The 2020 Land Rover Defender has already debuted. The 2021 Ford Bronco is coming soon, and we cannot wait, as you can tell. Ford has yet to reveal any official details on its upcoming off-road SUV, but numerous leaks and patent filings give us some idea what’s in store.
Expectations are astronomical for both vehicles, but our quick visit to the Tokyo Motor Show reminded us how simple it all could be if we just look to what’s available in other lands. The Suzuki Jimny isn’t new this year, it launched in Japan in the summer of 2018, but it’s refreshing to see it in the metal and in the context of the Defender and the coming Ford Bronco.
Suzuki’s compact is available in two sizes—the standard Jimny and export-friendly, global market Jimny Sierra, as shown in highlighter yellow. Both share the same 88.6-inch wheelbase, but the standard Jimny is considerably more compact, measuring 133.7 [...]
Why do we love the Tokyo Motor Show so much? Because before we’ve had our first cup of green tea, Suzuki is explaining that the theme for its display this year is, “Waku Waku Switch for Everyone: Excitement for you, excitement for everyone.”
In Suzuki-speak, that means five very different small concept cars—known as kei cars—ranging from off-road and customizable family vehicles, to a mobile breastfeeding station and a living room on wheels.
Here are the Suzuki concept cars we saw at Tokyo Motor Show 2019:
Waku Spo 
This cool two-seater microcar is retro and customizable. The little A-segment car is a plug-in hybrid and is billed as a family vehicle that can be [...]
Hot on the heels of the face-lifted 2020 Titan, the larger 2020 Nissan Titan XD debuts with a refreshed look inspired by the Titan Warrior Concept like its smaller sibling. For 2020, the Nissan Titan XD will only be available as a crew cab with a 6.5-foot bed and four-wheel drive as standard. Two-tone exterior colors and 20-inch alloy wheels also come standard. In terms of size, the 2020 Titan XD will be larger than a full-size truck but smaller than a true quarter-ton pickup like a Ford F-250.
Powering the 2020 Nissan Titan XD is the same updated 5.6-liter V-8 with 400 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque found in the smaller Titan. The gas engine’s output is up 10 hp and 19 lb-ft from last year’s model. A new nine-speed automatic transmission replaces the old seven-speed unit. The nine-speed also has a shorter final drive ratio of 4.083 to 1 versus the seven-speed’s [...]
Everyone loves a good mystery. The quagmire of why our long-term Atlas had the turning radius of a Greyhound bus frustrated me from the first time I tried to make a U-turn. Unfortunately, without any point of reference, I chalked up the Atlas’ lack of agility to the fact that it’s a large three-row SUV. But once I got behind the wheel of another Atlas, that experience shed light on the fact that not all was what it should be with our long-termer.
It turns out, we were right. After multiple visits to our local Volkswagen dealer could not remedy the situation, VW North America asked us to relinquish the keys for a week to see if they could diagnose the problem. What they found, according to our helpful VW PR contact, was that a prior to the Atlas joining the MotorTrend long-term fleet, “a replacement steering rack was fitted to the car and the [...]
If you have money to burn, treat yourself to this ultimate in James Bond gadgets: a stunning Aston Martin DBS Superleggera designed by the latest 007, Daniel Craig. There’s no word on what Daniel Craig did to “design” this particular car, but the inky-blue beast is being offered in a run of just seven units, and each costs $700,007. Every example comes with a limited-edition, all-platinum Omega Seamaster Diver 300m.
The pricey stocking-stuffer is one of the latest “Fantasy Gifts” offered in the annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. Bond’s wheels join other presents for tony tastes including a Neiman Marcus–edition Moët & Chandon vending machine for $35,000, a Versace punching bag for $1,550, and a more affordable Bey Berk cigar humidor for $165.
The DBS Superleggera is powered by a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V-12 that delivers 715 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. It doesn’t include any fun gadgets [...]
