This weekend, I have been privileged to cruise around in the 2014 Ram 1500 Provided by Enterprise Rent-a-Car of Marion, North Carolina (not free, but greatly discounted) and I am happy to share with you my thoughts and review of the vehicle.
First I would like to say, I’m not really a truck guy.. At least, I wasn’t..
I have driven all sorts of trucks, from GMC, to Ford and never really found one that I went crazy over. One or another had flaws, and well.. They are trucks.. What more can I say.. You get no Luxury in trucks, They are made for working, and thus why their insurance is greatly higher.
The Only truck I have ever ~liked~ is the new Ford F150 Platinum, Where pure luxury comes out. But at a price tag of ~$55,000 Ill probably own one of those when I win the lottery (yeah right).
With only a weekend with this 2014 Ram I am completely amazed. Now, I get this is the latest and greatest on the market, Considering it only has 2,000 miles on it.. But Compared to others in its class, at the same price range, the Ram has a LOT more to offer. The truck that I drove this weekend was a 4 Door, Crew cab truck, with a full size bed. Although we aren’t talking about Leather seats, or any major things such as that (hell this thing doesn’t even have a CD Player) It still has quite a bit to offer!
For starters, The 9 Speed transmission is something new with the Ram line, a change that I am on the fence about. I feel like a nice change and rebuild to the history of failing transmissions may work good for the company, to try something different. However in my experiences the last three gears (6-9) seemed a bit useless, As they couldn’t pull, Climb, or hold back when coming down a mountain. However, I feel like the extra gears help in normal conditions when it comes to Gas Mileage.
Speaking of Gas, Under the hood is a 5.7 Liter HEMI V8 Engine. Yes, It has power, Lots of it. When I seen the 5.7 on the side, I KNEW this truck would be a Gas hog, So I decided to fill it up as soon as I got it, because I figured I’d be on empty by Monday. This however was NOT the case. Something newly introduced with this line of vehicles is the new ECO mode, Where when extra power is not needed, the Engine automatically shuts off 4 of its 8 cylinders, to save on gas. This truly and amazingly works!
I must admit, I wasn’t crazy about Ford’s idea of turning their engines completely off at red lights when at idle, and starting back when pulling away form the light (that just seems like a bad idea overall), But Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram’s way of doing it is completely unique and smart.
Although I was not provided with a Window Sticker of the truck, The one I am driving is priced at anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000, But the base price on this truck starts at $22,000.
The stereo sounds pretty amazing, But at higher volumes you can tell that quality is lacking. Overall the stereo works very well though, and perfect for anything you may need it to do as stock. Included is a 5″ Touch screen system, that includes Sirius Satellite Radio. In some other vehicle brands, SiriusXM has had a history of sounding Digitized, or Pixelated (if that’s even possible) in the audio, its never really sounded 100% crystal clear to me. In this 2014 Ram however, SiriusXM is Crystal Clear, and at times I couldn’t tell it was satellite. This truck does NOT include a CD Player, Which is pretty shocking to me, considering that should be a standard feature. However with the many other options it offers from SiriusXM to USB and Bluetooth phone connections, I didn’t find myself ever missing it.
Small things that really interest me in certain vehicles over others, are the ones that most dont think about, However are the ones that are of most importance to me. One in particular is the Entry Lighting. When I press unlock, I want my vehicle to light my way. This particular truck did not include the optional ground lights on the side mirrors, however it did the best it could with what it had to light the way when unlocked. This, I liked.
Overall I give the 2014 Ram 1500 Big Horn Edition a 9 out of 10. Although it is lacking in certain extra features, The price range is ideal for a truck, and the feeling of luxury (weather its fake or not) is outstanding, and gives you a higher quality rich feeling, compared to others.
Although I loved this truck very much, and it was probably my favorite Review Vehicle so far in 2014, I still have to say that It cannot replace my dream truck of the Ford F150 Platinum. However comparing ~$40,000 for the ram to a minimum of $55,000 for the F150 Platinum, Theres a obvious reason why the Ford is still winning. However, Like most people in the world, We aren’t Millionaires, and money IS an object. When you can knock 10-15,000 off the price and be comparable to the Luxury models, You have my attention.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCLyliJYWv8
Check out my Video Review I made on YouTube above, Feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have in the comments section below this post, or below the video on YouTube. I aim to answer everyone.
Thanks for taking the time to read 🙂
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