By Peter Perrotta
If you are lucky enough to be able afford to shell out $91,000 to buy a fully loaded 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 TRX Crew Cab 4 X 4, then you shouldn’t mind paying the gas bill to feed this monster.
The exciting part is this huge pickup truck is powered by an obscene 6.2-liter supercharged V8 Hemi engine that is capable of producing 702 horsepower.
Yes, that’s right, 702 horsepower.
Those 702 horses can move this bear of a truck to the tune of 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds.
That, my folks, is an incredible feat of modern American muscle.
Now, here comes the flip side of all that power.
This beautiful beast gets ugly gas mileage, has a greenhouse gas rating of 1 of a scale of 1 to 10 – with 10 being real good and 1 being really bad.
Moreover, it’s government tested smog rating is also a 1 out of 10.
The EPA gas mileage rating of the Ram 1500 TRX I recently road tested for one week is 12 miles per gallon overall – 10 mpg in city driving and 14 on the highway.
The EPA also estimates that it will cost the average consumer a whopping $3,700 per year to feed this animal.
However, I must say, all being said, this is one fun and exciting truck to drive.
It’s muscular, strong and powerful. It scares the heck out of the other motorists as they rush to get out of your way, and is quite comfortable and roomy inside.
The 4 X 4 capabilities of this truck are out of this world – I don’t think there is any snow, sleet or rain that could stop it.
The ride is also amazingly smooth for a truck of this side.
However, some of the sight lines to the left and right while driving are a bit obscured by the huge side view mirrors.
The interior ergonomics are plush. This is no plain Jane work truck. And the telematics are up to date. The huge laptop-sized center console screen is easy to configure and use.
The base price of the Ram 1500 TRX I tested for one week is $72,390. The bottom line sticker price on my tester came in at $91,725.
Additional options on the tester included: TRX level 2 equipment group for $7,750; Harman Kardon premium sound for $1,195; a carbon fiber package for $1,295; Mopar rock rails for $995 and much more.
The TRX Level 2 equipment package includes: leather trimmed bucket seats, heated and cooled front seats; premium upgraded center console and more.
The folks at Car and Driver gave the TRX 1500 very high ratings, it scored a 10 out of 10 on its number rating system.
Car and Driver gives the truck high marks for its sheer power, sedate driving style and luxury grade cabin.
For low marks Car and Driver describes the TRX as daunting to maneuver in tight spots and disgraceful in terms of fuel economy.
But on the overall scheme of things, Car and Driver describes the TRX as “badass behemoth that makes every other full size truck look like kids’ toys.”
I would have to agree with the folks at Car and Driver on all those points.
Let’s face it, at the end of the day this isn’t a truck for the environmentally conscious.
This is a truck that is built to show off obscene size and power and on that score, this truck is a big winner.
Peter Perrotta’s On The Road column appears weekly. He can be contacted at pperrotta@comcast.net.
This week’s On the Road column is sponsored by Capital Motor Cars.
