That was pretty much the gist of what the man said to me outside of the Harbor Freight store as I climbed out of the TRX’s cab. He, like a number of others, knew exactly what he was looking at when he saw it and was excited to see one in person as they hadn’t gone on sale yet prior to the new year when I had it. He also was pretty much correct in his assessment.
The most surprising thing about this truck to me was just how quickly you can get used to having 702 horsepower underfoot and how very quickly that then somehow seems like an exceedingly reasonable amount of power that every truck should have as standard.
Between the man at Harbor Freight, the two guys in the parking lot of the ski area I took my son to, the dude with a cowboy hat in the Chevy Silverado 2500 Diesel on the freeway that rolled down the window on his lady’s side of the cab (in 20 degree weather!) to give me the thumbs up at 80mph, and numerous others from all walks of life, this particular truck has garnered more attention than anything else I’ve driven to date.
There was a palpable excitement for many as they got a chance to look at it and it seems that RAM will have a hit on their hands, the feedback was all quite positive, even after we discussed pricing, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so brand-ambassador like, I almost felt I should have a name badge. I do know if I was selling them, I’d have been able to hand out numerous business cards…
Naturally the impetus for the TRX was the Ford F-150 Raptor, the top dog in that truck’s lineup, and generally acknowledged as a very fine vehicle built for high speed desert running as opposed to the normal “off-road” adventures. After waiting for quite a few years to see if demand would slacken, RAM apparently finally realized there was room for another entry in the category and that Ford had perhaps shot themselves in the foot a little by currently only offering theirs with a V6 (albeit a twin-turbo with 450hp).
Of course RAM has the excellent Hellcat engine available and decided it’s just what their super-pickup needed. The word now is that Ford will try to one-up RAM with their own supercharged V8, but as far as I can tell people seemed to know what the TRX was all about, while nobody that was looking at it knew of (or at least mentioned) the upcoming beefed-up Raptor.
We’ve driven numerous RAM trucks here over the last couple of years and have found little to find fault with. Trucks are obviously the new luxury vehicles for those that want space and comfort. RAM’s latest generation has tapped into that, and people seem to have the money to spend on them. But the TRX isn’t just a 1500 with a big engine, there’s more to it than that.
Just look at it. While the look is reminiscent of the Rebel trim and there are some commonalities it’s in fact different in many details when viewed side by side and walking around them. The front and rear fenders and track are all widened significantly (which pays dividends in stability as well as looks), the body being 8″ wider and the track 6″ wider. As a result, the 88″ width requires clearance lights which are tucked into the functional hood scoop, and there are also fender lights nestled into the bodywork front and rear.
It’s also 2″ taller than the rest of the lineup with 11.8″ of ground clearance, since everybody that actually buys trucks seems to like height. It’s impossible to keep this truck clean in any kind of inclement weather, the tires just sling whatever is underneath all over the doors and door handles since they are so far inside the track width. The one (only) advantage of Covid is that I now often carry wipes with me, and here is a secondary use for them.
Inside, it’s of course similar to the rest of the 1500 line, but has the best on offer from across it. Leather is everywhere, suede accents abound, the grab handles are covered with leather wraps, the sky’s the limit as far as options go. As usual the seats are large, extremely well padded, powered in every which way and exceedingly comfortable with heating and cooling on offer.
The steering wheel is also partially wrapped in suede and heated while being adorned with carbon fiber accents which is also the material of choice for accent trim around the cabin along with the aforementioned suede. Cold high tech meets warm, soft and natural to excellent effect.
Interestingly the gear selector is an actual lever on the console, not the now-familiar rotary dial selector. Presumably this is partially due to the space on the dashboard that was previously assigned to the dial is now used by the TRX mode selector module which amongst numerous modes and dozens of customization options also includes a “launch control” button that exists to help one achieve the fastest standing start possible.
I’ll spoil it right here and let you know that I was able to achieve 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds which is astounding in almost any vehicle, let alone a huge crew cab pickup truck. Car&Driver apparently did it in 3.7 seconds, but since I was at 4800 feet elevation, using the correction factor technically puts me right at the 4 second mark. I’m good with that, nobody likes a braggart. But still, FOUR seconds to 60mph! In a truck! You don’t have to like me.
RAM’s party piece inside the cabin has been its 12″ vertically oriented touch screen which as in other trucks works very well. A big part of that is how it allows one to display multiple items on it if so desired as well as to configure frequently used menus by having their shortcut icons display at the bottom of the screen, i.e. it’s almost infinitely customizable for the user and easy to use with a minimal learning curve.
Along with the normal Navigation, Media, Phone, Climate, etc. screens (which in some cases have duplicate hard buttons/knobs) there are also “Performance Pages” where a multitude of parameters can be set and/or mixed and matched to whatever the driver’s desire may be along with the various pre-set drive modes on offer.
There are also timers that record all kinds of information such as Reaction Time, time to 60ft, 330ft, 1/8 ET, 1/8 speed, 1000ft, 1/4 ET, 1/4 speed, 0-60mph, 0-100, Brake Distance, Brake from mph etc. And then puts it all in a convenient “Recent, Last, Best” chart format. It also records G-Forces, and can display every possible engine and transmission parameter, power output, boost level, temperatures etc. A gearhead’s delight.
The back seat has tons of room for three more passengers, the seat bottom can flip up to create a flat load floor, and legroom is abundant. The middle seat position also has a full length cushion so that occupant doesn’t feel like they drew the short straw anymore either.
The bed is a 5ft7in. one (the short and only option in the TRX’s case), and came equipped with the optional bed mounted spare. This is a hard-mounted assembly but does not take the place of the regular spare, which is still under the bed and accessed from the rear bumper area as in most trucks.
Apparently that under bed position will accommodate up to a 37″ tire, so the idea is if you’re going to be in the middle of the desert and running hard miles and miles away from civilization, perhaps a second spare in the bed could turn out to be a very useful item. And it looks bad-ass too, let’s be real.
Of course this takes a toll on the cargo area, there won’t be any drywall runs to the hardware store with this one. And it’d be a pain to sweep a yard of mulch out from around the spare, but hey, if you are affording this truck, you just make a call and have all that delivered anyway. Or hitch up the trailer and tow up to 8,100 pounds, less than many other RAMs due to the suspension but plenty for the odd job.
Still, the tailgate can be released via a button on the fob and the dashboard (or manually) and is light enough as well as counter balanced enough to be raised again with one hand due to being aluminum, as are the doors and hood.
Of course what makes this truck dominate the existing Raptor is the engine. It’s the same 6.2liter Supercharged HEMI V8 SRT engine as in any of the other Hellcat-equipped vehicles across Stellantis’ range and here produces 702hp@6,100rpm and 650lb-ft of torque @4,800rpm.
It’s backed by an excellent German made ZF 8-speed that seems to anticipate needed shifts and drops gears with the slightest tickle of the throttle. If there was ANY doubt about RAM’s goal with their “T-Rex” it is dispelled as soon as you remove the main engine cover and see the graphic on the airbox above with the Raptor caught in the T-Rex’s fangs.
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A German managed to drive a new RAM Laramie truck with 5.7-litre Hemi V8 on the Autobahn close to 195 km/h. Quite impressive…for a vehicle with larger frontal drag area.
Who knows how fast the RAM 1500 TRX could go on the Autobahn?
Wow, somebody had some fun! As someone who spent some time many years ago trying (without success) to find enough road to get an emissions-choked 74 Luxury LeMans up to 100 mph, what you describe is mind-numbing. Come to think of it, 10 mpg was not an unusual number in that LeMans when I was driving it that way. We have come a long way.
That’s odd. I had a ’73 LeMans with the two barrel Pontiac 350 V8, and it had no problem exceeding 100 mph.
Not a vehicle I’d want to own, especially at $91k but would I want to drive one for the day? Absolutely.
Lessee here 702hp works out to 17.5 VWs, so I should be getting 210mpg. Yep we’ve definitely come a long way.
Be still my heart. Jim, I continue to live my automotive life vicariously through you, so keep these goodies coming.
In all seriousness, it is amazing Ram has built such a great overall combination of what would seem to be conflicting traits. Ford planning a reaction says a lot about the TRX.
To show how things have gotten better, the ’87 D-250 ancestor to this TRX, one I owned for several years, got an equal 10 mpg from its smaller 5.9 liters, was revved up like a chainsaw by 60 mph, and was much lighter. So while the TRX’s fuel economy isn’t great, your assessment of finding comparable is spot on.
The only quibble I have with these is the bed size. Everything else? Sounds fantastic!
To appreciate what these super-trucks have become, one just needs to come here to the UO campus area, where the Raptor has become the vehicle of choice for rich young male Chinese students, the same demographic that used to buy Lamborghinis, Maseratis, and such. And every one of these Raptors is impeccably clean; one could eat off their undersides. And like their Lamborghini predecessors, they get driven around town a mile or two invariably at very modest speeds.
The latest toy of choice. I’m sure the TRX will do well too.
I’m a truck guy, owning two now, but even I think these are excessive. I wonder if I could rent one for my next (off) road trip. When do we see a test of the new 392 Jeep? Jeep/RAM certainly seems to be writing the last chapters in the domestic IC truck saga with a bang. I can’t wait for a shootout between this, the V8 Raptor, Cybertruck and Rivian. When you need help with that Jim, let me know.
You should drive one, it’s remarkably composed and normal feeling, while very fast and capable it is not compromised for daily use, beyond the size depending on your circumstances. I would bet that someone will have one on Turo sooner rather than later. It’s big and wide but as long as the trail isn’t narrow it should work well.
The 392 Jeep sounds quite interesting and more or less something plenty of owners have done themselves. It’s interesting that seeing as how Stellantis has been stuffing their big engine(s) into everything, and getting criticized a bit from environmental factions for it, both the TRX and 392 Jeep would seem to be direct responses to Ford, i.e. Raptor and 2021 Bronco and not things that Stellantis themselves led the segments on.
I’ll make a note as to your availability for the showdown. 🙂
Nice ride, even if it’s not my cup of tea. I think it was a good call to bring back the shift lever. Only experienced the dial gear selector in a rented 200 and I liked neither the shift dial…nor the rest of the 200.
I’m such a dork, I just now got TRX = T-Rex. When I first heard of this variant I thought of the metric wheel Ford used in the 80s.
Great review as always! These sort of trucks are a little outside my comfort zone but I love that they exist.
Thank you! Yes, there are many aspects to the automotive spectrum, and something for (almost) everyone. It’d be boring if we were all forced to drive the same exact vehicle.
Yeah when I first saw talk of this in print TRX made me think of those wheels, the most commonly seen for the TRX tires.
I must not be firing on all four cylinders today, because I completely missed the TRX=T-Rex analogy, even after seeing the airbox graphic here. I just thought TRX was yet another abbreviation… like TRD but more Xtreme.
It took mental gymnastics for me to make the connection, I think it’s that Dodge has been typically overt with naming in the last several years – Hellcat, demon, redeye, trackhawk etc. – TRX is almost a throwback to the Omni GLH “wink wink” name. T-Rex didn’t hit me until I had the side thought about the climatic scene with T-rex beating the raptors at the end of Jurassic Park, which seems to be what the engine cover is portraying(spoiler alert).
There have also been TRX trims/models before but I believe in those cases it was in fact just a few letters rather than trying to evoke the T-Rex thing, which only really makes any sense in relation to the Raptor, but is pretty clever all things considered. I recently saw an older Dodge Ram Pickup with a TRX-4 badge on the bedside and also a decade-or-so old Dakota with TRX stickers on the sides. Neither of those were anything special performance-wise. Now you will undoubtedly see some as well.
Did you have to add gasoline while you had it? If so, what percentage of the range was the truck indicating remained and how many miles had you covered? Gas mileage may not be important, but range certainly is in many of the places that off road trucks are enjoyed. It’s pretty funny that Pemex carries 93 octane gasoline in Baja California, but you need to buy racing fuel to get anything better than 91 octane in the state of California.
We refilled it after the first 70 since we were going on the longer trip right after that so I can’t really answer the question accurately. However with a 33 gallon tank and the 8.x I was seeing locally would indicate a pretty short range. The final number of 10.9 would indicate about 360 miles before running dry. Of course 11mpg would seem optimistic off-road. I’d probably carry some jerrycans for a long off-road trip.
I have a car that supposedly can carry 13.2(IIRC, but definitely more than 13) gallons of gasoline. I’ve run it dozens of miles past when it is showing empty, but have never put in more than twelve gallons, and maybe more like eleven and a half. Various other cars I drive have ‘miles to empty’ declarations that have yet to lead to me replenishing their rated capacities. I guess what I was hoping to learn was whether or not the gas gauge or trip computer promote full utilization of the listed capacity. Thirty-three gallons times eleven miles per gallon is plenty for getting to the gas station closest to your destination, but that goes out the window if the idiot-proof gas gauge holds five gallons in reserve instead of one and a half.
Oh, I see what you mean. Sorry, that should be something that can be figured out over time with maybe three tankfuls of fuel and doing the math of remaining range vs what it accepted. I’m subject to a (fairly generous) mileage limitation with most test cars that precludes me from generally filling it completely more than once after using up what it was delivered with. They arrive “full” but you never know if the person dropping it off just stopped at the first click when refilling it for me at the closest station to my location or consciously brimmed it…
It is annoying that actual capacity is advertised, not the usable capacity.
My pickup has an advertised capacity of 38 gallons. It doesn’t have a DTE but it does have a low fuel warning. On my other Fords the low fuel light comes on a 50 mi range. When I refill shortly after the light comes on I get 30-32 gal. When I’ve let the low fuel come on several times and ran it down to ~5% according to the scan tool the most I’ve ever managed to get in is 34.x gal.
Of course there are reasons that they show E or 0 mi to empty so soon. First of course is they don’t want people getting angry when they run out of fuel, and a certain number of people will always push it. The other side of it is that with fuel injection if fuel sloshing around results in sucking up some air it will result in a miss at a minimum and possibly a stall. So they want to set E on level ground so that when you are going up, down or sideways on a hill there is still enough fuel to keep the pickup submerged.
That makes perfect sense. As always, thanks for dispensing your considerable knowledge here 🙂
Thanks Kyree, I should add that tank shape and orientation plays a big factor in how much they leave in the tank when showing E. On my pickup the tank is located between the frame rail and driveshaft. so it is pretty long. So it needs a greater minimum to keep the pickup submerged when going up or down a hill.
It also isn’t unusual for them to fudge the DTE too. I know in some Fords I’ve seen PIDs for DTE calculate and DTE displayed. I did pull both up one time on a vehicle that was showing 10 on the dash and the calculated number was 14 if I remember right.
I’ve seen many, many fuel pump failures in GM trucks and BOF SUVS. I don’t recall Ford truck fuel pump failures to be at all common. I’ve been told by multiple mechanics that the GM fuel pumps overheat when there isn’t enough gasoline in the tank to cool them. Could this be related to Ford’s conservative fuel gauge range?
Here you go, extra effort put in to give you better accuracy in the relevant range. https://hooniverse.com/last-call-z-exactly-how-much-fuel-you-have-left/
The extra gas gauge probably seemed like a great idea when the car was in its planning stages and fuel rationing was fresh in everyone’s memories.
I think it needs to be bigger, have more power and use more fuel.
Do you mean like the private jets and mega yachts of the people who are scared about the impact of middle class lifestyles on the climate?
What does my post have to do with a yacht?
Yachts are bigger, have more power, and use far more fuel. They should satisfy your desire for conspicuous consumption, according to your own specifications.
I was thinking more of a used 747. Lots on the market now.
I realize I’m disagreeing with pretty much everyone here, but I see this thing as a douchey, macho, boy-am-I-ever-compensating-for-something joke. I’d be embarrassed to drive it.
And HOW much does it cost to insure this?
Every third person here in OK thinks they need a lifted truck, so I look forward to seeing one of these fill up my rearview mirror, tailgating me even as I pass in the left lane at a perfectly decent clip.
I suppose I’m glad something like this can exist, but if the Raptor is any indication, its clientele will largely consist of inconsiderate fools who have no business driving something so large and with so much horsepower.
A few weeks ago there was the review of the Godzilla powered Ford where one of the commenters was shocked at the 4.30 gears it was equipped with. Well on this I’m shocked at the 3.55 gears and 35″ tires. I’m not sure on the ratios they use in the trans but it must be loafing along in top gear on the freeway.
Did you happen to note what RPM it was showing at 60 or 70 mph?
I’m pretty sure at 70 it was under 2000. I spent a fair amount of time around 80ish and it wasn’t much over 2000 at that point as I recall noting. But flex your toe, it would drop (at least) a couple of gears, let out a bellow, and take off.
I believe in 8th it’s 0.67:1, 7th is 0.84:1 and 6th is 1:1 per Car&Driver.
Man, this thing’s so damn fast it’ll get to Planet B before everyone else has to.