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Ram’s New Pickup Truck Ditches the V8, and It’s Better for It

The 2025 Ram 1500 proves yet again that a turbo six can be a great replacement for an eight-cylinder engine.

Published February 22, 2024

The fifth-gen Ram 1500 has been a critical triumph. (See: Car and Driver’s 10/10 rating.) One could call it the discerning buyer’s truck … at least, to the extent that discernment occurs in a segment dominated by multi-generational brand loyalty. Under normal circumstances, Ram wouldn’t mess with success during a mid-cycle refresh. But inthis rapidly evolving automotive world, circumstances are far from normal.

Ram’s parent company of Stellantis has been slow to introduce electric vehicles in America. That leaves the conglomerate vulnerable to crippling emissions fines — and has forced the brand to find other means to cut its pollutant output. While Ram will continue to sell combustion trucks for some time (still 50 percent of the mix in 2030), those trucks will no longer be propelled by the vaunted, aging and comparatively inefficient Hemi V8.

For 2025, Ram is offering three new takes on the 1500 pickup. Two are electrified: the all-electric Ram 1500 REV and the wild, generator-packing Ram 1500 Ramcharger. But the first to arrive (and no doubt the most popular in the short-to-intermediate-term) is the revamped internal-combustion pickup, powered by Stellantis’s new 3.0liter turbocharged inline-six, known internally (and now colloqually) as “Hurricane.”

Ram brought me to Texas — Mecca for pickups and unfortunate aftermarket pickup modifications — to test both the High Output and Standard Output versions of the 2025 Ram 1500 both on and off-road for a day. Here’s what I learned after spending several hours with the Hurricane.

The Ram 1500’s new Tungsten trim is aiming to be the fanciest of the fancy trucks.

The 2025 Ram 1500: What We Think

Ram hit every note with this mid-cycle refresh. The truck rides comfortably, and t looks and feels even more luxurious and tech-forward. The Hurricane inline-six converts the new 1500 model’s biggest liability with buyers — dumping the Hemi V8 — into an enhancement by adding a lot more power and delivering it smoothly.

The new Ram 1500 isn’t going to peel away the third-generation F Series customer from Ford, but it may get more truck-curious luxury buyers thinking about buying a Ram. Sure, moving from a V8 to a slightly more efficient six-cylinder may not be the decisive move propelling Ram into the future. That said, it doesn’t need to; the 1500 has two new variants arriving later in the year that will be viable contenders to fill that role.

The 2025 Ram 1500 is still a fancy SUV in truck form

The Ram 1500 remains a capable pickup that is “built to serve.” But the 1500 has differentiated itself by cribbing from the Jeep/Wagoneer playbook (even using the same designers in many cases) to become more luxurious than utilitarian. The Ram 1500 offers the amenities and attention to detail you’d typically find from Mercedes or BMW (and probably better than them, at least at this price point); Ram has leaned into that strategy even harder with the 2025 refresh.

The cabin is awash in luxury and advanced tech. I was impressed by the new ultra-lux Tungsten trim — think Ram’s take on the Toyota Tundra Capstone — with its Natura Plus leather, 24-way adjusting seats and Klipsch Reference Premiere sound system. But even the second-tier Limited trim that I spent more time in was packed with copious leather, massaging seats, textured open-pore wood trim, and an extra 10.25-inch touchscreen for the passenger.

Luxury and tech aside, there’s also a ton of space. I could go full stretch behind myself in the 1500 thanks to the copious legroom (which also doubles as the trunk if you don’t have anyone occupying the whole second row of the crew cab). Ram’s center console is also huge, with configurable storage and dual wireless phone chargers.

Want that plush ride? You can fit the Ram 1500 with a four-corner adjustable air suspension that can lift 1.6 inches for off-roading, lower 1.6 inches for entry and exit and even dip a bit on the highway for better fuel economy. The Ram still feels comfy, even with the bigger wheels now found on the luxury trims. And like some of the better luxury SUVs, the Ram 1500 performs the magic trick of feeling lighter on its feet and more nimble than it should.

