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Should heavy-duty pickup trucks have window stickers with fuel mileage estimates?

If you were to stroll into your nearest Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Nissan, or Ram dealership, you'd find a bunch of pickup trucks. Most of those would have proper window stickers labeled with things like base prices, options prices, location of manufacture, and, crucially, fuel economy estimates. But you'd also run across a number of heavy-duty trucks with no such fuel mileage data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn't require automakers to publish the valuable miles-per-gallon measurement for vehicles with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. That makes it difficult for consumers to compare behemoths powered by turbocharged diesel engines – between one another, and between smaller, gasoline-fueled trucks. Consumer Reports doesn't think it should be this way, and it's spearheading an effort (PDF link) to get the government to require manufacturers to publish fuel economy estimates. In its own testing, CR found that heavy-duty pickups powered by Ford's Power Stroke, GM's Duramax, and FCA's Cummins diesel engines (which doesn't include the Ram's EcoDiesel) get worse fuel mileage than their lighter-duty gas-powered siblings. We're not so sure HD-truck buyers are unaware of this fact – big diesels don't really come into their own until big loads are placed in their beds or attached to their trailer hitches. Under heavy workloads, the diesel trucks will almost certainly return greater efficiency than a similar gas-powered truck. What's more, HD trucks with lumbering diesels in general make the driver feel more confident while towing due to greater torque at low engine RPM than gas trucks. They also offer greater max-weight limits. Still, we agree EPA fuel mileage estimates should be offered for heavy-duty pickups. And we think the comparisons provided by Consumer Reports might be interesting to potential buyers. Click here to see the results of CR's tests, and let us know what you think using the poll below. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty: First Drive View 22 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Read This Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Fuel Efficiency Truck Commercial Vehicles Diesel Vehicles poll gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd

Nissan rolls out updated Juke-R 2.0 at Goodwood

If you thought the original Nissan Juke-R was badass, just check out this latest version. Called the Juke-R 2.0, it's making its debut as promised this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, packing a series of upgrades to make it even more potent than the original version. And not the least of those is a new, 600-horsepower engine. For those who don't recall, Nissan first launched the Juke-R four years ago – the year after the production Juke first hit the market. The idea was to cross-breed the little crossover with a GT-R and create what was billed as the world's first crossover supercar. Version 2.0 takes the idea even further. In place of the 545-horsepower twin-turbo V6 from the GT-R available at the time it was built, the Juke-R 2.0 packs the upgraded 600-horsepower engine from the GT-R Nismo. It also incorporates the enhancements applied to the facelifted Juke revealed last year, including its revised lighting and bodywork. Only the Juke-R 2.0 also features entirely new bumpers front and rear, wheel arches, side sills, and more, all crafted from carbon fiber and coated in matte black. Nissan isn't saying exactly what she'll do. Considering, however, that the existing version could sprint from a standstill to 60 in three seconds flat, the added power could only make it even quicker. Le Mans driver Jann Mardenborough will be driving up the hill at Goodwood, and we doubt it'll take him much time at all to reach the top. THE NISSAN JUKE-R GETS AN EXCITING UPGRADE - INTRODUCING THE JUKE-R 2.0 - Nissan upgrades its legendary original Juke-R Crossover supercar - The Juke-R 2.0 concept makes its global dynamic debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed (26-28 June in the UK) - Drawing on impressive performance from the GT-R, the Juke-R 2.0 will reach 600bhp - LM P1 driver and GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough to showcase the Juke-R 2.0 up the famous Goodwood hill - Launched this Summer to kick start the fifth anniversary of the Nissan Juke The birth of the Nissan Juke-R set a benchmark in 2011 as the world's first Crossover supercar, marrying Nissan's innovative Juke with the engine and running gear from the legendary Nissan GT-R - the brand's flagship sportscar. Now four years on, Juke-R has been given an exciting upgrade to reflect the latest model of the Juke coupled with even more power and bolder styling - welcome the Juke-R 2.0.

Nismo toying with crossovers and pickups

Nissan is apparently committed to turning its racing and tuning division into a bigger player, with new Nismo models coming out all the time. But while the Nismo division has until now focused primarily on hatchbacks and sports cars, the next project could be a truck. According to Aussie website CarAdvice in speaking to Nissan marketing chief Darren Cox and Nismo boss Shoichi Miyatani, the prospect of a Nismo-tuned SUV or pickup are definitely on the table. That could include a performance-oriented take on the Navara pickup, but also the Qashqai crossover – a prospect first mooted a year ago. And if the Qashqai and Navara are under consideration, there's no telling what Nismo might do with the likes of the Frontier, Rogue, Murano or even the Pathfinder. None of that is concrete at the moment, of course, but the market for performance crossovers seems only to be growing – and growing more accessible, too. The Germans keep making smaller crossovers and performance variants thereof, and even Fiat is said to be working on an Abarth version of the 500X. The Juke Nismo itself bridges the gap between hot hatches and performance crossovers, but apart from the 370Z Nismo and GT-R Nismo, most of the division's projects seem to be focusing on hatchbacks like the Pulsar and Versa Note.