"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome to talking cars with Consumer Reports we have a very special episode number two for you it's recorded here on the floor of the New York Auto Show here in the Jacob Javit Center Way on the west side of New York I'm Tom muchler I'm Gabe shenhar program manager and Senior auto test engineer and we're here to talk about what we saw at the show so Gabe what do you think the most important car the show was uh I think there are probably two cars that are really important uh one of them is a Toyota Highlander which is the third generation of this uh wonderful very functional family SUV and the other is the Jeep Cherokee which revives an old name but it's actually the first uh Jeep built by Fiat well actually I'm a bit surprised surpris because I had another pick for one of the top two cars but but we'll talk with the Highlander first it it's really got a challenge because the current Highlander is our top pick midsized SUV that's exactly right but uh I mean don't forget that the Highlander was uh an half an Notch smaller than the current competition now with the Chevy Traverse and the rest of the Lambda platform and and others so it kind of needed to uh get on par size-wise and have a little more room especially a third row seat yeah I think having a 4 inch wider rear seat's going to help a lot also they're claiming it handles better the thing I'm worried about though is that in recent Toyotas we've been seeing the ride hasn't been that good and some of the Interior quality has been you know they put something nice and then there's cheap stuff all surrounding it I'm just as worried about that because the Highlander shares a platform with the Avalon and the es and those two cars they're all cry derived yeah yeah those two cars ride as Det deteriorated a bit so let's hope uh they uh they got they didn't go uh Off the Wall here yeah let's hope they worked it out I I'm with you on the Cherokee you know it's a bit of a funnyl looking thing yeah that Grill is a little uh overdone I think in my opinion but who knows maybe that's the thing they need maybe I know a lot of people who owned older Cherokees and if they were dead they'd be turning over in their grave from it but but they're not there yet but no you know Jeep of all companies should have decent small SUV and they've all been crap I mean the Liberty oh god oh that was a disaster I mean those cars really belong in the museum but anyway I mean the first nine-speed automatic transmission uh for that uh Jeep chery that's a lot of Shifting yeah we we'll see how that works and a downsized pentar V6 uh as the uplevel engine and and three different uh transfer cases so I mean they really uh there's like a thousand variations on that thing and you can get a heated steering wheel all these Posh options you know Jeep you think of it as hose it out and you're done no no no don't hose out this one I mean this is going to I mean this probably going to push scratch $40,000 hours uh when it's all equipped I mean they really want like money I mean it'll start probably at 26,000 but it'll go up way up I mean with all the these options and features uh it's it's going to be a it it's going to see feel the gap between where the Grand Cherokee starts now which is low 40s but I also think you know it's giving you capabilities you don't have in this class cuz if you go way off road with a Rav 4 CRV it's not coming back yeah you're going to stay off road yeah exactly and they don't have you know the Rav 4 drop the V6 this thing will tow 4,500 lb with the V6 which normally you can't do with that small of an SUV yeah is should I really look forward to driving this yeah me too and I'm looking forward to take the Trail Hawk on our Rock Hill oh that should be a good time time but you see the car that I thought was really important here at this show Cadillac CTS I think it's uh I mean personally I think it's my favorite car here it looks gorgeous uh I can't wait to drive it I mean if it drives like the ATS it's going to be uh wonderful and I I love driving that ATS that is a fabulous driving car right and it's finally lines up with the competition in terms of the ATS is now a three series competitor and the CTS is a 5 series E-class competitor the legitimate uh competitor SI sizewise without making any excuses so I think it's it's really an um I mean I don't know if it's going to be as important volume wise but I think it's uh it's BMW volume sellers a three Series so you know and ATS is selling really well uh I worry about Q I'm not I don't love Q I love it you you call it what do what's your your nickname for the Q of course yeah I think I uh been quoted on that crime upon ergonomics crimes upon ergonomics someone from the Boston Globe I think quoted me on that you got fans but no you know I really hope it drives like the ATS because they got a lot of weight out of it what I love about the ATS is it feels light but yet it's so planted and you know to be fair the current CTS is a great driving car it is and I think it still looks fresh and looks good I mean that chisel look I mean I really like that yeah so let's talk about a few of the other things that are here at the show um Nissan brings out a Pathfinder hybrid Pathfinder hybrid as well as an Infinity JX hybrid or whatever they Chang the name of that JX Q something Q60 maybe um yeah that'd be interesting I mean that uh it's it's it's a whole phenomenon the um proliferation of powertrains more hybrids more diesels uh more four-cylinder turbos so it's a weird power train I mean a 2.5 L supercharged yes with all-wheel drive or without uh either way yeah it's going to be available either way and you know if the Highlander has a hybrid why not the Pathfinder well that's a funny thing about a couple hours earlier to it it said we're the only ones you know with a hybrid and well that well they need to update that uh brief then but