Pickup Trucks

The Honda Civic Type R is an awesome machine, and it got even cooler with the latest generation when Honda decided to bring it to U.S. shores and finally gave us a taste of the once forbidden fruit. With 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque on tap, it’s the definition of Japanese-bred hot hatch. It’s also the fastest car that’s spun its front two wheels around the Magny-Cours track. And, in a weird turn of events, Honda engineers have decided to chop one up and turn it into a proper pickup truck. Yes; a pickup truck. And, the weird part is that it’s pretty damn cool.

First hitting the scene in 2009, the Ford F-150 Raptor is essentially a big, bad, burly variant of the ever-popular F-150 pickup truck, offering off-road enthusiasts all the trimmings for tackling Mother Nature’s trickiest terrain. Upgrades include a more aggressive exterior, a taller ride height, and a monster motor under the hood, and now, Ford is improving the package even further with fresh high-tech suspension bits.

Continue reading for the full story.

Nissan released the Altima as a compact four-door sedan back in the early ‘90s, updating it to a mid-size model in 2001. The latest sixth-generation vehicle debuted at the New York International Auto Show earlier in 2018, and now, the Japanese automaker is offering a limited-run variant dubbed the Edition ONE. Designed for “early adopters” who love their tech and “value exclusivity,” this Altima comes with a few nice touches to help it stand out from the crowd.

Continue reading to learn more about what makes the Nissan Altima Edition ONE special.

The automotive market has changed so much over the last 15 years, and its constant evolution is taking us to places we never expected and showing us things we never thought we’d see. After Ford and Chevy integrated modern four-cylinder engines into the Mustang and Camaro, it was only a matter of time before the led to even stranger things, and in this case, that’s a four-cylinder Silverado. Chevy has announced that the 2019 Chevy Silverado will be offered with a 2.7-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder. In fact, it’s not only offering it but listing it as standard equipment on the entry-level LT and the RST. Both come exclusively with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

You wouldn’t exactly be wrong if you said the X-Class is just a rebadged Nissan. In fact, it really is just a rebadged Nissan – the Nissan NP300, to be exact. Be that as it may, Merc managed to do a little bit to make it its own by adding in your traditional Mercedes styling cues like those sleek headlights, that grille, and let’s not forget the unmistakable front fascia that literally screams Mercedes. Of course, the interior is all Nissan too, but there are some Mercedes DNA in the mix there too. Under the hood, you’ll find one of four engines – two four-cylinder diesels, one V-6 diesel, and one gasoline-powered four-banger. All can be had with a six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic, save for the V-6 which forces you to take the auto in exchange for a full-time four-wheel drive system. With that in mind (and despite the fact that it’s just a Nissan wearing a Mercedes costume,) we’ve decided the X-Class deserves a little time as Wallpaper of the day. We’ve picked out our favorite, but we’ve also left a gallery down at the bottom if you want to take a few more.

Volvo is rolling out a new cloud-based service called “Connected Safety” that will let Volvo cars and trucks talk with one another to alert each other of hazardous traffic situations. Connected Safety will roll out this year in Sweden and Norway and builds upon the cloud service already available to Volvo cars that are connected to the cloud. That system allows 2016 and new Volvos to alert other connected Volvos when cars around them have their hazard lights switched on. When Volvo turns on this feature for its big trucks, it will allow the system cover a wider area, identify more hazards, and (assumingly, of course) improve overall safety traffic.

Volvo could eventually expand the system to include other safety-enhancing functions like warning of slippery roads, various road hazards, accidents, slower traffic, etc. It’s even possible that other automakers could opt into the service, allowing even a larger area and more vehicles to make use of the service. Of course, Volvo isn’t the only automaker that has made strides in this department and, as connected infrastructure continues to develop, we’ll see more and more of this to the point that’s we may very well know what’s around every curve or corner before we ever get there.

