What’s this new car all about then?
The Ram 1500 Rebel is the latest addition to Ram’s local ‘Hurricane’ 1500 range. So named because they all use the new twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder Hurricane petrol engine that replaced the venerable Hemi V8 (for now, at least…), the Hurricane 1500 also represents the latest evolution of the ‘remanufacturing’ process the brand pioneered with the Walkinshaw Group back in 2015 with the original Ram 2500.
Initially kicking off from a facility near the former HSV site, Walkinshaw moved production to its current, larger production facility in October 2017 to meet escalating demand.
Production has scaled significantly over the years, from an initial 30 trucks per month to around 400 per month today, translating to about 100 vehicles a week or 20 per day, and the company hit its 30,000th remanufactured unit late last year, sold across Australia and New Zealand (which has contributed about 1900 units to that massive total).
After arriving in Australia from the USA in left-hand drive form, each Ram pickup undergoes approximately 85 man-hours of labour, with the entire process from arrival to departure taking about 12 hours rolling down the Melbourne production line.
This extensive work involves the integration of roughly 500 unique and specially engineered parts into each truck, with the company saying that the investment in engineering, design, development, tooling, and manufacturing for each new model often running into millions of dollars.
The extensive remanufacturing process includes bespoke dashboards that are manufactured with the same materials and production methods as OEM left-hand drive vehicles, sometimes even a more premium dash, and bespoke right-hand drive steering systems that are sourced directly from the original US supplier, maintaining the quality and feel of the original vehicle.
The Rebel compliments the existing models in Ram’s local line up – the Laramie and Limited – and brings a far more off-road focussed spec and a range of features that are offered as optional extras in its home market, including high-riding off-road suspension from Bilstein, which includes a one-inch suspension lift, 32-inch Falken Wildpeak 275/65/18 all-terrain tyres, underbody protection located under the front cross-member, transfer case and fuel tank, an E-locker rear differential, and five distinct driving modes: auto, sport, tow, snow, and off-road, in addition to a ‘Selec-Speed’ off-road function.
How much is it?
The Rebel lands in the New Zealand line up as the entry into the 1500 Hurricane range at $159,990, with the Laramie landing at $164,990 and the Limited at $185,990.
On the road the Rebel feels like a big American truck, but just a way better one than we have experienced in this part of the world before.
While the Rebel adds all the extra off-road kit, it drops the RamBox tray in favour of a full width standard tray (which allows for a dirt bike to be put in the tray with the tailgate closed), as well as the automatic drop-down side steps, allowing owners to more easily add rock sliders or fixed side steps for off-road usage.
What’s it like to drive?
In a word, impressive. The combination of the all-terrain tyres and Bilstein dampers endow the Rebel with deeply impressive capabilities off road (although its considerable size may limit things in bush settings…), while also offering a startlingly good ride.
On the road the Rebel feels like a big American truck, but just a way better one than we have experienced in this part of the world before. While the ride still has some obligatory “trucky” qualities, like a slight jiggliness from the rear over bumps, particularly when unladen, the sheer refinement of both the ride and the local remanufacturing process shine.
Think of the Rebel as having a similar revelatory nature for the full-size American pick up segment as the Volkswagen Amarok and the Ford Ranger had when they suddenly showed that one-tonne utes didn’t actually need to be uncomfortable.
The Hurricane engine is equally impressive, with more power and torque than the V8 it replaces.
Remarkably, the Rebel’s ride quality genuinely gets better the further off-road you head as well, with an uncanny ability to shrug off rough terrain and simply plough on through without unduly bothering the occupants.
The Hurricane engine is equally impressive, with more power and torque than the V8 it replaces, the inline six feels remarkably strong, with a huge spread of torque right across its rev range. It is also very refined and even packs a throaty growl when you prod the throttle.
What’s the pick of the range?
The launch was literally only for the Rebel, so there isn’t really a pick to be made from that, but the Rebel is easily the pick of the entire 1500 Hurricane range.
If you really want a luxury truck, then the Limited is fine, but the combination of off-road ability and that remarkable on-road ride quality make the cheapest Hurricane a hard one to go past.
What other cars should I consider?
The Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 is the Rebel’s only real direct competitor, being the off-road oriented model of the Chev truck range and similarly priced at $154,000.
While it packs a 6.2-litre petrol V8, it is down slightly on torque and, more significantly, towing capacity compared to the Ram, with the Silverado packing 313kW/624Nm and capable of pulling 4200kg compared to the Rebel’s 313kW/635Nm and 4500kg.