they do sit eight the Nissan only seven yeah and that's been uh I mean that's a knock against the Honda Pilot because the pilot was the only game in town for eight passengers I think uh standard without choosing any different configuration and now Toyota's on that Toyota is on that yeah one neat thing about the Pathfinder that lithium ion battery doesn't take up much room inside you know you still have the it's still a tight third row seat but but you it didn't really lose any space yeah that's going to be interesting I me just going to make our life harder choosing what to test and uh and how to uh be focused on uh Power Transit matter like you said so much prolif proliferation um Acura MDX Acura MDX uh is uh also an important car um it um it is the luxury car for those that don't want to be seen in in a Toyota Highlander or Lexus RX yeah well that doesn't have the third row seat but uh which is missing a huge Le needs that yeah uh they say they shed about 275 lbs of um weight from the MDX but faster around the nuring ring too I mean does that matter a car that doesn't even sell in Europe but okay I mean I guess it's credentials but it's just some uniform bragging rights that doesn't mean crap any so I uh I'm just worried I mean they haven't been all that great about nvh I mean road noise has always been a little pronounced so without the 2 275 lbs uh let's see how quiet it's going to be and I mean they have to uh add mass for that new um small offset the IHS shallow offset test exactly yeah um you know the funny thing about the MDX was is they had revealed it they basically revealed it in Detroit you know they call it a concept they put little tiny mirrors on it in 22s 22inch wheels and that's the concept and I mean Honda doesn't do concepts I mean it's a it's a company that doesn't do frivolous stuff like concept cars so so when the car came out here at New York it's like no one clapped like you know we've seen this before why are repetition of Detroit whereas you know at the Jeep press conference at at the Chevy press conference people are cheering yay Jeep you know it's not that accurate they wasting their time a bit I guess yeah that's just uh you know some uh Old Pride oh fair enough especially with the Z28 everybody remembered having uh a friend in high school having one of those old Z28 so that's right uh actually um our colleague Mike Quincy took a closer look at the Z28 so we'll take a look at that Z28 is back no gold chains no crazy mullets no t-tops but 500 horsepower manual transmission tightened up suspension lighter weight this thing has got to be a blast thanks for that Mike something else new here's a Land Rover Range Rover Sport the Range Rover Sport I mean that's uh really now it's the real thing I mean the old Range Rover Sport was basically a an LR4 in Disguise it was a body on frame old thing really heavy now it's the real thing it's a Range Rover it's a legitimate Range Rover because it's based on the new Range Rover aluminum frame uh um unified body and they even managed to put a third row seat in that thing yeah and it's 800 lbs lighter that's it's almost five Toms lighter it looks a lot like an evoke it does which is not bad that's not a bad thing don't don't take that as a bad thing and that's a good thing because you can distinguish it from the true Range Rover and I think applying those evoke uh styling cues really works well for for that uh size and proportions that was a good move KIA KIA seem to introduce everything they have in the show you know some car companies you know they they tweak a button and it's a press release here uh there's a new Forte Coupe there's there's an Optima with waffle diamond pattern leather seats yeah I mean the whole term all new has been cheapened uh beyond recognition they called the Optima all new I think they call like everything all new I mean that San TC this morning they call that all new oh that wasn't all new so I mean in wheels and tires and new radio yeah there's not much there but yeah Kia um the biggest thing there is the new soul the soul yeah and um that's a redesign that's a legitimate redesign design I think it's bigger there's a lot more room you know looking inside of it it's nice inside now before it was a little very cheap it was a cheap car a cheap interior now it almost seems like it's going after Min but with less of the weird maybe yeah they have uh direct injection engines almost everywhere now so we'll see I mean that if it rides better and it's quieter it really needs to be both of those things that could be good car that uh might elevate it from that basic low rent uh category speaking of Bas well not so quite basic not so quite low rent lots of little Germans here uh Volkswagen Golf yeah uh I mean the golf I mean of course it's on sale in Europe already and I'm uh surprised that uh they revealed it here so early because it only goes on sale in a year from now as a 2015 model year yeah they didn't even say what engine it's having although it's a 1 variety of engines but uh yeah the 18 uh direct injection which is a f it's part of that family of 1.2 1.4 we have the 1.4 TSI engine in our Jetta Hybrid so it does decent decent work there yeah it it'll it might be pretty slick I mean I looked inside that golf looks really nice you know that's a worry CU Volkswagen sucked the money and made a sucky interior in the Jed I mean it's gotten a little better but no the golf looks nice and the GTI that looks real nice yeah that's stuck with the Plaid seats oh yeah take the plid seat you have to have that yeah I have plaid seats in my uh old two GTI yeah that's uh it's got to have that also among the little Germans um Mercedes brings out the CLA 45 360 horsepower oh yeah 355 horsepower from a 2 L turbo I mean what's going to be the longevity of that engine um that uh is is actually let's not hope it po now would now that car is about 46 Grand would you buy that or would you buy a