A whole lot of luxury for the discerning truck buyer. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Jan. 26, 2018 On the heels of the all-new 2019 RAM 1500 Mild-Hybrid introduced at the 2018 NAIAS in Detroit just over a week ago, RAM released details on its new truck in chart topping luxury Laramie Longhorn Edition trim. Remember it was just 3 months ago that we voted the 2018 Ram Laramie Longhorn the Luxury Pickup Truck of Texas at the Texas Auto Writers Association Truck Rally (TAWA) and I suspect this all-new truck with “all the fixins” will earn the title for the third year in a row. And why does it stand out? Top shelf hand crafted wood, leather, and metal materials, and a historical brown leather or Black/Cattle Tan with contrast piping interior color schemes. The 2019 Ram 1500’s Laramie Longhorn trim includes 100 percent full-grain leather wrapped center console, instrument panel, seats and door panel inserts. Adding punch are satin chrome accents, a brushed-nickel metal badge flush-mounted on the console lid and a new “Longhorn” branding mark burned on the wood-trimmed upper glove box door. Who goes to the lengths that RAM did to brand a dash insert? The answer? Nobody! Real barn-wood accents are used throughout the cabin. Wood tandem doors on the center console is the day time highlight while at night, ambient soft lighting creates a relaxing atmosphere for long days behind the wheel. Buckled leather back seat map pockets. A chrome billet “RAM” grille and chrome header surround the Adaptive LED headlamps. Chrome bumpers, tow hooks, fender flares, and side steps are standard. New 20- or 22-inch wheels are offered with a variety of finishes. These large and heavy wheels are going to screw over anyone’s chance of hitting EPA in one unfortunately. The Laramie Longhorn Edition belt-buckle badge is embossed on both front doors and tailgate. Did you say all-weather floor mats? These are all-weather floor mats for the millionaire set. Ram's new 1500 can be equipped with a 4G WiFi hot spot, exclusive SiriusXM 360L personalized listening experience, SiriusXM Guardian, five USB ports to link with the award-winning Uconnect system and a segment-leading 12-inch touchscreen featuring split-screen capability for dual-application operation or full-screen single application operation. The new 2019 Ram 1500 offers truck buyers leading-edge innovation with 225 pounds of weight reduction, up to 12,750 pounds of towing capability, the eTorque mild hybrid system and active systems that improve fuel efficiency and assist drivers. The Ram 1500 stands out as the benchmark in a very competitive segment. Fingers crossed on the Mild Hybrid system, but I doubt it will come anywhere close to matching the previous year’s 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel.
All-new 2019 Ram 1500 Named to Ward's 2018 10 Best Interiors List 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Interior The WardsAuto editorial staff selected the 10 winners after evaluating 40 vehicles. All contenders for the annual award were completely new or significantly upgraded for the 2018 or 2019 model years. Drew Winter, Senior Content Director, WardsAuto/Informa: For 2019, all-new features, technology and premium materials help the completely redesigned Ram 1500 become the class leader in quality, comfort and durability that is just earned. The new instrument panel is covered in softer forms. As a centerpiece, the 2019 Ram 1500 features the first application of Uconnect 4C NAV on a 12-inch fully configurable touchscreen, tailor-made for the high end trim models. The touchscreen can house one application, such as the navigation map, across the whole 12-inch screen, or can be divided in half, operating two different applications at once. An all-new toggle switch bank lies below the touchscreen giving physical control of specific features. Redundant HVAC controls are located on both sides of the display. An active noise cancellation system on 5.7L V8 equipped models and acoustic glass reduce ambient sounds down to a low 67.1 db – the quietest Ram 1500 ever. The driver benefits nearly an inch of additional travel in seat height and a new telescoping steering wheel to achieve an ideal yet unique driving position. The new HVAC system features nearly 25 percent more air flow at lower noise levels, including larger front defroster vents for better performance. Rear passengers will enjoy 50 percent more airflow when compared to the previous generation. The 2019 Ram 1500 includes nearly 100 percent more storage capacity versus its closest competitor. The center console is useable with more than 12 different storage combinations. A wider docking area with optional wireless charging can hold a small tablet or smartphone. A 3-position sliding cup holder tray can be stowed under the center armrest to reveal a deep storage tub designed to hold a 15-inch laptop. At the rear of the console, there are two additional cup holders, which include a tablet holder for rear passengers. To keep devices charged, there are five USB ports in the center console – three up front and two in back. Three of the USB ports, including one in the rear seating area, are fully functioning and communicate with the Uconnect interface. Two three-pronged 115-volt household plugs can be found in the first and second rows (one in the center stack and one at the rear of the center console). An additional 115-volt plug can be found in the RamBox, when equipped, tripling the number of outlets on the previous model, and now handling up to 400 watts. The 2019 Ram 1500’s cab length has increased a total of four inches inside. B- and C-pillars moved an inch rearward, and the rear of the cab is pushed an additional two inches. Thus, front and rear doors are now one inch larger on Crew Cab configurations, while the rear door is one inch shorter on Quad Cab models compared to the previous model. Along with the largest cab in the segment, the second-row features eight degrees of slide-recline with best-in-class leg room of 45.1 inches for passenger comfort and an exclusive Smart Fold center armrest that creates a captain’s chair experience. The four-way adjustable rear headrests include a power release-and-drop feature, giving the driver greater visibility when the second row is empty. Bookending the flat-load floor are two Ram Bins. Now 5.5 inches longer than the previous model, these covered in-floor storage bins can hold larger items, including up to a four-inch drop hitch – keeping cargo out of sight and the interior clean. On top of each Ram Bin are two tie downs to keep cargo secure. The all-new Ram 1500 key fobs also receive a new design treatment, slightly larger to accommodate new functions including power-release tailgate. The fob also features branding for higher trim levels and a battery life improvement of up to six years. Surrounding the largest cab in the segment, the interior design team brought unique colors and premium materials to each trim level of the 2019 Ram 1500. Modular design allows for more personification and customization.
