Trucks And SUVs Truck and SUV Reviews and News
Detroit, MI — You can just hear it now:
Ram, in response to the recently-unveiled Ford F-150 Raptor: “So you’ve got a new sports truck, eh? Oh, and it’s powered by a V6? Well ours has a Hemi.”
Actually, the 2015 Ram 1500 Rebel can be had with either a Pentastar V6 or said Hemi, but just look at it: wouldn’t you get the Hemi if you had something like that?
For starters, the Rebel eschews the traditional Dodge/Ram cross-hair grille, and replaces it with a menacing, blacked-out item with enormous “RAM” lettering finished in billet silver right there in the middle, so there’s no questioning who’s truck this is. We’ll forgive it, though, for having a model name finished in a script that looks like something from Canon’s line of DSLR cameras. Because, well, it otherwise just looks so durn cool.
The blacked-out bumpers, chunky 33-inch Toyo tires, LED marker lights, and wheel mouldings borrowed from the Ram Power Wagon all make for one angry-looking truck; probably no coincidence that it’s coming out just a few months before the rebirth of the Mad Max movie series…
Power is rated at 305 hp and 269 lb.-ft. of torque for the V6, and 395 hp and 410 lb.-ft. for the Hemi. It should be noted, however, that the Raptor beats that torque count by 24…
What the Raptor can’t offer, however, is the Ram’s 8-speed automatic—that’s your only choice—that remains an industry exclusive here, just as it does on the standard 1500 truck. You do get to choose between 4 x 2 or 4 x 4, however.
To compliment those rugged off-road tires and looks, the Rebel gets lifted by an inch for that Trophy Truck look, and the stability control system and front axle get their own special mods to work better with the new suspension. There’s an anti-spin differential, too.
Expect pricing closer to the Rebel’s mid-2015 release date.
