2019 Ram 1500 Review and Rating Car and Driver
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- What'due south Best: Smashing looks inside and out and lavishly equipped for a pickup.
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- What'southward Worst: Options hike the price dramatically.
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- What'southward Interesting: The Ram Sport is exclusive to Canada.
WINDSOR, ON: Uniquely styled and trimmed, Ram is again adding the for-Canada-merely Sport to its 2019 lineup of light-duty, full-size pickups.
Ram accounts for about xl per cent of all Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)) sales in Canada, with the Ram Sport being its near popular truck model.
According to Mike Szymkiewicz, senior manager product planning, FCA Canada, buyers like the monochromatic expect and the in-truck content, especially city dwellers in places such equally urban Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal where a surprising number of Sports are sold.
The Sport is ane of 7 models for 2019 many of which I sampled early this twelvemonth with Szymkiewicz and Jim Morrison, the Canadian-born and newly installed head of the Ram truck division.
Available in Quad Cab and Crew Cab configurations, Sport's monochromatic exterior comes in nine colours, first by a black barracks bar grille with R-A-M lettering with blacked out hood badging and side window surrounds.
A standout is the optional Sport hood with raised ability dome and functional venting to extract oestrus from the engine bay.
And speaking of standouts, Sport comes with standard 20-inch aluminum wheels, but optional are 22-inch "Black Noise" alloys available for the first time on 4X4 models.
Standard engine is a five.7-litre Hemi V8 with 395 hp and 410 lb/ft of torque, while the same engine with Ram eTorque mild hybrid engineering science adds an extra 130 lb/ft of torque for added grunt at launch.
The Sport uses an 8-speed TorqueFlite automatic manual to optimize fuel economy, operation and drivability.
Offered in 4×2 or four×4 versions, in that location is an on-demand transfer case with four operating ranges – Auto, 2HI, 4HI, and 4LO – with Auto optimizing the distribution of torque based on vehicle driving weather condition.
It comes standard with power adaptable pedals, CD role player, heated steering bike and the newest generation 8.four-in UConnect touchscreen that includes Apple tree CarPlay and Android Automobile. The standard vii-inch reconfigurable in-cluster brandish non only features a unique starting time-up screen with the "Sport" logo, merely also deep-dive information, including fuel economy, trailer braking and status on the available air suspension.
A dual-pane sunroof is available on Crew Cab models which also offers a reclining rear seat with flat rear flooring plus 12.7 cm larger in-floor Ram bins that can accommodate a 4-in drop hitch.
As function of the introduction to Canadian media, Ram took united states of america on a tour of Essex County that included Point Pelee National Park, which is the southern near role of Canada.
Windsor happens to be my hometown, so I had a fine time touring the canton and stopping off at places I hadn't seen in more than 50 years.
Just it was also work, as Ram sent united states of america to a huge quarry where we tested the Sport'south up to v,783 kg (12,750 lb) towing and 1,043 kg (2,300 lb) payload capabilities.
Bed cargo book in the Crew Cab is up to 1,521 litres while interior storage bin book is up to 151.1 litres.
Ane of the places I wanted to visit was the hamlet of Colchester on Lake Erie, with a tiny embankment I used to play on 60 years ago.
The Uconnect touchscreen uses big icons for features such as music, climate and optional navigation, the latter of which came in handy for seeking out Colchester, which I could see from the map on the screen.
Rolling along the southern shore of Lake Erie and its countless produce stands boasting Beefeater tomatoes the size of softballs, the interior of the Sport was a pretty nice identify to be.
First Bulldoze: 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel
The optional leather seating and trim was up to luxury car standards and the centre stack had large rotary knobs for almost controls, such ad heating and cooling, which is always appreciated in the winter with gloved hands.
Aforementioned thing goes for the even bigger knob on the instrument console used for gear selection. It is grouped with the buttons for drive mode pick. Other Sport standards include power adjustable pedal and heated steering wheel.
Ram'southward front and rear intermission has frequency response damping, just my mount had the optional 4-corner air suspension that adapts automatically (or manually by commuter) to varying road conditions.
There are five selectable ride height modes – Normal, Aero, Off-Road 1, Off-Route 2 and Entry/Exit.
The interior features ability heated sport cloth/premium vinyl seats with a special 'hex' insert mesh material. Optional leather heated and ventilated seats besides feature a unique technical embossed texture reserved merely for Canada.
Among the many options are a dual pane power panoramic sunroof, spray-in bed liner and power running boards, which came in pretty handy getting upward into the cab equally my tester also had the 22-inch wheels.
I came away thinking you could go from the work site straight to the gala and not wait out of identify.
The 2019 Ram Sport truly is a pickup for all reasons and all Canadian seasons.
2019 Ram Sport 1500 lite duty pickup
BODY Mode: Full-size, body-on-frame calorie-free-duty pickup truck
Bulldoze METHOD: Rear/four-cycle-drive; eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission
ENGINE: 5.7-litre Hemi V8 (395 hp, 410 lb/ft); 5.7-litre eTorque balmy-hybrid Hemi V8 (395 hp, 410 lb/ft, 130 lb/ft extra with eTorque)
TOW RATING: 5,783 kg (12,750 lb)
PAYLOAD: ane,043 kg (2,300 lb)
CARGO BED Volume: Upward to i,521 litres
FUEL Economy: (Regular) 5.7-litre (non hybrid) 4X2, 16.ii/10.5/13.6L/100 km metropolis/highway/combined; 4X4, sixteen.1/11.0/13.eight
PRICE: Base of operations Quad Cab 4X2, $52,595; as tested Crew Cab 4X4 with air suspension and numerous options, $74,195
Web SITE: Ramtruck.ca
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Source: https://used-cars.wheels.ca/car-reviews/first-drive-2019-ram-sport-1500/