#4x4

It’s a great time to be a fan of midsize trucks with an off-road bent. Ford has finally Raptor-ized the Ranger, we know Toyota has tricks up its sleeve for the next-gen Tacoma, and General Motors has numerous dirt-road variants of its Colorado/Canyon cousins.

The latest? What appears to be an AEV variant of the already-capable Canyon AT4X.

It’s been at least five minutes since Ram has rolled out a special edition for one of their trucks, meaning the time is right for yet another one. This time around, they’re reading from the TRX handbook and gifting the Havoc trim to its half-ton Rebel.

It’s the week to write about truck teasers, it seems. Perhaps tired of Toyota getting all the digital ink about shadowy references to future product, Ram dropped a post on Instagram suggesting they also have something up their sleeve.

After what seems like a lifetime of being strung along, Toyota has finally dropped a firm date on which they will introduce the new Tacoma. And, true to form, they also published some photos from which we can parse some detail.

Anyone blessed with the gift of reading comprehension has noticed an influx of stories about Ford and its recent quality control issues. Top brass Jim Farley is on record lamenting the problems and pledging to turn things around in this area. One of the first out of the gate with a quality control (QC) overhaul? The brand’s important (and profitable) new Super Duty.

We’ve spilled innumerable gallons of digital ink on the forthcoming Tacoma, partly thanks to an incessant stream of teaser photos but mainly because it is a hugely important product in a hot segment. But still – Toyota, if you’re listening, hurry up with the real thing, will ya?

This time around, we learn of a neat option ripped straight from the Book of Wrangler.

As is the wont of most brands, Chevrolet has decided to wring every single ounce of goodwill from a popular trim. Having first shown up on the midsize Colorado about five years ago, the ZR2 name quickly migrated to the Silverado half-ton and is now being applied to the mighty Silverado HD.

And it’s heavy. Real heavy.

It seems every manufacturer with a pickup truck in their quiver is busying themselves creating numerous off-road variants; trims like Trail Boss, ZR2, Desert Boss, Tremor, Raptor, and Power Wagon are cropping up faster than auto journalists at the buffet. 

Determined not to be left behind, Toyota dropped (yet another) teaser of the 2024 Tacoma – this time with a new Trailhunter trim targeted directly at overlanders.

Awesome alliteration aside, this is the best (official) look we’ve seen so far of the upcoming Toyota Tacoma. Thanks to the brand’s glacier-like design cycle, it’ll be the first new Tacoma is ages – and all signs point to a hybrid powertrain under the hood.

The Jeep Renegade is being gussied up for the 2023 model year and now includes some fresh color options and a mid-tier appearance package that’ll help it look like something that might actually drive up the side of a mountain. While the new Upland trim is heavily focused on aesthetics, it does come with a few additions that might still help it participate in more basic off-road activities.

In a report which will surprise no American blessed with the gift of sight, a new report from the eggheads at Axios is the latest to exhort that today’s pickup trucks are just too damn big. To be clear, the study does a good job of breaking down some of the details but, as you’ll see after the jump, some of their illustrations may be a bit off the mark

Ever the brand to produce the most in-yer-face variants of vehicles that already register on the Richter Scale of Aggression, Ram is amping up its 700 horsepower pickup truck by introducing the 2023 Ram 1500 TRX Havoc Edition.

It’s yellow. Did you notice?

It’s always entertaining to craft a Right Spec post for a machine which is freshly revamped for the upcoming model year, and GMC is pulling out all the stops for 2023 with its new Canyon. We ruminated on its brother, the Chevrolet Colorado, not too long ago – but there are some key differences between the siblings which weren’t present before the redesign.

Most important? The fact that GMC is throwing the most powerful tune of this engine into all the trims – even the base model.

Today’s question stems from a note buried in some text we read for yesterday’s news post in which we spoke of VW reviving the Scout brand. As the owner of a relatively niche vehicle, would you rather use a private internet forum – or one operated by the company itself?

This one’s sure to set the comments section ablaze. We’re going to tell you the right way to spec a new Bronco – and you’re probably not going to like it.

First, let’s start with the smallest engine available *ducks to avoid busted u-joints and fake beadlock wheels hurled in our general direction*