We have another special guest on our podcast to celebrate 45 years of MotorWeek! In this episode, we are joined by a member of our staff who served his time behind the camera. Ray Kawata began filming MotorWeek back in 1982 and was part of our crew until he retired in 2016. John and him talk about the difficulties of filming vehicles, how the profession has changed, and a story of how he avoided an international incident while filming a Volvo on the border of Norway and Russia…

In Podcast #368, John Davis and the MotorWeek crew are back to discuss a nice variety of new vehicles. Alex starts us off with his time spent with the lightly updated Acura Integra and then Greg takes things up a luxury notch with the Audi A5. And Jessica is freshly back from a trip to drive the Nissan Rogue PHEV…which brings some badge engineering back. Our Lightning Round looks to the future and what we’re excited about in 2026 and beyond!

This week’s special guest is a MotorWeek alum who isn’t too far from our memories…it’s Lauren Morrison! Lauren joined our staff as FYI Reporter back in 2015 and traveled the world to tell consumer reporting stories. She gives us a little background about herself, regales us of her favorite experiences, and explains how she used to record Motor News from a green screen in her house!

A video version of this podcast is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

In Podcast #366, John Davis and the MotorWeek crew dive into some very recent first drives with some very important new models. Greg starts things off with a west-coast adventure in the all-new 2026 Subaru Outback, which officially leaves it’s wagon identity behind. Then Jessica recalls her recent time in Nissan’s longest running nameplate, the Sentra. And Alex gets passionate about his time on the Tail of the Dragon driving the Hurricane-powered Dodge Charger. Does it really need a HEMI now? Then we recap what we know of the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show.

(This episode was recorded before the LA Auto Show announcements, so we want to correct that the 2027 Kia Telluride’s standard powertrain is a 2.5L Turbo-4.)

John Davis joins us on the MotorWeek podcast this week, not as host…but as our special guest! Because who better to talk about the history of the show, than the man who created it. Jessica Ray hosts our fearless leader in this special video episode of the podcast, and we get to know the man that is John H. Davis.

We’ll discuss how his childhood shaped his car enthusiasm, his background in aerospace engineering, his year working on Wall Street before he moved to public television, and of course, we get the full story on how MotorWeek began.

In Podcast #364, John Davis and the MotorWeek crew are joined by FYI Reporter Stephanie Hart who details her recent visit to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s facility in Virginia to see what they’re doing to help prevent fatal crashes. Then Jessica dives into the more fuel-efficient version of Subaru’s volume seller, the 2025 Forester Hybrid. And Logan is back from a trip to Detroit where he got to see the revised 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee, including it’s all-new Hurricane engine. Our Lightning Round addresses Mary Barra’s recent comments claiming that GM will be leaving Apple CarPlay and Android Auto out of their new vehicles in the future and a viewer wonders if Hyundai or Kia will ever make a body-on-frame SUV competitor.

The lovely Lisa Barrow joins John and Jessica on this special episode of the MotorWeek podcast! Lisa spent over a decade as MotorWeek’s FYI reporter in the late 1980s and talks about her global travels, how the show inspired her adventurous side, and where life took her after she left the show.

There is also a video version of this podcast that can be found here: https://youtu.be/K8M2HQCWZq4

In Podcast #362, John Davis and the MotorWeek crew have a jam-packed podcast for you! Jessica starts things off with the global reveal of the EV version of BMW’s best-selling vehicle globally, the iX3. Then Alex relays the details on the recently unvieled production model of the returning Honda Prologue sports coupe…they include a hybrid powertrain and a very distinct lack of a third pedal. Then we have finally had some time behind the wheel of the all-new Nissan LEAF so Greg let’s us know how much this charming EV has really changed. And our Lightning Round discusses Porsche pulling back on their plans to go all-electric while a viewer has a question about how we do our slalom testing.

In celebration of our 45th anniversary, MotorWeek alumni will be joining us throughout the year as guests for special episodes of our podcast!

Our first guest? None other than Craig Singhaus, who was grabbed by John Davis to assist in the 1978 pilot episode and eventually joined the staff when MotorWeek officially went on air in 1981. You’ll know him best from his outlandish “High Road” segments, but he played a big role in helping to cultivate those early seasons of the show.

There is also a video version of this podcast that can be found here: https://youtu.be/E5DK3PMwCdU

In Podcast #360, John Davis and the MotorWeek crew preview the premiere of Season 45! That’s right, MotorWeek has been on the air for 45 years. So we brought some of our most tenured staffers together to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the show along with their favorite memories.

Once we’re done reminiscing, we chat about our recent time in the drop-trop version of the Ferrari Roma grand tourer. Then, we dive into our two weeks with the 6th-generation Toyota 4Runner.

The Lightning Round discusses the uptick in used car prices and what might reverse that trend.