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Sunday Drive: Trucks and SUVs of all shapes and sizes

The American automotive marketplace is dominated by trucks and SUVs, and so was the last week of coverage on Autoblog. By far, the most popular story of the week was our First Drive of the 2018 Lincoln Navigator. It may look like an old-school lumberer, but in reality Lincoln's flagship is a thoroughly modern, turbocharged-V6-powered, three-row, luxury people mover. The Jeep Wrangler is the world's most recognizable vehicle. So it's no surprise that the next version looks a whole heck of a lot like the last one, and the one before. It's all in the details, which is why we were so excited when Jeep decided to unleash a trio of images showing both two- and four-door Wranglers for us to dissect ahead of the SUV's official debut at the L.A. Auto Show later this year. Past that, spy photos of the next Chevy Silverado and Ram 1500 were predictably popular. See both of those below, and the cap it all off, check out the entire week's worth of SEMA coverage – including the bonkers Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6 – in our mega image gallery at the bottom of this post. Enjoy! As always, tune in to Autoblog next week for a front-row seat to all the happenings worth following in the automotive industry. 2018 Lincoln Navigator First Drive | From black sheep to flagship 2018 Jeep Wrangler revealed: First photos released before L.A. Auto Show debut 2019 Chevy Silverado looks slim and clean beneath the camo 2019 Ram 1500 gets vertical touchscreen infotainment system 2017 SEMA Show Mega Photo Gallery Chevrolet Jeep Lincoln RAM Truck SUV recap sunday drive

Ram with a Hellcat V8 coming? Could be, but let's review the evidence

While Fiat-Chrysler has gradually been stuffing bigger V8s into everything it can, one brand that hasn't received any SRT or Hellcat love is Ram. This, despite showing a Raptor-fighting TRX concept with a detuned engine in the fall of 2016. But according to Allpar, there may be a Ram 1500 coming in the near future with the fabled supercharged V8, and at full power. Interesting theory, but let's take a closer look. The two bits of evidence the site points out are (a) an anonymous inside source saying a vehicle is in development, and (b) a displayed time in Ram press photos. If you look closely, some of the Ram interiors show the time 7:07 on the infotainment display. This corresponds with the Hellcat engine's 707 horsepower. Allpar further speculates that the vehicle will be Rebel-based due to a preponderance of the number in Rebel interiors. This wouldn't be the first time FCA has hinted at a future model's power via infotainment time, either, as it did so with the Challenger Demon. View 6 Photos There are some holes in this theory, though. We went back and looked at the press photos of the interiors, and the 7:07 time shows up on Bighorn Rams, too. And not every single Rebel interior has the time. There's at least one that shows the time 8:29, which appears on various other Ram interior shots. Also, while FCA did manage to make a full-time all-wheel-drive system for the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to stand up to the Hellcat's ferocious power, we doubt that drivetrain would be used in a Ram, since it's a much different application. The final nail in this theory's coffin might be that the head of Ram Trucks communication told us that the times in the images are a "complete coincidence" and that "this theory is all speculation." All things considered, we think the odds of a Hellcat-powered Ram reaching production soon, particularly an off-road version like Allpar suggests, is pretty iffy. We wouldn't rule out some sort of Hellcat-powered Ram completely. At the very least, putting a Hellcat V8 into a two-wheel-drive Ram for a street truck would make loads of sense. It would be less expensive to develop compared to a Raptor competitor, it wouldn't have any existing competition, and it could capitalize on the history of the Viper-powered Ram SRT-10 from the mid-2000s. And as we've seen, FCA has no problem stuffing absurdly powerful V8s into everything it can, from Charger to Durango to Grand Cherokee. So, don't count on a Hellcat-powered Ram yet.

2019 Ram 1500 eTorque Drivers' Notes Review | Filling in the gaps

When the 2019 Ram 1500 debuted earlier this year at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, the biggest news was arguably the addition of the 48-volt mild hybrid system. Dubbed eTorque, the system is standard on V6-equipped models and a $1,450 option on trucks with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. It's not a hybrid in the traditional sense. Despite Ram's claim that the system adds up to 130 pound-feet of torque on the V8, it only does so for a fraction of a second and doesn't actually change the engine's total output. You'd be hard pressed to notice a difference if you didn't know the system was there. But that's kind of the point. There's been a lot of confusion about what eTorque is and how the system works. Much of that falls on FCA's shoulders. The automaker didn't do a great job of explaining the whole thing, leaving us to work out much of it for ourselves. This isn't meant to boost performance, towing or payload. The Ram eTorque can't run on battery power, so don't expect a Toyota Prius with a bed and wood trim. It's here to make the truck just a little bit more efficient by improving areas where conventional internal-combustion engine's fall short. The eTorque system replaces the engine's alternator with a small, belt-driven electric motor. On the V6, the motor is part of the water pump assembly and driven by that belt; the V8 uses a dedicated belt that's separate from the other accessories. A small battery pack is mounted upright behind the rear seats inside the truck's cabin. There's also a DC-to-DC converter to charge the battery and convert 48 volts down to 12 to power the truck's normal systems. Visually, the only difference between an eTorque-equipped model and a standard one is a small metal box at the top of the engine. There's no badging and the battery pack can't be seen, even with the rear seats folded up. The system is designed to be as seamless and innocuous as possible. The auto start/stop system spins up the engine a little quicker. Shifts from the eight-speed ZF automatic transmission are a little smoother as the eTorque system smooths out and fills in the gaps. It does so for a fraction of a second, but it works its magic often. Big gains in fuel economy have already been made. It's going to take things like Ram's eTorque system to improve internal combustion engines from here on out. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: I'd like to say I noticed a huge difference between the Ram eTorque and the regular Ram, but I didn't. That's how it's supposed to work.