2025 Ram 1500 (Again)

When something is replaced by a new thing, it is assumed the new thing is an improved or otherwise better thing. A good way to find out is to compare the thing that was replaced with its replacement.

The 2025 Ram 1500 pickup – which I wrote about last year – used to be available with a 5.7 liter (and 6.2 liter) V8. Those V8s have been replaced with a pair of inline sixes.

They are – literally  – the replacements for displacement.

But is it a good thing?

What It Is

The Ram 1500 is a half-ton pickup available in Quad (two normal size and two smaller-size rear doors) and Crew (four full size doors) configurations. Crew cab versions are available with either a standard short bed (5.7 feet) or a longer (6.4 foot) bed.

All Quad cab versions come standard with the 6.4 foot bed.

The Ram is no longer available with just two doors (regular cab) or an eight foot bed.

It is also no longer available with a V8 engine. The previously optional 5.7 liter Hemi has been replaced by a new 3.0 liter in-line six in two configurations that both make more horsepower and torque than the no-longer-available 5.7 liter V8 and deliver slightly better gas mileage. The Ram 1500 joins the Toyota Tundra as one of the two trucks in the half-ton class that no longer offers a V8.

Both the Chevy Silverado 1500 and the Ford F-150 still offer them – and also regular cab/eight-foot bed configurations, too.

Prices start at $40,275 for the base Tradesman Quad cab trim, which comes standard with a 3.6 liter V6 paired with a mild-hybrid system called eTorque that shuts the V6 off when the truck isn’t  moving (or coasting/decelerating) and automatically restarts it when its power is needed to get the truck moving again. 4WD is available as a stand-alone option and bumps the MSRP up to $44,125. The Tradesman Quad cab is the only version of the Ram 1500 that does not offer the new 3.0 six as an option.

The Quad cab is available in three other trims:  HFE ($41,275 to start), Lonestar ($44,935 to start) and Big Horn ($44,935). All of these also come standard with the 3.6 liter V6/mild hybrid combo but you can choose to swap that out for the 420 horsepower version of the 3.0 liter turbocharged in-line six.

Crew cabs are also available in base Tradesman configuration – starting at $43,025 for the 2WD iteration with the short bed. The 420 horsepower six is available as an option with this one.

There are seven other Crew Cab trims, too-  including Warlock ($54,260) and Laramie ($60,030) and Rebel ($64,195), RHO ($69,995), Limited ($75,155), Limited Longhorn ($75,650) and top-of-the-line Tungsten ($87,075).

These trims come standard with the 420 horsepower turbocharged inline six. The RHO – which sort-of replaces the no-longer-available TRX that came with a 6.2 liter Supercharged V8 – has a 540 horsepower high-output version of the new in-line six as well as TRX-like related upgrades such as 35-inch all-terrain tires, long-travel suspension, fender flares and front and rear bumper/fascia differences for both looks and increased angles of approach and departure.

What’s New For 2025

The big changes – under the hood – were introduced last year. The main difference this year is the new Tungsten trim (Crew cab only).

What’s Good

New 3.0 liter inline six is more powerful (and more fuel-efficient) than no-longer-available 5.7 liter V8.

You can still get a V6 – without a turbo.

Available three-across first row seating.

What’s Not So Good

V8 was effectively pushed off the roster due to federal fuel economy and “emissions” regulations rather than market demand for a turbo six.

No regular cab/long bed iteration.

V6 is paired with a mild-hybrid system that adds complexity and cost for negligibly higher mileage gains.

Under The Hood

The Ram 1500 used to come standard with a V6 and was available with a V8. Now it comes standard with a V6 – paired with a mild-hybrid system – and the previously available V8 has been replaced by a new, much smaller 3.0 liter in-line six in 420 and 540 horsepower configurations.

These changes have their good – and bad – points. Arguably, the baddest point is that these changes have been made not in response to market demand but rather in response to government demands. Ram has tried to make the best of it – and has, in some definite and objective ways.

First, as already mentioned, the new 3.0 liter six – even in 420 horsepower configuration – is much stronger and is slightly more fuel-efficient than the no-longer-available 5.7 liter Hemi V8, which made 395 horsepower and touted 17 MPG in city driving and 23 MPG on the highway. The new 420 horsepower 3.0 six touts 17 city, 24 highway. The mileage difference is – obviously  – not much of a difference. But it’s a bigger difference than it sounds like given the horsepower difference. Put another way, you get 35 more horsepower without it costing you any more gas.

And Ram gets credit for the engine “emitting” less of the dread gas C02 that has nothing whatsoever to do with pollution yet which has oilily been classified as an “emission” (which used to mean byproducts that caused or worsened pollution) just the same. And that is why the new six has replaced the old V8. The latter – being larger in terms of cylinder volume – pumps more air all the time, thus “emitting” more gas all the time, including C02. The new six – being a much smaller engine – pumps less air when it is not under boost and that is how it solves the compliance problem.

Of course, when it is under boost, its cylinders move more air – which is forced into them by the turbos. But it only “emits” more gas when it is under boost and so – the theory goes – the overall “emissions” are lower. Of course, that probably matters not at all to the buyers; but they do care about power – and turbos provide it. The optional HO version makes even more of it – 540 horsepower.

On the not-so-good side, the 3.0 liter engine needs the boost to make all that power and boost can be expressed as pressure, which can also be expressed as stress. The smaller engine is worked harder to make that power. Ram devoted a lot of brain-sweat to making this engine stronger to handle the pressure, but working harder under more pressure generally correlates with a shorter service life; this almost-inevitability is compounded by the additional components – the turbos and peripherals – that just by dint of being there add more potential failure points than would be there if they weren’t there.