Barn Wood?? Actual wood from an old barn?? And is it full thickness natural wood-or-more likely-some sort of resin impregnated plywood-not unlike the "wood stocks" on 10/22's(ruger rifle with nice looking but still fake looking-WOOD So this is the King Ranch Dodge?? Wayne-didn't notice the MSRP?? Crude guess OVER $60,000 crazy $$ for 1/2 TON that isn't even a TD like the 3.0TD with honest 40 mpg at 60 mph hy FE(so it could be expected to get over 35 mpg on long 70 mph hy road trips-AMAZING for a full sized pickup Charlie PS been sub teaching a lot-summer is coming and I will be bored for 11 weeks-so I take all sorts of jobs 2nd half of year-why I haven't been here much PPS bet if I looked I would find LOTS of "stuff" on our president?? Amazing a reality tv star could -with lots of luck(good and bad) get a Nobel Prize(Korea) and lose the 2020 election all in one term(no way will he be impeached-he probably committed crimes-all big time real estate developers bribe various inspectors-but no way did he need to formally collude on the election(which might not be illegal-it was legal to use any DIRT the commies gave him against her-assuming they weren't foolish enough to actually plan the hacking- as opposed to just using the emails(which is legal) the Rooskies hated Hillary because she-foolishly- stirred up the Crimeans/Ukranians against them Election Collusion would have been pointless- Besides Hillary called it correctly That whining golly gee sissy Comey caused her to lose the election when he tarred her with the ANTHONY WIENER BRUSH 11 days before the election- all people heard was Hillary=Anthony Weiner-soon to be convicted Pedophile-associated together-easily 70,000 votes and Weiner's wife WAS Hillaries best "friend"-that was TRUE- Sorry I can never resist politics!!-and are current president actually has SOME chance to make peace in Korea Better lucky than good!! Blustering his way to peace in a situation Real Politicians and "Expert Diplomates" have managed to prolong for almost 70 years!! Makes you wonder? So far president Trump has been a MUCH better president than Bush 2-who was a professional POL-with hot shot advisors(NEOCON POS arrogant fools) managed to get us-USA-into 2 Interminable wars-17 and 15 years-both avoidable(no we certainly didn't have to put troops on the ground in Afghan-and they MOST CERTAINLY didn't accomplish the war aim-pointless waste of men(both sides-and treasure) same story Iraq-except we -USA- more or less handed shia Iraq to Shia Iran-did what the Mullahs couldn't do in the 1980-1988 Iran Iraq war- and we once again stabbed our one time ally-Saddam-in the back(by not being clear on the Kuwait invasion-we had a female diplomate warn him off-DUH-female telling a ME tyrant what to do??? Hell President Trump is a genius next to Bush 1 and Bush 2
Hi Charlie: Glad to hear from you as it has been a while. All of these interior wood trim pieces are veneers of some sort. I do not know if you saw but the new eTorque 5.7L Hemi has the same EPA as the previous gen non-eTorque motor in both RWD (15/22 mpgUS city/highway) and 4WD (15/21 mpgUS city/highway) configs? When I saw the new 2019s ratings, my hopes - read expectations - for the upcoming 3.6L Pentastar eTorque were dashed. Wayne
Wayne Shoot that 3.6 Pentastar was a game changer No one on earth would have thought a plain jane 1/2 ton pickup with a plain spark ignition 3.6 V6 with 300 hp-would ever be EPA 25MPG HY In 2000-none of us would have thought that likely-but there it was-just 10 or so years later-impossible numbers- But for now Dodge has "run out of gas" in respect to game changing -MPG- pickups Of course that 3.0TD amazing and the HUGE 7200 LB 4x4 3/4 ton 900 ft lb Cummins-honest 25mpg at 60 mph-amazing Still I remain a MOPAR fan-they were always the underdogs-and always cheaper to buy that the Chevys and Fords Oh well-we will see
