2009 Dodge Ram

In appendage to its full reformat, Dodge's new 2009 Ram lots of clever gimmickry in an shot to claw away sales from the lasting darlings of hard-working, hard-playing American consumers, the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra.

If you need lots of cold beer in order to leaf a popular round of golf, the Ram is your best bet, because the crew-cab Ram 1500's optional dual RamBox compartments can contain a set of clubs alongside one bedrail and up to five cases of beer (or fewer cases with lots of ice) along the further . These bins are lockable, drainable, lighted, and meteorological conditions-protected (a la Honda Ridgeline, but these don't cover your emergency tire). The RamBox basically off the wheel-well in the bed, and its stowing compartment is wide enough to hold a basketball. The RamBox will also hold non-recreational equipment, but Dodge didn't show us any of the Ram tangible work. Plywood-haulers, don't fret, and yet, because Dodge that your four-by- can still lie flat in the bed, flanked on whichever side by the RamBox.

The RamBox can even hold a few new infuriating industry buzzwords such as "mandate," "significant leap," "voltage," and "game-changer." Says Scott Kunselman, VP of Chrysler's Body-on-Frame team: "Our mandate was to make a considerable leap and add even more to Ram. Our all-new 2009 Dodge Ram is a game- in position of proficiency, convenience, craftsmanship and welfare."


If you run out of room out back, you can mass ten more -ounce beverages in the in-floor compartments/ for rear-seat . And if you need space for some cocktail snacks, the Ram's -eight "storage space locations" be duty-bound to do the trick courteously.

All that freight is arduous, so the Ram's V-8s have more potential for '09. The 5.7- Hemi for a second time tops the choices, but this time it produces 380 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque (versus 335 hp and 375 lb-ft last year), thank you to a compression relation, erratic stopcock timing, and an vigorous students diverse. The hot-rod of the Ram fleet is the new frequent-cab, to the point-bed R/T model, which is said to din from 0 to 60 mph in less than seven , a best-in-class figure, according to Dodge. A 3.7-liter V-6 and a 4.7-liter V-8 will also be existing at the Ram's promotion. A new Cummins turbo-diesel will debut in half-ton sometime after presentation, and a hybrid powertrain will be appear for the 2010 classical year.

Handling have to be a little less than most trucks, since the Ram a suspension in the back. A rock-hard rear axle is retained, ensuring that the half-ton truck can haul up to 1850 pounds and tow between 3000 and 9000 , depending on powertrain and layout.

The inland is greatly developed from the outgoing Ram's, but we've yet to see how it exactly masses up with the likes of the General Motors and Toyota . Helping the Ram place out from competitors are animated and cooled front stalls (a opening-in-class nose), worked up rear orchestra, and a intense wheel--a must-have choice for those cold ending . Your explanation crew will indubitably rise the offered MyGig multimedia practice, navigation, rear-seat DVD entertainment, Sirius Backseat TV (nothin' like a little SpongeBob to scare up a dude to hang some !), and surround-wide-ranging acoustic.

The external of the Ram is an alluring changeround on Dodge's broad-shouldered look that traumatized the souk in 1994. Not to be outdone by Cadillac, Ford, and fresh companies who are supersizing the badges on their big , the ram on the Ram's be hard on the heels of has adult by 250 percent. Ooooh. Aaaaaah.

In adding up all of the new workshop structure, Mopar, Chrysler's sharing out, has by now announced more than a dozen trade touches, including a body kit, -inch wheels, and , so that Ram buyers can make their opinion out even more.

No theme who wins the election, how much the economy slips, or how verdant the locomotive industry becomes, Real Work and Real Play still need doing from time to time. That's why full-size pickup trucks are still appropriate to a quantity of the population (even if those are falling). They'll be able to buy the next-cohort Ram in the fall of 2008.