As the world moves to being more eco-friendly, the likelihood of brands building massive, supercharged V8-powered trucks is slowly diminishing, but RAM wants one last hoorah.
Teased for months, the RAM TRX is arguably the most insane truck that the world has ever seen, thanks to the Hellcat engine beneath the hood, and the crazy off-road suspension set-up.
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While Ford jumped at the opportunity to build the V8-powered F-150 Raptor all those years ago, RAM has played the long game, and has built up steady sales figures, allowing for a passion project of this calibre.
You'd also be aware of how Ford softened that Raptor by swapping the V8 out for a twin-turbo V6, so RAM decided to go all-out and drop the Hellcat 6.2-litre supercharged V8 in the TRX.
What you're left with is the most American truck possible, a workhorse that makes 523kW/881Nm, weighs over 3 tonnes, and can hit 100km/h from a standstill in just 4.5 seconds. Madness!
Sitting eight-inches wider than a standard RAM 1500, the TRX is obviously set up for high-speed dune-bashing antics. Goodyear reportedly made the Wrangler Territory tyres specifically for this application, and they're almost kept within the massive guards.
While Fox seems to be the industry standard for these trucks, RAM has gone with a completely new Bilstein suspension set-up on the TRX. These adaptive shocks work with a "progressive bottom-out control" that prevents the TRX from washing out when sending it on the jumps.
It shouldn't have to be said, but the rear five-link coil suspension set-up works a lot better than the leaf systems found on the TRX's competitors, and pffers a massive 13-inches of travel.
On the inside, the TRX borrows parts from other Hellcat equipped models, as well as gaining a plethora of performance-monitoring tech. Pitch, roll, ride height, transfer case position and more are shown on the 7-inch display.
It's hard to say at this point whether the TRX will be making it down to RAM New Zealand's showroom, but given that most of the line-up is offered here, we can stay hopeful.
