2018

I’m often asked the question: who would buy a $50,000 or $60,000 pickup truck? I think the answer is pretty simple – the head cheese… the leader of the pack… the boss. If you’re running a construction crew or you own your own farm, you want a vehicle that is both highly functional, but also provides the creature comforts that you deserve at this point in your career.

You might think I’m trying to pull a fast one over on you if you look at this review. I did, in fact, review a very similar car late last year when my review of the BMW440i ran right here on 95Octane.

The Ford Focus RS has been a very hot hatch that’s been available for a couple of years now. The downside has been massive dealer markups in the US that kept many who wanted the car from buying one.

The upcoming Ford Ranger Raptor has fans of performance trucks around the world excited. So far, the little beast hasn’t been confirmed outside of Asia Pacific markets, but Ford Performance chief engineer Jamal Hameedi thinks that the Ranger Raptor would do well here in the US as well.

Mazda is showing off the 2018 MX-5 RF at the Chicago Auto Show. For the second year of its production, there are some new features along for the ride. For starters, all MX-5 models now come standard with Advanced Keyless Entry.

Every FIAT 500 being sold in the US for the 2018 model year will now sport a 1.4-liter MultiAir turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. Plus, that engine has been upgraded to make about 34% more power than the prior version.

The Jeep Wrangler JL launched not long ago, and comes with a standard V6 engine under the hood. One of the optional engines that is coming for the JL is a turbo 2.0L direct-injected four cylinder engine (the other is a diesel).

When you think back just a few years, Jaguar was almost exclusively a maker of luxury sedans like the XF and XJ. Fast forward to 2018, and the Brits not only make one of the best sports cars on the road, but they’ve released not one, but two crossover SUVs.

Drop all of the animal analogies and jabber about buyer interest for a moment and actually stare at the Kia Soul, and you will see a small, round-eyed automobile that if seen on the streets in 1959 would likely have been mislabeled as “UFO activity.”

Every single automaker needs a three-row SUV to compete in today’s crowded market. After a couple of years with some less-than-positive headlines, Volkswagen needed a win from their first-ever three-row midsize SUV. And they got it with the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas.

Bentley has announced a new version of its Bentayga SUV that retains all the luxe goodies of the original, other than the monster 6.0-liter 12-cylinder engine. The new flavor is called the Bentayga V8 and it packs in a 4.0-liter gas V8 engine under the hood.

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, and in advance of the reveal of its next Defender, Land Rover has announced that it will be building its coolest Defenders ever on the outgoing platform. These cars are called the Land Rover Defender Works V8, and just 150 of the vehicles will be built.

Lotus has announced another flavor of its Evora GT coupe. This one is called the Evora GT410 Sport and it shares some of the aero tidbits with the GT430. The GT410 Sport does shed the high-downforce bits though, yet it still generates 50% more downforce than the Sport 410.

Mazda has announced some sweet new options for the 2018 MX-5 that will go on sale next month in the US. One of the most notable options is a new Dark Cherry soft top. That really means maroon, but it still looks very nice.

Alfonso Albaisa is a certified design genius, of that I am sure. With a few strokes of the stylus on their computer-aided design system, he and his team transformed the Infiniti QX80 from one of the homeliest vehicles on the planet to a very handsome SUV for 2018.