FCA is out at least 10 Ram 1500 pickups after a whole band of thieves committed a cluster theft at the company’s Warren lot. It all started with the theft of one pickup truck from a driveway in the area. From there, a whole band of thieves loaded up into the truck bed and drove to the lot. Once there, they cut a hole in the fence, everyone offloaded, and before security even knew what was going on, they were staring at a convoy of brand-new 2018 Ram pickups driving away into the night, never to be seen again (well, so far, anyway)

It sounds a lot like a Gone in 60 Seconds type theft and, as reported by the Detroit Free Press, it’s actually far from being the first of its type. Warren Police Commissioner, Bill Dwyer, said that while it’s not unheard of, it’s very unusual for this kind of theft to include such a high number of vehicles stolen. He said there were likely at least 10 people in the bed of the initially stolen truck. It’s still unknown whether the thieves are targeting various parts of each truck or the trucks themselves, but it’s believed to be part of a mass order with buyers already lined up.

“All these things took days, weeks, months of planning," he said. "Once you get the vehicles, you’ve got to have a buyer. This definitely sounds like an order. Sounds like the kind of theft where they immediately could be taken to a port, put into a container and shipped offshore."

And, the worst part is that even if the trucks aren’t on their way to their illegitimate owners yet, FCA isn’t really working with police to solve the problem. The company obviously has to perform its own internal investigation and can’t even disclose if the keys were stored inside the stolen vehicles. This, in turn, is frustrating police who have yet to hear back from FCA amid the fact that there’s an ongoing investigation.

Warren police are offering up a reward of an undisclosed amount and, if you happen to have any information that can lead to the apprehension of those responsible for the theft, you should call 586-574-4800.

You might know it as the Nissan Frontier in the U.S., but it’s called the Navara in Europe. It’s the same truck that was redesigned in 2014 and used by Mercedes-Benz as a base for the X-Class. Offered in many trims around the world, the Navara gained a more capable version in 2018. It’s called the Off-Roader AT32, and it’s only available in Europe.

Described by Nissan as the most capable Navara ever, the AT32 is also the company’s first European truck developed with another brand. Specifically, the AT32 was engineered by engineered by Arctic Trucks, an Icelandic company specialized in building 4WD vehicles for the world’s harshest terrains. Arctic truck offers a wide variety of upgrades for trucks and SUVs, including the Toyota Hilux, Toyota Landcruiser, Nissan Patrol, Lexus LX, Volkswagen Amarok, and even the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.

The truck’s "AT" badge stands for Arctic Trucks, while "32" represents the diameter of each tire in inches. Yes, the Navara AT32 means business when it comes to off-road, and we’re going to find out all about it in the review below.

Continue reading to find out more about the Nissan Navara Off-Roader AT32.

Nikola Motor Company, a company that unveiled a hydrogen truck concept in 2016, has filed a lawsuit against Tesla in Arizona alleging that Elon Musk’s firm infringes on its patents with the all-electric Semi truck. The lawsuit claims Tesla willfully copied Nikola’s patents in creating its electric truck. The Utah-based company is seeking $2 billion in damages.

Land Rover is one of the few brands in the auto industry that abides by its identity unflinchingly. It’s known for building some of the finest SUVs in the world, and it stays in its own lane. When was the last time you heard Land Rover consider a sedan as part of its lineup? Never? That said, the automaker has shown its willingness to stretch its identity a bit. We saw it when it launched the Range Rover Evoque earlier this decade. Now, we could be seeing it again in the form of a single-cab pickup that will be based on the upcoming Defender.

Ford’s lineup in the U.S. will look dramatically different in a few years, the automaker announced in its Q1 financial report. According to Ford, crossovers, SUVs, and pickups will make up a majority of its future lineup, in part because these segments provide the higher profits that the company needs to make money. Unfortunately, the floundering sales of sedans have made it dispensable, leaving Ford no choice but to scrap most of them with the exception of just two models: the Mustang and the Focus Active.

When Ford showed off the new Ranger, it showed nothing but potential in terms of utility and everyday usefulness. It had damn near everyone wondering if Ford would go back to its roots and offer the new Ranger as a single-cab, two-door model with a longer bed. The hope was there, but according to a 2019 model year VIN document sent to the NHTSA, the Ranger will only offer four doors in either supercab or supercrew body styles. Both supercab and supercrew models will be available with rear- or all-wheel drive, but supercab models options with “bed delete” will only be offered with rear-wheel drive. That’s right; you’ll be able to turn the new ranger into a flatbed. As expected, the only engine on offer is a 2.3-liter four-banger paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission.