2019 Ram Promaster 3500 High Roof W/extended Length on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ram 1500 Mossy Oak Edition ready to start Truck Dynasty in the Motor City

Throughout the last half of the 20th Century and extending into the 21st, our country has had an on-again, off-again love affair with redneck culture. Urban Cowboy begot The Dukes of Hazzard which bled into the Ernest movies, which, in turn, paved the way for the long locks of Joe Dirt and Kid Rock. These days Duck Dynasty is the ignoble standard bearer for the hillbilly way of life - a group that would undoubtedly feel right at home in the latest offering from Ram, the 2014 Ram 1500 Mossy Oak Edition.
Custom designed for the hunters, fishers and other outdoors-folks that make up the Ram customer base (according to the company's press release) the latest instantiation of the Mossy Oak boasts a liberal daubing of camouflage. The camo rides on top of your choice of Black, Black Gold Pearl, Prairie Pearl and with either a Canyon Brown or Frost Beige interior. All of the Mossy Oak Edition trucks are 4X4s with a Crew Cab body, perfect for hauling your hunting buddies out into the wild places of the world.
Fashionable redneck culture doesn't come cheap apparently; the Ram 1500 Mossy Oak Edition starts at $39,985 with a $1,195 destination fee.

Italian coachbuilder transforms the Ram 1500 into an ostentatious limousine

Motorists who were smitten by the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury concept and disappointed by the brand's decision not to build it now have a consolation prize. Created by an Italian coachbuilder named Aznom, the Palladium is a sedan-like four-seater limousine built on a platform borrowed from the Ram 1500 pickup. The Palladium exists at the intersection of sedans and SUVs, both in terms of design and in terms of construction, and it's marketed as a hyper-limousine. Surprisingly, company founder Marcello Meregalli explained he began looking into building a truck-based sedan after seeing the Cadillac-badged presidential limousine unveiled in 2008. "That particular Cadillac gave the final push" to the idea, he reminisced in a statement. Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, so all we'll say about the Palladium's sheet metal is that it isn't subtle. Its front end is dominated by a grille with vertical LED inserts, thick pieces of chrome trim, and headlights that look 1500-esque if you squint. Viewed from the side, it's evident there was little stylists could do to mask the 1500's extra-long wheelbase, and the four doors are straight off the truck. And, the entire rear fascia rolls out like a giant drawer to give customers access to the trunk. It's a feature that's odd and innovative at the same time. The basset-like proportions likely make the Palladium a nightmare to parallel park, especially in its home country of Italy, but they also allowed stylists to carve out an unusually spacious interior designed primarily for rear-seat comfort. Passengers riding in the back travel on a bench that Aznom describes as a throne, and they benefit from creature comforts like a separate air conditioning system, a Harman-Kardon sound system, two Microsoft tables, plus an on-board fridge. Of course, there's space to store crystal glasses; how could there not be? Power for the Palladium comes from a twin-turbocharged version of Ram's 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engine. It's tuned to develop 710 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque, and it's bolted to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Aznom quotes a 4.5-second sprint from zero to 62 mph, which is on par with the Hellcat-powered 1500 TRX's time and impressive for a beast that tips the scale at 5,842 pounds. Part-time four-wheel drive comes standard. Ten cars will be manufactured, and each one will be unique because clients will be invited to participate in the design process.

2019 Ram 1500 eTorque Drivers' Notes Review | Filling in the gaps

When the 2019 Ram 1500 debuted earlier this year at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, the biggest news was arguably the addition of the 48-volt mild hybrid system. Dubbed eTorque, the system is standard on V6-equipped models and a $1,450 option on trucks with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. It's not a hybrid in the traditional sense. Despite Ram's claim that the system adds up to 130 pound-feet of torque on the V8, it only does so for a fraction of a second and doesn't actually change the engine's total output. You'd be hard pressed to notice a difference if you didn't know the system was there. But that's kind of the point. There's been a lot of confusion about what eTorque is and how the system works. Much of that falls on FCA's shoulders. The automaker didn't do a great job of explaining the whole thing, leaving us to work out much of it for ourselves. This isn't meant to boost performance, towing or payload. The Ram eTorque can't run on battery power, so don't expect a Toyota Prius with a bed and wood trim. It's here to make the truck just a little bit more efficient by improving areas where conventional internal-combustion engine's fall short. The eTorque system replaces the engine's alternator with a small, belt-driven electric motor. On the V6, the motor is part of the water pump assembly and driven by that belt; the V8 uses a dedicated belt that's separate from the other accessories. A small battery pack is mounted upright behind the rear seats inside the truck's cabin. There's also a DC-to-DC converter to charge the battery and convert 48 volts down to 12 to power the truck's normal systems. Visually, the only difference between an eTorque-equipped model and a standard one is a small metal box at the top of the engine. There's no badging and the battery pack can't be seen, even with the rear seats folded up. The system is designed to be as seamless and innocuous as possible. The auto start/stop system spins up the engine a little quicker. Shifts from the eight-speed ZF automatic transmission are a little smoother as the eTorque system smooths out and fills in the gaps. It does so for a fraction of a second, but it works its magic often. Big gains in fuel economy have already been made. It's going to take things like Ram's eTorque system to improve internal combustion engines from here on out. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: I'd like to say I noticed a huge difference between the Ram eTorque and the regular Ram, but I didn't. That's how it's supposed to work.