normal three series or a normal C-Class well I think the right comp competitor for this car if you saw the concept WX downstairs this morning subu WX SDI I mean that's going to be an AMG that's uh that's a CLA AMG it's going to be very focused Sports track oriented car all-wheel drive huh so yeah I mean in terms of horsepower in terms of uh intent I think the Subaru WRX is is the one that might give it the run for its money that's interesting also from Subaru uh finally their first hybrid first hybrid which which makes sense I mean come on you know really show us all these trees and all these Brooks and uh of course uh it's it's just a a given that Subaru you know that um politically correct kind of company needs to be yeah there's not a lot of Mitt Romney stickers on on the back of Subaru maybe in New Hampshire but otherwise no it makes total sense with their buyers I'm not sure they're not really all in with this hybrid it's a I mean they say only 10% improvement over the regular fuel economy of the XV which I think we got 26 so to get 29 MPG and for a price of 28 $29,000 maybe maybe it'll work yeah I mean it it it'll work for some I wish I put it in the Forester yeah I wouldn't be surprised if that's not coming what was a big surprise to me is that they even updated the buck Regal I love the Regal I love that car it's a great car no one buys no one knows about it nobody gets it that's why I'm surprised they updated it you know it's got a few more features they took instead of 100 buttons in the center stack it's down to 55 or 60 maybe well and so there is a new touchcreen I guess and yeah they also more the capacitive switches we love to hate and they did the same similar updates to Lacrosse some more stuff um you know interior new grill you have to do what you have to do uh to uh get some sales Honda The Odyssey it has a vacuum cleaner there a vacuum cleaner to uh sweep out all the uh Cheerios left over and uh crayons and whatnot uh now I've owned two Odyssey before I bought the Durango I I don't know if I'd run out and buy another one with the vacuum and it's only going to be on the probably $45,000 touring Elite so um they didn't say much about other Odyssey they're probably all going to get six-speed automatics and uh probably I think that's inevitable and uh I mean it kind of reminds me of a few years ago I think the Ford Flex had a washing machine in the back yeah yeah um something that excited me is Volvo Volvo is going to sell station wagons again yep the V60 that's a wagon version of the S60 it's uh not doesn't have all that much room in it but uh it's a very stylish kind of a wagon kind of like a uh it's going to be a good competitor for an Audi Allroad well much like I love the Rego I love the S60 for similar reasons it's great to drive feels pretty light really nicely finished not a big car I mean Volvo again way years ago I had a Volvo Wagon and now the only wagon you could get from Volvo would be the jacked up uh XC70 so it's good to see them going back this way and on one more personal note they updated the Durango oh very personal note and and you know I love my Durango but despite this job I have the same problems that other people have when do I update my car you know it's got a new 8speed automatic it's got the really nice touchcreen I don't don't love mine how about that knob for uh the shifter it's going to make you feel like you have a Range Rover or a Jaguar oh there it will make me feel like I have a Jaguar but you know what makes me feel better having a car that's paid for and my wife would kill me if we traded ours in on a new Durango yeah I think you're keep it for a while I think we'll stick with that so a big thanks to all of you for sticking with us through this podcast we really enjoyed bringing you the highlights here of the New York Auto Show please send us your feedback through the YouTube comments or through the comments on our blog we'd love to hear from you I'm Tom mler Gabe shenhar thanks againwelcome to talking cars with Consumer Reports we have a very special episode number two for you it's recorded here on the floor of the New York Auto Show here in the Jacob Javit Center Way on the west side of New York I'm Tom muchler I'm Gabe shenhar program manager and Senior auto test engineer and we're here to talk about what we saw at the show so Gabe what do you think the most important car the show was uh I think there are probably two cars that are really important uh one of them is a Toyota Highlander which is the third generation of this uh wonderful very functional family SUV and the other is the Jeep Cherokee which revives an old name but it's actually the first uh Jeep built by Fiat well actually I'm a bit surprised surpris because I had another pick for one of the top two cars but but we'll talk with the Highlander first it it's really got a challenge because the current Highlander is our top pick midsized SUV that's exactly right but uh I mean don't forget that the Highlander was uh an half an Notch smaller than the current competition now with the Chevy Traverse and the rest of the Lambda platform and and others so it kind of needed to uh get on par size-wise and have a little more room especially a third row seat yeah I think having a 4 inch wider rear seat's going to help a lot also they're claiming it handles better the thing I'm worried about though is that in recent Toyotas we've been seeing the ride hasn't been that good and some of the Interior quality has been you know they put something nice and then there's cheap stuff all surrounding it I'm just as worried about that because the Highlander shares a platform with the Avalon and the es and those two cars they're all cry derived yeah yeah those two cars ride as Det deteriorated a bit so let's hope uh they uh they got they didn't go uh Off the Wall here yeah let's hope they worked it out I I'm with you on the Cherokee you know it's a bit of a funnyl