#SUV

If it weren’t for teaser shots about hotly anticipated models from different brands, car corners of the internet wouldn’t have much to talk about on some days. Fortunately, the news keeps rolling from Toyota, who’ve released a telling photo of the upcoming 4Runner – along with a suggested release date.

Pour another one out for the eight-cylinder engine. With the configuration departing from machines like the Ram half-ton pickup truck, Dodge Charger, and comprising only a relatively slim percentage of F-150 sales, it should be no surprise it is vanishing at some other brands as well.

What would the automotive world be without an endless set of teasers for upcoming vehicles (and the attendant websites which report on them *looks around and shuffles feet*)? This time, Infiniti is keen on offering a few creative angles of a new variant of their upcoming jumbo SUV, the QX80.

Here’s one for all you Romeos who conveniently forgot to get their Juliet something for Valentine’s Day. Mercedes-Benz is launching a new campaign featuring 300 examples of a G 550 studded with a quartet of 0.25-carat diamonds.

The delightfully angular new Lexus GX, planned for deliveries early next year, has been given a price tag by the company’s pencil-necked accountants. While a roughly $4,000 walk from the starting cost of last year’s rig, the extra cheddar buys a far better vehicle.

The jumbo Nissan Armada has a higher entry-level price point for 2024 compared to last year – but it would be tough to solely blame inflation for this cost hike. Rather, customers should know the brand simply decided to bin a (relatively) low volume base trim.

It seems Toyota is bent on covering every single niche in the crossover segment, currently slinging vehicles ranging from the pert Corolla Cross to the jumbo Grand Highlander. Now, another bundle of joy is on the way – but they’re not telling us its name.

It can be a challenge for me to truly appreciate a high-end vehicle. Having been brought up with the typical Midwestern virtues of thrift and modesty, embracing conspicuous consumption with any sort of gusto doesn’t exactly come naturally. Outside a few wealthy suburban enclaves, much of this region traditionally has valued restraint, and the only acceptable response when questioned about buying a luxury good is to reply that you got it on sale.

Perhaps that’s why Oldsmobile was so successful around here. It gave drivers a taste of luxury without flaunting it.

Times have changed. New media has made the display of wealth - real or imagined - not just acceptable, but basically required. Fake it until you make it, and dodge the calls from the collection agency. So that old-school ethic of consumptive conservatism needs reevaluation for the modern era. I must consider six-figure motor vehicles as a legitimate part of our world. And thus, the 2023 Lexus LX 600 you see before you today. From the outside, it looks as if it should be like any other large SUV, with three rows of seating and plenty of hauling capacity. But step inside, and the story changes. 

The XJ Cherokee was born out of the French government's bailout of American Motors and made its debut as a 1984 model. It was so successful that it stayed in production in essentially its original form through three corporations and into the following century. Today's Junkyard Find is one of the very last XJ Cherokees ever made, found in a Wyoming car graveyard last week.

Horsepower and SUVs can be a wicked combination when done right; witness any number of hi-po German and, increasingly, Italian machinery which somehow successfully combine high centres of gravity and outlandish acceleration numbers.

The new Range Rover Sport SV takes the concept and cranks its wick to 626 horsepower, meaning this Rangey is capable of hitting 60 mph from rest in just 3.6 seconds.

While we already covered the powertrains the 2024 Kia EV9 will receive, its North American premiere at the New York International Auto Show has given us more to chew on.

The crash test dummies at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have been doing great work in ratcheting up the difficulty of their impact examinations, often requiring automakers to return to their drawing boards in search of the elusive Top Safety Pick+ designation. Now, the group is increasingly casting an eye toward how backseat passengers fare in a wreck.

Jeep has discontinued the optional 5.7-liter Hemi V8 for the two-row Grand Cherokee, meaning you can either have the standard 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 or the new 2.0-liter PHEV that comes with the 4xe trim. That doesn’t mean the V8 has been removed entirely, however. Specific versions of the 3-row Jeep Grand Cherokee L can still be outfitted with the Hemi. You just have to get it in all-wheel drive, padding the price somewhat. 

GM sold Isuzu Faster pickups with Chevrolet LUV badging in North America from 1972 through 1982, replacing that Japanese truck with the all-Detroit S-10 starting in that final LUV year. An SUV-ized version of the S-10 ( the S-10 Blazer) followed for the 1983 model year, and a GMC-badged twin known as the S-15 Jimmy went along with it. Here's one of those first-generation mini-Jimmies, found in a self-service yard near Sacramento, California.

Leaving aside the absolutely psychotic dealer markup being slapped on these things by some sellers over the last couple of years, the squared-off Telluride represents a good-looking and reasonably equipped SUV which has been eating the lunch of more than a few established competitors.

This model year brings a few cosmetic changes and a dizzying 10 different trim levels. Which one do we prefer? Why, the one without any greedy markup, of course.