The Subaru Legacy: A Great Car for Those Who Need a Little More Space

I've been testing cars for years and I have to say that the Subaru Legacy is a great car for those who need a little more space. It's not too big, but it's definitely bigger than the A3, which is what the person was saying earlier. They said they would be happy with a 4-door Legacy, even though they don't know if it's luxurious enough. But compared to the WRX, which is a sporty car, the Legacy is much more comfortable and has a great ride.

One of the things that I love about the Subaru Legacy is its all-wheel drive system. It's fantastic and really good in winter driving conditions. The Legacy also has a compliant ride, which makes it one of the best sedans on the market. So, if you're looking for a car that can handle winter driving and still be comfortable, the Legacy is a great choice.

If you live in an area with lots of snow and ice, the Subaru Legacy is definitely worth considering. It's not too big, but it has enough space to accommodate three car seats, which is perfect for families. The person who tested the Legacy said that they chose it because it could fit their family's needs, but they were disappointed when they found out that it didn't have enough cargo space.

But don't just take my word for it! If you need a car with a lot of cargo space, there are other options available. For example, the Hyundai Sorento has plenty of room in the back seat, even when the third row is folded down. The Toyota Highlander also has a spacious interior, and the latest model comes with advanced safety features that make it perfect for families.

If you're looking for a car that's similar to the Subaru Legacy but has even more space, you might want to consider the Subaru Outback. It's not too big, but it's definitely bigger than the Legacy, and it still has that great all-wheel drive system. Plus, it comes with plenty of standard safety features, which is perfect for families.

Tips for Families

So, what can you do if you need a car that can fit your family's needs? My first tip is to take your car seats with you when you go test drive a car. This will give you an idea of whether or not the car can accommodate your specific configuration. I recommend testing three different configurations, such as forward-facing convertible seat, booster seat, and rear-facing infant seat.

Another tip is to look for cars that come with standard advanced safety features, such as lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring. These features are essential for families, especially when you're driving around with precious cargo. And don't forget to test drive the car with all of your seats installed to make sure it's comfortable and safe.

Q&A

If you have any questions or concerns about cars, feel free to send them our way! We'd love to hear from you and provide more advice and information. Our email address is talkingcars@icloud.com, so don't hesitate to reach out. And if you're looking for more car reviews and advice, be sure to check back with us regularly.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey talking cars fans we really love making talking cars each week but we want to make sure you enjoy it as much as we do that's why we've created a survey to find out what you like best about the show what you want more of and what we can improve on go to see our org slash talking cars survey and let us know how we can make the podcast better we really want to be your favorite automotive podcast and your responses can help make that happen thank you for your help and enjoy the show we share our first impressions of the all-new mercedes-benz GLB SUV and then we answer your questions about what to do if you don't like your run flat tires and how to fit three child seats in one car next on talking cars hey welcome back I'm Keith Barry I'm Emily Thomas and we're gonna get right into it today we bought for our testing program the new Mercedes Benz GLB it's an all-new model it's a it's an SUV yeah and and we're ahead of our full test regimen we have to put some brake in miles on it and that's also when we kind of collect our first impressions on it so we're gonna talk about that that here today so first of all the GLB so Mercedes is has this sort of new naming convention where the a-class the B Class the C Class the E Class in the S Class now I'll get GL versions so it's like this is like the SUV version now sort of the sedan so what is this there's already a GL see there are as a GLA what what what is this yeah so it's another slice of the pie they mmm seems like every manufacturer is making more and more small SUVs and there's to me there's like this overlap you know this thing wasn't that cheap but it's close to this GLC which is yeah a little bit above it we paid what 47,000 for ours right so it's to me it's a little frustrating cuz it's an overlap I got maybe frustrating I don't understand it like they're almost like stepping on their own toes all these but I guess there's a market for it I mean people are buying them I guess might you know initially when I got in went to drive it I drove it this week and I put like 500 miles on it action and I wasn't that excited because usually those smaller SUVs when they try to make this meaty this in between size it's like doesn't ride us nice as the one that's just a little bigger than it and you know it's got all these little quirks about it but this actually surprised me it's still a little firm riding I thought but it it's comfortable it's got plenty of power I think I'd still like a GLC more though yeah now it this is kind of it shares a lot of component Mercedes is kind of like it feels like GM in the 80s we're like every car was just a version of a cutlass Sierra they're sharing a lot of components in their cars and you spend a lot of time in in this car in a couple of the other Mercedes so what it's it's kind of the same it's kind of the same thing right yes in the past couple of weeks I've driven a few of our Mercedes so I didn't find the controls to be as difficult as previously because I think I've had now like a little