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2022 Ram 1500 TRX Off-Road Test | High atop Mt. Ridiculous

I slide to a quick stop on the mud-slicked trail. Up ahead, a pair of trees on either side force the track into a pinch point, one narrower than I was expecting. A Wrangler looks like it’d pass through with ease, but IÂ’m driving the 2022 Ram 1500 TRX, the widest off-road truck in the business. I eyeball the gap with some apprehension as a fellow off-roader pulls up to me in their side-by-side.  “We typically fit our full-size trucks through that gap,” he assures me. I gesture at the TRX, which is essentially a full-size truck in ultra-wide panorama mode, and voice my width concerns in return. Still, his confidence gives me some resolve, and I decide to trust the park regular and send it. And by send it, I mean idle along slowly watching each side of the truck — itÂ’s a long way over to the passenger side corner — to ensure I donÂ’t return RamÂ’s test truck with slightly narrower fenders than when I received it. Ultimately, the strangerÂ’s advice proved itself, and I just made it through the gap and onward to the next part of the trail where I promptly crashed through a big ‘ole mud puddle with a triumphant V8 bellow.  Big ‘ole mud puddles are the main source of entertainment at The Mounds ORV Park, too. There are all sorts of different sizes and depths for you to try out, which is exactly what I did with the 702-horsepower TRX, trusting its 32-inch wading depth to be my friend for the day. The TRX hardware is firmly in the realm of absurdity, allowing it to attack just about any terrain or surface – assuming it can physically fit through. The 6.2-liter supercharged V8 supplies 650 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels that lets it power out of mud and muck by aggressively flinging it skyward as though it has a vendetta against both the sky above and Earth below. This sort of driving is best done in Mud/Sand mode, as it sets the four-wheel-drive system, throttle response, transmission, suspension and steering into their ideal settings to have the most fun in the slick stuff. It works as advertised. Going 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds in a truck so large is already a mind-altering experience, but having the traction and ability to properly launch off-road is where the TRX truly sets itself apart. Those 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain tires, developed specifically for the TRX, dig into the mud and dirt, shooting you forward with far less scrambling and scrapping for purchase than youÂ’d expect from such a sloppy surface.

2021 Ram 1500 TRX First Drive | King of the Jurassic parking lot

Looking over the spec sheet of the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX, it’s hard not to think America has hit peak pickup truck. Everything about the TRX is bigger, better and badder than any truck thatÂ’s come before, including its one obvious bogey, the Ford F-150 Raptor. For starters, the Ram has a 252-horsepower and 140-pound-foot advantage on the Ford. That means the TRX is quicker and faster, and it can haul and tow marginally more. The TRX has a nicer interior and its supercharged V8 engine sounds a heck of a lot better than the RaptorÂ’s turbocharged V6. Altogether, that ought to equal a truck thatÂ’s more fun to drive. The TRX certainly doesnÂ’t hide its off-road-performance intentions under subtle bodywork. Big, burly fenders with thick black flares cover massive 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler All Territory tires. Those body sides blend in nicely with an equally swollen hood that features a huge blacked-out air intake nostril at its leading edge and matte black gills on either side. A trio of government-mandated running lights sit inside the scoop, echoing the marker lights attached to ultra-wide dually pickups. Naturally, huge RAM scripting features front and rear, and thereÂ’s plenty more badging to make sure everyone knows this T-Rex sits at the top of the dino food chain. More important than the muscular styling is what that bodywork encases, starting with a frame that Ram says shares just 25% with lesser 1500s. ItÂ’s designed to be stiff and durable enough to withstand off-road terrain at speeds of 100 mph. The TRX boasts 11.8 inches of ground clearance, and can ford water up to 32 inches deep. Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive shocks with nitrogen-charged remote reservoirs continuously adjust to handle current demands, whether that means taking the edge off a bumpy road or absorbing much larger impacts, like when landing a jump. There's 13 inches of wheel travel up front and 14 inches out back, allowing for a huge amount of articulation.  All that heavy-duty equipment adds weight. Ram says the TRX gains about 600 pounds of burly mass in the transition from regular Hemi-powered 1500 to Beast Mode off-roader, leading to a truck that tips the scales at over 6,350 pounds. For perspective, a Ram Rebel 4x4 weighs a little less than 5,400 pounds and the Ford Raptor SuperCrew weighs less than 5,700. 2021 Ram TRX View 61 Photos Good thing about that massively powerful engine, then.

Trucks with the best gas mileage for 2024

There's no denying that pickup trucks are an integral part of our culture. They've been instrumental in building our infrastructure and giving the public access to remote locations and myriad recreation activities. Trucks aren't known for being particularly fuel efficient though, with boxy silhouettes and considerable weight negatively affecting their gas mileage ratings. The times are changing and not only are trucks getting more economical, but there are also several new smaller alternatives. An efficient tuck doesn't have to by tiny, though. Some of the trucks with the best gas mileage look classically bulky. What is the most fuel-efficient truck? So what's the most fuel-efficient pickup truck on sale in the U.S? It depends on which class of trucks you're looking at. For this list, we're focusing only on internal-combustion trucks. The small crop of all-electric trucks are certainly worth considering, but it's not so easy comparing EVs to ICE trucks here. In most cases, these trucks are the two-wheel-drive versions since they return the best mileage, but there are a few four- or all-wheel-drive models that we call out.  Not surprisingly, the revival of the compact pickup has altered the truck landscape. In many cases, these petite trucks may be just the right size for many shoppers. That's great because most owners would rather not lug around a ton of weight that they don't necessarily need. The simplest answer to the question posed above is the Ford Maverick Hybrid. It tops this list of fuel-efficient truckswith an impressive 37-mpg EPA estimate for combined city and highway miles. With only 191 horsepower and a continuously variable transmission, it's not as capable off-road or for towing as other trucks, but if you just need something to haul stuff around, you really can't do any better. Its 4.5-foot bed has a slight advantage over its only rival, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, which has a 4-foot bed and an estimate of 23 mpg. So now we know what truck uses the least amount of gas. 2024 Ford Maverick 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain 37 mpg combined (EPA estimate) What is the most fuel-efficient midsize truck? While not as popular as their full-size siblings, midsize strike a good balance of utility and drivability. They’re easier to navigate in a crowded parking lot, and fit down more trails earning a set of Arizona pinstripes.