America on the Road

The burgeoning midsize truck segment has a renewed entrant in the 2024 Ford Ranger. The handsome truck offers a pair of powerful turbocharged engines, including the now-available 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, and it is filled with technologies previously unavailable on a midsize pickup. Of course, the all-new 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor raises the brand’s performance flag higher than ever before.

To learn all about the new Ranger, Host Jack Nerad sat down for a lengthy interview with Ranger and Ranger Raptor Chief Engineer Juan de Pena. In the interview, de Pena describes the philosophy behind the truck and details its many features. If you’re thinking of buying a midsize or even a full-size pickup any time soon, you’ll want to hear what he has to say.

On the road test front this week, Co-host Chris Teague will describe his weeklong test of the 2024 Chevrolet Trailblazer small SUV. The test vehicle was the top-of-the-line RS version, which squeezes more performance than you might expect out of its three-cylinder turbocharged engine.

In our other road test, Host Jack Nerad put in more than 500 miles behind the wheel of the 2024 Toyota Sienna XSE minivan as he and his wife did some real-world testing, moving their youngest daughter (and her stuff) to Central California for a summer job before she resumes her college career in the fall. Now equipped with a thrifty hybrid powertrain and filled with convenience features, the Sienna proved to be an excellent tool for the job. We’ll tell you more in this episode.

In the news this week, there is trouble in the self-driving car world as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into problems with Waymo’s robotaxis and their autonomous driving technology. With several collisions to their credit, maybe the Waymo cabs need a re-think.

The news for the electric vehicle segment isn’t much better. Stellantis has just announced that it is switching production of its battery-electric Fiat 500e to a hybrid version of the car. In fact, as bad as the news is for EVs, it is that much better for hybrids, something. we precited years ago.

Vehicle introductions making news this week come from Kia — the global unveiling of the Kia EV3 small crossover utility — and Acura — the unmasking of the 2025 Acura MDX three-row luxury SUV. We’ll tell you about both in this episode.

America on the Road is brought to you by Driving Today.com, Mercury Insurance, and EMLandsea.com , the publisher of Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark, which is available HERE on Amazon.com