bit more exposure right so like it started slowly getting indoctrinated into my brain that's how they were it's got that giant screen just as a reminder it's got the the shifter on the column and it's got the touch pad the touch pads and the touch screen right yeah there's a touch screen there's a touch pad that's like where your you know your gear shifter normally would be essentially right and then you've got all the different stocks that do like your gear shifting and the windshield and everything like that and then all of you are you know see controls are on the door which is a very Mercedes thing which now again I'm a little bit more used to even though I got a little bit more accustomed to it so I like I knew where to look for things now it still didn't really make it easier to maneuver like while I was driving like if I needed to adjust a setting it's still a little bit cumbersome like that touch pad is still really sensitive you know and like I had to like just just right but like if you're trying to do it just right on the touch pad and watch like make sure you're getting to the right thing on the screen your eyes aren't really on the road you know and I thought it was kind of funny that you know like I have a CLA last night and in the beginning when I turned it on this morning it immediately tells me it's like warning please do not let the system distract you while you are driving I'm like that doesn't know how it distracts me a lot because I have to like be very in tune to what it is I want to accomplish on the screen as opposed to like some of the other systems were like you know you can do it by feel or it's hard buttons or whatever right some of the simple things like just changing a radio station yeah if you put your hand on that pad and it moves on you moves you on the screen up to something that's not the radio then you swipe over you know I'm watching the road and I swipe over but now I changed the whole I mean not even on the radio anymore I don't know what I'm doing like that stuff's irritating me because it's the radio station I should be able to you know change that pretty easily yeah but it is like you said it mean it's like the CLA is the same thing literally or even the a-class is very similar like you you know you go from one car to the other they're like the same things but does like it's not really easier it's just you're getting a little bit of cushion to it right now yeah I've been three days in it it was like on the way home I was finally had a little bit of confidence with a few things are still screwing up it's no distracting I think well the interesting thing though is that this is sort of uh it's a it's a card that you can I think it's a card that you can grow into so this might be for like the couple that had us it had a gla and now they have a kid and a dog and they want a GLB I would you'll see though that's that's where I'm stuck it would depend on how much your family is crying because it's still not a super like spacious rear seat I mean putting car seats back there right like was it was still a little tail you could have a front passenger in front of like a rear-facing car seat but it would be kind of tight even for a like you know an average-sized driver and then I mean when I was doing fits and I had to like I'm the dork that has to read the owner's manual while I do my testing right and in there it was like oh if you want to do installations in the third row and I was clarified there is a version of this car that has a third row this is a card that's but it's 1.7 inches shorter than the GLC so this means it's a it's it's the second most compact SUV in the manual and it shows you like how that folds up like it is right up against that second row so I don't see like how comfortable are really even like how how practical is it to get that car with a third row the second row does slide it does this is maybe the one thing that really stuck out to me I sat in the backseat that's the second row seat is terrible yes it's narrow it's literally flat like there's I should take a level but it's literally flat and wanna see is close to flat it feels like you're actually falling out of it because most seats are actually tipped back so you kind of sitting in it right right this thing because it's flat it gives you the illusion like you're actually falling out of it like it's flat flat flat and it's hard and it's just for a car that actually has decent amount of room in there like it's terrible so something I noticed is that in order to create that access for the rear row right the seats kind of taper in on on where the bolster is so when you sit down in that lower seat cushion like my leg kind of falls off it no I'm a little wider than you and I found that I didn't fit in the backseat it felt like I was not only falling off the front but falling off the side too but I mean i-i've seen you know the this the the 7-seater versions of this are a little hard to come by in the US but I looked at some reviews from like the UK Australia and places where people have driven it and they've said that it's okay for kids in a pinch no but I mean this is a very boxy vehicle I mean it looks almost like a like remember like the Mazda MPV like it looks like it looks almost half it looks van inspired yeah yeah like so I though the visibility was actually pretty good in the heart right it is but I was kind of surprised at how like high the hood came up because it comes up and it just goes straight across which like I wasn't really anticipating for you know I guess I expected it to be a little bit more stylish and sloped down a little bit more kind of like how some of the others smaller you know our luxury type is right as you did me remember the G okay oh the odmg wagon looking yeah has that little more boxy kind of look but it helps with visibility tremendously yeah you know windows are bigger panels and yeah I love the look of that Jean yeah you do it yeah so something it's interesting I kind of touched on this earlier is that Mercedes is just is making different different cars with the same parts basically and they're