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Buy/Drive/Burn: The Cheapest Full-size, Truck-based SUVs in America for 2021

We continue the Cheapest Of series today on Buy/Drive/Burn, and check out the least expensive full-size truck-based SUVs on sale in America in 2021. And we’ve been generous today and equipped each of them with four-wheel drive to avoid any usability concerns. Today’s trio is very close in price but diverges elsewhere. Let’s go.

Chevrolet Tahoe

The Tahoe is new for 2021, is the cheapest vehicle here. This year it gains a host of updates including an independent rear suspension and some very in-your-face-styling. General Motors believes more trims are better, and offers Tahoe in LS, LT, RST, Z71, Premier, and High Country variations. At the lower end, an LS starts at $49,600, and a High Country is $68,200 before options. Unlike the others here, the power plant depends on trim and is provided via the stalwart 5.3-liter V8, a 6.2-liter V8 (High Country only), or a 3.0-liter inline-six turbodiesel. The 5.3 and diesel are both available at the LS level, and the V8 is slightly cheaper. A 4×4 LS is available in eight different free colors, most of which are grey-ish. Seats are covered in cloth here, but buyers can choose between Jet Black and “Very Dark Atmosphere,” or as you’d call it light gray. A bench seat can replace the front console, but that’ll cost you $250. With no options selected and after the freight charge of $1,695, the Tahoe asks $54,295.

Ford Expedition

Ford’s Expedition is F-150 based as you’d expect and has been on sale in its current guise since the 2018 model year. It’s available in five different trims presently: XL STX, XLT, Limited, King Ranch, and Platinum. Prices range from a base of $49,025 to nearly $74,000 for the Platinum. All trims feature the same 3.5-liter turbocharged EcoBoost V6, which produces 375 horsepower. In XL STX trim, all six available paint colors are free of charge, and one of them is brown. All seats are covered in cloth at this level, and the only color on offer is Ebony. The 4×4 upcharge is added to the acquisition fee of $656 and the destination charge of $1,695 for a grand total of $55,385.

Nissan Armada

The most expensive entry of today’s trio is also the only one from Japan. The Nissan Armada in its current guise is sold as the Patrol elsewhere in the world and shares a body with the more expensive QX80 and a platform with the Nissan Titan. Available in four trims, S, SV, SL, and Platinum, the Armada ranges from $48,600 to over $65,000 before options. All trims share the same naturally aspirated 5.6-liter V8 used across Nissan’s truck line that’s good for 400 horsepower. Colors available for free on the SV 4WD trim include black and silver. Interiors are dark gray or tan, and the leather has an -ette at the end of it. The four-wheel drive and shipping fee add up for a base price on the Armada of $57,095.

Three big SUVs, all of them ask for around $55,000 of your dollars. Which one goes home with you?

[Images: GM, Ford, Nissan]

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Honda Looking to Get a Little More Rugged with Trailsport Moniker?

The new Honda Ridgeline gets a more rugged exterior update for the 2021 model year. Could a Trailsport edition be coming soon?

Is Honda trying to make its trucks and SUVs appear to be tougher? Maybe.

The Japanese automaker’s secured a new name: Trailsport. When compared to RAV4, Passport and Pilot, Trailsport seems almost vicious by comparison. The automaker registered the name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and website Carbuzz tracked it down.

The application reads as follows: “The mark consists of a miscellaneous design set above the term TRAILSPORT with the letters ‘R’ and ‘S’ connected together all in a stylized font. This trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of land vehicles, namely, sport utility vehicles, automobiles, trucks, and structural parts for the foregoing.”

Getting a little tougher

There’s no clear indication if Honda intends to use it for new vehicle or, more likely, a special edition or trim package, such as the Honda Ridgeline Trailsport.

Subaru is offering up a beefed up version of the Outback called the Wilderness edition.

Regardless, the company’s been looking to add more capability to its trucks and utes, toughening up the look of aforementioned Ridgeline for the 2021 model year after the previous iteration was roundly criticized for its “soft” or non-traditional appearance.

In addition to the new look, it also got additional tweaks to keep the functionality the Ridgeline has touted both in terms of utility and performance, including the top standard payload capacity for a V6 all-wheel-drive truck.

The biggest change for 2021 is the truck’s overall exterior shape, which is altered by getting an entirely new front-end design. The new look is a bit more aggressive with a “power bulge” on the hood accented with a more squared-off front end and bigger, more upright grille. Most of its competitors have been upsizing the grilles on their trucks and looking for “tougher” monikers for their vehicles too.

Following a trend

Subaru just launched a new family of more rugged off-roaders with its new Wilderness edition offerings, starting

The new Pathfinder’s sporting a more rugged look for the 2022 model year.

with the new 2022 Outback Wilderness. The automaker described the ’22 Subaru Outback Wilderness as “the most rugged and capable” version of the crossover in its history.

Once little more than a gussied-up station wagon, the new Wilderness model adds features designed to give it serious off-road credibility, starting with an increase in its ride height, upgrades to the suspension, revisions to its all-wheel-drive system and a standard front skid plate. The automaker will expand the line-up to include Forester and Crosstrek in the near future.

With competition like the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Gladiator Mojave and the Ford Bronco harkening back to a rougher, tougher time and the increasing desire of owners to take these vehicles that look like SUVs out to do SUV-like things, it’s no surprise that other automakers are hustling to bolster their crossovers and urban-friendly utes.

Don’t forget Nissan

For the 2022 model year, Nissan’s finally given the Frontier midsize pickup a major makeover.

Nissan did the same with its 2022 Pathfinder and Frontier entries with one executive proclaiming the Pathfinder has “returned to its rugged roots,” for the new model year. While the Pathfinder got a more muscular look and a few small upgrades to improve its off-cement capability, it was the Frontier that got a big boost.

