RAM 1500 – What you need to know

If you find the current crop of utes not big enough, there’s always the RAM 1500.

Big and bold, the RAM is remanufactured by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group for right-hand drive and in its first years on sale has proven to be a hit with buyers.

There’s a new DT series on the way, but for the moment RAM Trucks is selling the old DS series in Australia.

Five variants complete the current range and all feature an eight-speed automatic transmission and 4x4 drive. Engine choice is a petrol-powered 5.7-litre V8 or a 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel.

There is the mid-spec 1500 Express Crew Cab, the range-topping Laramie Crew Cab and the latest addition, the Express Crew Cab-based 1500 Warlock.

Kicking off the range is the RAM 1500 Express Quad Cab at $79,950 (plus on-roads), with the the following as standard:

Seven of the eight colours offered on the Laramie attract a $950 premium as do three of the four on the Express Crew Cab and two of the three on the Express Quad Cab. A sports exhaust for the Laramie is $3267.

All RAM 1500 models come with front, side and curtain airbags, stability and traction control systems and anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution.

Trailer sway and hill-start assist, tyre-pressure monitoring, powered and heated exterior mirrors and a rear-facing camera, along with sensors for easier parking and backing up, are all standard.

Moving up to the Laramie snares you front parking sensors, an electro-chromatic rear view mirror, rain-sensing wipers and power adjustable pedals.

Making do with a five-inch infotainment touchscreen is the RAM 1500 Express Quad Cab, while all other variants boast an 8.4-inch screen.

Bluetooth phone and music streaming are standard across the range. However it feels like a step back in time in the Quad Cab, as it’s missing Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and satellite navigation that are included in the Crew Cab and Laramie variants.

Leather upholstery lends any interior a touch of class, and the least expensive way of having it in your RAM is to shell out for the Laramie. Unlike the manually adjustable seats in the Quad and Crew Cabs, the Laramie pews are 10-way powered for the driver, six-way for the front passenger and both feature a memory function. They’re also heated and ventilated up front and heated in the rear row. The steering wheel also has a heating function to keep your mits warm on cold days.

While the Quad and Crew cab RAMs get by with a six-speaker system and no steering wheel-mounted audio controls, the Laramie has them to operate the nine-speaker Alpine system which incorporates a subwoofer.

If you want to keep your passengers comfy on board, dual-zone climate control is the go. While the Quad cab misses out, the Crew cab has it as standard, including vents for the second row.

A centre console is not only handy for storing stuff, it forms a gentle barrier between front seats for a more cossetted feel. If you like that concept dig deeper and fork out for the Laramie and you’ll also get a roof console, a powered sliding rear cab window, a powered sunroof and powered folding exterior mirrors.

All RAMs come with auto headlights but only the Laramie has auto high-beam and projector-style headlamps.

Outside, both the Quad and Crew cabs wear a body coloured grille but the Laramie looks like Jaws from James Bond with its gargantuan chrome grille with the letters RAM incorporated in it.

Out back if you carry long items you’ll want the Quad cab and its 1.92 metre tray, not the measly 1.75metres of the other variants. All come with a tray bed liner to minimise damage. A tonneau cover over the cargo area is a must to keep prying eyes away and comes standard on the Crew cab.

You won’t go unnoticed in a RAM but if you want to stand out even more you can opt for the RAM 1500 Warlock and its unique grille finish, sport bonnet, powder-coated front and rear bumpers and guard flares, black-smoke headlights and semi-gloss black 20-inch alloy wheels.

Underneath it’s the only RAM with factory-fit one-inch suspension lift to tackle the beaten track.

Engine and transmission choices
The RAM 1500 has a straightforward offering of a 5.7-litre V8 petrol engine knocking out 291kW and 556Nm or a 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel producing 179kw and 569Nm. All models drive through an eight-speed automatic transmission and dual-range 4x4 setup.

Pricing:
RAM 1500 Express Quad Cab Petrol – $79,950
RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab Petrol – $89,950
RAM 1500 Laramie Crew Cab Petrol – $99,950
RAM 1500 Warlock Crew Cab Petrol – $104,950
RAM 1500 Laramie Crew Cab Diesel – $109,950

To throw this amount of coin at a ute, albeit one as big as the RAM 1500, assumes you actually have a need for it.

The Express Quad Cab is basic at best and lacks today’s necessities like a decent size of infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite navigation, a rear window defroster, rear storage bins, illuminated vanity mirrors and front parking sensors to name a few.

So that’d be a definite no.

Although the Laramie diesel would be cheaper to run, squandering $109,950 just to get the diesel engine seems absurd to me. That leaves the petrol Express Crew Cab or Laramie counterpart. The Express Crew cab still has a whiff of a base model about it, so it’s the Laramie V8 petrol for me. At $100 grand it’s a hell of a chunk of money, but it’s also a hell of a big ute, and in the Laramie it has enough features and safety tech to deserve my hard earned.