The compartments do intrude on the cargo bed floor area, but it's still possible to lay a 4-by-8-foot sheet of drywall flat. And the RamBox holds are large enough -- according to the same engineer -- to hold 120 cans of beer, with ice. Well, if I worked for Chrysler I'd drink too.
The other bit of headlining news is the use of a coil-spring rear suspension. This gets a bit technical, but the choice of a coil spring over a traditional leaf spring rear-end favors ride quality and handling at the expense of overall towing and hauling. And, just as you'd expect, the Ram has very civil road manners for a pickup. The penalty is that the Ram cedes a few hundred pounds of payload capacity to the reigning champ, the Ford F-150.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, March 27, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Dodge Ram 1500: Dan Neil's column in Business on March 20 said the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup comes in two bed lengths, 6-foot-4 and 8-foot. Some configurations also have a 5-foot-7 bed length.
Powerful, well crafted, thought through, completely desirable, the new Ram feels like a huge win for the company, a knockout punch thrown while flat on the canvas. If Chrysler can do it, maybe Detroit itself can do it. Maybe we all can.
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dan.neil@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab 4x4
Base price: $44,285
Price, as tested: $48,890
Powertrain: 5.7-liter SOHC V8 with multidisplacement system; five-speed automatic transmission; part-time four-wheel drive with two-speed transfer case
Horsepower: 390 at 5,600 rpm
Torque: 410 pound-feet at 3,900 rpm
Curb weight: 5,542 pounds
0-60 mph: under 8 seconds
Wheelbase: 140 inches
Overall length: 227.5 inches
EPA fuel economy: 13 miles per gallon city/18 mpg highway/15 mpg combined
Final thoughts: A pyrrhic victory is still a win
Source: Chrysler