The new Frontier adopts a more solid and upright appearance with a bolder, less derivative front end. All versions of the truck get enhanced ground clearance and enhanced approach and departure angles, with a prominent front skid plate.

For those who are serious about off-roading, there’s a new Pro-4X version featuring an electronic locking differential, Bilstein off-road shock absorbers and underbody skid plates. That could enhance Frontier’s appeal to those who might otherwise consider the Toyota Tacoma, for many the off-road benchmark of the segment. The Pro-4X is all-wheel drive but for those who want a 2WD model, the new Pro-X adds LED head, DRL and fog lights for a more rugged appearance.

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2022 400Z HP Revealed?

According to Project Cars 3, a video game from Slightly Mad Studios distributed by Bandai Namco, the new Nissan 400Z is shown in their latest downloadable content (DLC) power pack to possess some very serious horsepower.

In its interpretation of the Power Pack, thenewnissanz.com flaunts the numbers shown in the video, such as 445 horsepower and a weight of 3,251 lbs. When it compared the 400Z to the powertrain in the last Z, the 2020 370Z, the numbers they found were 332 hp with a curb weight of 3,333 lbs. If that wasn’t impressive enough, they then pitted the new Z versus the 2021 Toyota Supra, whose inline-six produces 382 hp while weighing in at 3,400 lbs.

We’ve previously chronicled what we know so far about the 400Z’s powertrain and its design. With no official word from Nissan, there is more speculation than usual, and thus far no spy photos taken here or in Japan.

Project Cars 3’s power pack is referenced in a trailer, which can be viewed on Yahoo! Entertainment. In the trailer, there are numerous examples of 400Zs, modified for motorsport competition.

Not having played Project Cars 3, I had to admit the trailer gave me the urge to go out and buy a Playstation4. I wonder if there’s a Gamestop nearby where I can go and try it out?

[Images: Slightly Mad Studios]

Throwback:Nissan Says Merry Christmas By Turning the Leaf into a Rolling Christmas Tree

Nissan’s bringing the yuletide cheers to all of us

After spending an entire year producing cars, building future plans, and spending millions of dollars in research and development, automakers typically take a step back during the holiday season, either to unwind, reflect on the year that’s about to end, or, at least in Nissan’s case, turn a Nissan Leaf into a fully lit Christmas tree.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Nissan Tree.

I don’t know what I’m more impressed with. That Nissan was able to cover the entirety of the Leaf’s body with Christmas lights or that it managed to find a way to use the Leaf’s own regenerated energy to actually power all these lights. Mind you, we’re not just talking about a strand of lights with this setup. Nissan used over 15,000 lights on light up the Nissan Tree. It also used 190 meters of utensil and enough Christmas balls to fill a ball pit.

The e-Pedal system is doing the work

Throwback:Nissan Says Merry Christmas By Turning the Leaf into a Rolling Christmas Tree
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All the lighted bits on the Nissan Tree, from the snowflakes on the wheels to Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer on the roof, are powered by the Leaf’s e-Pedal system and B mode functions.

For those unfamiliar with these features, the e-Pedal is a single pedal function found in the Leaf that can be used to accelerate and brake the electric car. Engaging the e-Pedal allows you to slow the car down when you lift your foot off the accelerator so much so that the Leaf can stop by itself. While the feature itself doesn’t accelerate the car when activated, it does stiffen the real accelerator pedal and you’ll feel that immediately.

Beyond this, the e-Pedal is also the same function that helps the Leaf harvest energy via regenerative braking.

Nissan accomplishes this by recycling the energy from the Leaf’s movement during deceleration or braking. The regenerated energy then goes straight back to the batteries where it is used to recharge the cells that eventually provide the energy for the Nissan Leaf to light up like a rolling Christmas tree.

Nothing but a day’s work for the Nissan Leaf

Throwback:Nissan Says Merry Christmas By Turning the Leaf into a Rolling Christmas Tree
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It’s hard to power over 15,000 Christmas lights in one go.

It’s even more difficult when you consider that you’re using regenerated energy to actually power all these lights. But the Nissan Leaf is a special kind of electric car.

You can point to its 40-kWh battery pack that comes with an EPA-rated range of 151 miles. You can point to its electric motor, which produces 147 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. Or you can point to all the technical bits and systems it carries with it, including the aforementioned e-Pedal system and the B-mode driving function that also helps regenerate energy under braking using the more traditional brake pedal.

You can point to any of these as factors in the Leaf’s ability to regenerate as much as 744 kWh of clean energy if the car is driven 11,000 miles each year.

Nissan Leaf specifications
	Battery
Type	Li-ion battery
Capacity	40kWh
	Electric motor
Name	EM57
Maximum output	147 HP @ 3,283 9,795 RPM
Maximum torque	236 LB-FT @ 0 3,283 RPM
	Performance
Cruising range	150 miles
Charging time (normal charging)	16 hours (3kW) 8 hours (6kW)
Charging time from alert to 80% (Quick Charging)	40 minutes
Curb weight	3,433 – 3,508 Lbs
Gross vehicle weight	4,453 Lbs

For some perspective, that amount of energy is equivalent to energy savings of 20 percent on domestic electricity consumption of an average household. For even more perspective, the amount of regenerated energy can power all these things:

266 Christmas trees with 700 incandescent lights for a full hour of joy
297 ovens for one hour to cook your Christmas dinner
744 televisions for five hours to watch your favorite Christmas movies
10,783 houses with 1,000 LED lights for five hours

Compared to what the Nissan Leaf’s regenerated energy technology is fully capable of, powering over 15,000 Christmas lights covering the Leaf doesn’t sound like hard work for Nissan’s venerable electric hatchback.

Tag: Nissan