The 2023 Volkswagen Golf R offers a wealth of good stuff: 315 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG transmission, adaptive-damping suspension, a giant display screen, and impressive driver assistance technology. With a starting MSRP of $44,740, it is an amazing performance bargain. But at the same time, one of our testers asks the question, “Is it too smart for its own good?”

While there is no doubt that the Golf R delivers more than enough performance per dollar spent, the interface between the car and its driver might blunt some of its goodness. Depending upon your point of view, the car’s systems could require the driver to make too many choices. And those choices must be made through a touchscreen display that isn’t all that easy to use, especially at speed. Guest co-host Matt DeLorenzo, author of How To Buy an Affordable Electric Car, and Host Jack Nerad will explore that in this episode.

We’ll also explore the all-new 2023 Kia Sportage compact utility. Jack Nerad and his wife had the opportunity to test all aspects of the Sportage HEV (hybrid) on a recent tour of Central and Southern California that took them from the SouthBay of Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast and then to the desert east of Palm Springs. It was a revealing drive, and Nerad tells all about it in this show.

In the news this week, an all-new, upcoming version of one of the seminal SUVs has just been revealed. The International Scout has achieved legendary acclaim (and it is also the vehicle driven by the hero in Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark.) Now Volkswagen has purchased the rights to the Scout name, and it will begin selling off-road-ready battery-electric SUVs under that brand starting in 2026. We’ll tell you what we think about the whole thing coming up.

And despite rosy predictions, this year has been an extremely tough one for electric vehicle start-up manufacturers. Rivian, Lucid, Lordstown, and Canoo are among the EV makers suffering big losses as they try to reach profitability. We’ll give you the gory details a little later in the show.