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AutoWeek Long-Term Vehicle Wrap-Up: 
Ram 1500 SLT Crew Cab 4x4
By DALE JEWETT on 5/20/2011

Here's a scene you wouldn't expect to see among a staff of car-enthusiast writers--a bunch of long faces because a pickup leaves the fleet.

But a tear or two might have been shed as the silver tailgate of our long-term  Ram 1500 SLT Crew Cab 4x4 faded from view.

Our year with the Ram can be distilled to this: We loved it.

That wasn't a given when the truck showed up at One AutoWeek Tower. The Ram was the last all-new product Chrysler churned out before its white-knuckle ride through bankruptcy. And Chrysler bet big on the truck, abandoning leaf springs for coil springs in the rear suspension, a move that had many truck purists shaking their heads.

Guess what? Chrysler hit the jackpot with that move.

More than one AutoWeek editor declared the Ram to be the best-riding truck--loaded or unloaded--that we've come across. Now, just because we're city dwellers doesn't mean we took it easy on the Ram. We may not have moved bales of hay with it, but there was no lack of couches, boxes, televisions, tires, lumber and yard material to throw into the bed. And we knocked the shine off the trailer hitch, too.

We have plenty of praise for this truck's 5.7-liter V8 and its 390 hp.

Big power is ready at a mere stab of your right foot, accompanied by the appropriately macho exhaust tone.

Yet this mill becomes a gas sipper, relatively speaking, at highway speeds when the cylinder-deactivation system coverts the V8 to a V4. Overall, we burned off 1,609 gallons of gasoline to rack up 24,330 miles on the Ram, with overall fuel economy of 15.1 mpg, which seems average for a full-size pickup. ( U.S. sized gallon ) Canadian ratings at 18mpg city / 26 mpg highway

The Ram's interior, on the other hand, is above average.

The leather-covered seats were comfortable and held up well during long stints on the road. The rear bench will seat three adults comfortably or fold out of the way to make room for weather-sensitive cargo. After a year of pounding, there were no squeaks or rattles. The final three months of duty in our fleet coincided with the annual arrival of cold, snow and ice in our neck of the woods. Suddenly, the $1,875 extra charge for the remote start and heated seats and steering wheel--don't knock it until you've tried it on a single-digit morning--didn't seem so frivolous.

One editor noted, "This is a luxury vehicle, plain and simple. The heated seats, the backup camera, the satellite radio--I've driven purported luxury cars that aren't this decked out." And kudos for the big knobs for the HVAC and the audio/nav touch screen that are easy to use even when wearing gloves.
 
It's also worth noting that in the course of a year of use, we didn't pay anything beyond normal maintenance charges.

One small issue--a cracked lid on one of the Ram storage boxes on the truck bed--was replaced under warranty. That's it. (No breakdowns or repairs required)

Drawbacks? It was hard to find any, other than the trucklike fuel economy and a sticker weighed down by $13,615 in options that boosted the bottom line to $48,755, (although with special offers and factory incentives, this number can come down considerably).

We are going to miss that truck. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

RAM TRUCK
Cars - Test Drives & Reviews Written by Sean Tucker   
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 15:20

We're sitting on 10-way power adjustable, heated and cooled seats swathed in rich black leather. Our hands are tight around a comfortably thick steering wheel, wrapped in the same luxurious leather, and heated against the cold.

We're not in a Mercedes S-Class.

In back, the passengers are watching live TV and listening to it on headphones. That way, they don't interfere with the rich sound we're getting from the 506-Watt Alpine stereo system, with its 10-inch subwoofer.

We're not in a BMW 7-Series.

The acceleration from the 5.7-liter V8 is smooth, with plenty of low-end torque and a big punch to close holes in traffic when we need it.

But we're not in a Jaguar XJ.

We're up. Way, way up. In a friggin' Dodge Ram.

What's going on here?

It's a luxury vehicle in every imaginable way. It just happens to be a luxury vehicle that can tow over 9,000 pounds, haul almost 2,000, and travel smoothly over the worst roads you can find.

The Dodge Ram 1500 Sport Crew Cab we've been given is enormous. It seats four, with more interior volume than any large sedan, and a five-foot-seven-inch bed in the back. It doesn't fit in parking spaces (well, maybe they paint those bigger in Texas). But it looks seriously badass.

In dark red (Inferno Red Crystal Pearl, if you ask Dodge), it has an enormous power bulge in the hood (a $775 option) and a broad shoulder-line that makes it the best looking truck on the market. The classic Ram gunsight grille has been canted forward here, making the truck look like aggressive it's trying to get in someone's face. 20-inch chrome wheels add polish.

The exterior has a few hidden tricks, too the RamBox storage compartments alongside the bed, for instance, are like two lockable trunks. It's a lot of storage space, but smart owners don't just use them for groceries. They're waterproof. We've seen them filled with ice and bottles of beer for a tailgate party.

Dodge has made a real effort inside, and the results are amazing. Looking at the option list, you could be fooled into thinking it was a European luxury sedan. It doesn't actually feel like one, though. It's too spacious. You could park a Smart car in the space between the driver and front passenger, and the rear-seat passengers have nearly as much footroom as those up front.

The materials are a serious upgrade from anything available on a full-size truck just a few years ago, and the touchscreen entertainment and nav interface is one of the easiest we've seen. The 10-way adjustable seats, power-adjustable steering wheel and power-adjustable pedals make it easy to find a comfortable driving position from which to look down on traffic.

And you will look down. This thing is absurdly tall. We can almost look at truckers from eye level. The first time we get out, we nearly fall we were expecting the ground long before it actually came.

And then, there is the drive. We keep fighting the urge to call it "car-like." Can a nearly 5,000-pound truck actually be easy to drive.

No, but this one comes close. The key is the suspension, which is unlike that in any other full-size truck. Where everyone else uses mechanically-simple 1930's-style leaf spring technology, Dodge has built actual coilover rear springs into today's Ram. A truck with an independent rear suspension. It's the first in the world.  You have to drive it to understand what this does to the ride and handling.

The effect is tremendous. Handling is actually subtle. You don't get bounced around the cabin, even on rough roads. We're still not taking corners like it's a sports car, but it's hard to believe this is a truck.

That big 390-horsepower Hemi V8 doesn't struggle to pull the big truck around, either. Acceleration is smooth and forceful. Fuel economy is rated at 26 MPG hwy (Canadian),  the truck deactivates four cylinders when holding steady at highway speed, so you have a powerful V8 when you need to accelerate and a efficient four-cylinder when you're cruising. It's undetectable. You only know it's happening if you set the screen to show you engine performance...

...The Ram 1500 is a little bit of everything a Mercedes-style luxury cabin with a truck bed and the capability to go almost anywhere.

Would we really buy a full-size, crew cab pickup for the city.  Probably not. As smooth as it is, it's still built for Texas-sized parking spots. But the Ram has us thinking about it.

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If you are considering a new truck, this truck needs to be driven

as a comparison to  the models you consider.  

There is no comparing what this truck is, unless you drive it.