we're here just outside San Antonio Texas where we're getting our first
chance to get behind the wheel of the 2019 RAM 1500 now we've had a chance in
Detroit to take a look at the mechanicals and the design details but
this is our first chance to drive we did a little driving on-road off-road and
even got a chance to do a little bit of towing we have the chance to drive
around San Antonio city streets and highways and we can say after some time
with it we would like more time but for first impressions we're very impressed
with the frequency dampening shocks so these are new shock technology for the
coil springs that are very impressive they've also upgraded the air suspension
package for the four corner air suspension they're continuing that as
well but it's been upgraded to be a little bit smarter than it was before
provide you a little softer ride when you need that cushion and get a little
stiffer when you're driving more aggressively one of the things that we
didn't like and it's a nitpick is the adjustability on the steering wheel is
an electronic it's still telescoping and adjustable but it would be nice to have
that electronic push button control like you do with the pedal control that's all
electronic also the performance on the engine side they haven't changed any
performance so they've made the vehicle lighter so the engine does feel a little
more responsive but it would be nice to get more performance out of that Hemi v8
during our very unscientific fuel economy run we had the chance to drive
through the city and on freeways so that gave us kind of a real-world fuel
economy of just under 20 miles per gallon so that's that's very similar to
what the previous generation Ram he was doing before but the big standout
feature when we were driving was the big 12 inch screen we're in a limited right
now but the 12 inch screen option on this new Ram is impressive you get a
giant screen and you get access to all sorts of controls that give you tons of
information about what's going on in the engine and to make your cabin more
comfortable well the RAM 1500 is quiet and
comfortable on asphalt and if you're gonna do offroad you've got to get the
RAM revel this is the one that's made for off-roading four-wheel drive 33 inch
tires it has a slight air suspension lift you can get either coils or four
corner air suspension it has a locking rear differential if you need it we're
going up a steep section right now probably don't need it but if we get
stuck we know we have it there and also an adjustable capability on the air
suspension so you can raise it up to off-road to level normal sits right at
off-road one which gives you plenty of travel if you're coming over terrible
obstacles if you've got rocks coming up ahead - you've got heavy-duty skid
plates in front and underneath the transfer case as well inside the
interior of the rebel is very very cool it's got these red accents throughout
the 33 inch tires our Goodyear Wrangler Duratrax and the tread pattern is
actually weaved right into the seats themselves but the total package gives
you superior off-road capability better than any other trim package that Ram
offers as far as how this off-road package
performs we haven't been pushing it to its limits by any stretch but over the
section of dirt road and some of the off camber ruts that we've had to climb our
way through especially in the slick mud it's been pretty impressive very
flexible suspension as long as you don't pack up the tires and wheels with mud
the grip seems to be incredible as well with the Duratrax
we like the fact that there's a low-range ratio that you can get into
and the rear locking diff which is new for this package provides tons of
traction when you're trying to climb up rocks we're doing towing right now with
the mid-level to Laramie four-wheel drive Ram 1500 we have about a 5,000
pound trailer behind us so that's a decent amount of weight and with the
Hemi it's got the 5-7 v8 Hemi right now it's feeling very very well we've got
the tow haul mode set that changes the mapping both for the transmission and
the throttle response and obviously keeps it in a higher gear so you can you
know be a little bit safer when you're towing let off throttle and slow down
also it's got an integrated trailer brake controller very very helpful when
you're using either hydraulic or even electric brakes on any anything that
you're towing then it seems like we have the tongue weight set up very very well
so I'm guessing maybe about five five maybe six hundred pounds of tongue
weight on the coil springs in the back and it's it's feeling very confident
the engines slow to ramp up a little bit but that's exactly what I would expect
with the shift patterns and the transmission changed a little bit in the
8-speed transmission so far the standout feature to me is still the suspension it
seems like the shocks are keeping things very very stable and like I said our
tongue weight is still still just about right in the back but I'm not getting
any kind of wander or feeling any kind of pushing going on with the front end
no matter what kind of hills or declines that we are going through
through the hill country of Texas also really like the the specialized
temperature gauge for just about every feature going on inside the engine so we
have coolant temperature transmission temperature oil temperature and oil
pressure all on one screen so I can keep track to make sure there's no
overheating going on so that just about covers everything we did with this new
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