looking thing yeah that Grill is a little uh overdone I think in my opinion but who knows maybe that's the thing they need maybe I know a lot of people who owned older Cherokees and if they were dead they'd be turning over in their grave from it but but they're not there yet but no you know Jeep of all companies should have decent small SUV and they've all been crap I mean the Liberty oh god oh that was a disaster I mean those cars really belong in the museum but anyway I mean the first nine-speed automatic transmission uh for that uh Jeep chery that's a lot of Shifting yeah we we'll see how that works and a downsized pentar V6 uh as the uplevel engine and and three different uh transfer cases so I mean they really uh there's like a thousand variations on that thing and you can get a heated steering wheel all these Posh options you know Jeep you think of it as hose it out and you're done no no no don't hose out this one I mean this is going to I mean this probably going to push scratch $40,000 hours uh when it's all equipped I mean they really want like money I mean it'll start probably at 26,000 but it'll go up way up I mean with all the these options and features uh it's it's going to be a it it's going to see feel the gap between where the Grand Cherokee starts now which is low 40s but I also think you know it's giving you capabilities you don't have in this class cuz if you go way off road with a Rav 4 CRV it's not coming back yeah you're going to stay off road yeah exactly and they don't have you know the Rav 4 drop the V6 this thing will tow 4,500 lb with the V6 which normally you can't do with that small of an SUV yeah is should I really look forward to driving this yeah me too and I'm looking forward to take the Trail Hawk on our Rock Hill oh that should be a good time time but you see the car that I thought was really important here at this show Cadillac CTS I think it's uh I mean personally I think it's my favorite car here it looks gorgeous uh I can't wait to drive it I mean if it drives like the ATS it's going to be uh wonderful and I I love driving that ATS that is a fabulous driving car right and it's finally lines up with the competition in terms of the ATS is now a three series competitor and the CTS is a 5 series E-class competitor the legitimate uh competitor SI sizewise without making any excuses so I think it's it's really an um I mean I don't know if it's going to be as important volume wise but I think it's uh it's BMW volume sellers a three Series so you know and ATS is selling really well uh I worry about Q I'm not I don't love Q I love it you you call it what do what's your your nickname for the Q of course yeah I think I uh been quoted on that crime upon ergonomics crimes upon ergonomics someone from the Boston Globe I think quoted me on that you got fans but no you know I really hope it drives like the ATS because they got a lot of weight out of it what I love about the ATS is it feels light but yet it's so planted and you know to be fair the current CTS is a great driving car it is and I think it still looks fresh and looks good I mean that chisel look I mean I really like that yeah so let's talk about a few of the other things that are here at the show um Nissan brings out a Pathfinder hybrid Pathfinder hybrid as well as an Infinity JX hybrid or whatever they Chang the name of that JX Q something Q60 maybe um yeah that'd be interesting I mean that uh it's it's it's a whole phenomenon the um proliferation of powertrains more hybrids more diesels uh more four-cylinder turbos so it's a weird power train I mean a 2.5 L supercharged yes with all-wheel drive or without uh either way yeah it's going to be available either way and you know if the Highlander has a hybrid why not the Pathfinder well that's a funny thing about a couple hours earlier to it it said we're the only ones you know with a hybrid and well that well they need to update that uh brief then but they do sit eight the Nissan only seven yeah and that's been uh I mean that's a knock against the Honda Pilot because the pilot was the only game in town for eight passengers I think uh standard without choosing any different configuration and now Toyota's on that Toyota is on that yeah one neat thing about the Pathfinder that lithium ion battery doesn't take up much room inside you know you still have the it's still a tight third row seat but but you it didn't really lose any space yeah that's going to be interesting I me just going to make our life harder choosing what to test and uh and how to uh be focused on uh Power Transit matter like you said so much prolif proliferation um Acura MDX Acura MDX uh is uh also an important car um it um it is the luxury car for those that don't want to be seen in in a Toyota Highlander or Lexus RX yeah well that doesn't have the third row seat but uh which is missing a huge Le needs that yeah uh they say they shed about 275 lbs of um weight from the MDX but faster around the nuring ring too I mean does that matter a car that doesn't even sell in Europe but okay I mean I guess it's credentials but it's just some uniform bragging rights that doesn't mean crap any so I uh I'm just worried I mean they haven't been all that great about nvh I mean road noise has always been a little pronounced so without the 2 275 lbs uh let's see how quiet it's going to be and I mean they have to uh add mass for that new um small offset the IHS shallow offset test exactly yeah um you know the funny thing about the MDX was is they had revealed it they basically revealed it in Detroit you know they call it a concept they put little tiny mirrors on it in 22s 22inch wheels and that's the concept and I mean Honda doesn't do concepts I mean it's a it's a company that doesn't do frivolous stuff like concept cars so so when the car came out here at New York it's like no one clapped like you know we've seen this before why are repetition of Detroit whereas you know