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Buried deep in Ram’;s lineup, you can still find a hot pickup.

The pickup boom of the 1990s and early 2000s brought an explosion of model configurations and trims, as far more and far more people began utilizing these when-workhorses as their daily automobiles. Of course, the most dichotomous new species was the sport truck. Pickups focused on performance had existed before—see Express, Li’l Red—but such workouts in silliness peaked when Dodge stuffed the Viper’s 500-hp V-10 into the Ram’s engine bay and created the monstrous SRT10—with a manual transmission no significantly less. It set the (nevertheless-standing) prime-speed record for production trucks at nearly 155 mph.

While refinement, towing capability, and off-road prowess have since taken precedence over outright speed, Chrysler will nonetheless sell you a fast, cool truck. The 2015 Ram 1500 R/T, for instance, comes awfully close to hitting the efficiency marks of its wilder predecessors yet also delivers a level of refinement those bruisers lacked.

Prepared To Run

Primarily based on the mid-level Sport trim, the 2015 R/T appears like a correct sport truck and is offered only in rear-wheel-drive, regular-cab form with a 6-foot, 4-inch box. The lone engine decision is the 395-hp, 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 it backs up to an 8HP70 8-speed automatic that spins a 3.92:1 rear-axle ratio. At 5106 pounds, it’s not light—for instance, the normal chrome 22-inch wheels wrapped in 285/45-series all-season Goodyears weigh about 90 pounds every single. But the Hemi’s 410 lb-ft of torque and the quick-pondering, several-geared ’box win the day when you mash the go pedal.

The truck returned an impressive 5.4-second dash to 60 mph, with the quarter-mile passing in 14.1 at 99 mph. Each figures are at the powerful finish for current production pickups and just .5-second behind the mighty SRT10. Alas, the R/T is no top-speed champ, with its governor dropping anchor at 106 mph. Stopping prowess from 70 mph (189 feet) and lateral grip on the skidpad (.76 g) are modest at greatest, however the truck maintains a confident-footed and balanced really feel, thanks to the a number of-link and coil-spring rear suspension and a respectable 54/46-percent weight distribution front to rear.

Despite its purposeful stance, the R/T’s suspension setup is the exact same as that of standard Ram 1500 models. As a result, all round ride top quality remains carlike regardless of the quick wheelbase, and the truck boasts payload and towing capacities of 1380 and 5050 pounds. As expected of a massive, heavy point with a massive Hemi engine, our observed fuel economy was a meager 15 mpg. That puts it in line with most of the V-8 pickups we’ve evaluated.

Luxury Creep

The normal-cab R/T is a little, tidy package for a complete-sizer, which is appreciated in parking lots, but our test truck’s bucket seats restricted occupancy to just 2. There is, nonetheless, space for a couple of overnight bags behind the seats, and you can add 2 locking storage bins if you select the $ 1295 RamBox bedside compartments.

Ram doesn’t break out the R/T as a stand-alone issue, but Sport models automatically become R/Ts when configured with the V-8, rear-drive, the normal cab, and the brief bed. Pricing for such a setup starts at $ 36,225 and involves the R/T’s vented hood, large wheels, and monochromatic styling, as properly as a dizzying array of amenities compared with sport trucks of yore: a limited-slip diff, a 26-gallon fuel tank, keyless entry, front and side-curtain airbags, a rearview camera, 8.4-inch touch-screen infotainment, a heated steering wheel, a 6-inch digital cluster show, a rotary gear selector, a full-length center console, energy-adjustable pedals, energy and heated exterior mirrors, and much more.

The RamBox compartments had been the priciest selection on our test truck. Also integrated was the $ 665 Trailer Tow and Brake package (wider trailering mirrors, Class IV hitch, and an integrated trailer-brake controller), a $ 500 tri-fold tonneau cover, the $ 495 Comfort package (automatic high beams, proximity entry and start, and rain-sensing wipers), a $ 475 spray-in bedliner, and a $ 350 remote start off and upgraded safety bundle. A $ 195 single-disc CD player in the console, a $ 140 rear sliding rear window, and a $ 90 engine-block heater completed items off for a final tally of $ 40,430. That’s steep for a smallish truck that could prove a handful in wintry conditions, but the all round execution is slick and menacing.

Due to the fact It’s Fun

The Ram R/T does not have any direct competitors, as Ford’s F-150 Tremor died in the transition to the all-new aluminum 2015 F-150. The Tremor’s turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 lacked the R/T’s V-8 rumble, sufficient of a sin for us to decide on the Ram, but it was also slower, far more high-priced, and less enjoyable to wheel. GMC’s 420-hp Sierra 1500 Denali crew cab 4×4 runs neck-and-neck with the R/T up to 25 mph, but a ginormous $ 55,000 luxo-truck isn’t anyone’s notion of a hot rod.

Sporty pickups are cool in techniques that defy common sense. Yet though it is noticeably more agile and exciting to drive than the larger, crew-cab behemoths that dominate the light-truck marketplace, the R/T is nonetheless a workaday pickup and its sportiness largely a veneer. Now it is time for Ram to go all the way, leveraging Chrysler’s new supercharged, 707-hp Hellcat V-8 to elevate the top-speed record for pickups.

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2014 Chevrolet Silverado: Challenging-Wired for Americans

Might 20, 2014

A sofa, a loveseat (it’;s in there, but you can not see it), an old desk and chair in the second row, drawers under the seats. This is what trucks are constructed to do, and it is no surprise that it all fit in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. If ours was the 6.6-foot bed model, we most likely could’;ve secured the sofa against a closed tailgate (ratchet straps mitigate that minor compromise).

Certain, most individuals who reside in sub/urban density will hardly ever use more than 30 % of a complete-size truck’;s ability. Certain, you can usually rent a truck on the handful of occasions you need to do big function. You can often get a minivan which can manage most trips to Home Depot.

But that misses the point. Americans are challenging-wired for trucks. We settled the west in covered wagons, spiritual ancestors of the modern day-day truck. We’;re wired to construct big factors, in big spaces that demand massive tools, big materials and big breakfasts. Or we employed to be anyway. Increasingly, we build pc chips, credit schemes and social ne2rking Web sites.

If I lived in Texas or Colorado, with huge roads and parking spaces, and even if I built practically nothing bigger than a bonsai garden, I’;d drive a full-size truck (or a Suburban, far more most likely). These big sky spaces contact for a massive sky truck. My competitive bull-riding career would also demand it.

But as I live in suburbia, the upcoming Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon would be a much better call for my life. A Colorado crew cab only provides up .3 inches of maximum bed length to the Silverado crew cab, but the Colorado is 15 inches shorter in general length and nearly 6 inches narrower (these from GM’;s preliminary Colorado specs). The Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier prove that even with stagnant designs, a midsize truck is just the appropriate size for many purchasers.

Dan Frio, Automotive Editor

Challenging-Wired for Americans - 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew Long-Term Road Test

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