doing a real good job in fact this shares the same 2-liter four-cylinder turbo engine as the CLA the 221 horsepower version as opposed to the slightly less powerful version that's in the a-class but it gets an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission not the 7-speed what what do we you've spent a ton of time yeah I think both of these cars what do you what do you think so I was pleasantly surprised with the power has I'm you know I had a passenger and a full load of snowboard gear and stuff and buzzed right up the hills in Vermont like nothing I was impressed with the power it doesn't need more power the transmission for a dual clutch dual clutches and you know in the history of dual clutch dual clutch is they used you know sometimes they're a little stiff on ships and a little jumpy at low speed this still has some of those things but I thought it was quite nice I like the decisiveness of the ship's is very got that a little bit sporty or of a shift you know it it has US wants a smooth it's nothing mushy when it shifts you know it's more like boom we're in the next gear but it's decisive I like that but I think they did a pretty good job with it without it being you know they took out some of the negatives a dual-clutch is used to have I think yeah I thought the steering was really good too I mean like I took it for a little bit yesterday on like kind of my old can you back down to Middletown almost and you know the roads are really windy and you know it's like country roads basically so I thought it was pretty responsive and handled really well I did feel like when the who when the roads got a little bit rougher I did feel that a little bit more in the ride but overall I thought you know if this is the you know size vehicle this in-between class kind of vehicle that you want right and you wanted a vehicle that does Drive well and like you enjoy that like I think that you know this could serve your needs in that regard yeah I drove it interestingly I drove it back and back to the to back to back of the Lincoln Corsair okay which is about the same price and it's kind of aimed at the same sort of consumer and the thing that definitely the the the slightly more sporty feel to it the quicker steering the the the slightly stiffer suspension that definitely showed through the course there's a little more laid-back and relaxed which might be what some people want but the other thing that really got to me was that was the visibility and we mentioned that to those it's nice and upright but they're both around $47,000 this is not cheap and the EPA says that it gets about 26 miles a gallon combined but we're going to test that will be a better the test will be the judge exactly and until our full test is up which will be available at at CR org we do have a first drive available you can read and you can if you remember you can you can see that see some more photos of the car and read our first impressions of a brand new Mercedes GL B so moving on we're gonna turn it over to you our questions keep them coming sending send them to talking cars at icloud.com no video questions this week so if you're watching the show you have to watch us but if you want to see you send us a video question we love our first question is from Edward from Richmond Virginia who has a 2019 bmw x3 and he says as it turns out my local dealer only has cars with run flat tires I have the dealer add a jack and a spare at purchase which is a story in itself when I replaced these tires I'd like to avoid run flats as I prefer a normal tire is there anything I should be aware of when making this change so tires I think that's a question for you so BMW run flats yeah this isn't just his local deal no and yeah historically run flats there's less options when you want to replace run flats are inherently a stiffer tire because the sidewall has to be thicker and stiffer to hold the weight of the vehicle when there's no air in the tire all right that's the whole idea behind a run flat you can drive home at a limited mile per hour depending on you know that vehicle and that tire for a limited distance just to get you home so you're not changing a tire on the side of the road and then you take care of it it's some people don't like them right yeah it is it's become common where people want to get rid of them because when it comes time to replace them they can be expensive and limited choices they have come a little ways there's more choices now than there used to be they're not as stiff as it used to be and you go to like BMW forums and they'll have like my run-flats are stiff but yeah sometimes it's from 2016 115 yeah a few things because the tires are inherently stiffer the vehicles are tuned somewhat for that so we do replace these with a regular traditional tire regular an on run flat tire the vehicle could handle a little differently and I'm not saying it would be better or worse but it could be different so something you just pay attention to get used to he also says he got a jack a spare tire and a jack hit from the dealer now if this is a factory item I would hope that they have a good way of storing these so some of these vans because they don't because they have run flats they actually don't have that wheel well underneath or in your trunk to put these things now a spare tire and a Jack floating around in your trunk or you're in an SUV like this where it's open to the cabin could become a projectile if it's not properly yeah so that's a concern I have is make sure that thing is stored you know safely somehow in there whether it's in that wheel well or if there is the wheel well or they have other ways of securing that but other than that yeah I could could handle a little differently but it's not a it's just something you don't get used to yeah I have I have a run flat story do you can I tell it yes okay I so I was driving a BMW 2 Series okay during a horrible horrible horrible snowstorm in the Boston area oh I loved it it was amazing unfortunately I returned it this is this was a loaned vehicle from BMW when I was working for another publications yeah and