Truck reviews

Nissan Frontier is considered to be one of the best workhorses you can buy today. It never had any oomph factor and was happy being in its comfort zone as a work truck. It has remained pretty much the same for 15 years and Nissan never bothered to bring in a new generation because, well, why fix something that ain’t broken?

Given the long wait, everyone expected the next-gen Frontier to get a complete makeover inside out. The Japanese automaker still hasn’t brought out the new generation, but it decided to give us a glimpse of the future by plonking in a new engine and transmission in the same old body.

The new engine and gearbox come at a cost; the cost being $8,000. The starting price of the truck has gone up considerably and a lot of us were confused if it’s worth the hike or not. So, here’s our take on the 2020 Nissan Frontier that arrived at TopSpeed’s headquarters in the PRO-4X trim finished in a Blue exterior shade.

If I were to ask you to name a six-wheel-drive truck a few years back, chances are you could recollect just one – the Mercedes G63 AMG 6x6. Even the non-enthusiasts were aware of its existence. But, lately, the scene is changing and there are a lot of 6x6 trucks available. Hennessey has not one, but two – the VelociRaptor 6x6 based on the Ford Raptor and the Mammoth 6x6 that’s based on the Ram 1500 TRX.

However, there’s another new entrant from Rezvani Motors that comes with insane performance figures and a sky-high price tag. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you, the Rezvani Hercules 6x6!

Nissan has launched the 2021 Navara pickup truck in Europe and South America. It is called the Frontier in the latter, but we’ll stick to calling it Navara to reduce the confusion.

It looks fresh on the outside with noticeable changes, some tweaks inside the cabin, and a few under the skin as well. The highlight of this update is the introduction of the PRO-4X package. Unlike the U.S.-spec Frontier’s PRO-4X, which is an off-road package, the one on the European Navara is just a styling kit. Will Mercedes come back and try to build another truck based on this refreshed model?

The SEMA Show is turning out to be quite exciting. Jeep is taking part, obviously, and has come with a concept targeted at hard-core mountain bike enthusiasts. The automaker, along with Mopar, has transformed the 2020 Gladiator pickup truck into a fun concept vehicle for serious mountain bikers. But, what’s catchier about this concept is the number of storage spaces in the customized truck bed. Oh, and also, there’s a built-in hot dog machine. How about that!

While special editions are a nice thing to have, an overdose of them isn’t taken too well. Not long ago, Jeep introduced anniversary editions on many of its vehicles, and now, it has come up with another one for the Gladiator. This one is called the Gladiator Willys. Willys models in Jeeps have a different fan-base altogether, so we’ll let Jeep off the hook for this one. The pickup truck comes with a lot of off-road equipment in this edition, and it will be an exciting one for the folks who found the standard Gladiator a little too plain-Jane as per Jeep’s standards. Will this qualify to become a standard trim in the future?

After teasers, leaks, and getting Fernando Alonso to drive the Hilux, Toyota has finally unveiled the 2020 Toyota Hilux. The truck has been launched in Europe, where the pickup truck segment is picking pace. The truck has a long history and enough credibility to make it one of the segment’s top picks. But, with growing competition, Toyota, too, had to bow down to the pressure and deliver the best it could. So, for this updated model, the Japanese automaker has introduced a new front end, better tech features and, most importantly, a more powerful 2.8-liter engine. How about that!

The long-awaited GMC Hummer EV has finally made it’s debut, and it comes to the party with a lot of noteworthy features and some pretty impressive performance. According to GMC, the new Hummer EV will be power by (and as expected) GM’s new Ultium batteries and the new Ultium Drive electronic motors. The Hummer will feature a total of three electric motors that, according to GMC, will deliver and impressive 1,000 horsepower and a “GM-estimated 11,500 pound-feet of torque.” It all reality, it’ll probably put close to 900 pound-feet to the ground, but we’ll leave that discussion for another time. GMC has offered up some pricing and trim information with the entry-level model commanding $79,995, but it comes with just two electric motors. It’ll be coined the “EV2” and will launch in spring of 2024. It will be preceded by the EV2x in 2023 (the lowest model that can do the CrabWalk) and the Hummer EV3X, which will be available in Fall of 2020 with a $99,995 price tag.

Check out the highlights and gallery below to learn more about the Hummer EV and see just what it looks like!

Earlier this year, Tuscany collaborated with Harley-Davidson to roll out a special edition GMC Sierra that was limited to just 250 examples. Around the same time, Hennessey had rolled out the GMC Sierra Denali Goliath 700. The truck came with 700 horses under the hood and transformed the simple Sierra into a magnificent beast. But, how do you combine the finesse of a Harley-Davidson edition truck and the performance of a Hennessey product? Well, you get them together!

An individual purchased the Harley-Davidson Sierra and took it to Hennessey for a performance upgrade. As the team says in the video, is this the Harley for a rainy day?

