Oversized and over here, the American pickup scene has exploded in Australia in recent months and
they don't come much bigger, much brawnier than the Ram 2500. This is the latest DT generation
of the 2500. It's been available overseas for a couple of years now, but finally, it's here
in Australia, but at $18,000 more expensive than before, is it overpriced? Let's find out.
Ram trucks has hit its straps in Australia in 2021.
Sales and appetite for the Ram 1500 is at an all time high. In the Melbourne
based Walkinshaw production facility that converts these utes to right hand drive
shows no sign of slowing down. Now Aussies have access to an even larger tech-laden RAM
with the release of the DT generation 2500. At nearly $160,000 before on-road costs.
It's not exactly cheap. But this big Mexican-built rig does boast some pretty credible numbers.
The DT generation was first revealed at the Detroit Motor Show in 2019, where it introduced
fresh interior and exterior styling, new safety and new technology. The 2500 is gargantuan in
proportion, 6.06 meters in length, 2.6 meters in width and 2.03 meters in height. It's very
imposing in the skin, big lights, big grill, big sidestep big everything really, but it's
not perfect. If you take a look around the truck, there are some inconsistencies in the panel gaps.
It's a small consideration, but a noteworthy one, considering you're doling out 160k.
The Ram 2500 rides on 18-inch wheels
and features all the chrome sidesteps and tinsel you see here as standard.
The 6.7 litre inline six turbo diesel is a lot like a truck engine. It's tough, it's robust. It
even holds 11.3 litres worth of oil which is just insane. The key figures here though are
276 kilowatts of power and 1152 Newton meters of torque. They enable truck like towing capacities
as well, three and a half tonnes with a 50 millimetre tow-ball. Four and a half tonnes with
a 70 millimetre tow-ball and up to eight tonnes with a goose-neck attachment and air brakes.
A 4495 kilogram GVM means the 2500 can be driven on a car license in Australia. While its 835
kilogram payload is on par with if not under most Thai built dual cab utes. A six speed automatic
transmission and four wheel drive system with two speed transfer case are fitted standard.
The Ram 2500 feels more luxury truck than it does workhorse. In this standalone Laramie
specification, you're jumping into something with heated seats, heated steering wheel,
leather, 10 speaker audio system and of course this mammoth 12-inch touchscreen.
It is a true lift in cabin ambience and presentation compared to the previous generation
DS model as it should be given the pricing increase. And for the most part,
the conversion to right hand drive has been done really well.
Detracting slightly from the upmarket vibe is a foot operated parking brake
and the clunky column mounted gear shifter which both feel
unashamedly heavy duty. It is better news though on the tech front.
The 12-inch touchscreen is quite easy to navigate both in terms of its native menus
and the way that it incorporates smartphone mirroring apps like Apple CarPlay. There's also
a great assortment of hard-wired buttons so you're able to make adjustments on the move without going
into touchscreen menus. And I like the way that the seven-inch digital instrument cluster has been
integrated in between the speedos. There's plenty of charging points. Four USB points,
four USB-C points in the first and second rows. And understandably,
space isn't going to be an issue anyway in the cabin.
The middle console can convert to a sixth seat when required,
and there's electronic slotting adjustment in the rear window. On the safety front,
the 2500 covers most of our key criteria as standard. However, blind spot monitoring and
rear cross traffic alert are part of an optional $1950 Driver Assist package. RAM trucks are not
crash tested in Australia. However, the 2500 carries a four out of five star rating in the US.
Storage options in the 2500 are simply excellent. Obviously you have a lot of space, but they made
great use of that space with compartments, flip open cubbies, room under the floor,
even these flip up seats with storage compartments underneath as well. If you wanna go even further,
you can even opt for the very novel but very cool RAM boxes which are integrated in the tray. They
cost an additional $4950. That brings us to the tray area. Now handily, you can actually drop the
tailgate using the key fob. When you're inside, you got eight different tie down points plus a
couple of interior lights as well. Overall, you're getting 1920 millimetres in length,
annoyingly that is just shy of fitting a full size motorbike lengthwise, but you will fit one
diagonally with the tray out which is quite handy. With all that said though, you can
put bikes on a trailer which is where the 2500 really comes into its own. Let me show you why.
[Music]
Man, this thing is big. You sit very high up in the 2500, you stare out over a very long drawn out
bonnet and there are quite a few hidden points looking around the vehicle but with that said,
you've got a few allies at hand. You've got a lot of cameras forward facing, rear facing, overhead,
trailer cam, tray area cam, any you can think of really as well as mirrors, these extended
wing mirrors. The rear-view vision mirror even, there's even a camera integrated into that to
give you a better outlook behind you. A 14.6 meter turning circle is probably the biggest
way to highlight the RAM 2500's six meter length. But with that said, once you're up and running,
it's fairly easy to keep in your lane. Positioning on the road is quite simple,
and it's quite manageable with the way that it meanders along on open roads. The biggest
sticking point though is probably parking that's no huge surprise. I'd be lying if I
said you didn't have to plan ahead a little bit with parking because you definitely do.
The highlight here is the brutish diesel engine, which offers peak torque from just 1700 RPM
on the way to a maximum redline of only 3200 RPM.
The upshot is that the Cummins makes all of its grunt early and you are never left wanting.
The 6.7-litre Cummins engine quite truly is like a truck engine. It sounds like a truck engine,
it has exhaust brakes, and the rev ceiling is met at only 3200 RPM, which is quite low compared to
a conventional car diesel. It is also truck-like with its outputs. That 1152-newton-metre torque
output materialises from just 1700 RPM. It's remarkable the way that the diesel spins up so
quickly at low RPM. It means that you can make really light work of around town driving, getting
up to speed, or even overtaking manoeuvres, be it on a country road, be it on a highway, anything.
It just seems to have loads of torque in any given scenario. The engine works really well with the
six-speed automatic transmission, which is almost imperceptible with its shifts. It's just a nice,
even slur of ratios, and I think that's because the engine does do so much heavy lifting. So
quite a refined drive train and even in terms of efficiency, we've managed
about 12.5, 13 litres unladen, which is quite admirable for a truck of this size. Obviously,
if you're driving around town a little bit more, it's gonna spike a bit beyond that.
Whisper quiet cabin acoustics and a planted on-road demeanour helps cement the 2500's
almost luxury pretensions. It sure is big, but in its desired setting, it feels right at home.
[Music]
All that really leaves us to do is tow. Now, unfortunately, I've left the goose-neck attachment
back at the station today, but I have got about 2 tonnes worth of toys behind the RAM 2500. Let's
see how it goes. Not surprisingly, 2 tonnes worth of weight barely puts a dent in the performance of
the RAM 2500. It feels rock solid on the road. The engine performance is still superb, and it just
feels planted and sure-footed as well. And what I really like is that you have a whole suite of
technology to assist you along your way. The blind spot detection warning has adapted to a trailer
being in tow. You've got trailer sway control. You've also got an assortment of different
cameras, so I've just pressed the back cam footage. I can look at the trailer to make sure
everything is fine. I can also see the tray area to see that everything is in check as well. So
towing really doesn't get much easier or more effortless than this. It's amazing.
The RAM 2500 is backed by a three-year, 100,000 kilometre warranty through Ram Trucks Australia.
Disappointingly, for those in remote locations or anyone for that matter, servicing intervals are
spaced every six months or 12,000 kilometres, more frequent than most other utilities.
Like anything in life, of course, there are shortcomings with the RAM
2500, but as far as doing exactly what it says, it tows and lugs things commendably,
and it does so with much more of a luxury premise than before. Is it overpriced? Well, to
most people probably, but if you're after something with genuine towing pretensions,
well, it's gonna be hard to beat. It all sets up a tantalising comparison test
with the forthcoming Silverado 2500. But in the meantime, I'm off to have some fun.