DAN EDMUNDS: We're here in Texas on an overcast drizzly day,
and we're going to drive this 2019 Ram 1500.
We really liked the last one, but could the new version
be any better?
We're going to find out.
Sure, the styling is different, but there's
a lot of significant changes going on with this truck.
For one, the wheelbase, the length
between the front and rear axles,
is a full four inches longer.
And they've put all of that into cab space.
The bed sides are an inch and a half taller,
which helps smooth the airflow around the truck,
and also gives you a bigger box.
You'd think that would make a heavier truck,
all that extra metal, but actually, this thing
is 255 pounds lighter compared to last year.
And that's because they're using a lot more high strength steel
in the frame, and in the body.
That should add up to better fuel economy, too.
So we're going to hop in, drive around Texas.
We're going to get on the back roads,
we're going to get on some freeways.
We're even going to catch a trailer on behind,
and see what this thing can do.
Let's go.
This new Ram has the link coil rear suspension,
which is unique to the full size pickup world.
It really made our last generation truck
ride nice and smooth.
And this truck is even better.
It has all of the basic architecture of before,
but they've refined the shock absorbers,
and they've got progressive rate coil
springs in the back instead of straight rates.
And that allows a smooth ride, but also,
more payload, and towing.
This can tow 20% more than before.
That's 12,750 pounds now, if you're keeping score at home.
Yeah, this thing's a real workhorse.
We're not towing right now, obviously.
But the engine and transmission was never in doubt.
This has the 5.7 liter hemi V8.
Makes the same horsepower and torque as last year.
And it's also backed by an 8 speed automatic transmission
that we've seen before.
They've really improved the shift timing.
There's a lot more available choices to the computer,
depending on the situation.
So far, we're just driving on smooth roads,
we're not driving up any grades.
So I don't expect this to be a very difficult situation
for the truck.
But it's nice and smooth.
All the shifts are nice and crisp.
There's no shock at all.
It's very pleasant.
And listen to that.
As someone once said, power.
I really like driving this truck and it's not just
because of the power, and this comfortable seat.
What's really great is the steering.
I can really feel that the truck knows where it's going.
It responds really easily to commands.
I think the steering is a little quicker
than it was in the last generation,
but not sharp or abrupt.
There's just the right amount of effort.
It's not known, it's not overbearing.
But at the same time, it returns to center,
and really knows straight ahead very well, which
is really more important in steering than you might think.
One of the neat things about this truck
having linked coil rear suspension is Ram
can offer air suspension-- a four corner
air suspension system allows the truck
to be dropped to a lower height when
you're cruising on the freeway for better fuel economy.
Even lower than that to help ease loading.
Or you can raise it up as much as two inches
if you're off road, and need to clear an obstacle.
It's pretty nice.
One thing I'm noticing here as I spend
more time behind the wheel is the visibility out the front
is really good.
They've reprofiled the hood and the headlights.
It seems like I can see the corners a little bit better
than the last generation truck.
But when I look out the back, my view
is a little bit more narrow, and slot like,
because they've raised the pickup box an inch
and a half, which is great for cargo carrying capacity,
but it does show up in the rear view
mirror just a little bit more.
Everyone has a backup camera these days,
and it's great when you're trying to hook up a trailer.
This one has a twist.
There's this zoom button here.
When you press it, you really can see the hitch
up close, which is great when you're
trying to do that final last part of a hookup.
Also, we've got tow haul button here.
And here's where you can turn off the parking sensor.
Because when you got your trailer hooked up,
it's always going to detect something.
So turn it off here to shut off the system.
Now we've got a trailer latched on behind.
One of the towing features I really like on this new Ram
is the blind spot warning system that accounts
for the length of the trailer.
And unlike other such systems, it does it automatically.
In other words, you don't have to measure your trailer.
You just have to make a couple of turns
and it'll learn how long your trailer is.
In this case, this trailer, according to the blind spot
monitoring system, is 20 feet long.