Jeep has introduced 80th Anniversary Edition on a few of its vehicles, with the Gladiator being one of them. This special edition brings about new additions on the outside and inside the cabin, but things are the same under the hood. The Gladiator hasn’t been a runaway success for Jeep, despite the hype it garnered before its launch. Will this edition shake-up the Gladiator and bring in sales for the automaker?

The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for over four decades now, and this legacy seems sufficient to introduce it. The company has a range of pickup trucks, ranging from light-duty to heavy-duty and for varied purposes. The list is exhaustive, but the bottom line is that if you need a full-size pickup truck, no matter what the budget or usage pattern, Ford has an offering for you, right from F-150 to the F-750.

While the F-150 is the best-seller of the lot and suffices for most of the needs, people looking for a little heavy-duty work tend to hop on to the next available option – the F-250. The F-250 is the entry-level model pf the Super Duty series that also includes the F-350 and F-450. This isn’t outright expensive, comes with strong specs, and fits the bill for most people looking to use it as a work truck. It is offered even with premium features on the top trim.

Recently, the 2020 Ford F-250 arrived at the Top Speed headquarters in the mid-Lariat trim, and here are our impressions of this beast:

Customers in the U.S. have been craving the Ranger Raptor since it was announced for other markets. Ford has denied giving the pleasure so far, but there is news of the Ranger Raptor finally heading Stateside when the 2022 Ranger arrives. Since that is still some time away, the Blue Oval has decided to give us a taste of what to expect by introducing the Tremor off-road package for the mid-size pickup truck. While it is no Raptor, it is a lot more capable than the existing FX4 off-road package. Ford has priced the package at $4,290, but the catch is that is won’t be available on all the trims.

Mil-Spec Automotive is known to turn civilian Hummers to monstrous beasts. But the company has worked on trucks as well, especially the Ford F-150. This time, the company again laid its hands on the world’s best-selling truck to give it a twist of its own. The last time the company played around with one, it gave the truck steroids and bumped up the power figures to 500 horses. This time, the Michigan-based company upped the ante and tuned the truck to make 675 ponies! Called the Intrepid F-150 Supertruck, there are a whole lot of other changes that make this Ford F-150 one-of-a-kind.

Since most of the focus this year has been on the Ram 1500 TRX, the other trucks had taken a backseat in terms of updates and upgrades. However, Ram decided to throw in a little something for the 2021 model year. So it introduced a new ‘Limited Night Edition’ for the 1500 and the Heavy Duty trucks. These are pretty much just cosmetic upgrades, but well, something is better than nothing!

The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX took the automotive world by a storm. Powered by a V-8 Hellcat engine that makes over 700 horses, this big, bulky truck takes just 4.5 seconds to hit the 60 mph mark. Just when you thought this couldn’t get any better, Hennessey decided to throw in a surprise. The aftermarket company has announced a 6x6 conversion of the “Quickest, Fastest and Most Powerful Mass-produced Truck in the World”. Called the Mammoth 6x6, Hennessey will only build three examples of this 1,200-horsepower beast and sell it at half-a-million bucks a pop. God bless Hennessey.

After four long years, the production-spec 2021 Ram 1500 TRX has finally arrived. The truck is as impressive as it seemed back then in concept form if not more so. This performance off-road truck has all the ingredients to make a perfect recipe - there’s a mighty V-8 Hellcat mill under the hood that makes over 700 horses, an advanced four-wheel-drive system, a strong suspension system that’s good enough to hit triple-digit speeds off-road, and a luxurious cabin that can put even premium sedans to shame.

With a price tag of $70,000, this isn’t exactly an inexpensive truck, and it kind of missed a full onslaught on the F-150 Raptor, which is available in the fully-loaded spec at the TRX’s base price point. Can it dethrone the apex predator, or will both the trucks be able to co-exist in peace?

It’s been about a week since Ram revealed the 2021 1500 TRX. It came with a lot of exciting features in and out and hit the bulls eye in almost every department. The starting price of $69,995 (excluding destination charges), too, wasn’t bad for the stuff that’s on offer. But, as is the norm these days, the Ram 1500 TRX was also introduced with a special “Launch Edition”.

Priced at over $90,000, this edition was limited to just 702 examples – the same amount of horsepower that the truck offers. At the onset, it seemed a little too expensive, but all 702 examples of the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition were officially sold out within three hours after the bookings opened. How about that!

We’ve seen plenty of Jeep Gladiator aftermarket builds, but this is one of a kind. South Florida Jeeps, aka So Flo Jeeps, has created a monster out of this simple-looking truck from Jeep. Called the SF 6x6G, the company has transformed every single nook and corner of this Gladiator. It rides much higher than the stock model, sits on bigger tires, comes equipped with a lot of additional accessories, has an extra axle, and the best part – packs a Corvette engine under the hood. Can a build get any better?