I returned it with some damage in the form of two very expensive run flat tires I was driving along I was right behind a plow a plow plowed up an expansion joint and there was no way to avoid it to you and Bam Bam I slowed down as much as I could but I blew two tires oh and I was on an offering along off-ramp if you know if from Boston the Leverett connector there's nowhere to pull over and if you get stuck there you are gonna make a lot of people very angry and I was able to safely you know keep going just keep going and it changed my opinion on run flat tire did you work well yeah it totally changed my opinion on them and so Edward don't you know don't get don't get run down by run flats you're maybe maybe maybe you'll be happier with them yeah the next question is from Sylvain from Canada who says I currently own a 2017 Subaru WRX which I love for it's winter capabilities small footprint and performance doing a lot of my driving in Montreal shout-out to Keith Barry thank you I am looking to buy a coupe or sedan with a more compliant ride in luxurious interior but that can handle the snow ice traffic and potholes of city driving so we're gonna do we're gonna go across the across the table what do you think so I recommend the Genesis g70 cool so I loved that car it comes with all-wheel drive it has a really nice interior I feel like Genesis is sort of like the unsung hero of luxury vehicles in that people don't usually think about it or they're just like oh it's it's just a Genesis all right you know it's not what people think of necessary when they think about like having a luxurious interior or you know that that level of comfort but they're great cars the interiors are really really nice they ride well they're super comfortable I also love the fact that it comes with all this standard safety equipment you know it comes with a B with pedestrian detection it has the forward collision warning the blind spot warning and you know it's to me it's a great car the one we had here I absolutely loved I love you and just like how stylish it looks on the outside and normally I don't notice that stuff as much but I really liked how it looked yeah on the other hand I will tell you my husband commutes into Hartford and he has an a3 and he loves that so Genesis is not for you that's also an option that's my pick you stole my pick your husband stole really but ya know the a3 but the good news is that either way I looked up some a3 deals in in in Quebec and there's some really good lease deals on an a3 also if you're thinking about buying maybe a certified pre-owned car you can save a ton of money on a Genesis because all those sort of those intangibles the oh it's a brand that I don't know about that much oh it's made by Hyundai oh there isn't those can those can sometimes translate into a slightly lower resale value so you might be able to get an incredible deal on a g70 that's been returned off off of a lease yeah exactly so that are in a three I think er I think are no-brainers for both what do you think so the a3 is too small for me yeah I would say a 4 okay but even before that this is and this is a little unlike me because I forgive me I think it's a little bit boring is a Subaru Legacy a little loaded legacy the other seats I don't know if that maybe not fans are you know not as upscale enough or luxurious use the word luxurious well compared to a 20-17 WRX you know what now here's a car that's a little bigger that's s40 but you're coming from a WRX Oh most thing to probably not going to be that sporty right but it's got the same fantastic all-wheel drive system so Subaru he's already has a Subaru maybe here the relationship with the dealer already somewhere there and has a great it does the compliant ride it really is so great let's say it's one of the best sedans that we do have great so we're in agreement there are three great cars for you anyone who lives in a and it does a lot of winter driving and and want something a little bit nicer there are some pics for you whether whether you're here north the border finally question three from Henry who currently drives a 2015 Honda Accord he chose it because of its ability to accommodate the three car seats necessary for hauling my family around utility wise however it's not up to snuff for the amount of cargo area we need have you tested any crossovers that could fit our three car seats my first piece of advice is going to be kind of redundant to things I've said before which is take your car seats with you to the dealership because truly that's the best way for you to know whether or not any vehicle that we've tested or anyone elses tessa is gonna fit your car seats because every can fit everything to be a different configuration and so you know we test one particular configuration in the test vehicles here we put a forward-facing convertible car seat and a booster car seat and the two outboard seats and then we put a rear-facing infant seat in the middle and i will say that if you have to you know do three across trying to switch up your orientation like alternate right does kind of help because you know you don't have them like letting up against each other and also you know sometimes like keeping your kid and that harness a little bit longer will be helpful because now you don't have to access a buckle with a booster right the seats are just installed all the harnesses are accessible from the front it's a little bit easier in that regard so take your car seats to the dealership I've done that before the salespersons been like you you want to do what you want to install that right now yes yes I do they're gonna take they're going to three hours of your time making you wait for someone to try and sell you undercoating you might as well but that being said you know I did look into the vehicles that we've tested and any any crossover pretty much it's gonna give you more cargo space right um any SUVs give me more cargo space than that Honda Accord but there are a few vehicles that you know we have looked at that I think would be good for Henry to try out so I'm looking over your shoulder these