Tested - 2016 Ram 1500

[kscarbel2]

Car & Driver  /  July 2016

One truck, many flavors

Overview: That the Ram 1500 trailed the Ford and Chevy half-ton full-size pickup trucks in our most recent comparison test doesn’t make it a bad choice. It actually has several things going for it that the others don’t, the most evident being the availability of a diesel engine, something Ford and General Motors still don’t offer in this light-duty segment.

With 240 horsepower and a notable 420 lb-ft of torque at just 2000 rpm, the Ram’s turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 EcoDiesel has grunt that’s handy for truck work, such as towing and hauling heavy cargo, and it can tap into it while barely breaking a sweat. Better still, in a 2015 test we recorded a respectable 21 mpg in mixed driving, including stretches of highway where the truck’s trip computer reported as much as 29 mpg. The diesel doesn’t come cheap, however, adding a premium of $3120 atop the base price of a Hemi V-8 version.

Like the Ford and GM pickups, the Ram can be had in a whole passel of flavors, including three cab sizes with two or four doors, three bed lengths, rear- or four-wheel drive, and a range of 11 trim levels. We drove an EcoDiesel example for this review, but the other powertrains include a 305-hp 3.6-liter V-6 and a 395-hp 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. All are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Ram’s maximum tow rating is 10,640 pounds, with a maximum payload of 1890 pounds when properly equipped. Base prices range from $27,340 to $53,515.

What’s New: Change typically comes slowly to the world of pickup trucks, where buyers tend to resist radical departures from the tried-and-true, and the Ram 1500 is no exception. Aside from rolling out new special editions on a fairly regular basis—the most recent being the Mopar ’16 Ram Rebel—there really isn’t much new for 2016. Body and frame modifications were made for 2016 to better do battle with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s challenging small-overlap front crash tests (despite stronger A-pillars and added structure to deflect wheel penetration into the cab, the Ram joined other full-size pickups in getting dinged by IIHS). The center-console design has been updated, too, and there are new trim packages and minor tweaks.

What We Like: We like the Ram well enough to have brought one into the long-term fleet a while back, and it rarely sat idle. Even with the base V-6, our truck was a capable tow vehicle. The available diesel powertrain with its low-end grunt and respectable fuel economy is great for long-distance hauling, but the gutsy Hemi V-8 and its old-school exhaust burble is also easy to like. And the ZF eight-speed—the transmission of choice for many luxury automakers, such as BMW—shifts incredibly smoothly and adds to the Ram’s over-the-road sophistication.

We also like the available Uconnect infotainment system, which remains one of the easiest of its type to use and includes an 8.4-inch screen with Bluetooth and satellite radio, plus USB, SD, and auxiliary inputs.

The Ram has other endearing qualities. Thanks to its coil- and (optionally) air-sprung rear axle located by five links, the 1500 rides surprisingly well for a truck—this suspension design is exclusive to Ram in the full-size-pickup category. The cabin is relatively quiet underway, and an unladen Ram hops around less over bumps than some trucks—it actually best lives up to the common boast of “carlike” handling, making allowances for its size and mass. It also has comfortable seats and clever storage compartments (an option dubbed “RamBox”) in the sides of the bed. The RamBox option narrows the bed’s load floor, but the 51.0-inch width can still accept four-by-eight-foot sheet goods.

What We Don’t Like: The downside of the diesel is the cost of entry. With the added cost over the gasoline V-8, you’d have to rack up an awful lot of miles before seeing a payoff at the pump. And with gas prices still low, it’s even harder to justify laying out the extra cash for diesel fuel. Like its competitors, this full-size pickup has grown awfully large for casual use, and the 32-inch lift to get anything up into the bed (as we measured on our long-term test truck) draws frequent complaints.

Verdict: It’s hard to go wrong with this truck in any configuration.

Photo gallery - http://www.caranddriver.com/photo-gallery/2016-ram-1500-quick-take-review