American automotive and pickup truck fanatics will know of the Ram 1500 TRX. In essence, it served because the Ram 1500’s final hurrah relating to V8-powered efficiency, outfitted with a big supercharger strapped to its 6.2-liter Hemi V8 producing a Raptor-baiting 702 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. In different phrases: nothing to shake a stick at, and one thing worthy of a reputation many assumed associated to Tyrannosaurus Rex, the king of the tyrants.
Nonetheless, the Ram 1500 TRX wasn’t the primary Chrysler-affiliated product to bear the identify. At the least, not fully. In 1997, Dodge concocted a plan for its Ram pickup truck. Again then, the Ram was nonetheless a mannequin that fell squarely beneath the Dodge umbrella; the cut up that spun the Ram identify off into its personal model would not happen for one more 12 years. The plan was to take the prevailing Dodge Ram, give it an additional axle, and name it the T-Rex.
2024 Ram 1500 TRX
- Base MSRP
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$96,340
- Base Trim Engine
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6.2L Supercharged V8 Fuel
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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4-Wheel Drive
- Base Trim Transmission
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8-Velocity Automated
- Base Trim Horsepower
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702 hp
- Base Trim Torque
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650 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm
2:41
Associated
Subsequent Ram 1500 TRX Might Change into An Electrified Truck
Why shopping for a heavy truck is without doubt one of the smartest monetary selections you may make.
A T-Rex Earlier than It Was Cool
Dodge Ram T-Rex Key Factors
- One-off idea produced in 1997
- Revealed at 1997 SEMA Present
- Featured a novel 6×6 structure
- Based mostly on Dodge Ram 2500/3500 underpinnings
Again within the Nineteen Nineties, Dodge was busy creating some actually outlandish idea automobiles. Some that come to thoughts are fashions just like the Dodge Razor idea, which seems to be prefer it belongs in some form of car-centric cartoon. One other one price mentioning was the Dodge Copperhead, a two-door sports activities automotive meant to enrich the Viper, and for those who’re a snake buff, you will know the Copperhead is one other formidable, venomous serpent.
The Dodge Ram T-Rex match proper in with Dodge’s outlandish idea automobiles. It was launched on the 1996 SEMA present to a captivated viewers, sporting a modified model of Dodge’s 8.0-liter Magnum V10 engine. To not point out, it featured three axles, one on the entrance and two on the again, very like one thing you’d see in a army car. Or, in fact, the Mercedes-AMG G 63 6×6.
Tyrannosaurus Rex-Stage Efficiency
The V10 on the coronary heart of the T-Rex 6×6 idea was a well-known one to Dodge followers of the period, discovered within the Ram 2500 and 3500, in addition to the Viper. Whereas the bottom truck on which the idea was derived noticed outputs of 300 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, the idea utilized an enhanced model able to as much as 497 hp and 593 lb-ft – wholesome enhancements of 197 and 143, respectively. The Dodge Viper of the time produced solely 415 hp and 488 lb-ft, so the T-Rex Idea was mightier than even Dodge’s premier sports activities automotive. The efficiency enhancement was enabled by the usage of high-compression pistons, a billet crank, ported and polished heads, modified camshafts, and tubular headers, with energy despatched by a modified four-speed computerized mated to a specially-developed switch case for the three-axle design.
As for the remainder of the T-Rex, its three-axle make-up had a novel suspension, with a computer-controlled air suspension system. The pneumatic setup featured real-time adaptation capabilities, that means it may alter the suspension on the fly without having the driving force’s enter. It could merely learn the highway situations and whether or not it was towing something and alter accordingly.
It was an absolute monster, tipping the scales at 12,000 lbs and using on 17-inch wheels shod in 285/65 profile rubber. And regardless of its heft, the modified V10 yielded a circa-8-second dash to 60 mph, with an estimated 16-second quarter mile.
A Huge Enterprise, However No Cube
Sadly, however maybe not unreasonably, the Dodge Ram T-Rex idea was by no means put into manufacturing. As you’ll be able to think about, constructing a six-wheeled pickup truck full with state-of-the-art computerized air suspension and a highly-tuned V10 engine isn’t any cheap activity. Certain, the bones of the factor had been of the prevailing Ram 2500 and 3500, however the in depth modifications required to make the T-Rex rendered it financially ruinous for Chrysler to provide.