at the Jeep press conference at at the Chevy press conference people are cheering yay Jeep you know it's not that accurate they wasting their time a bit I guess yeah that's just uh you know some uh Old Pride oh fair enough especially with the Z28 everybody remembered having uh a friend in high school having one of those old Z28 so that's right uh actually um our colleague Mike Quincy took a closer look at the Z28 so we'll take a look at that Z28 is back no gold chains no crazy mullets no t-tops but 500 horsepower manual transmission tightened up suspension lighter weight this thing has got to be a blast thanks for that Mike something else new here's a Land Rover Range Rover Sport the Range Rover Sport I mean that's uh really now it's the real thing I mean the old Range Rover Sport was basically a an LR4 in Disguise it was a body on frame old thing really heavy now it's the real thing it's a Range Rover it's a legitimate Range Rover because it's based on the new Range Rover aluminum frame uh um unified body and they even managed to put a third row seat in that thing yeah and it's 800 lbs lighter that's it's almost five Toms lighter it looks a lot like an evoke it does which is not bad that's not a bad thing don't don't take that as a bad thing and that's a good thing because you can distinguish it from the true Range Rover and I think applying those evoke uh styling cues really works well for for that uh size and proportions that was a good move KIA KIA seem to introduce everything they have in the show you know some car companies you know they they tweak a button and it's a press release here uh there's a new Forte Coupe there's there's an Optima with waffle diamond pattern leather seats yeah I mean the whole term all new has been cheapened uh beyond recognition they called the Optima all new I think they call like everything all new I mean that San TC this morning they call that all new oh that wasn't all new so I mean in wheels and tires and new radio yeah there's not much there but yeah Kia um the biggest thing there is the new soul the soul yeah and um that's a redesign that's a legitimate redesign design I think it's bigger there's a lot more room you know looking inside of it it's nice inside now before it was a little very cheap it was a cheap car a cheap interior now it almost seems like it's going after Min but with less of the weird maybe yeah they have uh direct injection engines almost everywhere now so we'll see I mean that if it rides better and it's quieter it really needs to be both of those things that could be good car that uh might elevate it from that basic low rent uh category speaking of Bas well not so quite basic not so quite low rent lots of little Germans here uh Volkswagen Golf yeah uh I mean the golf I mean of course it's on sale in Europe already and I'm uh surprised that uh they revealed it here so early because it only goes on sale in a year from now as a 2015 model year yeah they didn't even say what engine it's having although it's a 1 variety of engines but uh yeah the 18 uh direct injection which is a f it's part of that family of 1.2 1.4 we have the 1.4 TSI engine in our Jetta Hybrid so it does decent decent work there yeah it it'll it might be pretty slick I mean I looked inside that golf looks really nice you know that's a worry CU Volkswagen sucked the money and made a sucky interior in the Jed I mean it's gotten a little better but no the golf looks nice and the GTI that looks real nice yeah that's stuck with the Plaid seats oh yeah take the plid seat you have to have that yeah I have plaid seats in my uh old two GTI yeah that's uh it's got to have that also among the little Germans um Mercedes brings out the CLA 45 360 horsepower oh yeah 355 horsepower from a 2 L turbo I mean what's going to be the longevity of that engine um that uh is is actually let's not hope it po now would now that car is about 46 Grand would you buy that or would you buy a normal three series or a normal C-Class well I think the right comp competitor for this car if you saw the concept WX downstairs this morning subu WX SDI I mean that's going to be an AMG that's uh that's a CLA AMG it's going to be very focused Sports track oriented car all-wheel drive huh so yeah I mean in terms of horsepower in terms of uh intent I think the Subaru WRX is is the one that might give it the run for its money that's interesting also from Subaru uh finally their first hybrid first hybrid which which makes sense I mean come on you know really show us all these trees and all these Brooks and uh of course uh it's it's just a a given that Subaru you know that um politically correct kind of company needs to be yeah there's not a lot of Mitt Romney stickers on on the back of Subaru maybe in New Hampshire but otherwise no it makes total sense with their buyers I'm not sure they're not really all in with this hybrid it's a I mean they say only 10% improvement over the regular fuel economy of the XV which I think we got 26 so to get 29 MPG and for a price of 28 $29,000 maybe maybe it'll work yeah I mean it it it'll work for some I wish I put it in the Forester yeah I wouldn't be surprised if that's not coming what was a big surprise to me is that they even updated the buck Regal I love the Regal I love that car it's a great car no one buys no one knows about it nobody gets it that's why I'm surprised they updated it you know it's got a few more features they took instead of 100 buttons in the center stack it's down to 55 or 60 maybe well and so there is a new touchcreen I guess and yeah they also more the capacitive switches we love to hate and they did the same similar updates to Lacrosse some more stuff um you know interior new grill you have to do what you have to do uh to uh get some sales Honda The Odyssey it has a vacuum cleaner there a vacuum cleaner to uh sweep out all the uh Cheerios left over and uh crayons and whatnot uh now I've owned two Odyssey before