Posted on 02/22/2024 4:01:07 AM PST by Red Badger
One of our favorite pickups tests the faithful by ditching V-8s for powerful twin-turbo inline-sixes.
Traditionalism, in the car business, is often a euphemism for corporate penury. "Our buyers are very traditionalist," a car company will say, by way of explaining its continued deployment of some Bronze Age technology that should've been jettisoned decades before. Sometimes, there's a kernel of truth in there—certain Porsche fans still mistrust the dark magic of water-cooled engines—but more often the company in question simply amortized research and development costs long ago and is thus happy to keep furnishing leaf springs or drum brakes or hit-and-miss engines to its supposedly traditionalist buyers. Ram doesn't play that game, as evidenced by the 2025 Ram 1500 and its quiver of new engines, none of which is a V-8. That's right: The company that sent Jon Reep to stardom with the question "That thing got a Hemi?" no longer offers Hemis in its new pickup. What it does offer is a furious twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, and we suspect that 540 horsepower will make its own argument to the pickup faithful. Out with the Hemi, long live the Hurricane.
New Hurricane Six in Two Strengths
Yes, the new 3.0-liter has a cool name, because Stellantis is not going to give an engine some bland alphanumeric moniker when it can invoke a terror-inducing natural disaster. In the Ram 1500, the Hurricane comes in two flavors, with the middle-of-the-lineup engine making 420 horsepower and 469 pound-feet of torque, improving on the 2024 truck's 5.7-liter V-8 by 25 horsepower and 59 pound-feet. That alone is a worthy upgrade, but there's also a high-output version that cranks out 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet. The ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic returns, sending power to a stronger rear axle designed to cope with the Hurricanes' mountain of torque.
Both engines get a closed-deck block and a forged steel crankshaft, with the high-output employing forged aluminum pistons as well. There are two turbochargers, each fed by three cylinders and enjoying its own exhaust plumbing—true three-inch dual exhaust, all the way back. The standard Hurricane makes 22.4 psi of peak boost, while the high-output's turbos huff 28.0 psi into the intake manifold. To address an obvious question here: Yes, you'll need to run premium fuel to hit those published power numbers. Both engines will run fine on 87 octane but will generate power figures that Ram representatives defined as "less." (Fuel economy is still to be determined, but Ram hopes for an improvement over the V-8.) To assuage worries that the wee six is overmatched for truck duty, Ram showed a video of the engine undergoing the company's most diabolical dyno test, in which the throttle is pinned while the entire engine is tossed around violently in a motorized cradle. If you somehow get your truck on the track at Millennium Force at Cedar Point, oil starvation will be the least of your worries.
The Hurricane, in one strength or the other, is available on every trim, and there are plenty of those. As before, the Tradesman is the value-oriented work truck, and the carryover 305-hp 3.6-liter V-6 is standard. But the standard-output Hurricane is optional, as it is on the next trim level up the ladder, the Big Horn/Lonestar. From there, the off-road-oriented Rebel and the fancier Laramie are both exclusively powered by the 420-hp Hurricane, while the Limited, Limited Longhorn, and Tungsten—the new flagship model—are graced with the 540-hp version.
That's a lot of bandwidth in a single lineup, from a $42,000 work truck to an $89,000 luxury chariot. If you opt for a base-model truck, the 2025 model isn't a wild departure from the 2024. Most of the body panels carry over, save for a subtle front- and rear-end restyling that brings standard LED headlights. But a Tungsten is like a different truck entirely, with its BMW M3–shaming engine, hands-free driver assist, 24-way power seats with massage, and 23-speaker Klipsch sound system. Come to think of it, the Tungsten not only makes more power than an M3 Competition, but it costs more too. Whatever the ceiling is on the half-ton truck market's appetite for decadence, Ram thinks we haven't found it yet.
Driving the 2025 Ram
As for the question of whether the V-8 will be missed: Yes, the 702-hp supercharged one in the TRX deserves its own national holiday. But anyone accustomed to the naturally aspirated 5.7-liter will find the standard-output Hurricane a marked upgrade and the high-output one on another level entirely. There might not be a huge difference in 60-mph times between the old 395-hp Hemi and the 420-hp six, but that wall of torque makes the Hurricane feel much stronger in around-town driving (it also shrugged off some light off-roading that included a few steep climbs). And it sounds great, as most inline-sixes do, issuing a throaty burr from those dual pipes. And for those who mourn the V-8 rumble, we'd note that the Hemi engaged its cylinder deactivation system whenever it could, and in that mode it sounded like a goat that fell down a well. The Hurricane always sounds pretty good.
And in the Tungsten, it's tire-smoking strong. Perhaps the high-output six won't allow the upcoming Ram RHO off-roader to match the outgoing TRX's 3.7-second 60-mph time, but it ought to hang a lead on the 450-hp 3.5-liter Ford F-150 Raptor, which hits 60 in 5.2 seconds. In the Tungsten, the silken six aligns nicely with the upscale gestalt of the fanciest Ram, remaining mostly hushed unless wide-open throttle is called for. Mostly, it remains a complementary player, letting the new cabin hog all the attention.