So, the T-Rex lives on solely in reminiscence. The whereabouts of the one instance ever produced are at present unknown. The final time anyone noticed the factor was almost 20 years in the past, in 2006, at Sinclair Neighborhood School in Dayton, Ohio, the place it briefly sat on show. Lately, it is comparatively protected to imagine that it is sitting in storage at an FCA warehouse gathering mud, ready to be launched as soon as once more to stir the hearts and minds of whomever lay eyes on it.
One other T-Rex Was Produced… Type of
Nonetheless, one group of individuals did construct their very own Dodge Ram T-Rex, and it truly had some use. The YouTube channel City Survivors has featured their lashed-together model of the Dodge Ram T-Rex idea for almost 20 years now in a number of movies. The factor was, reportedly, endorsed by Dodge, and has competed in a number of off-road occasions over time. And, sure, it additionally has a V10, though we’re unsure if it throws out the monumental horsepower the unique allegedly had.
T-Rex Versus TRX: Comparable, However Completely different
The T-Rex idea by no means materialized in manufacturing type, however a couple of years later, an identical identify made it to the again of a Ram truck. In 2006, a single-year run of Ram and Dakota vehicles was offered with an non-compulsory off-road package deal referred to as, you guessed it, TRX. However after that, the identify lay dormant till 2016, when Ram revived it for the Insurgent TRX Idea, packing a 575-hp supercharged Hemi V8 that we might prefer to imagine planted the seed for what the fashionable TRX may ship. Like the unique T-Rex Idea, this was primarily based on the heavy-duty 2500/3500 truck collection, and identical to the unique, it was nothing greater than a showcase of cool engineering.
However when a manufacturing Ram 1500 with a supercharged V8 and monstrous off-road functionality was lastly certain for manufacturing, the TRX identify was dusted off but once more and used for the truck that might develop into the Ford F-150 Raptor’s worst nightmare.
TRX vs Raptor Naming Was Purely Coincidental
The F-150 Raptor had develop into the identify in off-road trucking by the point 2021 rolled round and the Rm 1500 TRX got here to market, so when the latter was introduced, everybody assumed the identify was in reference to a much bigger, badder dinosaur than the ‘raptor’. However that wasn’t the case. As Motortrend reported on the time, having interviewed exterior design lead Mike Gillam, the identify was merely pulled off the shelf out of comfort – having been already registered as a trademark – with any prehistoric relations being purely coincidental.
In accordance with Gillam, the design staff was given a truncated timeline of 77 days to design this trophy-truck-inspired pickup. They got here up with tons of of names, however could not get any of them trademarked in time. “Due to the quick timeline, we truly had a sheet of craft paper up within the studio, and we had most likely 200-plus totally different naming concepts,” Gillam instructed MT. “Numerous them had been actually cool, on the market, and thrilling. And on the finish of the day, authorized could not vet any of these names quick sufficient for the reveal. So, it was actually only a timing factor.”
“And once we got here out with the TRX, our prospects, truly, everyone on the [internet] boards was like, ‘Oh, man, a TRX. Nicely, that is an apparent reference to a T-Rex, which might eat a raptor.’ And so the identify and the connection form of caught. And I might love to assert we got here up with that, that we had been that intelligent, however truthfully we had been going so quick that we most likely did not fairly make the connection.”
– Mark Gillam, exterior design lead for Ram 1500 TRX
Sadly, the Ram 1500 TRX has since been discontinued, because it was phased out with the Hemi V8. Nonetheless, it will not be the tip of the TRX. There are some whispers that say the TRX could come again as both an electrical truck or if the planets align, it could come again with a V8 beneath its hood. Stellantis has just lately introduced that V8s will make a return, so possibly the as-yet-confirmed TRX resurrection could include a V8 in spite of everything. As for now, solely time will inform.
Sources: Dodge, Supercars.web, Motortrend, Automotive-Revs-Day by day.com
