"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThis week, we talk about the2019 Subaru Forester, whichwe got to drive at our track.And Waze and GoogleMaps are finallycoming to Apple CarPlay.And then we answersome of your questions,next on Talking Cars.And we're back.I'm Keith Barry.I'm Jon Linkov.I'm Mike Quincy.And we're going to startright off with news.There's a lot of news thisweek about infotainment systemsin cars.If you don't knowwhat that means,which I hear a lot ofpeople don't, infotainment,as the name suggests,information and entertainment--not too much entertainment.Keep your eyes on theroad, on your dashboard.Sounds like a variety show.Yeah, it does, theinfotainment with--With Keith.Milton Berle.Yeah.Wow.So the big news is that--going way back.The big news isthat CarPlay, whichis the Apple way ofbasically projectingyour phone onto your dashboardin a lot of new cars,just got Waze and Google Maps.And that's hugebecause previously ithad only been Apple Maps.Right, you'd only be able toproject Apple Maps in the iOSCarPlay universe.And Google Maps andWaze, which Google owns,they were locked downto the Android world.So now, whether Android allowedApple or Apple said fine,we'll capitulate, you canproject these two mappingapplications into thescreen on the center dash.Why is that important?OK, you're no longer puttingit in the cup holder.You're no longer seeing,like you talked about,a 7 Series witha big old suctioncup on the front and theperson's looking at the phone.And sensibly, it will cutdown on driver distraction.You program where your route is.You program your destination.And it's right in therein a larger displayso it's easier to see andless time off the road.So why do people loveWaze and Google Maps?I mean, I use CarPlay, soI'm stuck with Apple Maps.But I used Google Mapsfor the first time drivinghome the other day.And it was a littlebit better, I think.Well, I think AppleMaps, first of all,they took the threedimensions and flattened it.But seriously, it dependson the universe you like.I like Waze, personally.OK.There's a gamification of it.And I don't really playin that world with it.You have Strava though.I do have Strava for my bike.I also have Zwift.OK.We can't have a Talking Carswithout talking about bikes.Bikes, yeah.Talking bikes and cars.Yeah, look me up onZwift, everybody.But seriously, there'sa whole aspect.You could have a gamification.You could have little guys whoeat dots while you're drivingand you get points.And yay, you're a king andyou're a queen, all that stuff.And it's hard to do whenyou have your phone--Well, it's super distracting.You should be eyes on the road.That's my issuewith Waze, is I knowa number of people who areinteracting with their phones--not a big screen, theirphone-- while, oh, there'sa police officer.And so they're playingwith their phonewhile they're using this.But I really don't likeit when I'm a passengerand I'm seeing the drivermessing with their phone to tryto get points and whatnot.Well, the thing I like aboutthese systems more than--I know you like usingin-car navigation.But what I likeis that these tendto be a lot more responsive.Google Maps, Waze,they'll route youaround things that are-- trafficjams or things like that.Well, some integrated systemsare better than others.Some integrated systemshave automatic rerouting.I really like AndroidAuto when we havecars that actually have it.Some cars we have don'thave the application for it.And some newsabout Android Auto.Some news about Android Autois that Toyota actually--sort of unconfirmed byToyota, but a lot of peopleare reporting thatToyotas are goingto come out with Android Auto.Just some recent onesstarted adding CarPlay.And now finally, they'regoing to get Android Auto.And Toyota was one ofthe last manufacturersto get on board with this.Which is weird.It is.But it also is--I mean, it's takingthe manufacturerout of the equation.Because manufacturersaren't good at buildingsmartphones for your dash.Yeah.That's the thing.One of the big positives ofAndroid Auto and CarPlay,and whether youlove it or not, isthat it takes away theneed for manufacturersto be almost ITcompanies as well.They're not good at that.Well, they're not good at it.And as we've seen withLexus, for example,the interface controls withthe touchpad or the mouse.And