2025 Ram 1500 Review: Big changes everywhere, but still our favorite
Pros: Best-in-class ride, handling and interior; silky-smooth and silent inline-six option; impressive infotainment; extra-comfy rear seats
Cons: Prices can be shocking; max towing is below competitors; no more TRX
The 2025 Ram 1500 goes through its first big overhaul in years, and it comes out a more refined, luxurious and more expensive version of itself than before. Eliminating the Hemi V8 is its biggest change, but thankfully the new Hurricane turbocharged inline-six is a lovely replacement that makes for an even quicker and more powerful truck. Of course, all the good that’s been present prior to the refresh carries over, which means the Ram is still the best-riding and plushest full-size pickup you can buy.
Its interior looks great and is extremely functional to boot, with a wide array of luxurious options that now include the new Tungsten. It’s an absolute stunner, but it had better be at a nearly $90,000 starting price. More screens find their way into the cabin for 2025, and they all work well. A new hands-free highway driving assist feature is available for more relaxing long journeys. There’s even a new onboard power inverter similar to the Ford F-150’s that’ll let you plug things into the bed, though it’s lagging behind Ford in overall power.
Despite the competition closing in on Ram over the last few years in terms of overall comfort and refinement, Ram again extends its lead in these areas with its 2025 refresh. We’re sad to see the supercharged TRX off-road monster go extinct, but a replacement is coming in the form of the RHO that should take the fight to Ford’s Raptor and Chevy’s ZR2. As always, the pickup competition remains fierce, and Ram’s advantages are largely the same as ever, keeping it our favorite full-size truck of all.
Interior & Technology | Passenger & Cargo Space | Performance & Fuel Economy
What it’s like to drive | Pricing & Trim Levels | Crash Ratings & Safety Features
What’s new for 2025?
The 2025 Ram 1500 goes through a substantial refresh for 2025. Highlights include a new Hurricane inline-six replacing the old Hemi V8, fresh styling, larger and more digital screens in the cabin and the addition of the top-shelf Tungsten trim. You can read about these changes in detail in our first drive of the 2025 truck.
What are the Ram 1500’s interior and in-car technology like?
It’s easy to be smitten by the Ram 1500 in its fanciest Tungsten (pictured above) trim level, which is bedecked in soft Natura leather, a special color scheme with gorgeous piping and stitching everywhere you look, trim-specific 28-way power/massaging seats and unique styling elements like the Tungsten VIN-numbered badge in the armrest. Its craftmanship verges on German luxury levels of ostentatiousness. The Tungsten, along with the also-beautiful Limited and Longhorn, are easily the most luxurious pickups ever made.
Crucially, however, we are also impressed by the basic Ram 1500 Tradesman (pictured below) and Big Horn trim levels. While the quality of plastics is typical for the segment (that goes for those ritzy Rams, too), the different textures and attractive design result in a cabin that looks and feels better than trucks that cost a comparable amount or more. It really doesn’t matter where you enter the trim tree either, because there’s going to be an intriguing interior option waiting. For example, Ram does a great job of making its off-road-oriented Rebel’s interior stand out with a wild red and black color scheme the likes of which you won’t find in the competition.
The Ram doesn’t just impress aesthetically. The five-passenger model’s center console features clever, multi-configuration storage solutions, including two available wireless phone chargers, thoughtfully designed for how people might use this space — it’s not just some cupholders and a pair of differently-sized bins. There’s also a covered compartment under the rear floor and the RamBox bins that can be added to the bed walls.
In-car technology is exceptional as well. Even the most basic Tradesman has a perfectly usable 8.4-inch touchscreen that runs wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto (a standard feature across the board). The new mid-level screen for 2025 is the previous range-topping, 12-inch vertically-oriented screen, but now you can get an even bigger 14.5-inch touchscreen in the higher trim levels. All of the aforementioned screens run Uconnect 5 software, which we’re big fans of. Those higher trim levels will also feature a new-for-2025 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.25-inch passenger screen, though note the lower-trim trucks won’t have all of those additional goodies.
How big is the Ram 1500?
The 2025 Ram 1500 is available with three body/bed configurations: Extended Quad Cab with a 6-foot-4 bed, or a Crew Cab with either the longer bed or a standard 5-foot-7 bed. There are also two tailgate designs: the standard one and the optional multifunction split design. The exterior dimensions are similar to its competitors in the full-size truck space.
Interior dimensions are also similar to those of its competitors. The Quad Cab’s rear legroom (34.7 inches) is a bit more than a Ford F-150 Super Cab’s (33.5) and a bit less than a Silverado Double Cab’s (35.2). All of those figures equal cramped legs, and given the upright backrest angle they all share, none are exactly ideal for lengthy journeys. Neither is the six-passenger model’s front middle seat, but at least its seat back is notably higher than any other truck’s and should actually provide some head and neck support to go with additional comfort.
If you really need your truck to ferry passengers in comfort, though, an upgrade to the Crew Cab is a must. With it, backseat legroom grows an indulgent degree to a whopping 45.2 inches. That’s about 2 inches better than the Silverado Crew Cab and F-150 Super Crew, and 3.6 inches better than the Toyota Tundra Crew Max. Admittedly, all possess so much massive, stretch-out legroom that there’ll likely be a full foot from knees to the front seat back. So yes, the Ram has more, but we’re not sure it really matters. What could, however, is the available reclining backrest that increases comfort considerably. The Tundra is the only other truck that offers that.
What are the Ram 1500’s fuel economy and performance specs?
The Ram 1500’s standard engine is the 3.6-liter V6 aided by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system Ram calls eTorque. It produces 306 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque and is paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy with rear-wheel drive is rated at 20 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. Those drop to 19 mpg city and 24 mpg highway with four-wheel drive. Combined ratings weren’t available at the time of this writing.
Instead of the long-sold Hemi V8 as the upgrade engine, the 2025 Ram 1500 adopts a new 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six named the “Hurricane.” This engine is available in two versions, the standard (SST) and the High Output (SST H/O) – you’ll know which it is by the badging on the hood. The standard output produces 420 horsepower and 469 pound-feet of torque, while the High Output produces an impressive 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of torque. Fuel economy figures for the Hurricane inline-six engines were not available at the time of this writing, but Ram promises better efficiency than the old V8.
What’s the Ram 1500 like to drive?
The Ram 1500 continues to be so refined that it can feel like you’re driving a large crossover rather than a pickup. Thanks to its five-link coil spring rear suspension, its ride quality is buttery smooth and betters all its competitors (including the disappointing Toyota Tundra and its own rear coils). That suspension design also benefits handling and trailer control, and can even be upgraded with an available air suspension capable of raising to clear obstacles and lowering for easier loading. The steering possesses linear, consistent effort and is reassuringly precise on-center.
The naturally aspirated V6 is a perfectly fine engine that returns solid fuel economy and never feels too weak or under duress. Its smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic does a lot to help, and despite the mild-hybrid assist being present, you won’t notice it much outside of the smooth start/stop system.
How the two versions of the Hurricane inline-six deliver their power is the easiest way to tell them apart. The standard output rolls into the boost early and strong, but doesn’t maintain shove in the upper rpm range. Meanwhile, the H/O takes the smallest beat longer to get into boost, but boy does it boogie once those two turbos spool up. Like a performance car’s inline-six, the H/O likes to rev, but doesn’t force you to do so thanks to its long, meaty torque curve. No matter, it’s still a strange delight to wind this engine out – there are no official figures, but engineers tell us the H/O is about 0.8 second quicker to 60 mph than the standard Hurricane. Fans of smooth and even-keeled inline-sixes will love it, and Ram says these engines were built with trucks in mind from the outset. And if you’re towing, the refreshed 1500 maxes out at 11,580 pounds, though your trim and configuration will cause that number to vary a great deal.
What other Ram 1500 reviews can I read?
2025 Ram 1500 First Drive Review: A Hurricane of class and elegance
Our first drive of the refreshed Ram 1500 where we go in-depth about all of the changes Ram made.
What is the 2025 Ram 1500’s price?
Ram doesn’t offer quite as many variations as its GM and Ford competitors, but there’s still an abundance of choice and customization opportunities. You can find a fairly comprehensive listing of available features and pricing for each trim level here on Autoblog.
All prices listed below include the rather excessive $1,995 destination charge that is mandatory. These prices are up significantly from 2024 across the board, and you can find price changes and additional context in our original pricing post.
Tradesman: $42,270
(A basic work truck, seen above, available in Quad and Crew cabs)
Big Horn / Lone Star: $46,930
(The volume-selling trim level with a huge number of options. It’s called Lone Star in Texas and some surrounding states. Available in Quad and Crew cabs, and offers Sport Appearance and Night Edition variants).
Laramie: $62,025
(The first luxury-oriented trim, only available in Crew cabs. Offers G/T, Laramie Southwest, Night Edition and Sport Appearance package variants).
Rebel: $66,190
(The only off-road model, directly above, available at launch for 2025, easily identified by its flashy graphics and blacked-out appearance. It’s 4×4 only and limited to Crew cab form. Offers G/T variant)
Limited: $77,150
(One of the ritziest trim levels, a massive amount of standard equipment and a unique grille design. Crew Cab only.)
Limited Longhorn: $77,645
(The Texas-flavored version of the Limited, basically. They share equipment, but the Longhorn gets unique appearance and interior add-ons to fit the theme. Crew Cab only.)
Tungsten: $89,150
(Pictured above in silver, the absolute pinnacle of luxury offerings from Ram. It has unique styling, uses special interior materials, offers Tungsten-specific colors inside and presents as a pure luxury vehicle)
What are the Ram 1500’s safety ratings and driver assistance features?
The 2025 Ram 1500 comes with a solid selection of advanced driver assistance features as standard equipment, even on the base level Tradesman trim. The list includes full-speed forward collision warning, front automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, front and rear parking sensors w/assist and auto high-beams. More features are available as options or standard equipment on higher trims like a 360-degree camera, traffic sign recognition and evasive steering assist. A hands-free Level 2 highway driving assist feature is available, as well. It worked quite well in our initial testing.
The 2025 Ram 1500 hadn’t been rated by the NHTSA or IIHS at the time of this writing, but for 2024, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the 1500 Quad Cab the best possible ratings for crash worthiness. However, the Crew Cab suffered from a “Poor” rating in the Moderate overlap front test and a “Moderate” rating for its forward collision avoidance system. The Ram did not receive an IIHS award for 2024.
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