In early August I attended the 2009 Ram Challenge event in Dallas, Texas. Yeah, I know, the 1500 does not yet have a diesel, so why am I discussing this? Well, if previous truck history is repeated, many if not all, of the cabin’s styling features will be incorporated into a common platform for the 2500-5500 Heavy Duty (HD) trucks. The HD trucks will be introduced at the North American Auto Show in January.

The event featured climate controlled tents with display vehicles and three driving courses to test the Ram versus the competitor’s truck offerings. Due to frame and suspension differences, the 1500 trucks tested in this venue will not feel like a Ram HD, but, again, cab features are pertinent.



My observations follow:

New Cab Offering:  Crew Cab

Crew Cab (larger than a Quad Cab, but not as large as the Mega Cab):  The rear seating with this cab offers improved comfort and leg room when compared to the Quad Cab design. In the 1500 truck Dodge will offer both the Crew and Quad cabs so you’ll want to try both sizes to see what fits your family the best .The Crew Cab offers additional seat/leg support for rear passengers, also seat heating/perforated leather fabric is an available option on the SLT/Laramie packages.  The Mega Cab is not offered on a 1500 truck. When I asked about leg room and seating, I was told that the seats for a Mega Cab are the same. This discussion about the Mega Cab leads me to believe that it will be available on HD trucks.



Updated Interior

New interior features include a redesigned instrument panel, new steering wheel design with additional steering wheel controls, optional heated-steering wheel. New steering column with instrument panel (IP) mounted ignition switch and center console mounted shifter (SLT/Laramie).  New massive center console (SLT/Laramie) with many side and top mounted storage areas.  The oversized center console has an upper section (with a 12-volt power supply plug) that should accommodate many laptops and other electronic devices.  Its secondary lower storage compartment is large enough for a medium-sized cooler, large camera bags, tool bag, etc.  Overall the console seems to over-power the cab and not be proportional. I would have kept the column mounted shifter and designed an “airline” seat style pull out desk for added versatility.  The brushed silver instrument panel bezel seems to ruin an otherwise luxurious interior, with a cheap plastic-look.The available wood-grain trim package added class and looks expensive.  The IP top is available with optional leather trim with attractive, exposed stitching. Two cavernous, upper and lower glove boxes are a welcomed feature on the passenger side of the IP panel.  As with other Chrysler models, in floor storage boxes are an available option.



Laramie/SLT Seating

The seats were very comfortable with good support and many power adjustability options.  From the interior it offers adequate and comfortable seating for an adult.  The rear seat also had a nice folding center arm rest with cup holders.  Additional cup holders and auxiliary power supply was located in the back lower portion of the front center console for rear passengers.  The rear seats are also equipped with high-mounted “latch” anchoring points for child safety seats.  Optional heated seating is available for front and rear seating.  Some of the leather seating offerings offered “breathable” perforated seating panels for air circulation.

 

Although the rear heating and air conditioning ventilation may be adequate for some climates, I found the cooling to be poor for the rear occupants (although it was 103° on test day).  Those that live in the southwest already complain of inadequate rear cooling in their Quad/Mega Cab trucks.

The Driving Experience

Three differing driving courses were available.  (See event map pdf file).  The Mother of All Nature and Havoc Highway courses had various brand “X” trucks to compare to the new Ram.

* "Ram Jobsite" Course (shows off the new four-link/coil spring rear suspension).  The beginning of the course included a bridge crossing with the transfer case locked into 4wd low-range.  Imagine a large half circle with four-by-four timbers that the truck would crawl up then over (test for approach/skid angles).  The course also included several off-camber mounds to prove suspension articulation and smooth ride in harsh conditions.

* "Mother Of All Nature" Ride and Handling Course. 

This course allowed the driver to test for vehicle acceleration, braking and steering for handling and performance during obstacle avoidance used in defensive driving, commuting, etc. As mentioned, competitive trucks were available to drive. So, I made a grid on my note pad and wrote down my reactions.

