seemingly insatiable thirst."I'm impressed the connecting rods don't bend from the amount of fuel going into the cylinders," noted technical editor David Beard after coaxing the truck's onboard fuel-economy monitor into the low single digits while towing a 4000-pound enclosed snowmobile trailer.
It takes a lot of energy to get 6781 pounds to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds—a feat we're happy to repeatedly verify—and even the EPA reckons the 702-hp Ram is good for only 12 mpg combined. The best we've seen from a TRX on our 75-mph highway test is 13 mpg. Our truck's average mpg did receive a boost early on from a 1400-mile road trip from Michigan to Virginia and back.
Hoffman also admitted, however, that some owners may tire of the blown 6.2-liter V-8's prominent supercharger whine and the deep drone of its exhaust on the highway, as well as the somewhat firm ride for a vehicle with more than a foot of front and rear suspension travel. Compared to its main rival, the, the big Ram can be more fatiguing to operate, especially when you attempt to squeeze it into a parking garage or an apartment carport. Our advice: Don't try it.
Fortunately, the Ram's first scheduled service at 5695 miles—an oil-and-filter change, tire rotation, and inspection that cost us $155—provided an opportunity to address some of our truck's more important issues, including a suspension-related noise we'd heard coming from its passenger side. The dealer found that the connections for the front and rear anti-roll bar links and the rear track bar were loose and retightened them at no charge. We haven't heard the noise since.