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Ford F-150 SVT Raptor gets turned into 'The Beast'

Looks like we've got ourselves a good ol' fashioned truck horsepower war brewing. Hot on the heels of the debut of the Chevrolet Silverado-based Reaper by Lingelfelter and the Callaway-tuned Chevrolet Silverado, German tuner Geiger has brought out their version of the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor dubbed "The Beast." Apparently, the company felt that the standard Raptor just didn't produce enough power, but their take on the already mental truck is slightly different from Hennessey's approach. Geiger has added a 2.9-liter supercharger to the 6.2-liter V8, bringing the horsepower output up from 411-hp to 572-hp.

Volkwagen XL1 makes US debut

The Volkswagen XL1 hyper fuel-efficient vehicle debuted in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Thursday at the 23rd Annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference. At first we wondered why we weren’t invited, and then we realized it was because of our proclivities for V8s and turning rubber into smoke.

Jeep Grand Cherokee to get ZF 8-speed auto ‘box

Jeep Grand Cherokee to get 8-Speed ZF Gearbox The latest version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee has only just arrived, but already Jeep are planning improvements with the confirmation that the Grand Cherokee is to get the new 8-Speed automatic gearbox from ZF. The 8-speed ZF auto ‘box should help all round with the new Grand Cherokee, which already offers the promise of an American SUV matching the expectations of European buyers and, more importantly, offering a viable alternative to the offerings in the premium SUV sector from the Germans. Not only does the new Grand Cherokee look able and promising, even with a relatively modest 3.0 litre diesel being the only engine on offer for the mainstream Grand Cherokees, but with a starting point of under £38k (and a top-end price of £44k) there’s a lot on offer.