Off Road Cars

Audi is planning to participate in the 2022 Dakar Rally with what has to be one of the most extreme off-roaders we’ve seen so far this year. The RS Q E-Tron is an EV, yet there’s also a TFSI gasoline engine borrowed from DTM that serves as a range generator that will allow it to run constantly without charging. If this is the reason Audi decided to ditch Formula E, then I have to admit that I whole-heartedly agree with its decision.

The Grand Wagoneer name is making a comeback after three decades. But, for fans of the old one made until 1991, Texas-based Vigilante, which specializes in restoring vintage Jeeps, has now created a resto-mod of the classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Vigilante has managed to retain the Grand Wagoneer’s well-known iconic styling.

If you have an inclination towards 6x6 trucks, there’s a good chance you would’ve heard of Apocalypse. Remember the Hellfire 6x6? After building a six-wheel-drive truck based on the Jeep Gladiator. the aftermarket company has now taken a bigger truck under its wing for a similar build – presenting to you, the Apocalypse Warlord, a 6x6 truck based on the Ram 1500 TRX.

For very many years, the Ford F-150 Raptor was the only off-road standalone model you could get straight from the factory. Ram, however, decided to come up with a rival for it and announced its intention by coming up with a concept performance off-road truck in 2016 called the TRX. Pretty much everything we saw there made it to the production version as well.

Fast forward to 2020, Ram launched the TRX as a Raptor-killer by upping the ante in almost every single department. The TRX was introduced with a supercharged V-8 that makes over 700 horses, impressive off-road equipment and specs, and an uber-premium cabin. Given all the bells and whistles Ram offered, there was no way this was going to be an inexpensive truck. Ram priced it at $69,000 at launch in the ‘base’ form. At that time, it was clearly positioned above the Raptor as they both had a significant price difference.

While this is a truck that you definitely want, is this a truck that you actually need? A white 2021 Ram TRX arrived at TopSpeed and we find out the answer to that.

There are high chances you would’ve heard of the name ‘Ineos’. It is a U.K.-based petrochemicals group. You must have even seen the name across the Mercedes F1 cars, America’s Cup team boats, and also ‘Ineos Grenadiers’, a cycling team previously known as Sky.

Now, Ineos has dipped its toes into the automotive segment and has come up with an SUV called Ineos Grenadier. The SUV is heavily inspired by the yesteryear Land Rover Defender. While it may look the part, is it as hardcore as the original model? Carfection finds out.

EV-olution has led to the emergence of several new startups. This includes Rivian, Lordstown, Lucid, and Bollinger to name a few. All of them either have pickup trucks, SUVs, or sedans. While they are trying to cater to every major segment, there’s one company that has decided to do something different and go off the road.

We’re talking about Vanderhall, a U.S.-based EV manufacturer that has come up with an electric off-roader called Brawley. It has been around for a decade and has three-wheeled autocycles like the Venice, Carmel, and Edison in its portfolio, but this is its first four-wheeled EV. The Brawley is expected to arrive sometime next year and will start under $35,000.

After dominating the off-roading niche for decades together, the Jeep Wrangler finally has a true-blue competitor in the form of the new 2021 Ford Bronco. The revived Bronco came out all guns blazing to step up to the apex predator of the segment. The companies have been trying to go one-up against their respective rival, but it still seems to be as close as ever.

Jeep has made a move once again by coming up with an Xtreme Recon package for the Wrangler. This takes the off-roading capabilities to the next level, just like the Sasquatch Package does for the Ford Bronco. To quote from George Villiers’ play from the 17th century - “Ay, now the Plot thickens very much upon us.” Indeed!

When assembly of the Hummer H1 was ceased in 2006 not many have been able to purchase a brand new one. But, there are a few that are in like new condition, liek the one you see here. Canepa along with Predator performance was commissioned earlier this year to improve and restore this Hummer H1 Alpha to mint condition, and let’s just say, it’s better than new.

Since the mid-80s the Land Rover’s Defender’s name has stood for one of the most original and indestructible off-road vehicles in automotive history. Over the past 70 years, the model known solely by its brand name has only bee discreetly improved - until incompatibilities with pedestrian protection ultimately sealed its fate in early 2016.