The Tungsten trim features a lifted Ram logo and a front fascia rather than a separate bumper. Photo by Tyler Duffy

The super-lux Tungsten trim starts around $90,000. Photo by Tyler Duffy

Even if you don't level up to Tungsten, the Ram 1500 Limited is still pretty fancy. Photo by Tyler Duffy

The 540 horsepower High Output Ram 1500 trucks have specific badging on the hood. Photo by Tyler Duffy

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What’s the story of the Hurricane? A lot of power

Yes, the Hurricane is a (gasp!) inline-six. It has a little more than half the displacement of the outgoing 5.7-liter Hemi. But it’s still one of the most potent fossil-burning engines you can find in a half-ton pickup. The Standard Output packs 420 horsepower and 469 lb-ft — nearly identical to GM’s 6.2-liter V8. The High Output (540 hp and 521 lb-ft) brings more power than any turbocharged six or naturally-aspirated V8 truck engine on the market, as well as 145 hp more than the outgoing 5.7-liter Hemi.

Besides being powerful, the Hurricane engine is also super-smooth. An inline-six is well-balanced for minimal vibration; it’s the layout of choice in buttery smooth Mercedes and BMW vehicles, and the new and notably silky Mazda CX-90 crossover. Sounds outstanding on paper. And it works very well in real life.

I put in significant shifts with both engines. The Austin area is home to some serious hills, and the High Output overpowered them with a barely perceptible gear kick down when the grades turned truly steep. The Standard Output I drove in a Ram 1500 Rebel sounded a tad more labored, but still had more than enough oomph.

The setup seemed great in conventional driving in traffic. The longer pedal travel let me ease into the power on tap without it feeling overwhelming, and the relationship with the transmission and software felt seamless. Admittely, there was a definite lag between input and action when I really stepped on it, which could have been the turbos spooling up or the gearbox’s “Auto Mode” switching to a more aggressive throttle map. But, importantly, that lag was predictable and manageable — meaning I could factor it into highway overtakes.

Line of Ram 1500 trucks off roading on hill — The Ram 1500 Rebel isn’t an apex predator off-roader. But it should be tough enough to handle what most owners would put it through.

The 2025 Ram 1500 can do the non-performative business off-road

My group of assembled journalists took a bevy of Ram 1500 Rebels on an off-road trail. They were decently equipped with 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler tires and Bilstein shocks, though they weren’t the full-bore Ram 1500 RHO (think less-powerful TRX) coming later this year. The truck delivered solid performance — admittedly with aired-down tires — over a reasonably challenging off-road course involving mud, hills, bumps and a few rocks, displaying a substantial amount of flex clambering over obstacles and even turning out to be surprisingly wieldy in tight corners.

I liked that the Ram 1500 offers a simple control setup. All the off-road buttons are physical ones, and located in a tight cluster to the right of the steering wheel. The terrain camera offered solid definition and came in handy often; the Rebel’s domed hood led to frequent blinding.

I do wish the Ram 1500 touchscreen wasn’t vertical

The top-end Ram 1500s feature a new 14.5-inch touchscreen. Ram’s UConnect5 system runs snappily on it, but it’s a portrait layout screen rather than a horizontal layout (which would have required a more substantial dash reconfiguration). That created some issues for me.

Scrolling down to the bottom of that screen — where Ram keeps some vital functions fixed — requires more time looking away from the road. That was particularly true when trying to change the radio station, which was a moving target depending on the screen’s mode. After a couple of lane departure jolts while looking down, I had to stop adjusting it while the car was in motion. The vertical layout also limits the display size of the horizontally oriented backup camera.

Ram 1500 touchscreen — The vertical orientation of the new 14.5-inch touchscreen means vital functions are a long way for your eyes to travel from the road.

What are some 2025 Ram 1500 alternatives?

A Ram 1500 buyer would cross-shop against the usual full-size competitors: the Ford F-150, the Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra and the Toyota Tundra. The Nissan Titan — not often cross-shopped — is departing the lineup after the 2024 model year.

The full-size truck segment is the American industry’s most ferocious competition; these are the best-selling, most profitable vehicles that pay the bills. But it’s also a bit of a detenté. Truth is, all of these trucks do just about everything well; the Big Three, in particular, can’t afford for them not to.

So, we may rightly call the Ram 1500 the most luxurious truck in the segment. But comparing is often about shades of excellence rather than clear distinctions. And it’s no surprise that “best-in-class” is seldom decisive enough to override the personal truck taste drilled into many buyers from birth.