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Dirt Every Day tries to find the best 4x4 for under $4k

If you want to build a cheap truck that can still do dirty deeds off the beaten path, it's best to start with solid axles and a solid V8 engine. That sums up the lessons learned after watching the 2014 Cheap Truck Challenge from the Dirt Every Day video crew, who took to the deserts and surrounding areas near Reno, NV, in an attempt to find the best 4x4 for under $4,000. Fortunately for us, the whole sordid journey was captured on video.
This isn't the first time the boys from DED filmed a Cheap Truck Challenge, and this year's festivities pitted together a 1993 Chevy S10 pickup, a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 1975 International truck in a series of challenges ranging from donuts to drag races, with plenty of hill-climbing and rock-crawling action in between. We don't want to spoil all the fun, but suffice it to say one competitor was found to be lacking while the other two performed (mostly) well. See for yourself in the video above.

2015 Jeep Renegade Sport 4x4 Quick Spin [w/video]

Which is the most entertaining Jeep Renegade you can get? While one might make an argument for the Trailhawk model and its accompanying off-road hardware and consequential go-anywhere ability, that car comes with one glaring flaw – its 2.4-liter engine and nine-speed automatic transmission just aren't very entertaining. Instead, I submit the turbocharged, 1.4-liter base engine and its accompanying six-speed manual, a position that was reinforced after a recent stint behind the wheel of a very basic Sport 4x4. Not only do you get a fair amount of the Trailhawk's off-road ability – the Selec-Terrain system and a 4WD Lock mode are standard, but you'll be without the 20:1 crawl ratio and Rock off-road mode – you'll also enjoy a more dynamically interesting powertrain. Read on to see why the force-induced Renegade might just be the way to go. Driving Notes My first date with the Renegade was on the mostly empty, winding roads of northern California. There, the 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four with 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque felt fine – with no traffic and few stoplights along the drive route, it was easy to keep the engine on boil. But this engine isn't as enjoyable in day-to-day suburban traffic. Power arrives suddenly – peak torque comes between 2,500 and 4,000 rpm – and if you don't use it, you lose it. There's not much oomph in the higher end of the rev range. With such a peaky powerband, it's easy to get caught flat-footed if you're not paying attention. Thankfully the manual transmission makes it simple to stay engaged and in the correct gear. The stick-shift is enjoyable to use, with a firm clutch that's easy to modulate and shift action that isn't sloppy or vague. The 1.4-liter engine sounds good. Turn down the stereo, stomp on the throttle, and you'll be treated to a delicious turbo whistle and a smooth exhaust note. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I want Mopar to offer the Fiat 500 Abarth's exhaust on the Renegade. It'd be fun. If you do prefer the stereo, know that the Renegade's standard four-speaker unit is weak. Base models don't offer Bluetooth or satellite radio, but you can add both of those luxuries, two extra speakers, and a five-inch touchscreen for just $695. Not a bad bargain. The Koni frequency selective dampers do an excellent job of managing both small, frequent imperfections (like freeway expansion joints), and the bigger potholes that still haven't been fixed after the havoc of Detroit's winter.

EV cost burden pushing automakers to their limits, says Stellantis' CEO Tavares

DETROIT — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said external pressure on automakers to quickly shift to electric vehicles potentially threatens jobs and vehicle quality as producers struggle with EVs' higher costs. Governments and investors want car manufacturers to speed up the transition to electric vehicles, but the costs are "beyond the limits" of what the auto industry can sustain, Tavares said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference released Wednesday. "What has been decided is to impose on the automotive industry electrification that brings 50% additional costs against a conventional vehicle," he said. "There is no way we can transfer 50% of additional costs to the final consumer because most parts of the middle class will not be able to pay." Automakers could charge higher prices and sell fewer cars, or accept lower profit margins, Tavares said. Those paths both lead to cutbacks. Union leaders in Europe and North America have warned tens of thousands of jobs could be lost. Automakers need time for testing and ensuring that new technology will work, Tavares said. Pushing to speed that process up "is just going to be counter productive. It will lead to quality problems. It will lead to all sorts of problems," he said. Tavares said Stellantis is aiming to avoid cuts by boosting productivity at a pace far faster than industry norm. "Over the next five years we have to digest 10% productivity a year ... in an industry which is used to delivering 2 to 3% productivity" improvement, he said. "The future will tell us who is going to be able to digest this, and who will fail," Tavares said. "We are putting the industry on the limits." Electric vehicle costs are expected to fall, and analysts project that battery electric vehicles and combustion vehicles could reach cost parity during the second half of this decade. Like other automakers that earn profits from combustion vehicles, Stellantis is under pressure from both establishment automakers such as GM, Ford, VW and Hyundai, as well as start-ups such as Tesla and Rivian. The latter electric vehicle companies are far smaller in terms of vehicle sales and employment. But investors have given Tesla and Rivian higher market valuations than the owner of the highly profitable Jeep and Ram brands. That investor pressure is compounded by government policies aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union, California and other jurisdictions have set goals to end sales of combustion vehicles by 2035.