Offroad Xtreme

There are plenty of off-road events built around difficult trails, capable vehicles, and the challenge of seeing who can make it through terrain that stops everyone else. Trail Hero has all of that, but its identity runs deeper. Held September 28 through October 3 in Hurricane, Utah, Trail Hero 2026 brought thousands of enthusiasts to the red-rock terrain surrounding Sand Hollow for a week of guided trail rides, rock crawling, competition, entertainment, and community.

At just 17 years old, Brett Dickey is already no stranger to rock crawling. With the kind of résumé that would make plenty of veteran competitors jealous, the 2024 BFGoodrich Tires Trail Breaker champion returned to defend his title at Trail Hero 2026 and finished among the top ranks.

There are plenty of reasons to go off-roading. Some people chase bigger obstacles. Others simply want to disappear down a dirt road, shut off the phone, and put a few miles between themselves and civilization. For Rich Klein, founder of Trail Hero, the draw has always run deeper. Off-roading has been part recreation, part therapy, and eventually part calling. That calling ultimately grew into Trail Hero, an event founded in 2016 that has become a fixture in the Southern Utah off-road scene.

Most restoration projects that give a vintage 4×4 new life and a fresh look are fairly straightforward. Mechanically skilled owners handle the nuts and bolts of the rebuild themselves, then either tackle the bodywork and paint or turn those tasks over to a professional auto body shop. Some vintage truck owners, typically those with deeper pockets, let a shop that specializes in such restorations handle the entire project from start to finish.

The Jeep Cherokee is returning to the dirt with some serious hardware. For 2027, Jeep is expanding the revived Cherokee lineup with an all-new Trailhawk model designed to combine hybrid efficiency with the kind of legitimate off-road capability expected from one of the brand’s most recognizable badges.

There is an easy temptation when modifying a pickup to chase capability for situations the truck may encounter only a handful of times each year. Bigger tires, more aggressive tread, and increasingly specialized components certainly look the part, but they can also make the other 95 percent of a truck’s life noticeably less pleasant. Our 2020 Toyota Tacoma presents exactly that kind of balancing act. This isn’t a purpose-built rock crawler, desert racer, or mud truck.

The 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD are arriving with more than a fresh round of powertrain updates. General Motors has also made substantial changes to the way its heavy-duty trucks steer, stop, tow, and react when the pavement ends. GM has reworked the steering system, introduced electronic brake boost, revised the chassis calibration, expanded the drive-mode strategy, and added a new Terrain Mode to ZR2 and AT4X models.

For more than two decades, one number has been almost inseparable from the Duramax name: 6.6 liters. From the original LB7 through today’s L5P, General Motors has continually evolved its heavy-duty diesel while leaving its basic displacement essentially untouched. That is about to change in a very big way. General Motors has confirmed an all-new 8.3-liter Duramax V8 for the refreshed 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD.

I’ve always been quite the Flowmaster fan. When I bought my first Camaro, I quickly replaced its Cherry Bomb glasspacks with 40 Series Flowmasters. When I added a second Camaro to the fleet, I ordered another pair of 40 Series mufflers. Then I decided my first Camaro wasn’t loud enough, so I welded up a pair of Super 10s. Needless to say, I’ve been a longtime supporter of the brand.

For years, the future of the full-size pickup powertrain seemed relatively easy to predict. Engines would get smaller, turbochargers would become more common, electrification would creep into more applications, and naturally aspirated V8s would gradually become the exception rather than the rule. Apparently, nobody bothered to tell General Motors. The completely redesigned 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 isn’t simply retaining the Small Block V8.