Tested: 2025 Ram 1500 RHO Is a New Kind of Dinosaur

From the May/June issue of Car and Driver.

High-performance off-road pickups aren’t exactly known for discretion. Intimidation comes naturally to these inexplicably lovable brutes. Take, for instance, the departed Ram 1500 TRX. The direct predecessor of the truck you see here, the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO, the TRX had a brazen stance and a 702-hp supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 with a roid-ravaged wail that elicited adulation and derision in equal measure. Wallflowers need not apply.

But, for a confluence of reasons too lengthy to go into here, the TRX’s raucous blown V-8—popularly known, of course, as the Hellcat— has been replaced by a kinder, gentler twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six dubbed the Hurricane. Here in its most powerful form, the Hurricane produces 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of torque. That’s down 162 ponies and 129 pound-feet from the late, great V-8, but the six puts all the torque to work at a very accessible 3500 rpm, a full 1300 rpm lower than the V-8 it replaces.

As a side benefit, the aluminum-block six is lighter than the iron-block V-8 that formerly resided within the frame rails. On our scales, the RHO weighed in at 6541 pounds, 240 less than our long-term TRX.

Based on the presence of fewer cylinders and modern sophistications such as direct fuel injection, we hoped the sensible six would yield some supernatural gains in fuel economy, but we averaged just 11 mpg—4 mpg less than the RHO’s 15-mpg EPA combined estimate. Actually, it matches the number we observed over 40,000 miles with the TRX.

But here’s one place where the new math works: Despite its power deficit, the lighter engine frees up some capacity in the gross combined weight rating, allowing the RHO to tow up to 8380 pounds, 280 more than the TRX.

No amount of resourceful number crunching, however, can overcome the inherent characteristics of a mechanical ventriculocordectomy of sorts. With only three exhaust pulses per crankshaft revolution to the V-8’s four, an inline-six will never match the deep thunder of a V-8. There’s more to this sonic conundrum, involving harmonics and physics stuff, but know that the sound emitted from the dual tips of the RHO-specific exhaust system resembles a silken purr rather than the menacing roar of the departed TRX’s V-8.

Most of the RHO’s other key attributes—dimensions, chassis, drive modes, rolling stock, and smaller details—carry over with far fewer concessions. Unequal-length control arms provide 13.0 inches of front-wheel travel, while an axle located by four trailing links and a Panhard rod delivers 14.0 inches at the rear. Grip comes courtesy of 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT tires. Ram engineers say the software for the drive modes and suspension is nearly identical, though the team tweaked the programming specifically for the RHO.

It all works as intended. The RHO makes no comfort concessions in urban driving, and highway travel is remarkably refined. It’s luxury-car silent inside, measuring 66 decibels at 70 mph, four decibels quieter than the TRX. It’ll cruise all day at 85 mph, with lane discipline that belies its big off-road rubber and long-travel suspension. This truck even pulled 0.72 g on the skidpad while displaying only moderate understeer, and it stopped from 70 mph in 190 feet, besting the 0.66 g and 195 feet we logged in the TRX.

As for what really matters, the RHO charged to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and cleared the quarter-mile in 13.1 seconds at 104 mph. That’s 0.6 second off the TRX’s 3.8-second 60-mph time and 0.7 slower in the quarter than the TRX, which managed 12.4 seconds at 110 mph. On the upside, the RHO is quicker than the last Ford F-150 Raptor we tested. That truck’s 450-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 propelled it to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds. The departure of the TRX means Ford’s 720-hp F-150 Raptor R is now the king of internal-combustion pickups.

So, the RHO lacks the intense acceleration of the TRX, but it’s still fiercely competent in the dirt. At the Rouch World off-road park in Sturgis, Michigan, the RHO floated over large, hard-packed whoops at 35 mph without troubling the suspension or eliciting interior rattles. It casually and controllably dropped down and climbed up slimy 34-degree grades without the need to lock the rear differential or even select low range. It endured numerous Apollo-grade splashdowns in over two feet of water without dampening the carpets or triggering an engine misfire. And jumps, the de facto YouTube measure by which all off-road trucks are ultimately judged, are felt as mere imperfections on the trail, thanks to the supple Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive dampers and the software that controls them.

“Balance” is not a word commonly associated with pickups, let alone off-road-focused models. But the RHO feels like a TRX that went on a spiritual retreat and now embraces the concept of Zen. That newfound enlightenment brings an appreciation of the yin and the yang. And so, with the loss of two cylinders and 162 horsepower, the price drops to $71,990—a significant $26,345 less than the TRX it replaces. That’s a holistic wellness idea we can get behind.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com