The yesteryear Ford F-150 Lightning was one heck of a truck, especially in its second generation. It came with a supercharged V-8 mill that was officially the world’s fastest production truck at that time, hitting a top speed of 147 mph in a run in 2003. Now, no one in their right minds would swap this engine for something else, but the folks at Hoonigan did; and we love it!

Presenting, the Ford F-150 Frightening: an SVT Lightning that’s now powered by the 2JZ engine from the Toyota Supra. The team took it to a dyno, and the results are quite impressive for a shop truck.

The 20th century Land Rover Defenders are a hot commodity today. A lot of tuners and aftermarket companies undertake restomod operations and give the erstwhile model a modern twist. AutotopiaLA has uploaded a video of a project done by Fusion Motorsport wherein a 30-year old red Land Rover Defender went under the knife. It came out with fresh skin, a new look, and even a new heart. Neat job, huh?

What’s the best way to get someone’s attention? Scream? I guess that’s what Toyota thinks because it just launched an off-road trim of a pickup truck in a bright lime shade! Neither ‘Off-road’ nor ‘pickup truck’ can be associated with a lime exterior shade. But, Toyota seems to have done that with the 2022 Tacoma TRD Pro.

The 2022 Tacoma TRD Pro arrives in this new exclusive shade with some more off-road enhancements like an increased suspension lift, new shocks, etc. Sweet, huh?

It’s no secret that Mitsubishi is a pale shadow of its former self. Having numerous successes in rallying, the brand has switched to making bland, cheaply-made crossovers and compact cars. Although Mitsubishi currently finds itself in a state of survival (they put the Eclipse name on a crossover), things were quite different in the 1990s. Not long ago, we talked about the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse Ralliart, which was essentially the two-door “EVO” everyone wanted but never got. But long before it, there was this – the short-wheelbase-only Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution. And there’s a lot to say about it.

The top-shots at GM are not interested in a hardcore off-roader, but it looks like the designers are. The company’s design page on Instagram is always buzzing with sweet sketches and creative posts, but their recent sketch takes it up a notch. The team came up with a sketch of an off-roader that looks like it’s ready to conquer the world. Are any video game developers willing to inculcate this into their games?

There is no dearth of 6x6 trucks in the market. Many aftermarket companies have cracked the code to creating fantastic six-wheel-drive pickup trucks. Not a lot of automakers make them, unless they are for military or non-civilian use, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of choices available for folks interested in these big brutes. While most of the 6x6 builds you see are generally based on the Jeep Gladiator, we’ve created a list of five impressive conversions from different automakers.

There are a ton of speculations out there about famous products and their future. The new Ford Bronco hasn’t even settled in yet, but there were talks about its future already. While some prefer having discussions amongst their peers, some folks decide to question the head of the company about it. A Twitter user questioned Ford’s President and CEO, Jim Farley, why there’s no Bronco EV yet and the boss hinted that there is one already in the works.

Ford denied us the pleasure of driving a powerful V-8 Bronco, but it looks like the automaker is covering it up in different ways. Or, another way to look at it is Ford is rewarding the customers for taking longer than expected to deliver the Bronco. What the reward is, you ask? Well, you will be getting more power in your Bronco than the initial specs. This will be the case with both, the four-pot and the V-6 mills. Exciting news, isn’t it?

Everybody knows that Range Rovers are unreliable, right? Well, I’m here to tell you a story that might just change your perspective a little bit. And it involves two, first-generation Range Rovers, 12-hours a day mud trekking, snakes, bats, a lot of sweat, about 80,000 cigarettes, and a long-lost Chevrolet Corvair.

Keep reading to find out the story of the British Trans-Americas Expedition, the first-ever successful vehicle-based traverse of the Pan-American Highway through the Darien Gap. It’s a story of grit, determination and ultimately, a lesson in PR that would be impossible to replicate today.

E.C.D Automotive Design is famous for its highly customized Land Rover Defender rebuilds. This time, the aftermarket company has taken things up a notch by working on three identical Defender 90s one after the other, but each one is contrastingly different from the other. The rebuild on all the three SUVs involves extensive work inside out and even feature different V-8s under the hood. The company hasn’t revealed the exact prices of these builds, but the D90s start at $180,000.