Ram Touts Its Luxury Diesel Leadership with a 2022 Ram 1500 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition.

It's hard to believe, but we're already beginning to see announcements for the cars and trucks of 2022. Ten years ago Ram sought to position itself as a leader in the luxury pickup truck category. Their track record show that their efforts were not in vain. This week Ram unveiled its new 2022 Ram 150 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition. 

It's not just Ram thumping its chest and saying, "Look at what we've done." If you've been paying attention, the leading journalists in our industry have showered accolades on this half-ton pickup and the legacy it has been building.

Last year, Car and Driver declared that "the Ram 1500 isn't the best pickup truck because it has the most 'best-in-class' accolades but because it raises expectations for the entire breed." Others expressed similar sentiments.

The 2022, the Dutch multinational automotive company Stellantis declares, raises the benchmark on what a luxury pickup can be. "The new 2022 Ram 1500 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition celebrates 10 years of luxury pickup truck leadership, featuring the ultimate combination of capability, luxury and refinement," said Mike Koval Jr., Ram Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis.

Every brand takes great pains to stake out a niche for each of its product offerings. The Ram 1500 Limited debuted in 2012 with regal aims, especially with its interior space where it used real wood, leather and metal trim. Today this tradition continues with quilted leather-wrapped seats and door inserts, plus a suede headliner.

For engine options, there's a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 with eTorque mild-hybrid assist, or the 3.0 EcoDiesel engine. For fuel economy, the EcoDiesel has the best numbers with an EPA rating of 22/32 city/highway. 

Ram Trucks became a stand alone division of its own in 2009. Their hard-working lineup includes the Ram 1500, 2500/3500 Heavy Duty, 3500/4500/5500 Chassis Cab, ProMaster and ProMaster City.

The Ram press release highlights a long string of achievements that they are proud of. Here's a portion of that list, in case you missed it. 

• 1,075 lb.-ft. of torque with Cummins Turbo Diesel
• Towing capacity of 37,100 lbs. with Ram 3500
• Segment first 1,000 lb.-ft of torque with Cummins Turbo Diesel
• Payload of 7,680 lbs. with Ram 3500
• Most luxurious: Ram Limited with real wood, real leather and 12-inch Uconnect touchscreen
• Best ride and handling with exclusive link coil rear and auto-level air suspensions
• Most interior space with Ram Mega Cab
• Most capable full-size off-road pickup – Ram Power Wagon
• Ram 1500, America's most powerful half-ton diesel pickup with 480 lb.-ft. of torque, achieves an unsurpassed 33 mpg highway and delivers up to 1,000 miles of range on a single tank of fuel
• Ram 1500 TRX is the quickest, fastest and most powerful mass-produced pickup truck in the world
• Most awarded light-duty truck in America
• Highest owner loyalty of any half-ton pickup
• Over the last 30 years, Ram has the highest percentage of pickups still on the road

Links of Interest

The Press Release at PR Newswire

The Automoblog story with tons of photos, plus pricing and availability info

 

GMC Lands Two on US News & World Report's List of 13 Most Powerful Diesel Trucks

GMC Sierra 1500 -- standing strong in 2021.

Making lists -- whether Top 10 Video Games or Top 100 Album Covers -- seems to be one of those things we never weary of. Top 10 state colleges. Top 5 investments for coming out of the pandemic. Billboard Top 100 for any year. Forbes' Top 400 Billionaires always grabs a lot of eyeballs. And the subject of this blog post, U.S. News & World Reports' Most Powerful Light-Duty Pickup Trucks of 2021.

My first thought in reading this list is to ask, "Why 13?" The answer that comes readily to mind is that by making the list longer, it can be more inclusive. Thus, U.S. News & World Report is able to include Nissan, Toyota and Honda offerings, in addition to the major U.S. manufacturers' offerings. 

In this post I want to introduce the two GMC trucks, then close by listing the top five on USN&WR's powerful trucks list.  Number 8 on the list is the 2021 GMC Canyon AT4 Off Road Performance Edition. The GMC Sierra 1500 muscled its way into the Number 3 slot.

