Blown RAM 1500 TRX reveal next week

The 2021 RAM 1500 TRX super-ute will be revealed live online next Monday night and in the meantime you can listen to its supercharged Hellcat V8 roar.

RAM this week confirmed its most powerful pick-up ever will make its world debut at noon US EDT on August 17 (2:00am AEST next Tuesday for most Aussies) via its YouTube and Facebook channels.

In the past two days it has also released two teaser videos revealing the bellow of its blown 6.2-litre bent eight, which produces an astonishing 522kW/868Nm in the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.

“One of this year’s most hotly anticipated automotive unveilings, the debut of the TRX, Ram’s new performance-focused off-road pickup, will be streamed online and available for public viewing,” said RAM on Wednesday.

No official details have been announced for RAM’s first direct rival for the Ford F-150 Raptor, which will be based on the new-generation DT-series RAM 1500 that will be officially launched in Australia in November.

The first RAM 1500 TRX will follow it on sale here next year, both via independent importers like SCD American Vehicles in Brisbane and RAM Trucks Australia, which employs Walkinshaw Automotive for its local conversion and development work.

Since it was revealed in previous-generation concept form way back in 2016, the RAM TRX has been confirmed for production and spied in photos and videos in the US.

Leaked under-bonnet images showing an SRT-badged supercharger have confirmed the TRX will indeed be powered by Fiat Chrysler’s ferocious Hellcat V8, which produces 594kW/959Nm in the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye and a dizzying 626kW/1044Nm in the limited-edition Dodge Demon drag car.

But even the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk’s circa-500kW power output would make the 2021 RAM 1500 TRX a serious threat to the Ford F-150 Raptor.

Indeed, in line with FCA’s tradition of hiding ‘easter eggs’ in its vehicles, RAM makes it clear the TRX aims to eat the Raptor for breakfast, via a centre console graphic depicting a Velociraptor dinosaur being chased down by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Spy shots have also confirmed the TRX will get significant chassis and interior upgrades, the latter in the form of sports seats with black leather trim, red stitching and bold red TRX logos, plus a conventional automatic gear shifter instead of the controversial dash-mounted rotary dial seen in other DT RAM 1500 models.

We understand the RAM 1500 TRX will go on sale in the US immediately after its reveal next week, before production starts in September.

RAM Trucks Australia has previously told carsales it is keen to add higher-performance products like the TRX to its existing pick-up range, so expect it to join this year’s new RAM 1500 on sale here by around mid-2021.