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2021 Subaru Crosstrek driven, and EV performance kings | Autoblog Podcast #647

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. They kick things off by talking about Jeremy's recent drive in the new 2021 Subaru Crosstrek. They compare the BMW X1, BMW X2 and Mini Countryman before providing another take on the Cadillac CT5. Recent Lucid Air and Tesla Model S news has them wondering if electric cars are the new performance kings and end with a quick discussion on California's intent to zero emissions by 2035. Autoblog Podcast #647 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2021 Subaru Crosstrek BMW X1 vs, BMW X2 vs. Mini Countryman Another take on the Cadillac CT5 Lucid Air prototype runs quarter mile in 9.245 seconds Tesla Model S Plaid prototype laps Laguna Seca in 1:30.3 More thoughts on California's 2035 gas-powered car ban Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

Diesel engine will be a no-cost option on 2021 Cadillac Escalade

Pricing for the redesigned 2021 Cadillac Escalade was revealed yesterday, with the various trim levels ranging from $77,490 to $101,290 including $1,295 destination. And while we also learned that all-wheel drive will be a $3,000 option, what's surprising is that the optional 3.0-liter inline-six diesel engine will cost $0, this according to official pricing info released by Cadillac. The diesel is one of two engine choices for the new 2021 Escalade, the other being a 6.2-liter V8. The engine also is coming to the 2021 Chevrolet and GMC full-size SUVs, but it's not yet known what the upcharge will be there, if any. Already, the 3.0-liter I6 diesel is offered in the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, where it is currently a $2,500 option over the 6.2-liter V8. The Duramax inline-six turbodiesel is an aluminum-block design with dual overhead camshafts and a single, variable-geometry turbocharger. Cadillac quotes preliminary outputs of 277 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. The 6.2-liter V8, meanwhile, musters 420 horses and the same torque output. The primary draw for the diesel is expected to be fuel economy. EPA estimates for the diesel engine in the Escalade (and in the GMC and Chevrolet full-size utes) have not yet been released. But in the pickup trucks, the engine returns 23 city/33 highway miles per gallon with rear-wheel drive and 23/29 mpg with four-wheel drive. The 2021 Cadillac Escalade had been scheduled to reach dealerships this summer, but it's not known whether that date might slip due to the current shutdown at GM's assembly plants. Related Video: