2013 Ram 1500 Big Horn Crew Cab 4x4 Leather Luxury Group Hemi Heated Seats on 2040-cars

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Dear Ram: 'GT' doesn't belong on a pickup

When word of the forthcoming Ram G/T models hit our inboxes on Tuesday, my first reaction was one of confusion. The notion of a "Grand Touring" package for anything with a pickup bed struck me as entirely foreign and left me feeling conflicted. Have pickup trucks really come so far that a GT-inspired model makes sense, or am I just married to an antiquated notion that has been co-opted and subsequently bled to death by the endlessly churning automotive marketing machine? One could reasonably argue that "GT" has come a long way from the days when it was closely associated with its namesake term (whether you say "Gran Turismo" or "Grand Touring" really makes no difference) and plenty of not-so-sporting automobiles have already borrowed the nomenclature to denote trims with faster-looking body kits or larger wheels. If that's the model we're choosing to acknowledge, Ram's is arguably ahead of the game. Its G/T package adds a cat-back exhaust and cold air intake (more of a performance nod than some other "GT" models enjoy), paddle shifters, a console-mounted gear lever, unique bucket seats with high bolsters and metal covers for the gas and brake pedals. If this were a package for a Dodge Charger or Challenger, it would certainly check the right boxes. Heck, the whole thing was essentially parts-binned from the TRX with an assist from Mopar's factory accessory catalog.  A Ford Mustang GT and a Mercedes-AMG GT. Note how similar they are to a half-ton truck. In my quest to decide just how out-of-touch I am, I first asked Ram whether G/T actually stands for anything. It doesn't. It was chosen simply to "signify a sporty model within the lineup." There's no apparent significance to the slash aside from being an obvious nod to Dodge's R/T (Road/Track) models, of which even the Viper was one. Even with SRT having supplanted R/T atop the Mopar performance heap, the latter still denotes models with a significant performance increase.  But that means G/T is precisely what we think it is — a trim meant to impart notions of performance, even if there's little of it to be found. It doesn't quite sit with me. The domestics have already pretty much forced us to accept the notion of both high-performance and luxury-oriented pickups, so something splitting the difference doesn't really seem that outrageous.

Autoblog's Editors' Picks: Our complete list of the best new vehicles

It's not easy to earn an “EditorsÂ’ Picks” at Autoblog as part of the rating and review process that every new vehicle goes through. Our editors have been at it a long time, which means weÂ’ve driven and reviewed virtually every new car you can go buy on the dealer lot. There are disagreements, of course, and all vehicles have their strengths and weaknesses, but this list features what we think are the best new vehicles chosen by Autoblog editors. We started this formal review process back in 2018, so there's quite of few of them now. So what does it mean to be an EditorsÂ’ Pick? In short, it means itÂ’s a car that we can highly recommend purchasing. There may be one, multiple, or even zero vehicles in any given segment that we give the green light to. What really matters is that itÂ’s a vehicle that weÂ’d tell a friend or family member to go buy if theyÂ’re considering it, because itÂ’s a very good car. The best way to use this list is is with the navigation links below. Click on a segment, and you'll quickly arrive at the top rated pickup truck or SUV, for example. Use the back button to return to these links and search in another segment, like sedans. If youÂ’ve been keeping up with our monthly series of the latest vehicles to earn EditorsÂ’ Pick status, youÂ’re likely going to be familiar with this list already. If not, welcome to the complete list that weÂ’ll be keeping updated as vehicles enter (and others perhaps exit) the good graces of our editorial team. We rate a new car — giving it a numerical score out of 10 — every time thereÂ’s a significant refresh or if it happens to be an all-new model. Any given vehicle may be impressive on a first drive, but we wait until itÂ’s in the hands of our editors to put it through the same type of testing as every other vehicle that rolls through our test fleet before giving it the EditorsÂ’ Pick badge. This ensures consistency and allows more voices to be heard on each individual model. And just so you donÂ’t think weÂ’ve skipped trims or variants of a model, we hand out the EditorsÂ’ Pick based on the overarching model to keep things consistent. So, when you read that the 3 Series is an EditorsÂ’ Pick, yes, that includes the 330i to the M3 and all the variants in between. If thereÂ’s a particular version of that car we vehemently disagree with, we make sure to call that out.

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.