Truck Fest

If finding new ways to improve fuel economy truly is a priority, one wouldn't know it from looking around the 2006 Chicago auto show last month.

McCormick Place was liberally covered by seriously large new V-8-powered pickups and SUVs.

The marquee unveiling was Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Tundra, which for the first time truly can be labeled “fullsize.” Toyota plans to drastically increase sales volumes.

The Tundra's 228.7-in. (581-cm) overall length is 10 ins. (25 cm) longer than the current Tundra.

The engine lineup includes an all-new 5.7L DOHC V-8, aided by a 6-speed automatic, as well as a 4L DOHC V-6 and 4.7L DOHC V-8. All of them will, ahem, be built in the U.S. — south of the Mason-Dixon line.

General Motors Corp. countered with the '07 Chevrolet Avalanche, the first pickup GM has shown based on the bet-the-farm GMT900 fullsize truck architecture.

Avalanche arrives in the second quarter with its trademark “midgate,” allowing the vehicle to function as an SUV and pickup.

GM will market the Avalanche as environmentally friendly, powered by a new 320-hp Vortec 5.3L V-8 with Active Fuel Management (formerly known as Displacement on Demand). Available later will be an all-aluminum 6L V-8, also with AFM and variable valve timing. The engines are mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox.

Ford Motor Co. unveiled a refreshed '07 Navigator lineup that includes a larger L variant with a 12-in. (30.5-cm) longer wheelbase. It features a new, 5-link independent rear suspension and stiffer frame.

The winning concept was another truck, Chrysler Group's Dodge Rampage, a large but unconventional pickup. The Rampage, a cross between a pickup and an SUV, has an independent rear suspension. Generating thrust for the Rampage's front wheels is a Hemi 5.7L V-8.

Also shown was the production version of the Dodge Nitro CUV. Built on the Jeep Liberty's quasi-unibody platform, Nitro offers a standard 3.7L SOHC V-6 (210 hp) and a new 4L SOHC V-6 (255 hp), available on the Nitro's R/T model.

Nitro's signature feature is Load 'n Go, a back-saving cargo system that deploys like the slide-out drawers of a kitchen cabinet.

Hyundai Motor America unveiled its 7-passenger '07 Entourage minivan, which shares its underpinnings with the Kia Sedona. Hyundai plays up the “fullsize” dimensions of its new minivan, with an overall length of 202 ins. (512 cm).

American Honda Motor Co. Inc. showed a 4-door Civic Si that arrives this fall, hoping to cash in on good karma the Civic lineup has enjoyed since last fall's launch.

Chrysler's Street and Racing Technologies team puts its SRT label on a 12th vehicle — the '07 Dodge Caliber SRT4. The high-performance version of the auto maker's new small-car entry fronts a banshee turbocharged version of the auto maker's 2.4L 4-cyl. “world engine,” making 300 hp, or 125 hp per liter.