we've seen Mazda'schallenge with its knob.And there's all kinds of ways.You have a screen.You plug in your phone.You set it, and you go.They can focus on otherparts of the vehicle.And they could just make surethat the screen is there.They can make sure thatit's got a fine processorto run these programs.And you're taking alot out of their hands.Look, I'm not asking Appleor Google to build a car.I know they're alltalking about it.I would rather they workon what they do welland let the car companieswork on what they do well.Yeah.And down the road, we canhave more of a convergence.Well, one of the things thatthe car companies aren't thatgreat at is voice recognition.And they'll buysomething third party,but this week wealso got some newsabout putting Alexa in the car.You looked into that, right?Sure.Amazon announced a new Echoin the car, introductory priceof about $25, maybe going up to50 bucks as it gets rolled out.I think the goodnews about this isthat it's very helpful forpeople that maybe have an oldercar that don't have voicerecognition system in the car,or they have a carthat's really lousy.And we've all tested cars with--some of the voice commandsare terrible.Some are better than others.The better in-carsystems, in my opinion,can do what you're askinga lot of Alexa to do.A natural voice tone.Right.I mean, the articles thatyou sent me that I readsaid, you could say,Alexa, find me a Starbucks.Some of the systemslike from Hyundai,I can hit the button onthe steering wheel and say,find me a Starbucks.And it pops up.Other systems, you say,find me a Starbucks.And it says, must pick category.Pick coffee shops.Within coffee shops,pick Dunkin' Donuts.And it's more distracting than--Right.So the ones where there'sjust one touch and it goes,that's really functional for me.If Alexa is going to dothis in the car world, thenall the better.But there's also somedownsides to this.Yeah, I'm a little ner--there are two downsides.So I tried out Alexain a car that we had.A lot of Alexa requires thatyou download these skills.It's like an app thatyou use over voice.And it requires you to saythings in a very specific way.So for the Lexuswe were driving,you can check how much gasit has from your house.You can say, Alexa, ask Lexus--which is a hardthing to say, I'mgetting tongue tiedjust thinking about it--how much gas in the car?Lock the car.Start the car.The cool thing is that somecars have it integratedin the other direction.So you can say, Alexa, turnon my lights when I get home,and put on some jazz.You can do-- it's a long day.Alexa--I love coming into people'shouses that have Alexa,and they're listening to jazz.And I walk in, and I hijack.I say Alexa, playthe Sex Pistols.Which is always really funny.But the other problem thoughis that now Amazon knowswhat they're listening to.And maybe now Alexais going to know--Amazon is this huge company.And let's face it, thereason why they're doing thisis because they're trying tomake you buy things in the car.Not a single momentevery day where you'rebeing asked to buy something.So if you ask itfor Starbucks a lot,what's to say that they'renot going to start,hey, there's a new coffeeshop up the street.And we're going to give you$1 off your next cappuccino.In other words, you'renot even prompting it.It's just going to interject.We don't know ifthat's going to happen.You're going to bedriving, and you'regoing to hear a voice all of asudden that says, hey, Keith,there's a coffee shop overthere you haven't tried yet.And the privacyconcerns are huge.That's why I don'trun any of that.My house is new enough Ican put in all that stuff.I could put it in a Nestor a thermostat like that.I could have even the windowshades that go up and down.I don't want that.I don't want that interference.And like you were talkingabout, I've been in a housewith five kids who come in,and they're all just screaming,Alexa, Alexa, Alexa.You put that in a car.Put on Frozen.Put on this.Put on that.Oh my god.No, no, no.Voice commands are hard enoughin a car with passengers.You're like everyone, sh, turnthe air conditioning down,let alone anything else.No, not for me.So from the future tosomething a little bitretro, the newSubaru Forester werented when we haveit at the track.And I say that notbecause it isn't brand newand it doesn't have allthe latest