or these are all real good tell you right in the Sorento those cars I love you red fantastic oh yeah and you'll get lots of cargo space in that telluride right even the Sorento though if you put that third row down if you're not trying to put anybody into the third oh you'll get plenty of space back there are Hyundai palisade the Toyota Highlander we currently have that in test so we haven't completed our ratings on the newest model that came out but I did quickly throw my three seats back there to make sure that I could do it for our configuration and also something like the Subaru Outback and the other thing that I really like about these options is you know they all come with standard advanced safety features which when you have you know a family with all this precious cargo that you're going to be driving around something really important for you to have those things you want to make sure they're safe so those are my tips take this little list check out those specific cars but try your car seats out in done specifically right yeah great advice I like the outback first you know it wouldn't be too much of a stretch from going from the Accord to the Outback size-wise I feel more familiar yeah yeah cool sir well thanks for those great picks and great advice if you have a question send it to talking cars at icloud.com if you have a question waiting for us we're getting to it and maybe we'll do another all questions episode and if you're from Canada hello thank you so much for watching listening and we'll talk cars again next time youhey talking cars fans we really love making talking cars each week but we want to make sure you enjoy it as much as we do that's why we've created a survey to find out what you like best about the show what you want more of and what we can improve on go to see our org slash talking cars survey and let us know how we can make the podcast better we really want to be your favorite automotive podcast and your responses can help make that happen thank you for your help and enjoy the show we share our first impressions of the all-new mercedes-benz GLB SUV and then we answer your questions about what to do if you don't like your run flat tires and how to fit three child seats in one car next on talking cars hey welcome back I'm Keith Barry I'm Emily Thomas and we're gonna get right into it today we bought for our testing program the new Mercedes Benz GLB it's an all-new model it's a it's an SUV yeah and and we're ahead of our full test regimen we have to put some brake in miles on it and that's also when we kind of collect our first impressions on it so we're gonna talk about that that here today so first of all the GLB so Mercedes is has this sort of new naming convention where the a-class the B Class the C Class the E Class in the S Class now I'll get GL versions so it's like this is like the SUV version now sort of the sedan so what is this there's already a GL see there are as a GLA what what what is this yeah so it's another slice of the pie they mmm seems like every manufacturer is making more and more small SUVs and there's to me there's like this overlap you know this thing wasn't that cheap but it's close to this GLC which is yeah a little bit above it we paid what 47,000 for ours right so it's to me it's a little frustrating cuz it's an overlap I got maybe frustrating I don't understand it like they're almost like stepping on their own toes all these but I guess there's a market for it I mean people are buying them I guess might you know initially when I got in went to drive it I drove it this week and I put like 500 miles on it action and I wasn't that excited because usually those smaller SUVs when they try to make this meaty this in between size it's like doesn't ride us nice as the one that's just a little bigger than it and you know it's got all these little quirks about it but this actually surprised me it's still a little firm riding I thought but it it's comfortable it's got plenty of power I think I'd still like a GLC more though yeah now it this is kind of it shares a lot of component Mercedes is kind of like it feels like GM in the 80s we're like every car was just a version of a cutlass Sierra they're sharing a lot of components in their cars and you spend a lot of time in in this car in a couple of the other Mercedes so what it's it's kind of the same it's kind of the same thing right yes in the past couple of weeks I've driven a few of our Mercedes so I didn't find the controls to be as difficult as previously because I think I've had now like a little bit more exposure right so like it started slowly getting indoctrinated into my brain that's how they were it's got that giant screen just as a reminder it's got the the shifter on the column and it's got the touch pad the touch pads and the touch screen right yeah there's a touch screen there's a touch pad that's like where your you know your gear shifter normally would be essentially right and then you've got all the different stocks that do like your gear shifting and the windshield and everything like that and then all of you are you know see controls are on the door which is a very Mercedes thing which now again I'm a little bit more used to even though I got a little bit more accustomed to it so I like I knew where to look for things now it still didn't really make it easier to maneuver like while I was driving like if I needed to adjust a setting it's still a little bit cumbersome like that touch pad is still really sensitive you know and like I had to like just just right but like if you're trying to do it just right on the touch pad and watch like make sure you're getting to the right thing on the screen your eyes aren't really on the road you know and I thought it was kind of funny that you know like I have a CLA last night and in the beginning when I turned it on this morning it immediately tells me it's like warning please do not let the system distract you while you are driving I'm like that doesn't know how it distracts me a lot because I have to like be very in tune to what it is I want to accomplish on the screen as opposed