TYRANT PICKUP KING: The 702-horsepower RAM 1500 TRX
August 18, 2020
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
The just-unveiled 2021 Ram 1500 TRX in action.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: The TRX (pronounced T-Rex) name is a direct poke at Ford’s Baja-conquering F-150 Raptor. As naming conventions go, branding something after the star of the “Jurassic Park” franchise and ruler of the Late Cretaceous Period has some mighty big footprints to fill. But Ram has gone and done that, fulfilling the promise of building a world-beating performance truck worthy of the tyrant lizard king.
“It was design and engineered – bolt by bolt – to be the quickest, fastest, most powerful and most capable pickup truck to ever roll off the assembly line,” said Mike Koval, Head of Ram Brand, FCA – North America.
We don’t doubt that for a minute, so might as well let the TRX’s numbers do the talking. At the right foot’s disposal are 702 supercharged horses and 650 ft/lbs of torque routed through a TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic and BorgWarner transfer case. If the outright power of the 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI isn’t enough to raise a few eyebrows, then the quickness of it certainly will. The three-ton-plus pickup will race down the quarter-mile in 12.9 seconds at 108 mph, hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and reach a tire-limited top speed of 118 mph over any surface. Speaking of tires, the 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory rubber was specifically made with the TRX in mind.
The TRX is 8 inches wider than the standard Ram 1500 thanks to its flared archers, and it rides on a 6-inch wider track. Underneath the chiseled exterior are Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive shocks and dual electronic proportional valves. The valves continually adjust the damping so the TRX can instantly react to any topography. Even more impressive is the Ram TRX’s incredible degree of suspension travel. With 13 inches of travel up front and 14 inches in the rear, the TRX is ready for all manner of high-flying antics.
Expect the Ram TRX to hit showrooms before the end of the year – but for those who can’t wait, Ram is producing 702 special Launch Editions fitted with all the bells, whistles and more. With the new F-150 on the horizon, we can’t wait to see how Ford’s next-generation Raptor responds to its new challenger. If the confrontation is anything like the ending to the first “Jurassic Park” film, consider us ecstatic.