Here in America, we cherish our pickup trucks as they tout unforeseen versatility, virtually filling a place for a myriad of lifestyles. When it comes to extreme trucks, a small selection of pickups that come from the factory with hardcore off-roading abilities and a serious punch under the hood. In such a category, there are only a few that come to mind, being the Ford F-150 Raptor, Chevrolet 1500 ZR2, and the Ram 1500 RHO taking the place of its supercharged TRX brethren that ended production recently. In having experienced many of these trucks, this week turns rather interesting as I get my hands on the new Ram 1500 RHO, which brings back that TRX ‘style’ but with a different powertrain.
The Ram 1500 RHO takes up the mantel, filling the void that the TRX left, but many will say it’s not necessarily a direct replacement. Instead, the Ram RHO is more of a stopgap to appease those who still want a rugged and hardcore off-roading capable truck. However, those seeking such may have to compromise a bit in the area of power from the new Hurricane twin-turbo inline-6-cylinder engine that’s transplanted in what seems to be a nearly identical body of a TRX. That’s not necessarily a bad thing when you consider the collective of the RHO’s parts and still touting north of 500 ponies under the hood.
Powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline 6-cylinder engine, the new Ram 1500 RHO is seemingly different from the TRX as it has 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of torque. While we can’t help but compare the RHO to the TRX, there’s something to be said about such a setup that still manages to turn heads, conquer extreme terrain, provide a supple ride quality on most surfaces, and serve up ample power. That power is enough to get the RHO up to 60 mph in about 4.7 seconds, the best I could muster in a series of launch-controlled tests. If you take note, that’s about 1 second slower than the TRX’s best 0-60 mph run. Still, that’s no slouch, and there’s plenty of power to send through all four wheels on any surface thanks to the automatic four-wheel-drive setting.
The Ram 1500 RHO has the ability to tow up to 8,380 pounds and a payload capacity of 1,520 pounds, a surprising slight increase over the TRX (8,100 pounds towing/1,310 pounds payload).
There’s a premium to pay at the pump as the turbocharged Hurricane engine is thirsty but consistent with its fuel consumption mostly matching the 14-mpg city and 16-mpg highway EPA figures in the real world. Thankfully, there’s a huge 33-gallon fuel tank to hold the required quickly depleting premium unleaded fuel. A full tank gives you a highway cruising range of about 528 miles.
Just like the TRX, there are plenty of hardcore off-roading bits to complete the drivetrain package, including 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT tires, a sport-tuned ZF-sourced 8-speed automatic transmission, electronically locking rear differential, chassis dynamic settings adapting to specific terrain conditions through several drive modes, adaptive Bilstein dampers with coil springs, all unique to the RHO, that give it 14 inches of wheel travel and 11.8-inches of ground clearance.
The RHO is a serious vehicle, nearly as serious as the TRX, sans the dramatic sound that I enjoyed in the TRX. Oh, yeah, about that, the RHO is mostly void of any good soundtracks as it almost sounds like a new BMW M3 clattering through its gears – if only you can imagine. Fortunately, there’s another soundtrack to enjoy through the 19-speaker Harmon Kardon premium sound system, which is surprisingly powerful and decent-sounding.
Putting all the hardcore equipment to work seems like a difficult task to really reach its limit. In a nutshell, the suspension is robust enough that you’ll hardly ever experience its full capabilities unless you’re bold enough to get down and dirty on some serious off-roading trails or even massive jumps. The RHO feels it can handle anything most would throw at a full-size truck, and that even includes cruising on the open highway, where it exudes a rather smooth ride quality that feels mostly stable and, at times, feels smaller than it is.
Inside, the interior, in true Ram fashion, feels plush and luxurious with the right amount of comfort and balance of being sporty to fit such a truck that looks destined to conquer an off-roading rally. There’s the optioned Level 1 Equipment Group’s vertically oriented 14.5-inch infotainment touchscreen that acts as the focal point for the cabin to combine most vehicle functions, settings, and entertainment options. Additionally, as part of the optional package group, the front passenger gets a 10.3-inch touchscreen for their own enjoyment that the driver cannot see from their angle. Other niceties include a 10-inch color head-up display, carbon fiber accents, a digital rearview mirror camera system, power-adjustable pedals, power-folding rearview mirrors, and Ram’s new hands-free driver assist system.
The microfiber-accented seating areas have plentiful space and comfort, even on longer trips. Best of all, the front heated and ventilated seats have massage functions for your bottom and back areas. The rear features heating and ventilation on the outboard seats.
The integration of wireless (and USB-connected) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto all creates a welcoming setup through the large vertical screen, giving you extra real estate for your interaction. I enjoyed the user-friendliness of the latest infotainment system, even with the most essential vehicle controls on the screen. My only major complaint is it often suffered from slow responses to certain inputs where the system seemed to lock up momentarily, which may be something that’s remedied through an over-the-air update. Adding to a work truck theme, the Ram RHO features dual wireless smartphone charging pads located below the large touchscreen.
In all, the RHO will suffice for Ram’s hardcore truck in a world where we are still thankful to have gas-burning vehicles dominate the industry. I can live without the rumble and supercharger whine of the TRX – and maybe the extra power, too – as the RHO fills a desire in my heart to know there’s still a mean Ram truck to be had. To add to that thankfulness, the Ram 1500 RHO doesn’t necessarily break the bank with a price starting at $69,995 – I suppose that’s the bonus for two fewer cylinders and not as much ear-titillating drama as we got from the outgoing TRX. However, my loaded-up Ram RHO test vehicle comes to $88,100, including a destination charge of $1,995 – still within a reasonable value for a lot of trucks.
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