Introduction: As I mentioned last time about the history of this truck this is the current generation of Dodge trucks and was redesigned in 2009 in hopes to revive itself. Timing of this truck did not look so good with the price of fuel being very high when this truck was announced. Fortunately for Dodge the high fuel prices would eventually be much lower and thus not hurt this truck's launch so badly.
At this point I've driven so many Chryslers and Dodge vehicles that when I heard of the new Ram I wasn't really interested. By this point most of the vehicles that came from this company I either thought was poorly done or was truly awful. I didn't think much of the last Ram meaning this one had to do much better.
Performance: Like before the Dodge Ram had a big list of engines to choose from. This time only 1 Cummins diesel, a V6 and 2 V8s. Like last time its the 5.7L Hemi V8 that was given to the truck I drove. This time however somehow the truck is much faster than the last one. 7.6 seconds to get from 0-100 km/h. A reason for this is the engine is more powerful this time at 390 hp and 407 lb.ft of torque which is incredible amounts of power. The sound is still very nice like the previous truck. Maybe things are looking up for Dodge.
My Score: 9/10 - A very powerful truck with an engine that matches.
Handling: I remember the last Ram did a pretty poor job in this category. Well I can gladly say that this Ram has done a much better job. The steering feel is back and as a result you can drive this truck with less worry about turning the wheel aimlessly. The cornering is also a bit better but the ride quality has improved. All in all this truck did much much better than the last one.
My Score: 7/10 - Handling isn't fantastic but good enough with better ride quality and its brought back steering feel.
Interior: This is normally the biggest weakness in all of the Chryslers I've driven so far. Is this new Ram going to be any different? Yes...yes it has. Honestly I'm starting to understand why the rest of the cars have such awful interiors...Dodge hoarded the entire interior budget for this truck only. There are still bits of Chrysler cheapness like the aerosol plastic on the console but significantly less than any modern Chrysler. The best touches is really the screen on the dash, I didn't expect such a nice looking screen from a company like Chrysler. On their most luxurious car...its display screen was less impressive than a Cobalt's. This truck has the nicest interior of the full size trucks right now. That said entry into this beast is still not easy. These are built in the United States, only the Mega cabs are built in Mexico.
My Score: 8/10 - A very good interior, well equipped but there's still some cheapness left in it.
Value for money: Unlike the last truck where I didn't really see a reason to buy one, this one has quite a few reasons going for it. The engine is much better than last time, the interior quality is clearly the best...which is a rarity for Chrysler these days and it actually drives very nicely. This one has a lot more going for it and has probably forced the competition to design much better trucks.
My Score: 8/10 - This is the newest of the trucks and clearly Dodge put much more development money into this truck than anything else.
Styling: Another mild change over the last Ram. The biggest difference is...this Ram is even larger than the old already massive enough Ram. This truck is pretty much monster like with its dimensions and the way it looks. I'm certain just the styling is enough to convince someone to buy these beasts.
My Score: 8/10 - A mild update of an already good looking vehicle.
Overall: 40/50 - A good product from Chrysler? Yes its true...but as you can see this is where all of the company's money went to.
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