New Tungsten Interior
And on a Tungsten, there's a lot to take in. A 14.5-inch central touchscreen is paired with a 10.3-inch passenger-side screen that allows the front seat passenger to watch a movie (or cue up functions from the main screen, like navigation) without the driver being able to see it. The seats have so many adjustments that the headrests alone are four-way adjustable. The massage function, when set to "rock climb," is so vigorous that you might find the herringbone pattern of the leather embossed on your back an hour after a drive. (This is the first time in recent memory that a drive impression was literal.) There are dual wireless phone chargers, and that Klipsch sound system will rock your skull with a 12-inch subwoofer. Out back in the bed—this is a truck, remember?—an inverter delivers 1800 watts of power to two outlets.
Active lane management, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitoring with cross-path detection and adaptive emergency braking are standard across the board, and evasive steer assist is available (and standard on Tungsten). The active lane management isn't a hands-free system, but it uses a capacitive sensor to detect the driver's hand touching the wheel rather than a torque sensor that requires constant nudging as proof of life—finally, a use of capacitive sensors that we don't hate! There's also that fully hands-free highway driver assist system, and while it's not as shrewd as GM's Super Cruise, it should be useful on major highways. Which are also the only places that it's enabled, as yet.
All told, the 2025 Ram falls somewhere between a mid-cycle refresh and a thorough overhaul. At the 2025 truck's Texas debut, Ram also had two other models on display, the plug-in-hybrid Ramcharger and the electric Ram 1500 Rev. Both of those will soon be in showrooms, ready to make a truck with a gasoline inline-six look downright traditional.
SPECIFICATIONS AT LINK.......................
A family member had a Model T truck.
I loved that one.
The other trucks the family had over the years...
Meh.
Seriously, who doesn’t still get a little shiver of desire when you pull up behind a vehicle that has the “Hemi” badge on the back? The badge alone is a thing of beauty.
My son’s Ford Escape “EcoBoost” aluminum in-line four has an open deck block design. I’m from the cast iron, closed deck block era so I was unfamiliar with closed- vs. open-deck design pros and cons. We learned the hard way when he got a crack in his block at the top deck allowing oil into the coolant and coolant into the combustion chamber. What a freaking rotten design. Then the transmission went blooey for the second time. It’s going to “Pick n Pull” at 250k.
Pathetic car. Stay away!
Is this an upright 6 or a slant 6 like Dodge made long ago?
From what I have heard people say when they actually test drive these small engine turboed vehicles their supposed specs don’t align with the actual driver experience.
I bought one of the last Tundras with a big V8. I’m not convinced double turbo charged 6 cylinders will be nearly as long lasting as a big V8 loafing along. Maybe when my Tundra dies I’ll change, but I’m retired, put under 10K a year on it, and expect it to last me until my 90s.
I did similar. Bought a Sequoia with the 5.7 V8 I plan to hold on to it until one of us is dead.
If they made this in a Suburban format, I would buy one.
The GM Suburban/Ford Expedition L/Lincoln Navigator L vehicles all have the troublesome joint venture 10 speed transmission.
I wish GM or Ford would make the ZF 8HP transmission an option...
If you are comparing apples to apples, then yes. Take a naturally aspirated dodge hemi and turbocharge it, and it will likely fail sooner. However, an engine that was designed from the ground-up to be turbocharged is likely a different story. Plus, ditching that hemi with it's cylinder de-activation system will be a blessing.
I'm sure you will also start hearing those throngs of "..but that turbo will fail!" The turbo on my Jeep (another Stellantis owned company) is built by Garret. Garret has been building turbochargers and turboprop engines for aircraft for decades. I would well-imagine that turbocharger will outlast any of the other bolt-on components of that engine.
I've owned two other vehicles in the past with tubocharged engines, and they both exceeded 200k with no major issues. Like any other engine, the life of these turbocharged engines will depend upon proper maintenance and how heavy the driver's foot is.
Turbo in my Chevy Trax does not even activate unless RPM’s exceed a certain limit. But it is nice to have that acceleration in reserve when needed.
“Is this an upright 6 or a slant 6 like Dodge made long ago?”
I don’t know, but I do find it interesting that a new straight 6 is coming out.
If one drives thinking there is an egg between your foot and the gas pedal, cars seem to last for ever.
V8 elimination is a bureaucratic order to increase CAFE standards until gasoline is effectively outlawed.
Shove the electrics.
I'd be looking for a very long warranty here... Gotta keep in mind that the old Mopar that we all loved so much... (yeah, it was a labor of love) is long gone. No reason for any particular brand loyalty, including the brand that one has now, with the lying, fake, binary oil pressure gauge that kinda looks like a real one in the dashboard. Even GM doesn't do that last time I checked.
Now that you ask the question though, I'm gonna go look it up when I have some free time...
I’ve rode in exactly one Model T; interesting piece of American history but not something I throughly enjoyed.
Torture Testing the Hurricane Twin Turbo Straight Six
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJP27QYtsgY
I have 454 Chevy 1 ton truck-—circa 1976-—with over 348,000 miles on chassis. MOSTLY towing horses.
NOT giving up on it.
When I die-—MY OLD IRON MECHANIC GETS IT. He is delighted.
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