Truck of the Year
Jeep Grand Cherokee: MotorTrend’s 1993 Truck of the Year
The MotorTrend ’93 Truck of the Year competition proved that intensity isn’t a function of quantity. Although only three trucks answered the call this year, there was no shortage of talent. Each entrant is a standout in its own class. The Ford Ranger, for instance, has been the best-selling compact pickup in America for the last six years. The Isuzu Trooper is the all-time sales champ for import SUVs. And the Jeep Grand Cherokee, of course, is Chrysler’s sequel to the popular Cherokee, the vehicle that almost single-handedly built the four-door SUV segment. Naturally, other new trucks were introduced over the past year. But the new Land Rover Range Rover County LWB and Defender SUVs, and Chevrolet and GMC turbodiesel extended-cab pickups couldn’t meet...
2021 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel First Test: Not the Perfect Truck You Were Expecting
Jeep Gladiator Full Overview It’s happened to all of us. You order something new off the menu because the description and ingredients sound like a sure bet, only to find out the dish is just OK. It happens with cars and trucks, too. The 2021 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel sounds like a winning combination of torquey diesel powertrain, off-road suspension, and Jeep character, and it is all of those things. It’s just not great as an actual, you know, pickup truck. The Gladiator EcoDiesel Sure Is Quick, Though . . . The good news is our initial impressions were right: The EcoDiesel engine delivers acceleration that is noticeably quicker than the standard gasoline engine. The quickest Gladiator we’ve ever tested, another base model Sport but one that was fitted with the gas V-6 and...
Airstream Flying Cloud First Test: Fashionable Glamping
Ram 1500 Full Overview Not many products actually deserve the label “iconic,” but Airstream travel trailers have earned it. Most people can’t tell a matte-white Starcraft from a Chinook or Gulf Stream being towed behind a truck. But catch a glimpse of one of those big aluminum Twinkies going by, and you know exactly what it is. Airstreams are so associated with the golden era of RVing that boutique “glamping” resorts have popped up around the country consisting entirely of refurbished Airstreams. With the constraints of life in 2020 bringing a desire for socially distant, self-directed escapes, RVs and travel trailers are as popular as ever. What better time, then, to test an Airstream Flying Cloud. We used it as our dead weight in our towing tests for Truck o...
Is Ram’s Astonishing Pickup Truck Dominance a Flash In the Pan, Or the New Normal?
Life is awash in sports metaphors. A struggling automaker might be behind the eight ball and throw a Hail Mary with a desperate product launch—which can result in a home run or getting put down for the count. (And yes, I know I’m mixing billiards, football, baseball, and boxing metaphors here.) These clichés are thrown about with such abandon that people may not even realize that sport is being referenced anymore. But there is one sports reference that never loses its impact: three-peat. Only true dynasties can declare such a trio of title triumphs: The Shaq and Kobe L.A. Lakers, the Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers, and the Air Jordan Chicago Bulls (who did it twice). Not even the Ruth and Gehrig New York Yankees took three in a row. To win the title three times in a row is a feat of ...
Picking the Brain of Mike Koval Jr. Head of Ram Brand, After Another MotorTrend Truck of the Year Win
Congratulations on the three-peat win as MotorTrend Truck of the Year for the Ram 1500 TRX. What is your secret for success? First of all, thank you very much. Once again as a brand we find ourselves humbled and honored for the recognition and the secret is great people inventing great product. And I think that since Ram became a standalone brand back in 2009, we’ve had the competitive advantage really of focusing clarity in our mission and that is as the only dedicated truck and commercial van brand we are fully and entirely committed to understanding and delivering on the unique needs of our customers as a truck brand. How do you follow this up? What is next? Well that’s a great question and one certainly we’re not going to rest on our laurels. I think an award of this ...
2021 MotorTrend of the Year Testing: How We Did It
We’re a nimble bunch at MotorTrend. The global health crisis has affected our daily reality. Mobility is limited. Fear of mass-spread infection events is high. We take this crisis and the safety of our testers, editors, photographers, and videographers very seriously. But we also take seriously our obligation to provide our readers with the best, most complete information on cars, trucks, and SUVs. In confronting what is typically a logistical mountain to bring you OTY, this year added the hazards of performing these tests under threat of contagion. Traditionally, for Car and SUV of the Year, we have used Honda‘s and Hyundai’s desert proving grounds located a couple hours’ drive north of Los Angeles as the staging areas for instrumented testing and the basic driving...