I bought the Durango I I don't know if I'd run out and buy another one with the vacuum and it's only going to be on the probably $45,000 touring Elite so um they didn't say much about other Odyssey they're probably all going to get six-speed automatics and uh probably I think that's inevitable and uh I mean it kind of reminds me of a few years ago I think the Ford Flex had a washing machine in the back yeah yeah um something that excited me is Volvo Volvo is going to sell station wagons again yep the V60 that's a wagon version of the S60 it's uh not doesn't have all that much room in it but uh it's a very stylish kind of a wagon kind of like a uh it's going to be a good competitor for an Audi Allroad well much like I love the Rego I love the S60 for similar reasons it's great to drive feels pretty light really nicely finished not a big car I mean Volvo again way years ago I had a Volvo Wagon and now the only wagon you could get from Volvo would be the jacked up uh XC70 so it's good to see them going back this way and on one more personal note they updated the Durango oh very personal note and and you know I love my Durango but despite this job I have the same problems that other people have when do I update my car you know it's got a new 8speed automatic it's got the really nice touchcreen I don't don't love mine how about that knob for uh the shifter it's going to make you feel like you have a Range Rover or a Jaguar oh there it will make me feel like I have a Jaguar but you know what makes me feel better having a car that's paid for and my wife would kill me if we traded ours in on a new Durango yeah I think you're keep it for a while I think we'll stick with that so a big thanks to all of you for sticking with us through this podcast we really enjoyed bringing you the highlights here of the New York Auto Show please send us your feedback through the YouTube comments or through the comments on our blog we'd love to hear from you I'm Tom mler Gabe shenhar thanks againwelcome to talking cars with Consumer Reports we have a very special episode number two for you it's recorded here on the floor of the New York Auto Show here in the Jacob Javit Center Way on the west side of New York I'm Tom muchler I'm Gabe shenhar program manager and Senior auto test engineer and we're here to talk about what we saw at the show so Gabe what do you think the most important car the show was uh I think there are probably two cars that are really important uh one of them is a Toyota Highlander which is the third generation of this uh wonderful very functional family SUV and the other is the Jeep Cherokee which revives an old name but it's actually the first uh Jeep built by Fiat well actually I'm a bit surprised surpris because I had another pick for one of the top two cars but but we'll talk with the Highlander first it it's really got a challenge because the current Highlander is our top pick midsized SUV that's exactly right but uh I mean don't forget that the Highlander was uh an half an Notch smaller than the current competition now with the Chevy Traverse and the rest of the Lambda platform and and others so it kind of needed to uh get on par size-wise and have a little more room especially a third row seat yeah I think having a 4 inch wider rear seat's going to help a lot also they're claiming it handles better the thing I'm worried about though is that in recent Toyotas we've been seeing the ride hasn't been that good and some of the Interior quality has been you know they put something nice and then there's cheap stuff all surrounding it I'm just as worried about that because the Highlander shares a platform with the Avalon and the es and those two cars they're all cry derived yeah yeah those two cars ride as Det deteriorated a bit so let's hope uh they uh they got they didn't go uh Off the Wall here yeah let's hope they worked it out I I'm with you on the Cherokee you know it's a bit of a funnyl looking thing yeah that Grill is a little uh overdone I think in my opinion but who knows maybe that's the thing they need maybe I know a lot of people who owned older Cherokees and if they were dead they'd be turning over in their grave from it but but they're not there yet but no you know Jeep of all companies should have decent small SUV and they've all been crap I mean the Liberty oh god oh that was a disaster I mean those cars really belong in the museum but anyway I mean the first nine-speed automatic transmission uh for that uh Jeep chery that's a lot of Shifting yeah we we'll see how that works and a downsized pentar V6 uh as the uplevel engine and and three different uh transfer cases so I mean they really uh there's like a thousand variations on that thing and you can get a heated steering wheel all these Posh options you know Jeep you think of it as hose it out and you're done no no no don't hose out this one I mean this is going to I mean this probably going to push scratch $40,000 hours uh when it's all equipped I mean they really want like money I mean it'll start probably at 26,000 but it'll go up way up I mean with all the these options and features uh it's it's going to be a it it's going to see feel the gap between where the Grand Cherokee starts now which is low 40s but I also think you know it's giving you capabilities you don't have in this class cuz if you go way off road with a Rav 4 CRV it's not coming back yeah you're going to stay off road yeah exactly and they don't have you know the Rav 4 drop the V6 this thing will tow 4,500 lb with the V6 which normally you can't do with that small of an SUV yeah is should I really look forward to driving this yeah me too and I'm looking forward to take the Trail Hawk on our Rock Hill oh that should be a good time time but you see the car that I thought was really important here at this show Cadillac CTS I think it's uh I mean personally I think it's my favorite car here it looks gorgeous uh I can't wait to