Slight aside-in respect to mpg-nothing new to you guys -but new folks might like some prospective-mpg wise 1)The NOT turbo GM diesels- 5.7 and maybe 6.0 mid 1980's-got good hy mpg-credible claims of 25 mpg-hy-at 55mph in the mid 1980's folks with the 6.0 ?? diesel or perhaps it was 5.7 GM diesel(maybe 150 hp) in Suburbans and pickups-claimed HUGE hy numbers-maybe 25 mpg-but they were dogs-slow poor QC -fragile-very water in gas sensitive-but they might have been rated 20+ mpg hy -by the old rating The were junk-poor QC lotta problems with FI- very water in fuel sensitive-and lots of gas stations had "some" water in their tanks- but they might have actually been 7-10 mpg HY at 55 mph better than the pitiful gasoline 1/2 tons before the modern electronic controls- mass air sensors O2 sensors modern computer controls modern EFI modern electronic ignition- which allowed much better FE and pollution control- along with the CATCONS that allowed compression to return to the 10/1 plus of the muscle car era(or what I refer to as the 10 mpg or less in the city era)-yeah the 1960 and early 1970sV-8's SBC and all the various big blocks-got under 10 mpg in pure city driving(normal driving) and NOT one of them was as fast -accelerating-as a V-6 accord-not 0-60 or top end-most muscle cars would have a hard time running with a 4 Cyl Civic 2)and many of the Tiny- well under 3000 lb-japanese MT 4 cal pickups-would get Great mpg-(with the Mts-their ATs were not so good-easily 4mpg down by comparison to their Mts) not news- just like your Ranger- but those 100-150 hp trucks were 99lb weakling Midgets by comparison to these 5000 lb 1/2 tons with 300+hp-with Full 48" wide beds. Dangerous little trucks too-TINY little death traps by comparison to modern pickups PS-the little japanese trucks-GREAT QC not like the big 3 of that-late 1970's thru 1980's-with poor QC PPS-the windows on my 1980 D-100 long bed-318 V-8 -RUSTED SHUT after just 3 years And I was in NOLA-hot humid-and a CHEAPSKATE- no AC( would have been $500 MORE than the $5200 - new -I paid OTD) yeah my cheapskate-ism bit me- all I had was the little wing window-like a sauna in NO summers- the gears-manual windows-literally rusted together-FROZE!
Wayne- so their STILL has only been one hybrid 1/2 ton-the GM Dual mode with the $8000 bump up in price that has actually delivered in respect to FE-(for its day about 2008 I think) and unfortunately it had a $8000 price tag markup 1)and it came out ABOUT 2008 when gas plummeted from $4.05 to $1.65 in just a few months 2)and the Dodge 3.6 with the 8 speed AT and city EPA 25 MPG came out just a couple of years later The Tahoes Escalades that came with that option just SAT on lots collecting dust They finally ended up being DUMPED at less than non hybrid prices GM did the dual mode with "some german car corp-right" VW or BMW??? But nothing ever came of it-the numbers look pedestrian 22 or so HY and city- -but they were pretty spectacular back then and that was a POWERFUL truck- 6 liter V8 with plenty of electric horse instant torque shame it never made it-maybe I will chase down a used one someday wonder how reliable they were Poor GM has certainly dumped LOTS of money into various hybrids and ICE and battery electric cars-absolutely no return on it Unfortunately the Prius is just too good- too cheap too reliable too efficient but even Toyota gave up on hybrid pickups
Hi Charlie: Given the great 3.6L Pentastar, 3.0L EcoDiesel TD, and 6.7L Cummins TD in the RAM 1500 and RAM HDs, a future full size pickup truck Hybrid drivetrain does indeed still have a long hard road ahead to prove itself. We have seen how poorly the BMW Hybrid drivetrains perform when on gasoline because they use FSP ICEs. WIll the rest follow this model so they can place a big number on the sticker but in the real world get killed as $4.00 per gallon or more at the pump is a reality here in Southern Calif let alone $0.40/kWh+ electricity rates? Bill, I saw a two mode Yukon on the 5 two days ago as well. Wayne