It’s the same as regards the 3.6 liter V6 that remains standard in the lower trims. It is no longer just the V6. It is paired with that mild-hybrid system mentioned already. This adds parts and so potential – even inevitable – expense. There is a 48 volt electrical system and a second (much larger) battery, in addition to the usual 12V starter battery.

And – in this case – there’s no horsepower benefit. The ’25 Ram’s standard 3.6 liter V6 with the eTorque mild-hybrid setup makes the same 305 horsepower as it did before it was hybridized. The benefit – if it is one – is a slight uptick in gas mileage from the previous non-hybrid’s 17 city, 25 highway to 20 city, 25 highway today. That 3 MPG uptick – in city driving – comes from shutting the engine off when the truck isn’t moving. At the cost of all the parts and pieces that comprise the eTorque mild-hybrid system.

An eight speed automatic is standard with either the V6 or the optional in-line sixes and you can choose rear-drive (2WD) or 4WD, with an electronically controlled two-speed transfer case and 4WD low range gearing.

Even with just the V6  – which is now ironically the biggest engine you can get in a new Ram – you can tow up to 8,100 lbs. When equipped with the smaller – but stronger – 420 horsepower version of the turbo 3.0 straight six, the maximum tow rating increases to 11,550 lbs. Interestingly, the max tow rating decreases to 9,920 lbs. with the High Output (540 horsepower) version of the 3.0 six, probably because that one’s more intended for hauling ass than hauling.

On The Road

Since full-sized sedans are essentially extinct, full-sized trucks have taken their place as the family conveyance of choice – for those who can afford them. Just like back in the day, three can ride up front in the new Ram, courtesy of the flip-up center console that transforms into a center seat when flipped up. Three more can ride in the back. And there is vastly more room in the bed for whatever you (and those you’re hauling around) might need to take with them than would fit in the trunk of even the fullest-size sedans you can buy today – because all of them have small trunks relative to the size of the trunks that full-sized American sedans once had.

Today’s trucks are also a lot less “trucky” – and for the same basic reason. They are in fact luxurious – far more so by any measure than a Cadillac or Lincoln of of the ’70s. They ride better and they are much quieter-riding. They have multi-zone climate-control and power everything and excellent stereos.

And they can go off-road and are much less likely to go unintentionally off-road when it snows.

The only thing this truck lacks is the authoritative sound a beefy rig such as this ought to make. The no-longer-available V8 made it. It bellowed through its twin sewer-pipe-sized exhaust tips; this one whispers. The shame is it could whistle – and pop. A turbocharged six will never sound like a big V8. But it could sound like a turbocharged engine. Why not? People who buy big trucks like engine sounds. A whistle when the boost comes on would make this truck a lot more emotionally appealing and even help salve the sorrows over the cancelled V8.

One other thing – which is true of all these trucks – is that they are huge. More finely, they are wide. This one is 82.5 inches wide  – not counting the added width of the outside rearview mirrors. On narrow roads, there’s not much margin. On narrower roads, there’s no margin. I was driving the Ram up an old dirt road – it’s called Old Poage Road if you’re interested – that has no guardrails and steep drop-offs to the right and steep dirt berms to the left. Coming up old Poage Raod the other day, I came upon another 1500 coming down. There was not enough room for either of us to get by. The other backed-up his truck until he could back into someone’s driveway and so let me by.

But other than occasionally not having enough room to get by it is a pleasure to drive one of these rigs, in part because they are big. It is a lot like driving a big American car was back in the ’70s. Only better in many ways because of all the things you can do with a big truck that you could not do with a big car.

At The Curb

The fact that the ’25 Ram is not available in regular cab/long bed configuration is another piece of evidence in support of the contention that today’s half-ton trucks are being used more like cars once were by the majority of people who buy them now that the government has effectively out-regulated big American cars.

Put another way, it does not seem to be a liability – i.e., something that causes people to not buy them, as would have been the case back when big American cars were available and big trucks were chiefly bought by people who needed a rig that could haul sheets of 4×8 plywood without several feet of that hanging over the edge of the bed.

You can get an almost even foot bed – with the Quad cab – and it becomes effectively eight when you drop the tailgate to add some length to the bed. But you cannot get more than a roughly six foot bed with the Crew cab, which makes it clear that this iteration of the Ram is more for hauling people than a load of gravel. Not – as Seinfeld used to say – that there’s anything wrong with that.

Times change – and so have trucks.

Something else that’s changed is how high the bedwalls of current trucks are. They are chest high now and that mean even a six-foot-tall man will need to use the built-in step that’s located on the driver’s side of the bed near the end of the bed to get up to the bed, to get at what’s in the bed. The reason for this probably has to do with making the truck more aerodynamic at highway speeds – in order to make it more compliant with federal gas mileage mandatory minimums (which also helps lower the “emissions” of that just-awful gas C02 that doesn’t cause smog or make it harder for anyone to breath).

Still, it all looks good – in the sense that this truck looks like a truck. It’s a big, handsome lug – the very sheetmetal and plastic incarnation of the Brawny guy on the eponymous paper towels.

The Rest

Though the Ram is not available in the cornucopia of cab/bed styles offered by the Chevy Silverado 1500 and Ford F-150, it is available in trim configurations to suit almost any want/need – assuming you want the Crew cab and the four full-size doors and the short bed. If not, you’re limited to the four trims the quad cab is available in. That means you can’t get the performance stuff that comes with the RHO or some of the luxury stuff that comes with or can be optioned with the Limited trim, including an air-adjustable-ride-height suspension system, premium leather upholstery and a 19 speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system.

But you can get the almost seven foot bed and (with the tailgate down) you can haul 4×8 sheets without a foot of the stack hanging off the edge of the bed.

The Bottom Line

Is the new six more – or less? That depends on what you think is better – or worse.

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