features.And we're goingto talk about someof the latest safety features.But there are some thingsabout that car that are just--I mean, they didn'tchange any of the thingsthat we liked about it.Yeah.Is that cool?The things thatmake the Foresterboth a top performerin our testsand also a really highly rankedvehicle in owner satisfactionin our survey, ourauto survey, memberstell us they likethe visibility.This thing has windows.Windows?Like the windows aroundin this room, OK?They're about thisbig, the side windows.The roof pillars are tiny, soit gives you great visibilityas well in the corners.But the Subarus havealways done very wellin government roof crash tests.They haven't crushed.It's tall inside.It's almost pickuptruck-like inside.It's gotten quieter.It's very roomy.It's got great capabilities,as far as for cargo.I mean, these are just thingsthat have-- it just checks offthe list.And they made that cargoarea a little wider, easierto get into.Now it looks like a baby Ascentfrom the big three-row SUV.And the Ascent lookslike a big Forester.But it also, from thevehicle that we rented,it rides really well.We think it's definitelymade some improvementsover the last model.And listen, Subaruis pretty smart.I mean, they're notgoing to mess this up.They've got a good thing going.And the one that werented was a Touring modeland had a beautifulinterior, wonderful fitand finish, nice seats,easy to use controls.It's no wonder that a numberof Consumer Reports membersand fans of TalkingCars love this.No, it's not super powerful.No.No, it's a little down on power.I guess they saidit's more powerthan the standard engineof the last model,the last .Yeah, but I mean, driving aroundeven the hills of Connecticuton the highway and passingand merging and stuff.I mean, some of those hillsare pretty steep on them too.And it was fine.I didn't have any complaints.Yeah.It's perfectly adequate power.It's not meant tobe a sporty car.They got rid of theXT, the turbo version.There's a lot of peoplecomplaining about that,but it wasn't a huge seller.Yeah.The days of making it aWRX SUV with modificationsare over for some people.I mean, that's the people whowe're interacting on Twitterwith love that stuff.Yes.And how many of them areactually buying a car?They're buying itsecondhand and thirdhand.The interesting thing is thatthe safety technology there,it's going to havestandard eyesight, whichincludes forward collisionwarning, automatic emergencybraking.It has a lane departure warning.They have a new eyetracking, a visibility--Is this like in Super Cruisewhere it looks at your-- makessure you're looking at the road?So it's a veryslimmed down versionof what General Motorsis doing with SuperCruise and the Cadillacs.So it's basically lookingat you, at the driver,to see if they'repaying attention.The interestingthing about this isthat while it says it'slooking at your face,it's looking at theangle of your head.I noticed that.When I was driving, I'dcheck my blind spot.And my eyes wouldbe on the road,but my head wouldbe kind of turned.And it would say--It gives you like,pay attention.Look up.And Jake, Mr. Glass ofinteresting stuff here----he brought thatattention at first.And he said, look, youcan drive like this.And you're looking.Your eyes arelooking at the road.And it says, pay attention.Or you could do this and lookdown, driving down the trackand pretending tolook at your phone,and it doesn't know that you'renot looking at the road at all.So great to have a systemfor driver attentiveness,but like many new technologies--Not quite there yet.Well, we're going towait for a full verdict.You can work around it.Kelly, who's our humanfactors and user interfacesort of genius, I've seenher spending a lot of timein that car.We're going to buyher own, obviously.And she has beenreally looking into it.So all the privacy concerns,all the how does it work,I was there.And we're gettingsort of half answers.And she's goingto look into that.And she and Jake aregoing to find outbecause I think thisis something we'regoing to see a lot more of.Definitely.And once we buy our own car,there'll be more interactionprobably with Subaru, I think,and have some more answersand a little more details.Totally, totally.So that might bea future question.But for now, we'vegot some questionsfrom you, our wonderful members.Keep them coming,TalkingCars@icloud.com.We especially love videoones because then wecan take a break whilewe show the video of youand take a sip of whatever'sin your mug there.But this week, I'm goingto read the questions.The first one is,\"My wife and I arelooking to purchasethe new Acura RDX,but are waiting for yourtesting to complete it.How long do yourtests typically take?When you expect the RDXresults to be posted?Also, how does thereliability datalook so far in Honda'snew 2.0 turbo engineand 10-speed transmission?