Europe for their tractors, there's a new crop of manufacturers participating in Formula E, the Piech drama continues at Volkswagen and Porsche, and it's surprisingly easy to trap an autonomous car. Plus Ford Focus RS, Ram 2500 Power Wagon, and Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.   Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...