We are first to put the first-ever Ram 1500 RHO through a battery of real-world tests: top speed run on a dry lake, rocky terrain driving, and driving the truck from Joshua Tree, California to our HQ in Boulder, Colorado. That is over 1,000 miles through the desert, Arizona, Utah, and over the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Please join Jen and I for this epic trip. Let’s dig in.
Thanks to our friends at Granger Motors for making this trip possible. You can save up to $1,300 on a Ford or Mopar (RAM, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler) extended factory warranty for your new vehicle at Granger Motors! Ford: https://www.grangerfordextendedwarran… or Mopar: https://www.buymoparwarranty.com/
The RHO is based on the chassis that used to underpin the Ram TRX. The RHO is powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo high-output I6 engine that is rated at 540 hp and 521 lb-ft of torque. This is engine is torquey, quick, and ultra-smooth. However, it does not have to ruckus and loud character of the supercharged V8 that preceded it. The top speed is still 118 MPH. The top speed is limited by software in order to comply with the speed limit imposed by the 35-inch all-terrain tires. The Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT are very good in most conditions. We had very similar tires on our Ram TRX that we drove for over 14,000 miles.
We went out to Johnson Valley and pushed our skill and the truck’s capability to the limit. I reached 95 MPH on my first run on the dry lake bed. Casey Currie (a decorated off-road racer) was on hand at the Ram event. He showed up how to get the RHO up to around 116 MPH on dirt. Given more time and practice, we could have maxed this truck out at 118 mph. It remarkable how stable and smooth this truck feels at such speeds. It’s no joke. We always had to remember that one small rock or loose patch of dirt could mean disaster when you are moving at triple-digit speeds off-road.
Jen took the RHO on a steep and rocky climb in 4LO. This fully-optioned truck is still heavy (around 6,450 lbs of curb weight), but the grippy tires and the latest 4×4 transfer case and Bilstein real-time adjustable suspension tuning allowed the truck to make it up mountain without slipping a tire.
Next up, it was up to us to drive over 1,000 mile home to Colorado. We used this as a chance to measure the RHO’s real world highway fuel economy. The EPA rates this truck at 16 MPG on the highway. We ran two fuel tanks to get an average. We were driving at highway speeds between 65-80 MPH. Our result was 14.5 MPG after two tank fill-ups. The RHO is equipped with a 33 gallon fuel tank. This means you can fairly easily go around 450 miles on a road trip (when not towing) on a full tank of fuel.
This 14.5 MPG result is better than what we originally saw in our 2021 Ram TRX. We saw and pump verified 10.8-11 MPG in our TRX after we first purchased it.
The Ram RHO with a Level 1 luxury package had a sticker price of just under $85,000. The RHO starts at just under $72,000. This is a very competitive price considering that a new 2025 Ford F-150 Raptor, 2025 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, and 2025 GMC Sierra AT4X start at higher prices.
Please join Jen and I in the video below. You can use the chapter markers to get to the specifics you are most interested in.
