The battle of the behemoths heated up with the launch of the new Ram RHO. While not a full replacement for the monstrous TRX, it’s got the power and features to tackle even the toughest off-road environments. Add some serious luxury features and a price to match. Read the whole review at Headlight.News.
The 2025 Ram 1500 RHO is the closest you can get to a TRX for now.
Ram has never been shy when it comes to performance. And while the iconic TRX may be just a memory, the Stellantis truck brand has another option for those who want to push the extremes with the latest full-sized 1500 series.
The major news about Ram trucks in 2025 is the new twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine that powers the half-tons. It’s got more than enough power and we’ll talk more about that later. On top of that, Ram has started putting some serious luxury features into its trucks, and they’re priced to match the luxury.
The Ram 1500 RHO is the perfect incarnation of the “Bro Dozer” genre of pickup trucks. They’re very good at what they are built to do, but they’re also just absurd. This truck has a sticker price of $87,805 – you can still buy a decent house for that money in much of America – and it has every luxury amenity known to man. But the question lingers, why?
Design
Ram’s exterior is predictably macho, especially when you get into the factory off-road-ready trims like RHO. There’s a big bulgy hood that looks like a body builder in a T-shirt two sizes too small. There’s a big RAM across the grille and the whole thing sits up high. That’s really what defines a “Bro Dozer” – the ostentatious machismo that says this truck will never be used for truck purposes like hauling and towing, but is rather a post-apocalyptic statement of Don’t Tread On Me. Can a factory Punisher skull sticker be far behind?
Inside, the Ram RHO is a luxurious living room, which is appropriate because you won’t have any money for a nice place to live if you buy one of these. Standard features include heated front seats and steering wheel, 8-way power adjustable seats, leather-wrapped everything, and performance monitors in the center stack.
Then we get into the options. The test truck had massaging front seats with heat and ventilation, reclining heated and ventilated rear seats, power adjustable pedals, leather and carbon fiber steering wheel, front passenger interactive display (separate from the infotainment), 19-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, head-up display, panoramic sunroof, and so on. If you can imagine it, the RHO has it.
Powertrain
RHO punches out 540 hp.
The High Output 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine is not one of the anemic sixes of decades past. It puts out 540 horsepower and will propel the RHO from 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds. I kind of love that Ram calls it the “Hurricane” because that name was originally applied to the then-new four-cylinder that powered the first Jeep CJ-5. A nice nod to tradition there. The new Hurricane is paired with Ram’s ubiquitous 8-speed automatic and of course a full-time four-wheel drive system with electronic locking rear axle.
Payload and tow ratings are good at 2,300 pounds and a hefty 11,580 pounds, but as an experienced trailer-puller, I’ll tell you that towing with an off-road style truck is a pain. The suspension of these trucks is designed to absorb bumps, so with any significant tongue weight, you’ll be looking at sky through the front windshield. Plus, the RHO is tall enough that you’ll need a serious drop on the trailer hitch stinger to level the trailer. The same basic issue applies to hauling in the bed – it’s a big lift to put anything in there.
Fuel economy comes in at 15 MPG in combined city/highway driving. If you care about gas prices, keep that in mind.
More Ram News
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Safety and Technology
Plenty of screens on the RHO instrument panel.
Ram Trucks went all-out with the tech on the RHO. The list of advanced driver assist features includes everything you can think of, from surround camera and video rear-view mirror to adaptive cruise, drowsiness warning, hands-free active driving assist, traffic sign recognition, and more.
On the dash, there’s a 12.3-inch screen for driver information, another 14.4-incher for infotainment, and a passenger display screen. There are two wireless charging pads, connected travel and traffic system, and the 19-speaker audiophile stereo.
RHO also gets a 10-inch full-color head-up displays. All three displays are reconfigurable and change readouts depending upon which of the nine drive modes is selected. A Launch Control button is within easy reach of the driver. And while the infotainment screen handles many of the key vehicle functions, Ram has added numerous “hard” controls, as well.
Driving Impressions
The 2025 Ram 1500 RHO is as much about luxury as performance.
The RHO is designed to be ready for off-road when it arrives at the dealer. It does that very well. Journalists who had an opportunity to take this rig off-road raved about its capability.
While it may not be quite the match for the TRX, RHO is a monster when it comes to performance. If there’s one complaint about the drivetrain it’s the lack of the snarl that the old truck delivered, along with the distinctive growl of the Hemi engine. But, in reality, it’s hard to dislike what Ram has done with the new Hurricane package when you have the chance to open it up.
Using it day-to-day is a mixed bag, however. It’s fast, comfortable, and well-equipped, but it’s also way too tall. Even with the “off-road style running boards” optional at $1,195, it’s a big climb up into the cab. I’m six feet tall and it was like climbing into a treehouse to get in the RHO.
Wrap Up
The bottom line on the Ram 1500 RHO is that it’s great if you want to take a nearly $90,000 truck and drive it around in the desert,
But that’s not what anyone will really do. This is a statement vehicle that the owner has a big macho truck. The third owners will have a great time off-road, when the purchase price drops to less than $30K in about 10 years.
“… when the purchase price drops to less than $30K in about 10 years.” Make that 3 years, or less.