drive it I mean if it drives like the ATS it's going to be uh wonderful and I I love driving that ATS that is a fabulous driving car right and it's finally lines up with the competition in terms of the ATS is now a three series competitor and the CTS is a 5 series E-class competitor the legitimate uh competitor SI sizewise without making any excuses so I think it's it's really an um I mean I don't know if it's going to be as important volume wise but I think it's uh it's BMW volume sellers a three Series so you know and ATS is selling really well uh I worry about Q I'm not I don't love Q I love it you you call it what do what's your your nickname for the Q of course yeah I think I uh been quoted on that crime upon ergonomics crimes upon ergonomics someone from the Boston Globe I think quoted me on that you got fans but no you know I really hope it drives like the ATS because they got a lot of weight out of it what I love about the ATS is it feels light but yet it's so planted and you know to be fair the current CTS is a great driving car it is and I think it still looks fresh and looks good I mean that chisel look I mean I really like that yeah so let's talk about a few of the other things that are here at the show um Nissan brings out a Pathfinder hybrid Pathfinder hybrid as well as an Infinity JX hybrid or whatever they Chang the name of that JX Q something Q60 maybe um yeah that'd be interesting I mean that uh it's it's it's a whole phenomenon the um proliferation of powertrains more hybrids more diesels uh more four-cylinder turbos so it's a weird power train I mean a 2.5 L supercharged yes with all-wheel drive or without uh either way yeah it's going to be available either way and you know if the Highlander has a hybrid why not the Pathfinder well that's a funny thing about a couple hours earlier to it it said we're the only ones you know with a hybrid and well that well they need to update that uh brief then but they do sit eight the Nissan only seven yeah and that's been uh I mean that's a knock against the Honda Pilot because the pilot was the only game in town for eight passengers I think uh standard without choosing any different configuration and now Toyota's on that Toyota is on that yeah one neat thing about the Pathfinder that lithium ion battery doesn't take up much room inside you know you still have the it's still a tight third row seat but but you it didn't really lose any space yeah that's going to be interesting I me just going to make our life harder choosing what to test and uh and how to uh be focused on uh Power Transit matter like you said so much prolif proliferation um Acura MDX Acura MDX uh is uh also an important car um it um it is the luxury car for those that don't want to be seen in in a Toyota Highlander or Lexus RX yeah well that doesn't have the third row seat but uh which is missing a huge Le needs that yeah uh they say they shed about 275 lbs of um weight from the MDX but faster around the nuring ring too I mean does that matter a car that doesn't even sell in Europe but okay I mean I guess it's credentials but it's just some uniform bragging rights that doesn't mean crap any so I uh I'm just worried I mean they haven't been all that great about nvh I mean road noise has always been a little pronounced so without the 2 275 lbs uh let's see how quiet it's going to be and I mean they have to uh add mass for that new um small offset the IHS shallow offset test exactly yeah um you know the funny thing about the MDX was is they had revealed it they basically revealed it in Detroit you know they call it a concept they put little tiny mirrors on it in 22s 22inch wheels and that's the concept and I mean Honda doesn't do concepts I mean it's a it's a company that doesn't do frivolous stuff like concept cars so so when the car came out here at New York it's like no one clapped like you know we've seen this before why are repetition of Detroit whereas you know at the Jeep press conference at at the Chevy press conference people are cheering yay Jeep you know it's not that accurate they wasting their time a bit I guess yeah that's just uh you know some uh Old Pride oh fair enough especially with the Z28 everybody remembered having uh a friend in high school having one of those old Z28 so that's right uh actually um our colleague Mike Quincy took a closer look at the Z28 so we'll take a look at that Z28 is back no gold chains no crazy mullets no t-tops but 500 horsepower manual transmission tightened up suspension lighter weight this thing has got to be a blast thanks for that Mike something else new here's a Land Rover Range Rover Sport the Range Rover Sport I mean that's uh really now it's the real thing I mean the old Range Rover Sport was basically a an LR4 in Disguise it was a body on frame old thing really heavy now it's the real thing it's a Range Rover it's a legitimate Range Rover because it's based on the new Range Rover aluminum frame uh um unified body and they even managed to put a third row seat in that thing yeah and it's 800 lbs lighter that's it's almost five Toms lighter it looks a lot like an evoke it does which is not bad that's not a bad thing don't don't take that as a bad thing and that's a good thing because you can distinguish it from the true Range Rover and I think applying those evoke uh styling cues really works well for for that uh size and proportions that was a good move KIA KIA seem to introduce everything they have in the show you know some car companies you know they they tweak a button and it's a press release here uh there's a new Forte Coupe there's there's an Optima with waffle diamond pattern leather seats yeah I mean the whole term all new has been cheapened uh beyond recognition they called the Optima all new I think they call like everything all new I mean that San TC this morning they call that all new oh that wasn't all new so I mean in wheels and tires and new radio yeah there's not