Around the Industry – 17.5 Part 1

Around the Industry – 17.5 Part 1

RAM AND JEEP DESIGNS ON HOLD

Last year, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) outlined an ambitious five-year plan that gave us an incredibly open insight to the company's product schedule through the end of 2018. However, even the best plans can be interrupted by unforeseen circumstances. According to Reuters, after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons.

The sources from the suppliers claim that tweaks in engineering and design changes could postpone several Jeep and Ram products from anywhere between a few months to over a year. The next generation Ram 1500 is reportedly being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. The rather controversial forthcoming of the next generation Jeep Wrangler will be moving a little later to July 2017. The release of the next generation Grand Cherokee will likely get pushed back about a year to 2018, which will in turn delay up the release of Jeeps all new luxury Grand Wagoneer. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV will likely also see postponements.

TOYOTA AXING THE TRD SUPERCHARGER

For those in the racing world, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is an iconic name that has provided Toyota racers with proper go-fast parts for several decades. At the dealer level, they are known as an accessories producer. Unfortunately, Toyota has announced that they will discontinue the production of the one part that actually does increase performance levels, their supercharger kits.

Toyota Midwest spokesman Rick Bourgoise went on record saying the supercharger was discontinued for a variety of factors.

"Increasing legacy costs associated with the recalibration of an expanding pool of past model year vehicles, along with rising development/engineering expenses and evolving emissions requirements have negatively impacted the program's return on investment to the point where it is no longer financially viable to offer these products for sale," Bourgoise said in an email.

He also said Toyota plans to sell all existing supercharger stock; once the supply is exhausted Toyota will no longer offer a supercharger kit.

While this is not a huge surprise as the superchargers have had compatibility issues with flex-fuels State side, and the launch of the TRD Pro Off-Road lineup in the United State was noticeably void of the regularly standard issue blowers. If you are a Toyota truck owner mulling over the purchase of a TRD supercharger, you might want to make a trip to the dealer in the very near future, while stocks last.

RAM ANNOUNCE PRICING ON THE REBEL

Lets not beat around the bush; we’re getting excited about the highly anticipated arrival of the Ram 1500 Rebel. Much like its Power Wagon big brother, the Rebel will bring the kind of out-of-the-box off-road trail cred that we expect here at 4WDrive magazine. The Rebel features an all-new grille with a prominent billet silver “RAM” letter badge. Departing from the brand’s iconic “crosshair” designs, the blacked-out Rebel grille tops a completely new black off-road front bumper design with a durable powder-coated surface. It also incorporates a powder coated, billet silver skid plate, front tow hooks, 33-in Toyo tires and an all-new 17-in aluminum wheel.

With the launch so near, Ram is letting us in on a couple of extra details on both the Rebel and the new Laramie Limited. Unfortunately, no EcoDiesel in the Rebel as Ram has elected to only offer the 3.6L Pentastar V-6 and 5.7L HEMI V-8 in the off-roader. The Laramie Limited on the other hand offers all three engine options on the upscale luxury edition.

2015 Ram 1500 Rebel and 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie Limited pricing:

  • 1500 Rebel 4x4 Crew Cab 3.6-litre Pentastar V-6 - $51,895
  • 1500 Rebel 4x4 Crew Cab 5.7-litre HEMI V-8 - $52,895
  • 1500 Laramie Limited 4x2 Crew Cab 5.7-litre HEMI V-8 - $59,995
  • 1500 Laramie Limited 4x2 Crew Cab 3.0-litre EcoDiesel V-6 - $63,845
  • 1500 Laramie Limited 4x4 Crew Cab 5.7-litre HEMI V-8 - $63,995
  • 1500 Laramie Limited 4x4 Crew Cab 3.0-litre EcoDiesel V-6 - $67,845
  •  (Prices do not include $1,695 destination charge.)

LAND ROVER ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY TO DETECT, PREDICT AND SHARE DATA ON POTHOLES

Jaguar Land Rover is researching a new connected car technology that will allow a vehicle to identify the location and severity of potholes, broken drains, manhole covers, and then share this data in real-time via the cloud with other vehicles and with road authorities to help them prioritize repairs.

If a car can receive a warning from another vehicle about severe potholes or broken manholes ahead, then drivers would be able to slow down and avoid the danger – or the car could adjust suspension settings to reduce the impact and smooth the ride. This could help reduce the potential for punctures, wheel and vehicle damage as well as road accidents.

Dr. Mike Bell, Global Connected Car Director, Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Our MagneRide equipped Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport vehicles feature sophisticated sensors that allow the vehicle to profile the road surface under the wheels and identify potholes, raised manholes and broken drain covers. By monitoring the motion of the vehicle and changes in the height of the suspension, the car is able to continuously adjust the vehicle's suspension characteristics, giving passengers a more comfortable ride over uneven and damaged road surfaces.

"While this gives our customers a more comfortable ride, we think there is a huge opportunity to turn the information from these vehicle sensors into 'big data' and share it for the benefit of other road users. This could help prevent billions of pounds of vehicle damage and make road repairs more effective."

Ford F-150 Halo Sandcat Lands at E3 to Promote Halo 5: Guardians

Ford, Xbox, 343 Industries, and Galpin Auto Sports are celebrating the release of Halo 5: Guardians, for Xbox One with a special version of the 2015 Ford F-150. While showing a gamer anything in the real world will be awesome to them, even dedicated wheelers are attracted to the F-150 Sandcat.

The F-150 Halo Sandcat started as a 3.5L EcoBoost-equipped 2015 Ford F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with the FX4 off-road package. To turn the truck into the Sandcat, Galpin Auto Sports added an arsenal of modifications to give it a United Nations Space Command militaristic style that Halo fans will instantly recognize. They started with Addictive Desert Designs' Baja XTR off-road conversion kit, which includes custom FOX Racing shocks, Deaver leaf springs, a Currie full floater rear axle, ADD fenders, side steps, a chase rack and 17-in wheels with off-road tires, to go along with a full custom Halo body wrap. Inside, there's an Xbox One custom gaming system with displays mounted in the rear head restraints.