\"That's the one that'sin the RDX, right?\"We really like thecar, but it's new.So is its powertrain.And that has us worriedabout long-term reliability.I love Talking Cars, by the way.The show is what convincedme to become a CR member.Thanks.Chandler, Chicago.\"Great.And if you love what we do, goto CR.org and become a member.You're going to findpeople just like us,but they're talking about allkinds of things for your home.So on that note.So thanks, Chandler.Thank you.Thank you for the plug.On Acuras.RDX.Yeah.OK.Yeah, yeah.OK, so first of all, ourreliability data isn't out yet.And it's a new car.So it's going to pretty muchbe based on the overall Acuraline.We do predict, basedon the manufacturer,particularly for a newyear, a new model--it's a total redesign.So that's the reliability side.As far as performance,we do like it.We're not going to begiving away informationbecause our testingisn't 100% complete.But now since, Chandler,you're a member,you can read all that.Chandler will be able to goonline and check that outprobably in a shortperiod of time.Very short.Fun to drive,pretty good responsefrom the enginetransmission combination.It's smooth.We did like it.Car's really nice inside.I mean, we didn't evenget a top premier versionand extremely nice interior,very driver-centric cockpit,the instrument panel,and the center console.So we like that a lot.But.What we don't like.Chandler, have you andyour wife tried outbringing your phonesto the dealer,or just trying to changethe radio station?The controls are atrocious.They're atrocious controls.What gives me hope about Honda,and I guess in this case Acura,it drives really nice.It has that old time Hondafeel for the steeringand the handling and whatnot.But the controls, Ithink, really let it down.But look, we wantdata on new cars.We always need that information.And we really want ourmembers to send it to us.At the same time, we do say topeople, look, if you're worriedand a car's totally redesigned,skip the first year.Wait.Yeah.Exactly.So Chandler, you maywant to read our reportand then wait towardsthe end of the modelyear of this car at least.And the other good thing--Honda, sometimes they havea tendency to fix things,especially withinfotainment systemsthat are wrong, very quickly,like model year to model year.So they're very responsive.Let's hope they are with this.Next question, \"Hello.I live in Long Island, and Iwork as a salesman for a beerwholesaler.I put an averageof 300 to 400 milesa week on my 2006 NissanUltima in stop and go traffic,and I would like to replaceit with a new vehicle.Considering the long,cold, and snowy winters,I prefer an all-wheeldrive vehicle.My top choices arethe 2019 Toyota RAV4,2019 XC40 from Volvo, andthe 2019 Subaru Outback.Because of the mileage, thiswill be a purchase and nota lease.Considering the costand reliability,which should I pick?I'm also open toother suggestions.\"And that's fromCem in Long Island.Hello across the sound.Put some beer in theCross Sound Ferry for us.You're a popular guy aroundSuper Bowl time, I guess.Exactly.Well, I'm going to takethis one from the beginning.I'm going to say--I'm going to give youanother suggestionentirely because I used tohave a job that was like this.And I don't know about you,but my job was actually--I got paid by the mile.I got reimbursed for themileage that I put on a car.And this is in New England.I got a Prius.I put snows on itfor the winter.And in stop andgo traffic, you'renot going to notice thatit doesn't have the bestacceleration.It has a ton ofroom in the back.You're going to get, in ourtest, 55 miles a gallon.And it's an incrediblyreliable car.So in that sense,you might actuallymake money drivingthis car if you'regetting reimbursed by themile, because it costs lessto operate