much there but yeah Kia um the biggest thing there is the new soul the soul yeah and um that's a redesign that's a legitimate redesign design I think it's bigger there's a lot more room you know looking inside of it it's nice inside now before it was a little very cheap it was a cheap car a cheap interior now it almost seems like it's going after Min but with less of the weird maybe yeah they have uh direct injection engines almost everywhere now so we'll see I mean that if it rides better and it's quieter it really needs to be both of those things that could be good car that uh might elevate it from that basic low rent uh category speaking of Bas well not so quite basic not so quite low rent lots of little Germans here uh Volkswagen Golf yeah uh I mean the golf I mean of course it's on sale in Europe already and I'm uh surprised that uh they revealed it here so early because it only goes on sale in a year from now as a 2015 model year yeah they didn't even say what engine it's having although it's a 1 variety of engines but uh yeah the 18 uh direct injection which is a f it's part of that family of 1.2 1.4 we have the 1.4 TSI engine in our Jetta Hybrid so it does decent decent work there yeah it it'll it might be pretty slick I mean I looked inside that golf looks really nice you know that's a worry CU Volkswagen sucked the money and made a sucky interior in the Jed I mean it's gotten a little better but no the golf looks nice and the GTI that looks real nice yeah that's stuck with the Plaid seats oh yeah take the plid seat you have to have that yeah I have plaid seats in my uh old two GTI yeah that's uh it's got to have that also among the little Germans um Mercedes brings out the CLA 45 360 horsepower oh yeah 355 horsepower from a 2 L turbo I mean what's going to be the longevity of that engine um that uh is is actually let's not hope it po now would now that car is about 46 Grand would you buy that or would you buy a normal three series or a normal C-Class well I think the right comp competitor for this car if you saw the concept WX downstairs this morning subu WX SDI I mean that's going to be an AMG that's uh that's a CLA AMG it's going to be very focused Sports track oriented car all-wheel drive huh so yeah I mean in terms of horsepower in terms of uh intent I think the Subaru WRX is is the one that might give it the run for its money that's interesting also from Subaru uh finally their first hybrid first hybrid which which makes sense I mean come on you know really show us all these trees and all these Brooks and uh of course uh it's it's just a a given that Subaru you know that um politically correct kind of company needs to be yeah there's not a lot of Mitt Romney stickers on on the back of Subaru maybe in New Hampshire but otherwise no it makes total sense with their buyers I'm not sure they're not really all in with this hybrid it's a I mean they say only 10% improvement over the regular fuel economy of the XV which I think we got 26 so to get 29 MPG and for a price of 28 $29,000 maybe maybe it'll work yeah I mean it it it'll work for some I wish I put it in the Forester yeah I wouldn't be surprised if that's not coming what was a big surprise to me is that they even updated the buck Regal I love the Regal I love that car it's a great car no one buys no one knows about it nobody gets it that's why I'm surprised they updated it you know it's got a few more features they took instead of 100 buttons in the center stack it's down to 55 or 60 maybe well and so there is a new touchcreen I guess and yeah they also more the capacitive switches we love to hate and they did the same similar updates to Lacrosse some more stuff um you know interior new grill you have to do what you have to do uh to uh get some sales Honda The Odyssey it has a vacuum cleaner there a vacuum cleaner to uh sweep out all the uh Cheerios left over and uh crayons and whatnot uh now I've owned two Odyssey before I bought the Durango I I don't know if I'd run out and buy another one with the vacuum and it's only going to be on the probably $45,000 touring Elite so um they didn't say much about other Odyssey they're probably all going to get six-speed automatics and uh probably I think that's inevitable and uh I mean it kind of reminds me of a few years ago I think the Ford Flex had a washing machine in the back yeah yeah um something that excited me is Volvo Volvo is going to sell station wagons again yep the V60 that's a wagon version of the S60 it's uh not doesn't have all that much room in it but uh it's a very stylish kind of a wagon kind of like a uh it's going to be a good competitor for an Audi Allroad well much like I love the Rego I love the S60 for similar reasons it's great to drive feels pretty light really nicely finished not a big car I mean Volvo again way years ago I had a Volvo Wagon and now the only wagon you could get from Volvo would be the jacked up uh XC70 so it's good to see them going back this way and on one more personal note they updated the Durango oh very personal note and and you know I love my Durango but despite this job I have the same problems that other people have when do I update my car you know it's got a new 8speed automatic it's got the really nice touchcreen I don't don't love mine how about that knob for uh the shifter it's going to make you feel like you have a Range Rover or a Jaguar oh there it will make me feel like I have a Jaguar but you know what makes me feel better having a car that's paid for and my wife would kill me if we traded ours in on a new Durango yeah I think you're keep it for a while I think we'll stick with that so a big thanks to all of you for sticking with us through this podcast we really enjoyed bringing you the highlights here of the New York Auto Show please send us your feedback through the YouTube comments or through the comments on our blog we'd love to hear from you I'm Tom mler Gabe shenhar thanks again\n"