to like some of the other systems were like you know you can do it by feel or it's hard buttons or whatever right some of the simple things like just changing a radio station yeah if you put your hand on that pad and it moves on you moves you on the screen up to something that's not the radio then you swipe over you know I'm watching the road and I swipe over but now I changed the whole I mean not even on the radio anymore I don't know what I'm doing like that stuff's irritating me because it's the radio station I should be able to you know change that pretty easily yeah but it is like you said it mean it's like the CLA is the same thing literally or even the a-class is very similar like you you know you go from one car to the other they're like the same things but does like it's not really easier it's just you're getting a little bit of cushion to it right now yeah I've been three days in it it was like on the way home I was finally had a little bit of confidence with a few things are still screwing up it's no distracting I think well the interesting thing though is that this is sort of uh it's a it's a card that you can I think it's a card that you can grow into so this might be for like the couple that had us it had a gla and now they have a kid and a dog and they want a GLB I would you'll see though that's that's where I'm stuck it would depend on how much your family is crying because it's still not a super like spacious rear seat I mean putting car seats back there right like was it was still a little tail you could have a front passenger in front of like a rear-facing car seat but it would be kind of tight even for a like you know an average-sized driver and then I mean when I was doing fits and I had to like I'm the dork that has to read the owner's manual while I do my testing right and in there it was like oh if you want to do installations in the third row and I was clarified there is a version of this car that has a third row this is a card that's but it's 1.7 inches shorter than the GLC so this means it's a it's it's the second most compact SUV in the manual and it shows you like how that folds up like it is right up against that second row so I don't see like how comfortable are really even like how how practical is it to get that car with a third row the second row does slide it does this is maybe the one thing that really stuck out to me I sat in the backseat that's the second row seat is terrible yes it's narrow it's literally flat like there's I should take a level but it's literally flat and wanna see is close to flat it feels like you're actually falling out of it because most seats are actually tipped back so you kind of sitting in it right right this thing because it's flat it gives you the illusion like you're actually falling out of it like it's flat flat flat and it's hard and it's just for a car that actually has decent amount of room in there like it's terrible so something I noticed is that in order to create that access for the rear row right the seats kind of taper in on on where the bolster is so when you sit down in that lower seat cushion like my leg kind of falls off it no I'm a little wider than you and I found that I didn't fit in the backseat it felt like I was not only falling off the front but falling off the side too but I mean i-i've seen you know the this the the 7-seater versions of this are a little hard to come by in the US but I looked at some reviews from like the UK Australia and places where people have driven it and they've said that it's okay for kids in a pinch no but I mean this is a very boxy vehicle I mean it looks almost like a like remember like the Mazda MPV like it looks like it looks almost half it looks van inspired yeah yeah like so I though the visibility was actually pretty good in the heart right it is but I was kind of surprised at how like high the hood came up because it comes up and it just goes straight across which like I wasn't really anticipating for you know I guess I expected it to be a little bit more stylish and sloped down a little bit more kind of like how some of the others smaller you know our luxury type is right as you did me remember the G okay oh the odmg wagon looking yeah has that little more boxy kind of look but it helps with visibility tremendously yeah you know windows are bigger panels and yeah I love the look of that Jean yeah you do it yeah so something it's interesting I kind of touched on this earlier is that Mercedes is just is making different different cars with the same parts basically and they're doing a real good job in fact this shares the same 2-liter four-cylinder turbo engine as the CLA the 221 horsepower version as opposed to the slightly less powerful version that's in the a-class but it gets an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission not the 7-speed what what do we you've spent a ton of time yeah I think both of these cars what do you what do you think so I was pleasantly surprised with the power has I'm you know I had a passenger and a full load of snowboard gear and stuff and buzzed right up the hills in Vermont like nothing I was impressed with the power it doesn't need more power the transmission for a dual clutch dual clutches and you know in the history of dual clutch dual clutch is they used you know sometimes they're a little stiff on ships and a little jumpy at low speed this still has some of those things but I thought it was quite nice I like the decisiveness of the ship's is very got that a little bit sporty or of a shift you know it it has US wants a smooth it's nothing mushy when it shifts you know it's more like boom we're in the next gear but it's decisive I like that but I think they did a pretty good job with it without it being you know they took out some of the negatives a dual-clutch is used to have I think yeah I thought the steering was really good too I mean like I took it for a little bit yesterday on like kind of my old can you back down to Middletown almost and you know the roads are really windy and you know it's like country roads basically so I thought it was pretty responsive