So it's going to add another 20 feet into its warning
to account for the length of the trailer
when I make a lane change.
This truck has an integrated trailer brake controller
right here.
And it's hooked up right now.
And one of the many screens that's
available on the dashboard through the buttons
on the steering wheel is a trailer towing screen,
which shows how aggressive the trailer brake gain is set.
And that's something you want to adjust so that your trailer
brakes don't lock up at the same time,
so they do what you want them to do.
And so you can see exactly what that is right here.
You can make adjustments here.
And if you need to stabilize the trailer that's swaying,
you can give it a pinch right there,
and you put the brakes on manually.
There are center consoles, and then there's
the center console in the 2019 Ram 1500.
I mean, look at this thing.
It opens up here, this slides back and forth,
this piece goes all the way through.
You can put a laptop in there.
There's a 110 volt outlet in there.
There's two USBs, and two USB-Cs.
There's another USB in here.
And on the back, there's two more USB, and two more
USB-Cs for the back passengers.
I mean, this is amazing.
You can put a phone in here.
There's wireless charging available
that will work when the phone is in this position, where
you can actually see it.
And there's a CD slot, if you still do that.
I mean, you could live at the center console.
It's pretty amazing.
I'm really impressed with the interior.
And I liked the last one.
And this just feels that much nicer.
The ergonomics are great.
Everything's really easy to reach.
The center stack has an 8.4 inch screen.
That's not the biggest one you can get.
There's a 12 inch screen you can get on other models.
The materials look good.
There's lots of nice stitching, and soft touch materials.
Laramie's seats have suede inserts, they're heated,
they're ventilated.
It's really nice.
Tons of telescopic adjustment here from the wheel.
I can really put my seating position back where I like it,
and have a really comfortable driving position.
These pillars are pretty slender.
And these handles that you see-- they're kind of pointing at me,
so they're not really obstructing my view at all.
A lot of thoughtful details here.
Even like the shifter here, the rotary shifter
that was introduced when the eight speed transmission came
to this truck a few years ago has been cleaned up.
It feels real nice.
All the buttons controlling the four wheel drive system
are grouped right next to it in a real logical orientation.
The instrument panel in the Ram 1500
is one of those things that's been
made more attractive than the last one, and more functional.
It's got a screen here, and there are
buttons on the steering wheel.
And I can scroll through myriad screens that show
a lot of great information.
Trip odometers, of course.
And fuel economy indicators.
And tons of meters.
Transmission temperature, oil life, battery, anything.
It just looks great.
And the buttons on the steering wheel have been cleaned up.
It doesn't look like parts been stuffed anymore.
It looks like this was designed for this truck.
And so the whole look is just really solid.
I can't decide whether I wanted to drive
or just ride in the back seat of the Ram 1500,
because this is amazing.
They've added four inches of rear leg room back here.
And this seat is adjusted where I wanted it before.
And I pulled it back, and really stretched out.
And you can see, I'm 6'2", and I still have tons of room
in front of my knees back here.
And this seat also does this--
eight degrees of recline.
I could sit here all day all the way across Texas.
Yeah, that's great.
And then it's got a really nice fold down center armrest here
if nobody is sitting in the middle, which is pretty common.
That's pretty awesome.
There are child seat anchors in all three seating positions,
so you can have three child seats back here.
This is the top tether attachment.
The other ones are really easy to get to here.
If you want to carry cargo back here, you can flip this up.
The floor is just absolutely flat.
They've gotten rid of the transmission tunnel that
used to be here last year, and this has been moved back.
So if you actually fold this one up,
there's just a ton of cargo space back here.
You can tie cargo down really easily.
You want to open the Ram bin, you can put ice and beverages
in here.
Or you can put a tow hitch.
These have always been here, but they're bigger
than they were last year.
There are six trim levels in all.
And two other engines we didn't drive,
the E-Torque V-6, and E-Torque Hemi V-8.
Those we'll drive at a later date.
We haven't heard anything about the eco diesel yet,
but I'm pretty sure that's going to come back.
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