GMC Sierra 1500
The truck division of General Motors covers a lot of territory. GMC makes military vehicles, motorhomes, SUVs, vans, buses, and trucks--heavy duty, medium-duty and light duty. This year's Sierra is available with five engine options, out favorite being the Duramax 3.0-liter Turbo-Diesel. This engine produces 277 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. 

If you know your Spanish, you might be aware that the word sierra means saw. We've come to associate it with mountains, but those High Sierras and Sierra Madres obtained their names from their ragged sawtooth appearance. GMC adopted the name to no doubt correspond to the rugged requirements for vehicles in this kind of terrain.

In addition to the engine options, the Sierra comes with three different drivetrain options that correspond with engine selection. GMC also offers buyers three different can configurations as well. Just looking at this truck, with is expansive grille and staunch design, gives you the impression that it's ready and able to go to work. 

2021 GMC Canyon

2021 GMC Canyon 

Like the Sierra, the Canyon also has a name that speaks of ruggedness. The GMC Canyon took a respectable 8th place on the USN&WR top 13 list. This truck has three engine options. It's Duramax Turbo-Diesel is a four-cylinder power plant that puts out 181 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. This is a more compact machine that one can dress up with trim options.  

Car & Driver summed up its take on the Canyon with this verdict: "The Canyon has fancier styling than its Chevy sibling, but they both have tremendous capabilities."

The Top 5 
Here are the five USN&WR selected as their highest rated favorites, though all of these trucks have been turning heads and pulling strong reviews. 

(5) 2021 Nissan Titan

(4) 2021 Silverado 1500 

(3) 2021 GMC Sierra

(2) 2021 Ford F-150

Numero Uno: 2021 Ram 1500

GMC liked seeing both these trucks make the USN&WR Top 13 Powerful Light Duty Trucks list. This blog post was inspired by a story highlighted on The News Wheel website.

For a full account of the 13 trucks selected by U.S. News & World Report, visit Jim Gorzelaney's May 27 story here.

Photos: GMC

The New Diesel Engine in the Ram 1500 Limited Has Better MPG and Big Torque

This Mike Parris article was forwarded to me a couple weeks ago when it appeared in the WTOP News.  WTOP is an FM radio station out of Washington D.C. with Parris in the enviable position of writing car reviews. Two weeks ago he wrote about a RAM 1500 Limited, highlighting its fuel efficiency and "a big dose of torque." 

Diesel pickups are America's workhorses and Parris begins by reminding us that they are as popular as ever and the RAM 1500 especially so since its redesign. Motor Trend magazine, in fact, named the 2019 and 2020 fifth generation RAM 1500s their Truck of the Year.

This truck is a six-cylinder turbo diesel with a couple of big payoffs. Parris was able to test drive this machine for 700 miles on one tank of gas. For a large four-door luxury pickup, he saw impressive MPG. His overall assessment? "From comfortable leather-covered, heated and ventilated-power seats to tons of space and nifty storage areas, this is a well-planned and executed design." 

The first generation RAM trucks were introduced in October 1980. They featured the Ram hood ornament that was used on Dodge cars from 1932-1954. A lot of automakers utilize nostalgia in their creative efforts to build a cool factor into their vehicles. I find hood ornaments to be one of the coolest parts of going to classic car shows. 

When Parris outlines his pros and cons on the 2020 his positives include the engine options, the luxury interior and its tough "work ready" look. The cons, for Parris, were price related and the fact that it felt "big and heavy in the corners."

Well, to that latter remark, maybe certain decisions were made because it's not a race car. 

There's a batch of photos that accompany this article and if you want to see what a luxury pickup looks like, inside and out, you can find the article here:
Ram 1500 Limited mixes luxury and brawn, adds better MPG with new diesel engine

Meantime, have a great rest of your week and enjoy the ride.

Related Stories
Car and Driver review of the 2021 RAM 1500 
Build and Price a 2020 RAM 1500
This YouTube video calls 2020 RAM 1500 the Rolls Royce of Trucks