and handled really well I did feel like when the who when the roads got a little bit rougher I did feel that a little bit more in the ride but overall I thought you know if this is the you know size vehicle this in-between class kind of vehicle that you want right and you wanted a vehicle that does Drive well and like you enjoy that like I think that you know this could serve your needs in that regard yeah I drove it interestingly I drove it back and back to the to back to back of the Lincoln Corsair okay which is about the same price and it's kind of aimed at the same sort of consumer and the thing that definitely the the the slightly more sporty feel to it the quicker steering the the the slightly stiffer suspension that definitely showed through the course there's a little more laid-back and relaxed which might be what some people want but the other thing that really got to me was that was the visibility and we mentioned that to those it's nice and upright but they're both around $47,000 this is not cheap and the EPA says that it gets about 26 miles a gallon combined but we're going to test that will be a better the test will be the judge exactly and until our full test is up which will be available at at CR org we do have a first drive available you can read and you can if you remember you can you can see that see some more photos of the car and read our first impressions of a brand new Mercedes GL B so moving on we're gonna turn it over to you our questions keep them coming sending send them to talking cars at icloud.com no video questions this week so if you're watching the show you have to watch us but if you want to see you send us a video question we love our first question is from Edward from Richmond Virginia who has a 2019 bmw x3 and he says as it turns out my local dealer only has cars with run flat tires I have the dealer add a jack and a spare at purchase which is a story in itself when I replaced these tires I'd like to avoid run flats as I prefer a normal tire is there anything I should be aware of when making this change so tires I think that's a question for you so BMW run flats yeah this isn't just his local deal no and yeah historically run flats there's less options when you want to replace run flats are inherently a stiffer tire because the sidewall has to be thicker and stiffer to hold the weight of the vehicle when there's no air in the tire all right that's the whole idea behind a run flat you can drive home at a limited mile per hour depending on you know that vehicle and that tire for a limited distance just to get you home so you're not changing a tire on the side of the road and then you take care of it it's some people don't like them right yeah it is it's become common where people want to get rid of them because when it comes time to replace them they can be expensive and limited choices they have come a little ways there's more choices now than there used to be they're not as stiff as it used to be and you go to like BMW forums and they'll have like my run-flats are stiff but yeah sometimes it's from 2016 115 yeah a few things because the tires are inherently stiffer the vehicles are tuned somewhat for that so we do replace these with a regular traditional tire regular an on run flat tire the vehicle could handle a little differently and I'm not saying it would be better or worse but it could be different so something you just pay attention to get used to he also says he got a jack a spare tire and a jack hit from the dealer now if this is a factory item I would hope that they have a good way of storing these so some of these vans because they don't because they have run flats they actually don't have that wheel well underneath or in your trunk to put these things now a spare tire and a Jack floating around in your trunk or you're in an SUV like this where it's open to the cabin could become a projectile if it's not properly yeah so that's a concern I have is make sure that thing is stored you know safely somehow in there whether it's in that wheel well or if there is the wheel well or they have other ways of securing that but other than that yeah I could could handle a little differently but it's not a it's just something you don't get used to yeah I have I have a run flat story do you can I tell it yes okay I so I was driving a BMW 2 Series okay during a horrible horrible horrible snowstorm in the Boston area oh I loved it it was amazing unfortunately I returned it this is this was a loaned vehicle from BMW when I was working for another publications yeah and I returned it with some damage in the form of two very expensive run flat tires I was driving along I was right behind a plow a plow plowed up an expansion joint and there was no way to avoid it to you and Bam Bam I slowed down as much as I could but I blew two tires oh and I was on an offering along off-ramp if you know if from Boston the Leverett connector there's nowhere to pull over and if you get stuck there you are gonna make a lot of people very angry and I was able to safely you know keep going just keep going and it changed my opinion on run flat tire did you work well yeah it totally changed my opinion on them and so Edward don't you know don't get don't get run down by run flats you're maybe maybe maybe you'll be happier with them yeah the next question is from Sylvain from Canada who says I currently own a 2017 Subaru WRX which I love for it's winter capabilities small footprint and performance doing a lot of my driving in Montreal shout-out to Keith Barry thank you I am looking to buy a coupe or sedan with a more compliant ride in luxurious interior but that can handle the snow ice traffic and potholes of city driving so we're gonna do we're gonna go across the across the table what do you think so I recommend the Genesis g70 cool so I loved that car it comes with all-wheel drive it has a really nice interior I feel like Genesis is sort of like the unsung hero of luxury vehicles in that people don't usually think about it or they're just like oh it's it's just a Genesis all right you know it's not what people think of necessary