First, some notes about the equipment and the driving conditions:  All trucks were equipped with automatic transmissions (four, five or six speed), use of “D” range (no tow/haul active), with air-conditioning on high.  The course marshals encouraged the testers to be safe, but “drive it like you stole it.” It was over 100° on the day I attended the event. The trucks were left idling and someone was waiting to take your “ride” as you pulled back into the staging area to switch vehicles.  The cooling systems and air conditioning received a workout.

Test Category	2009 Ram Crew Cab, Laramie, 4x4 (deactivated for test)   Engine: 5.7 V8   Suspension:   Upper/Lower Control, IFS (front) 4-link coil sprung (rear)	2009 Ram Quad Cab, 2x4, SLT       Engine: 5.7 V8   Suspension:   Upper/Lower Control, IFS (front) 4-link coil sprung (rear)	2008 Ford F-150, Crew Cab, 2x4, XLT       Engine: 5.4 V8   Suspension:   Double- wishbone Ind. Front Sus. w/coil spring on shocks,  straight rear axle/leaf sprung (rear)	2008 Chevrolet 1500, 2x4, Silverado       Engine: 5.3 V8   Suspension:   Double- wishbone Ind. Front Sus. w/coil spring on shocks,  straight rear axle/leaf sprung (rear)	2008 Toyota Tundra, 2x4         Engine: 5.7 V8   Suspension:   Double- wishbone Ind. Front Sus. w/coil spring on shocks,  straight rear axle/leaf sprung (rear)
Acceleration	Excellent	Excellent	Acceptable	Poor	Good
Steering under acceleration	Excellent	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Acceptable
Steering under braking	Excellent	Excellent	Poor, with understeer	Poor, with understeer	Good, with understeer
Braking-straightline	Excellent	Excellent	Acceptable	Acceptable	Excellent
Braking while cornering	Excellent	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Good
Body Roll during braking or thru tight turns	Excellent	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Poor
Suspension “Feel”	Excellent: Compliant ride, with firm control.	Excellent: Compliant ride, with firm control.	Poor: sloppy, soft feel.	Poor: sloppy, soft feel.	Good, rear suspension felt overly firm/harsh.
Cab Comfort including air conditioning output	Excellent, Good A/C	Excellent, Good A/C	Poor/Poor A/C	Acceptable, Good A/C	Excellent, Excellent A/C.
Impression	The exterior and interior update is more than skin deep.	The exterior and interior update is more than skin deep.	2009 F-150 is touted to have a-arm, coil spring rear suspension, similar to the Ford Explorer/ Expedition, unavailable at test.	Great fuel economy for vehicle, class.  GM needs chassis work to compete.	Marketing hype? Yes!

Although the results appear to be biased, the new rear suspension allows for superior handling characteristics that were un-attainable with a typical multi-layer leaf spring/solid axle design (apples-to-oranges comparison).  Although the Ram has a sports-car like feel in a slalom course, all of the tested trucks have a high center of gravity and their weight and uneven vehicle weight distribution is well apparent when driving it hard.

* "Havoc Highway" Course.

The premise of this course is to encounter city driving obstacles and to showcase or expose noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) in the suspensions of the various trucks. 

 

The course obstacles included: uneven parking lot speed bumps, about fifty feet long and were staggered; a rumble strip/cattle guard type crossing; large 3.5-inch diameter hemp ropes, both in a corner and on a straight-away. 

 

I tried each vehicle at ten, then twenty mph over each of the obstacle areas.  The Ram prevailed and offered a smooth compliant ride with crisp handling, without a sloppy, soft ride.  The Ram easily wins this driving comparison, followed by GM (good ride, but very sloppy and soft suspension feel); next by the Ford (to soft in the front, harsh in the rear); then by the Tundra (which was harsh in both the front and the rear).

Other:

I was able to speak with a Ram Truck project marketing manager for about thirty minutes.  We discussed lots of features of current and past models of Ram pickups. I was so impressed by the ride and handling of the 1500 with the four-link/coil spring rear suspension that I asked about the likelihood of this arrangement for HD trucks.  The short answer, 2500-5500 HD trucks could not achieve sufficient load capacities with coil-only springs.



To download the .pdf copy of this article, click here.