this than whatmost reimbursements are.In stop and go traffic, that'swhere hybrids really shine.And that's what I think.And someone who's onthe road that muchisn't going to behaving to take itin for service nearly as much.Oh, exactly.Yeah, some other cars.Exactly.I would go with the Outback.First of all, it's establishedof the three choices.I'm going to answerhis question directlywith the three choiceshe's asking about.Yeah, OK, OK.It's roomy.It's got the all-wheel drive.Even with good all-seasontires, he's OK.With snows, he'll be great.And it gets good fueleconomy for the category,for largest wagon.I think that's a no brainer,particularly if he's bringinggiant cardboard cutoutsof NFL players or someonelying in the back of thecar, something like that,or pictures of DaveAbrams holding a beer up.Yeah, I think theOutback is a good one.It has to be MiamiDolphins for Abrams.There we are.Woo!3-0, 3-0, right?3-0, baby.Yes.All right, tell us why you don'tlike the XC40 because we hada long conversation about this.Sorry, there's oneright over there.I apologize.I was listening towhat you guys said.The Prius makes allthe sense in the world.Except for me, I stillcan't get past the styling.But that's a different story.All right, get a .The Outback is anexcellent choice.I went slightly different route.I'm thinking because the typicalNew York's traffic, lots ofstop and go, I'm with you onthe hybrid, but I'm RAV4 hybrid.Oh.I like the RAV4 because you'vegot a little bit of groundclearance.If they've got to drivethrough the snow, that helps.You've got all-wheel drive.You've got all thestandard safety features,got excellent fuel economy,great reliability, standardforward collision warning,automatic emergency braking.But I'm totally withyou on the hybrid thingwith the city driving.400 miles a weekin city driving?That's when a hybridmakes the most sense.Exactly.It totally does.The reason I didn'tsay the RAV4 hybrid,was redesigned this year.So you're paying apremium to get itbecause it's a brand new model.Well, you get a leftover model.I would get a leftover.He has the '19.So I would get a leftoverhybrid to make sure ithas Toyota Safety Sense on it.Again, proven reliabilityon the older model.Yeah, exactly.All right.Next question is fromWayne in Berkeley.\"In the past 10 or20 years, dashboardshave gone from variedcolors to all black.I find all black interiorsto be ugly and depressing.Why did this happen?Are automakers lemmings?I'd love to see somebrighter colored dashboards.\"I'm with you.I'm with you, Wayne.I'm with you on this.I do agree.It's hard to see out withdifferent colors, first of all.There is a lot of glare.We see a lot of steeplyraked windshieldsin cars, everygeneration that's comingthrough here, every model.Dashboards are gettinglonger and longer.Longer and deeper.Which is more to-- yeah.So a lot of it's glare.A lot of it's just hard.It's easier to do a flatblack or something that'snot going to bounce back.There's a lot of trim thatthey do throughout the carto compensate for that.With that said-- so we werejust in the new Lexus UX,which we didn't lovefor a lot of reasons,but it had a really cool-- theinterior was blue and orange.So if you're a Mets fan----it's great.At least somethingmight make you happy.Yeah.But dark blue andalso Hyundai, I think,has a dark brown, kindof chocolaty color.Well, in fact, the Foresterthat we rented from Subaruhad a brownish interior.You're seeing areoccurrence of brown.There's been a lot of fansof brown, brown interiors,that color, color scheme.But we are starting to see--I mean, he hadmentioned also whenhe talked to us that Porscheand some of the higher end carmanufacturers have thosecolorful interiors.And I think they'rebringing it back.But the tops of the dashesare always going to be black.You could get anything.You want to spend themoney on a Porsche,you're getting alligatorskin with the bumps.There's somethinginteresting therethat I think wetalked about earlier,is that now with leases, thatnew car manufacturers arebecoming used car dealers.So when they getthese cars back,they have to sellthem back off a lease.So they don't want a car--you, Wayne, to go outthere and order your bananayellow dashboard.To sample Quincy's shirt here.Exactly.And then not be ableto ever sell that againbecause it's the Wayne special.Hey, I'm not wearingmy orange today, OK.Exactly.I was reprimanded forwearing too much orange.Orange and green interior,bespoke, yes, yes.All right, so the next question.