Pickup Trucks

Vanity has never been one of Ram’s strong suits, but the hulking pickup brand is making an exception with the launch of the Ram 2500 Power Wagon Mojave Sand Edition. Essentially an aesthetics package, the 2500 Power Wagon Mojave Sand Edition takes advantage of the Mojave Sand beige color, which has become the fastest-selling shade on the Ram Rebel. Now, the color is appearing for the first time on a Ram Heavy Duty model. Only 1,500 units will be built, with each model priced at $54,830.

Nissan revealed a highly modified version of its Navara pickup truck at the Hannover Motor Show, called the Navara Dark Sky Concept. The pickup is designed to transport astronomers to remote locations to observe the night sky; but of course, it will also appeal to the romantics and star-gazers.

Ram has been serving customers with a big appetite and big pockets. Post discontinuation of the Dakota, the smallest pickup truck in its lineup has been the Ram 1500. Given how the market trend has been changing lately, it is essential for Ram to slot a truck at entry-level to compete against the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado and, after a 7-year exile, they have exactly done that. On Friday, FCA announced that a new truck will be entering the lineup below the 1500 by 2022.

German Motors & Engineering has released a tuning package for the Ram 1500, called the “Bigfoot Edition.” The package gives the American pickup truck a comprehensive overhaul, covering the exterior, engine, and suspension. GME’s objective is to give the RAM 1500 the kind of off-road versatility you normally don’t see in a car in Germany. To that extent, the tuner did as good a job as you’d expect from a company that knows what it’s doing.

Pure-bred off-roaders are pretty wild machines, clawing their way through crazy terrain that looks more like the moon than anything you’d expect to find a car on. Enabling this capability is the right combination of mechanical bits, as evidenced by the Toyota featured above, which manages to mount a steep slab of granite through the torque of its starter motor.

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Just like its predecessor, the Sierra Denali sits at the top of the GMC Sierra lineup, itself a more upscale version of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The fourth-generation pickup truck broke cover in March 2018, a few months after Chevrolet debuted the new-generation Silverado it is based on.

At the forefront of the premium pickup market since 1999, the GMC Sierra Denali steps into a new generation with redesigned everything. Larger and bolder, the truck benefits from new state-of-the-art technology, and a new transmission. It also boasts many industry-first features, including a carbon-fiber box, a multi-function tailgate, and a rear-view camera. Power continues to come from the familiar 5.3- and 6.2-liter V-8s, despite the fact that GMC just introduced a diesel V-6 option for the regular Sierra.

While I am not convinced that fuel efficiency is the decisive factor when choosing between trucks, RAM did make the biggest step in the fuel efficiency direction with the new 2019 Ram 1500 eTorque. We saw it some time ago, but the EPA wasn’t ready to publish fuel-economy values for the trucks equipped with the new technology. In truth, I can only describe as a mild hybrid.

Now, the EPA has revealed the numbers for the V-6 eTorque and V-8 eTorque Ram 1500 and the numbers are good. With two-wheel drive, a 3.6-liter V-6 engine, and the eTorque system, the 2019 Ram 1500 can return 20 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, and 22 mpg combined. The V-8 powered model, on the other hand, is a bit more thirsty, but still, it will return 17/23/19, respectively. Bear in mind; it uses a big 5.7-liter, V-8.

With the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and the upcoming Ford Ranger Raptor in the mix, off-road worthy small trucks are shaping up to be the sweethearts of America. Chevrolet can’t miss this party. Luckily, it already visited the party with the Colorado ZR2, but something even more off-road thirsty had to end up in Chevy showrooms. Called the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, the new truck is a specially prepared Colorado ZR2 modded by AEV (American Expedition Vehicles). It is their first Chevrolet work as the company is best known for its off-road worthy forays with the likes of Jeep Wranglers or RAM trucks. Nevertheless, Chevrolet opting to partner with AEV produced one of the most astounding, small, off-road worthy trucks currently on offer and I am here to tell you about all the astonishing mods AEV did to it.

Yet, before I start, know what AEV President, Dave Harriton said this about the project:

“We’ve been following Colorado since its introduction, and the ZR2 really captured our attention. As this is the first Chevrolet vehicle we’ve given the AEV treatment to, we wanted to do something special with the industry’s first use of hot-stamped Boron steel. We also expect that Colorado drivers will love the added ruggedness of our front and rear bumpers on ZR2 Bison.”

We have seen the first glimpses of the truck with the Colorado ZR2 AEV concept that was unveiled at the 2017 Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas. Luckily, the process of fruition and transformation into a proper production model did not last too long. You can go now and buy your Colorado ZR2 Bison by AEV at a Chevy dealer and get a full warranty with it too.

Ok, what’s new then?

Off-roading can be a lot of fun - from exploring the great outdoors, to finding the right line through a challenging bit of terrain, to extracting every ounce of capability from your vehicle, it’s just the right activity to get away from it all. Now, Ford hopes to make it more accessible with its new Trail Control system for the 2019 F-150 Raptor, which the company likens to “cruise control for off-road driving.” Color us skeptical.

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One thing is for certain. The new Ford Ranger Raptor is cool, capable, and off-road ready right from the production line, and it’s definitely an interesting proposition even for big-truck-loving Americans.

Sizewise, it is a truck similar to the Colorado ZR. “Characterwise,” it is a dune-fighting fun machine designed for the most intense off-roading tasks. While we in the U.S. are still waiting for Ford to confirm that the Ranger Raptor will come, the rest of the world is basking in the greatness of the potent truck. The thing is that the Ranger Raptor for the rest of the world is actually powered by a small diesel engine - not something that’s very popular here, is it?

While I am among those who believe the Ranger Raptor in the U.S. will get a 2.3-liter EcoBoost, I have to tell you a number of reasons why you should not be disappointed even if we end up with the diesel Ranger Raptor.

You think that the Ranger Raptor is cool? Look at this! It is a Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 TDI tuned up a notch by the fantastic Polish tuner Carlex Design. While the Poles are best known for their work on the interior of cars - something we have witnessed with their incredible Mercedes-Benz X-Class transformation - their latest works revolve around exterior mods as well. This is not surprising considering that specialists there have become well-known all over the world. They have to widen their business scope, don’t they?

I think we are lucky they did because the latest work by Carlex Design on Volkswagen’s mid-size pickup squeezes out the best of what the German pickup can offer. While we in the U.S. can’t actually get the Amarok, adventurous Europeans can go mad with it. All with a 3.0-liter TDI, V-6 that develops 268 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque. That is so much more than 210 horsepower from the Range Raptor’s 2.0-liter diesel mill.

Isuzu revealed the Concept X, Isuzu Team D-MAX-tuned monster trucks based on top of the Isuzu D-Max truck and the Isuzu MU-X SUV. Created in Australia for promotional and market research purposes, the Isuzu Concept X trucks feature a comprehensive set of off-road additions that make them exceptionally capable on rough terrain and challenging surfaces.

EMG director Wayne Boatwright said; “We didn’t set out to build a racer, a rock crawler, or yet another version of the ultimate 4WD tourer.” He added, “It would have been easy just to bolt on a lot of accessories, but we really wanted to ‘go our own way,’ so most of the build — the guards, bull bars, bonnet, brakes, suspension and chassis mods — are all in-house custom work.”

We all have our favorite Chuck Norris jokes, but apparently, we all forgot about the power of his autograph. That’s right; it’s been scientifically proven that Chuck Norris’ signature can turn random objects into all-conquering superheroes. Take a look at what happens to the Toyota Tacoma once it got bestowed with Chuck’s perfectly legible John Hancock.