when they think about like having a luxurious interior or you know that that level of comfort but they're great cars the interiors are really really nice they ride well they're super comfortable I also love the fact that it comes with all this standard safety equipment you know it comes with a B with pedestrian detection it has the forward collision warning the blind spot warning and you know it's to me it's a great car the one we had here I absolutely loved I love you and just like how stylish it looks on the outside and normally I don't notice that stuff as much but I really liked how it looked yeah on the other hand I will tell you my husband commutes into Hartford and he has an a3 and he loves that so Genesis is not for you that's also an option that's my pick you stole my pick your husband stole really but ya know the a3 but the good news is that either way I looked up some a3 deals in in in Quebec and there's some really good lease deals on an a3 also if you're thinking about buying maybe a certified pre-owned car you can save a ton of money on a Genesis because all those sort of those intangibles the oh it's a brand that I don't know about that much oh it's made by Hyundai oh there isn't those can those can sometimes translate into a slightly lower resale value so you might be able to get an incredible deal on a g70 that's been returned off off of a lease yeah exactly so that are in a three I think er I think are no-brainers for both what do you think so the a3 is too small for me yeah I would say a 4 okay but even before that this is and this is a little unlike me because I forgive me I think it's a little bit boring is a Subaru Legacy a little loaded legacy the other seats I don't know if that maybe not fans are you know not as upscale enough or luxurious use the word luxurious well compared to a 20-17 WRX you know what now here's a car that's a little bigger that's s40 but you're coming from a WRX Oh most thing to probably not going to be that sporty right but it's got the same fantastic all-wheel drive system so Subaru he's already has a Subaru maybe here the relationship with the dealer already somewhere there and has a great it does the compliant ride it really is so great let's say it's one of the best sedans that we do have great so we're in agreement there are three great cars for you anyone who lives in a and it does a lot of winter driving and and want something a little bit nicer there are some pics for you whether whether you're here north the border finally question three from Henry who currently drives a 2015 Honda Accord he chose it because of its ability to accommodate the three car seats necessary for hauling my family around utility wise however it's not up to snuff for the amount of cargo area we need have you tested any crossovers that could fit our three car seats my first piece of advice is going to be kind of redundant to things I've said before which is take your car seats with you to the dealership because truly that's the best way for you to know whether or not any vehicle that we've tested or anyone elses tessa is gonna fit your car seats because every can fit everything to be a different configuration and so you know we test one particular configuration in the test vehicles here we put a forward-facing convertible car seat and a booster car seat and the two outboard seats and then we put a rear-facing infant seat in the middle and i will say that if you have to you know do three across trying to switch up your orientation like alternate right does kind of help because you know you don't have them like letting up against each other and also you know sometimes like keeping your kid and that harness a little bit longer will be helpful because now you don't have to access a buckle with a booster right the seats are just installed all the harnesses are accessible from the front it's a little bit easier in that regard so take your car seats to the dealership I've done that before the salespersons been like you you want to do what you want to install that right now yes yes I do they're gonna take they're going to three hours of your time making you wait for someone to try and sell you undercoating you might as well but that being said you know I did look into the vehicles that we've tested and any any crossover pretty much it's gonna give you more cargo space right um any SUVs give me more cargo space than that Honda Accord but there are a few vehicles that you know we have looked at that I think would be good for Henry to try out so I'm looking over your shoulder these or these are all real good tell you right in the Sorento those cars I love you red fantastic oh yeah and you'll get lots of cargo space in that telluride right even the Sorento though if you put that third row down if you're not trying to put anybody into the third oh you'll get plenty of space back there are Hyundai palisade the Toyota Highlander we currently have that in test so we haven't completed our ratings on the newest model that came out but I did quickly throw my three seats back there to make sure that I could do it for our configuration and also something like the Subaru Outback and the other thing that I really like about these options is you know they all come with standard advanced safety features which when you have you know a family with all this precious cargo that you're going to be driving around something really important for you to have those things you want to make sure they're safe so those are my tips take this little list check out those specific cars but try your car seats out in done specifically right yeah great advice I like the outback first you know it wouldn't be too much of a stretch from going from the Accord to the Outback size-wise I feel more familiar yeah yeah cool sir well thanks for those great picks and great advice if you have a question send it to talking cars at icloud.com if you have a question waiting for us we're getting to it and maybe we'll do another all questions episode and if you're from Canada hello thank you so much for watching listening and we'll talk cars again next time you\n"