Yeah, it's got a Hemi! Ram 1500 Quad-Cab Laramie

I had the truck less than 24 hours and had already been asked twice "Does that thing have a Hemi?" Lucky for me it does or I'd have to dejectedly say "no."

Of course, having the Hemi does have more advantages than being able to say "Yeah, it's got a hemi!" For example, imagine a Chevy Avalanche pulls up next to you at a red light. The Chevy driver's got the big Vortec V8. He thinks it's the bomb. You crush his little world when the light turns green. Or, for example, a snot-nosed punk in a 87 Mustang LX 5.0 thinks he's going to show you his tail-lights at the Red-Light derby. Now let's pretend he's not crying to his buddy at the Fast and Furious store about needing nitrous to keep up with you. Yes, you can pretend, but it won't change the fact he's on the phone making that call...

By now you're probably wanting to know more about the truck than how fast it is. OK, I'll bite. The truck I purchased is a Ram 1500 Laramie Quad-Cab with the sport appearance package, DVD navigation system, Bose Infinity speakers and Sport Leather seating. It's also got a towing package, bed liner and 20" aluminum alloy wheels with Goodyear Eagle 275/50 tires.

The ride is slightly truckish in that the suspension is stiff and you get a little bit of a thump when going over large irregularities in the road. Adding weight to the bed will help, of course. Handling is pretty good, owing greatly to the wide and lower than truck normal profile tires and just the overall goodness of the design. This isn't your GM or Ford slush-box suspension. It tracks a straight line on the freeway, turns with a minimum of body roll, and doesn't get squirly when you hit the gas mid-turn.

The interior is nearly perfect. Fit and finish are superb for a pickup. Chevy can't compete in this arena. The 2004 F-150 is just as nice, but you can't get the deals on them that you can the Dodge. There's seating for six adults or four adults and two car seats. The leather is a bit hard and the seats could use a bit more sculpting in the butt. The only real complaint comes from the exhaust note which seems to be a constant reminder that "yeah, it's got a hemi". It's not necessary because the person in control of the go-fast pedal already is well aware of that fact. It's not tiring but it does prevent you from being able to achieve a nice quietness when traveling with the radio off.

There are storage bins everywhere in the interior. All of the rear seats and the front-center seat all have under-seat storage. The rear bench is a 60-40 split with the 60% on the passenger side. In addition to the under seat storage, the rear seats can also be folded up to reveal a metal package shelf that can be extended over the floorboard which makes hauling large, heavy items inside the truck possible. The shelf has a 600-lb weight limit and is water-tight to prevent messing up the carpet. Neither Ford or Chevy offer this feature.

The factory bed liner includes several marine-style tie-downs as well and slots for building a parcel shelf from 2x4s. The Sport Appearance package includes a gorgeous front bumper with a serious air-dam that really ratchets up the aggressiveness of this truck. As if the exhaust note and HEMI Magnum emblems didn't already warn would-be street racers, the body package should complete the thought process. The only trucks out there that can beat this thing are the Ford SVT Lightening and the Ram SRT/10. The Chevy Silverado SS is a putty-tat compared to the Hemi.

Another area where Dodge trumps both Ford and Chevy is the warranty. The Ram comes with the ubiquitous 3 years/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty as well as a 7 years/70,000 powertrain warranty which will cost you extra with Ford or Chevy.

So far I love my truck. I'll update this review in a year and see how it stacks up over time.

ONE YEAR UPDATE!!!

Well, it's been about a year and 12,000 miles since I posted this review. Overall I have been pleased with the exception of the gas mileage, which has not improved... at all. I averate about 11.5 MPG in city driving, 16 MPG in Interstate (70 to 75 mph) driving, and 18 MPG in Highway (50-60 MPH) driving. I've added a CD-Changer which I reviewed here, and that has greatly increased my usage of the DVD Navigation system from Alpine. The Navigation system is a god-send for traveling and I'll never buy another vehicle without one.

I have only had one mechanical problem with the truck since buying it. A solenoid in the evaporative emissions control died and took an emissions pump with it. These items were replaced under warranty by the local dealership.

Tire wear appears to be very good and on pace for about 40,000 miles of service. That's actually very good considering how often the hemi overpowers the rear tires. :)

I have no complaints about paint or any other exterior feature. Everything is still in place and in good condition. Kudos to the Mercedes merger where they obviously passed along some information to Dodge about how to paint vehicles correclty.

The interior has held up quite well to myself and my kids. I have two toddlers and they both have spilled food, milk, etc. in the back and the carpet cleans easily and has not developed any weird smells. The leather has remained practically unchanged and the swead inserts of the seats look like new.

Road trips are a breeze in this thing. The cruise control never strays more than 2 MPH, there's almost no wind noise except when running the heat on full blast (it creates a high pressure in the cabin which pushes on the window seals and causes air leaks at interstate speeds). The tires create the majority of annoying noise, but given how well they function I am not complaining. I've gotten used to the constant rumble of the exhaust on the Interstate, but I still think that Dodge could have tuned it a little softer. It's the edge in the exhaust note, not the volume that is noticable.

If I could change one thing about this truck it would be that Dodge used the gas-saving multi-displacement engine management system used on the Dodge Magnum RT and the Chrysler 300C Hemi. A 3 MPG saving on the Interstate would be HUGE with $2.00 per gallon gasoline at nearly a 20% improvement. If I could change another thing I would have gotten a taller rear differential to further improve gas mileage. At 70 MPG the engine is turning 2000 RPM which is the reason for the poor gas mileage on the Interstate. Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about the Hemi specifically, all of the trucks with similar power output (Nissan Titan, Chevy Silverado SS, Ford F150 5.4L) have a similar thirst for gas.

Would I still buy this truck? You bet! Although the new GMC Denali SUT is a viable alternative as a family hauler, the RAM is a real truck and simply does truck things better, which is the real purpose of buying a truck over an SUV. The RAM is also quite a bit cheaper than the Denali and you can't get a Hemi in a GMC.

FINAL UPDATE

It's a sad, sad time here. The RAM was totalled when a Ford Explorer pulled out in front of my wife at 45 MPH. My wife is doing better, but we're still having to see the doctor about her back. Her and the kids were all properly restrained which assuradely saved them from much more serious injuries. I intend to replace the RAM next year with either a RAM 2500 Hemi SLT (4x4 this time) or a Ford F350 V10 Dualie. Dodge wants too much for the Cummins and Ford wants too much for PowerStroke, so that only leaves two real choices for the price range I'm looking to spend. GM does not enter the equation based on quality (lack thereof) and performance (again, lack thereof).