Yahoo Autos 2025 Ram 1500 First Drive Review: A Hurricane of class and elegance
AUSTIN, Texas. — I power up the 2025 Ram 1500 and scoot away through the outskirts of Austin. When I pull up to the first stoplight, it all sinks in. There’s no Hemi tick. The cabin is vibration-free. Did the auto start/stop turn the engine off? Nope. Then when I pull away from the light, there’s no V8 roar to accompany said acceleration. It’s damn-near silent, seemingly insulated to the point that blindfolded I could be convinced this is a Mercedes-Benz E-Class instead of a full-size, red-blooded American pickup truck.
That’s the effect of the new Hurricane 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six under the hood of Ram’s thoroughly refreshed 1500. Unlike other pickups like the Tundra or F-150 EcoBoost models with downsized turbocharged engines, the new Ram 1500 has no augmented engine noise filling the cabin, a path that engineers tell me they waffled on constantly throughout the truck’s development – it was ultimately decided that Ram buyers would prefer an authentic sound (from the true dual exhaust) than one they know is fake. It’s almost eerie going from the pre-refresh Ram and its 5.7-liter V8 to this. Brash and raw V8 noises are out. The sound of European performance is in. This new Ram sounds more like a new Range Rover at full song than it does any full-size pickup on sale today.
The specs, as you’d expect, blow the old V8 out of the water. Two versions of the Hurricane inline-six are available: the standard output that produces 420 horsepower and 469 pound-feet of torque, and the High Output (H/O) that makes a whopping 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of twist. To put that into perspective, the H/O makes 37 more horsepower than the potent 3.0-liter inline-six of a BMW M3 Competition. It’s just plain silly. And don’t scoff at the standard output version either. That 469 pound-feet of torque handily beats the old Hemi’s 410, and it comes on early and strong in the rev range.
How the two versions of the Hurricane deliver their power is the easiest way to tell them apart. The standard output rolls into the boost early and strong, but doesn’t maintain shove in the upper rpms. Meanwhile, the H/O takes the smallest beat longer to get into boost, but boy does it boogie once those two turbos spool up (they max out at 28 psi of boost). Like a performance car’s inline-six, the H/O likes to rev, but doesn’t force you to do so thanks to its long, meaty torque curve. No matter, it’s still a strange delight to wind this engine out – there are no official figures, but engineers tell us the H/O is about 0.8 second quicker to 60 mph than the standard Hurricane. Fans of smooth and even-keeled inline-sixes will love it, and while Ram tells us these engines were built for trucks from the outset, it sure feels like they could be made to feel at home in something a little sportier. Those who adore their roarty Hemi V8s might not care for how quiet and balanced everything feels, but there’s no arguing that the Ram 1500 is now home to the most refined and luxurious engine in the full-size truck segment.
Outside the splendid new Hurricane, you can still opt for the standard 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 on lower trims that maximizes fuel economy (estimated at 24 mpg highway in its most fuel-efficient form). The also-fuel-efficient EcoDiesel is EcoDead for 2025, so those who need the diesel should find a pre-refresh truck, or maybe just wait for the funky RamCharger if you want something … different. And on the topic of fuel economy, numbers for the Hurricane are “coming in the next few weeks,” but Ram promises that it will be more fuel efficient and produce fewer emissions than the V8 trucks. Even if the gains in terms of an official mpg figure are small, they could still lead to substantial savings at the pump. Some math will be in order for your specific use case, though, as Ram tells us both the standard and H/O will sip premium fuel. When asked if regular is acceptable, Ram says technically yes, but you’ll see a dip in power output.
In capability terms, the Hurricane-equipped Ram 1500 takes a small step down in maximum towing capacity. The V8 maxed out at 12,750 pounds versus the Hurricane’s 11,580-pound max. Your payload maximum is maintained at 2,300 pounds. I was able to yank a 7,300-pound Airstream trailer around with the standard output Hurricane engine fairly effortlessly. You undoubtedly feel the weight, but the quiet and torque-rich engine makes getting up to speed both feel and sound like an unstressful event. Chucking things into the Ram’s bed is made a little easier this year, too, because the tailgate has both an available auto-down and auto-up function that can be accessed via the key fob. The Multi-Function tailgate with its uneven-length barn doors continues to be an option for those who might make use of it. And once you’re back there, Ram took a page out of Ford’s book with a new on-board power inverter. Two outlets in the bed can provide up to 1.8 kilowatts of power, which is nowhere near the F-150 PowerBoost’s 7.2 kW, but Ram’s setup is going to be plenty powerful for a huge number of use cases, and we’re glad to see it made available.
An influx of new tech features greets you when hopping up into the 2025 Ram 1500’s interior. Its center stack may look familiar at first glance, but now there’s a third infotainment screen option that stretches the screen to a 14.5-inch unit (below, left) instead of the 12-inch max Ram offered previously. The experience is largely the same as the 12 – it runs the snappy and agreeable UConnect 5 software – but now the physical controls for the air suspension, trailer brake controller and parking sensors are all integrated into the bottom of the screen. Frankly, it feels like a bit of a downgrade, especially because Ram’s chunky toggle for the air suspension was so satisfying to use, and there are no great benefits to the extra screen space. Both the 12-inch screen and the smaller 8.4-inch infotainment system (pictured below right in a Tradesman) are still available, and arrive in the lineup at various trim levels, so your dash experience will vary wildly based on the version you buy.
