This meant being more precise in wheel placement and often having to make three-point, or more, turns. The biggest issue I had when crawling through the rocks was the huge width and large turning diameter.
#Ram trx mpg drivers#
It also is a big help for inexperienced off-road drivers when climbing steep hills. This is a great feature for maintaining control while descending hills so steep that the crawl ratio doesn’t provide enough gear reduction.
#Ram trx mpg driver#
Along with that, Ram offers Selec-Speed, which allows the driver to set a desired speed using the shift lever or paddle shifters. Of course, a rear differential lock is standard and can be engaged with the transfer-case in any position and any drive mode. Despite this, I was still able to creep the TRX over some very rocky terrain by selecting Rock mode on the drive mode selector.Īmong other things, Rock mode reduces throttle sensitivity, which greatly helps for slow-speed maneuvers. On the TRX, this is largely due to the 3.55 axle ratio. Massive suspension travel is key to keeping the wheels on the ground when slow-speed rock crawling.Įven with the eight-speed transmission, which has a 4.71:1 1st gear ratio, the TRX only returns a crawl ratio of 44.1:1 a Gladiator Rubicon, for example, is 77.24:1 with an automatic transmission. Despite the massive tires, the heavy TRX weighing in at approximately 6,500 pounds can still sink in moderate to soft sands. Having 702 hp on tap makes climbing even the steepest of dunes a nonissue as long as you stay on the throttle.
#Ram trx mpg pro#
For comparison, when I took the Tundra TRD Pro to the sand dunes, the sand was so hard that I nearly popped a bead running at 20 psi. Given the conditions, I decided to air the tires down to 20 pounds per square inch. It wasn’t as soft as it normally is in the heat of summer, but it wasn’t as cold or wet as can be after a winter rain or snowstorm. The sand was in a moderate condition the day I went to the dunes. As far as factory-equipped pickup trucks go, the TRX has the most horsepower and largest tread print, making it ideal for blasting through the dunes. There are two key vehicle features needed for driving on sand: A high power-to-weight ratio and a large tread-print-to-weight ratio. I was able to comfortably push the truck to speeds that would be unsafe in other vehicles. That meant the road had an excellent base, was very flat and had wide sweeping turns. The final section of the dirt road included a few miles that was supposed to be for a railroad that never came to fruition. It took some getting used to, but once I realized how great the TRX is, the driving fun only increased. Often, I would approach a large dip and tense my body for the impact only to float over it, barely feeling a thing. Steering was well controlled and stayed on center, and even the largest undulations never caused the truck to bump steer. With over a foot of suspension travel and Bilstein 2.6-inch remote reservoir shocks, the TRX seemingly floated over all but the biggest bumps. For this section, I selected the Baja drive mode, which transfers the four-wheel-drive torque split to 25/75% front/rear. In the TRX, I was able to cover those 30 miles in as many minutes. The road was rough, rutted, bumpy and muddy along with a couple miles of smooth sailing. This turned out to be about 30 miles of fun. Rather than take the easy, paved route to get to the local sand dunes, I found a road that included as much dirt and gravel as possible.
Ram has gone with a 702-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 with 650 pounds-feet of torque versus the Raptor with its twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 that puts out a still-impressive 450 hp and 510 pounds-feet of torque. When entering a new market where there is already a clearly defined champion, it's important to bring a captivating feature. Related: 20 TRX Is on the Hunt for Raptors I took advantage of a week of testing the Ram 1500 TRX in Utah to put it in as many off-road situations as I possibly could over three days: One for high-speed desert and sand at Little Sahara Recreation Area, one for rock crawling/steep hill climbing at Little Moab and one for snow up in the Wasatch Range. It’s clear that Ram benchmarked the Raptor in key areas like suspension travel, ground clearance and wheelbase along with approach, departure and breakover angles, which are all nearly identical. Ram built the 2021 1500 TRX pickup truck to compete in a market the Ford Raptor created - a market that has been without competition until now.