\"Your show rocks!\"Always a good way to start ifyou want to get your questionanswered.Thank you.Your show rocks hard.\"I'm starting a mobileauto repair business,and I don't want todrive a Transit Connect,although they make sense.As I start out, this vehiclewill be my daily commuteras well.I would prefer somethinglike a compact truck,but the problem is thatmost of them rate low.I know the HondaRidgeline rates high,but I think it's too niceand expensive for the trade'smarket.So my question is,which is betterwhen it comes tolongevity, comfort,and daily commuting, the ChevyColorado or the Toyota Tacoma?\"Well, I'm goingwith the Colorado.And I'm going withthe diesel because Iam a big fan ofhighway diesel mileage.This vehicle did pretty wellin Consumer Reports testing.It's a bit pricey.You can start addingup the options on this.I would go with anLT version, justto get the poweradjustable leather seats.One of the letdowns from ourtesting of our last Colorado,the cloth seats were a littleflimsy, not very supportive.There is some reliabilityissues with the Colorado.That's one thing thatmost Toyotas have,all over this one.But in terms of ahighway ride, it'smuch more comfortablethan the Tacoma.The Tacoma hasgreat resale value.If you buy a Tacoma, whenyou go to eventually sell it,you're going to geta lot more for it.Even if it's beenused as a work truck.I mean, this is aninteresting dilemmabecause there aren't a lotof great smallish trucks.We're going to be interestedto see the new FordRanger when that comes out.But for day-to-dayliving, I would definitelygo with the Colorado.The van makes more sense.Yeah.Kurt, Kurt, buy a van.You know you want it.Look into your heart.There is a Transit--Wait, pull the camerain, have a conversation.There's a Transit Connectjust driving right there.You know you want it.Of the two trucks, I mean--look, they're trucks.You put a load in the bed andthey're going to ride better.OK, yes, the Tacoma's horriblewithout a load in the bed.It's still a challengefor the Tacoma, but OK.I put a bunch of stuffin the bed and some stuffon the hitch, anddrove it from here to--our tested one outto Cape Cod and back.And it's fine.It's a truck, but it'sa lot more manageable.It's not bouncing around.The Chevy is a much nicervehicle, much more comfortable.Get the leather seats.Toyota has its ownreliability issues.And like you weresaying, they'reboth expensive in their own way.The Toyota has a veryhigh entry price.And getting a usedone is a challenge.My brother-in-law could notfind a really affordable Tacoma.And then he was finding TRDs.And he didn't want somethingwith the Toyota racingdevelopment suspensions.We don't want that.The one thing about theChevys, money on the hood.There is always a sale goingon at your local Chevy dealerwith the wobblyguy and all that.Find the time andlook for one thathas something on the hood, moneyon the hood, and you'll do OK.You could even possiblyget an off lease one.You could just find a usedone-- someone traded onein on the diesel, and they had agas one or something like that.So I would look that way.All right, well, youknow what I think.The van is-- there's areason you mentioned it.But staying with theTransit or something else?I think stick withthe Transit Connect.They make such a work version.Yeah.You can lock yourtools up in it.You don't have to worry aboutgetting an extra tool box.I mean, I know drivingaround in a vanis not the coolest,most flashy thing.It is true.The trucks, you got to get thoseside boxes if you have tools.Exactly.You have to do somethingextra for that.But there's a reason why somany people drive those vans.They hate themselves.Yeah.Oh well.Well, if you hate yourself,if you love yourself----if you have a question forus, TalkingCars@icloud.com.We'd love to answer it soon.We'll be back.Super producer DaveAbrams hates us right now,but that's a different story.We'll have to do that again.And let's do the outro.If you have any questions--sorry.If you do have anyquestions, send themto TalkingCars@icloud.com.If you'd like to learnmore about the carsthat we talked about,check out the show notes.Thanks so much.See you soon.\n"