2019 Ram 1500: First Drive — PickupTrucks.com

we’re here just outside San Antonio Texas where we’re getting our firstchance to get behind the wheel of the 2019 RAM 1500 now we’ve had a chance inDetroit to take a look at the mechanicals and the design details butthis is our first chance to drive we did a little driving on-road off-road andeven got a chance to do a little bit of towing we have the chance to drivearound San Antonio city streets and highways and we can say after some timewith it we would like more time but for first impressions we’re very impressedwith the frequency dampening shocks so these are new shock technology for thecoil springs that are very impressive they’ve also upgraded the air suspensionpackage for the four corner air suspension they’re continuing that aswell but it’s been upgraded to be a little bit smarter than it was beforeprovide you a little softer ride when you need that cushion and get a littlestiffer when you’re driving more aggressively one of the things that wedidn’t like and it’s a nitpick is the adjustability on the steering wheel isan electronic it’s still telescoping and adjustable but it would be nice to havethat electronic push button control like you do with the pedal control that’s allelectronic also the performance on the engine side they haven’t changed anyperformance so they’ve made the vehicle lighter so the engine does feel a littlemore responsive but it would be nice to get more performance out of that Hemi v8during our very unscientific fuel economy run we had the chance to drivethrough the city and on freeways so that gave us kind of a real-world fueleconomy of just under 20 miles per gallon so that’s that’s very similar towhat the previous generation Ram he was doing before but the big standoutfeature when we were driving was the big 12 inch screen we’re in a limited rightnow but the 12 inch screen option on this new Ram is impressive you get agiant screen and you get access to all sorts of controls that give you tons ofinformation about what’s going on in the engine and to make your cabin morecomfortable well the RAM 1500 is quiet andcomfortable on asphalt and if you’re gonna do offroad you’ve got to get theRAM revel this is the one that’s made for off-roading four-wheel drive 33 inchtires it has a slight air suspension lift you can get either coils or fourcorner air suspension it has a locking rear differential if you need it we’regoing up a steep section right now probably don’t need it but if we getstuck we know we have it there and also an adjustable capability on the airsuspension so you can raise it up to off-road to level normal sits right atoff-road one which gives you plenty of travel if you’re coming over terribleobstacles if you’ve got rocks coming up ahead – you’ve got heavy-duty skidplates in front and underneath the transfer case as well inside theinterior of the rebel is very very cool it’s got these red accents throughoutthe 33 inch tires our Goodyear Wrangler Duratrax and the tread pattern isactually weaved right into the seats themselves but the total package givesyou superior off-road capability better than any other trim package that Ramoffers as far as how this off-road packageperforms we haven’t been pushing it to its limits by any stretch but over thesection of dirt road and some of the off camber ruts that we’ve had to climb ourway through especially in the slick mud it’s been pretty impressive veryflexible suspension as long as you don’t pack up the tires and wheels with mudthe grip seems to be incredible as well with the Duratraxwe like the fact that there’s a low-range ratio that you can get intoand the rear locking diff which is new for this package provides tons oftraction when you’re trying to climb up rocks we’re doing towing right now withthe mid-level to Laramie four-wheel drive Ram 1500 we have about a 5,000pound trailer behind us so that’s a decent amount of weight and with theHemi it’s got the 5-7 v8 Hemi right now it’s feeling very very well we’ve gotthe tow haul mode set that changes the mapping both for the transmission andthe throttle response and obviously keeps it in a higher gear so you can youknow be a little bit safer when you’re towing let off throttle and slow downalso it’s got an integrated trailer brake controller very very helpful whenyou’re using either hydraulic or even electric brakes on any anything thatyou’re towing then it seems like we have the tongue weight set up very very wellso I’m guessing maybe about five five maybe six hundred pounds of tongueweight on the coil springs in the back and it’s it’s feeling very confidentthe engines slow to ramp up a little bit but that’s exactly what I would expectwith the shift patterns and the transmission changed a little bit in the8-speed transmission so far the standout feature to me is still the suspension itseems like the shocks are keeping things very very stable and like I said ourtongue weight is still still just about right in the back but I’m not gettingany kind of wander or feeling any kind of pushing going on with the front endno matter what kind of hills or declines that we are going throughthrough the hill country of Texas also really like the the specializedtemperature gauge for just about every feature going on inside the engine so wehave coolant temperature transmission temperature oil temperature and oilpressure all on one screen so I can keep track to make sure there’s nooverheating going on so that just about covers everything we did with this new2019 Ram 1500 for more details specs and photography go to pickup trucks comyou

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