Ram now has a 702-hp off-road-focused 1500 pickup called the TRX, or what the company wants you to call the T. rex. It’s powered by the Hellcat supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 and has standard 35-inch tires, Bilstein adaptive dampers, an active transfer case, a Dana 60 rear axle with a five-link coil-spring setup, and more off-road goodness to make it outrun the Ford F-150 Raptor on the trails. Naturally, a few of our staffers immediately started daydreaming about getting them dirty, so, as we tend to do, we imitated supercharger whines while we headed over to Ram’s configurator to spec our dream Hellcat pickups.
Maxwell Mortimer’s $77,890 2021 Ram 1500 TRX
For my TRX spec, I wanted to get the entry-level cloth-and-vinyl interior. Not only is it the cheapest, but I’d also care less about getting it dirty or smearing loose trail debris on it. Sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be, because all of the options I want are sprinkled throughout the available equipment packages. So instead of going with the base equipment level, I decided to bite the bullet while still trying to adhere to my “value” TRX proposition.
The palette of colors on TRX is limited, and since the Anvil (dark blue-gray) paint is only available on the $90,265 Launch Edition, I decided to go with the monotone Diamond Black paint ($100). To that I added the Level 1 Equipment Group. It includes a laundry list of options that should come standard on a truck of this magnitude, including accent lighting for the doors, heated front seats and steering wheel, a leather-and-Alcantara-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel, leather and suede seats, and eight-way power-adjustable seats in front. I added the 19-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system ($1195), the Bed Utility Group for its spray-in bedliner ($845), remote start ($245; seriously, this isn’t standard?), and the Trailer Tow Group ($395) because I’ll inevitably buy a pop-up camper soon. All in all, it was tough to spec this truck to my liking while also being conscious of my own financial limits, because, unlike other How We’d Spec It builds, I actually intend to follow through with this purchase. — Maxwell B. Mortimer
Austin Irwin’s $79,480 2021 Ram 1500 TRX
My method of building this 702-hp high-flyin’ fantasy was to keep it close to the already staggering $72,000 starting price, but not without some extras. The $3420 TRX Level 1 Equipment Group unlocks every necessity on a truck built out of superfluity, with heated front seats and steering wheel being the most important. Imagine the humiliation of owning a truck this expensive without heated seats. Level 1 also adds LED bed lighting and a leather and suede flat-bottom steering wheel. Seriously, a flat-bottom steering wheel? That’s so untruck, but it’s there.
The $12,150 Launch Edition is full of stuff I wouldn’t use often, like the panoramic sunroof, head-up display, and adaptive cruise control. Even in a truck this wild, I’m only willing to pay extra for things I don’t need if I’d use them all the time. That’s why adding the $595 blind-spot and cross-traffic protection is a must on this enormous truckasaurus. I’ve also added the $845 Bed Utility Group—mostly for the spray-in bedliner, but also for the included cargo hooks and deployable step to make the five-foot-seven-inch bed useful. The $695 triple-fold tonneau is there so I can secure my stinky hockey equipment out back. Bring it inside to wash it? No, thanks. In a perfect world, the Ram 1500 TRX could be had in Forest Service Green, but the two-tone Hydro Blue and Diamond Black Crystal Pearl is bright enough. The paint is listed as a $100 option, but when you scroll to the bottom of the configurator, you’ll see an additional $250 for two-tone paint even though the only monotone option is Diamond Black Crystal Pearl. The country boy in me couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add the $1195 19-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system, because it’s hard to hear the rest of the world burn when you’ve got the Bad Company cranked. — Austin Irwin
Dave VanderWerp’s $89,115 2021 Ram 1500 TRX
A colorful former colleague of mine liked to say, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” That mantra certainly applies when we’re talking about the first ever 700-plus-hp production pickup. So there was no question that my TRX would be anything but loaded. Plus, Ram makes the most luxurious pickups out there, so I immediately grabbed the $7920 Level 2 Equipment Group, which brings the TRX up to the level of a 1500 Limited, just like our much-adored long-term Ram. That nets all manner of niceties, including heated and ventilated power leather seats, numerous features, and interior trim upgrades. I also added the $1495 red interior accents to dress up the all-black interior, plus the $1095 combo of head-up display and digital mirror, two new Ram offerings, and the $995 Advanced Safety Group with adaptive cruise control and pedestrian automated emergency braking, because you never really can be too safe. $1195 for the 19-speaker Harman/Kardon premium stereo was a no-brainer, and I had to go with the $1895 upgrade wheels to cast a vote against the black-wheel trope. There are only seven TRX color choices, and I gravitated away from the louder red and blue options to the $200 Billet Silver. One of the beauties of the TRX is that it has a far broader range of talents than just painting the world with Goodyear all-terrain tire scribbles. To maximize all of those useful towing and hauling skills, I opted for $845 for a spray-in bedliner and box lighting, $395 for a trailer-brake controller, and $445 for the larger trailer-tow side mirrors. It was tough to say no to the tough-looking bed-mounted spare-tire carrier, but I went instead with the far more useful $695 tonneau cover.
Was anything left behind? Not much, other than the sticker packages and the $1495 sunroof, because sunroofs are dumb. — Dave VanderWerp
Connor Hoffman’s $92,010 2021 Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition
If Ford still offered the F-150 Raptor with a V-8 engine, I would be more inclined to choose a Raptor over the new TRX, but it doesn’t yet, so I’m fine with a 702-hp Hellcat V-8. I’m a really big fan of the Launch Edition’s Anvil paint color, but it’s only on the $90,000-plus limited-edition model, so hopefully I can snag one of the 702 they make—yes, I’m getting the Launch Edition because of the paint color. It also comes with the Level 2 Equipment Group, which is nice, and adds things like blind-spot detection, ventilated seats (good for when I’m mobbing through the desert), and remote start, which is perfect for the cold Michigan winters. I’ll also get adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist, which will be nice features for long road trips to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or out to Moab, Utah.
I’m going to skip all the towing add-ons because I won’t be towing much with my TRX—I’ll probably just get a rooftop tent—and I wish I could get the standard 18-inch black wheels on the Launch Edition, but I can’t, so I’ll have to find another way to acquire them. All in, I’m looking at an obnoxious $92,010 for a Hellcat-powered off-road beast. Sure, I’ll take it and a duffel bag of cash. — Connor Hoffman
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
