Australia has just welcomed its most powerful pickup truck in the shape of the Ram 2500 Heavy Duty. An increasing number of U.S.-born pickup trucks have been landing on Australian shores in recent years and the Ram 2500 is the mightiest of them all. It will be sold exclusively with a 6.7-liter inline-six Cummins turbodiesel engine pumping out 370 hp and 1,152 Nm of torque from just 1,700 rpm.
This engine has a cylinder bock made from compacted graphite iron, new cast-iron cylinder head, exhaust valves, springs, and rocker arms and is mated to a 68RFE six-speed automatic transmission. The truck also features a BorgWarner electronic transfer case providing 2WD, 2WD High, Neutral, and 4WD Low modes.
The Ram 2500 was designed from the very outset to handle constant, heavy payloads and features Frequency Response Damping (FRD) shocks at all four corners. The valves of these shocks automatically adjust for the types of vertical wheel input, improving ride quality on rough terrain. The 2500 is also Australia’s best pickup for towing with a max braked towing capacity of up to 8.0 tonnes.
As the 2500 isn’t produced in right-hand drive from the factory, it has to be converted when it lands in Australia. This process involves more than 400 locally-sourced new parts. Key features of Aussie-spec models include a 12-inch infotainment screen with Uconnect, a 360-degree surround-view camera, adaptive cruise control, Forward Collision Warning with Active Braking, Trailer Sway Control, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Monitoring, and Rear Cross Path and Trailer Detection.
Local buyers will be offered the Ram 2500 in Laramie Crew Cab and Laramie Crew Cab RamBox guises. Prices start at AU$ 157,950 (US$ 116,500) for the entry-level model and rise to AU$ 162,900 (US$ 120,200) for the RamBox variant. The only available options are metallic/pearlescent paint for an extra AU$ 950 (US$ 701) and the Driver Assistance Level 1 package for AU$ 1,950 (US$ 1,439).
