What Truck Shoppers Need to Know
- Ram returns the Hellcat engine to the ultimate off-road 1500 pickup truck with the 2027 TRX SRT, the first model from the resurrected SRT high-performance group.
- Powered by an upgraded 777-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat Hemi V-8 engine, it sits above the Ram 1500 RHO but features much of the same high-tech off-road equipment.
- More luxurious than ever, the interior now features a full suede headliner, stitched leather on the airbag covers and real carbon-fiber trim throughout.
- The starting price is $102,790 (including a whopping $2,795 delivery fee), and only one option is available: a panoramic moonroof.
You know, we were perfectly happy with the Ram 1500 RHO. The brand’s current Ford F-150 Raptor fighter is cheaper and more powerful than the twin-turbo Raptor V-6; it’s fantastic. But fans wanted the Hellcat scream of a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 back. And so with Stellantis’ resurrection of the Hemi in just about anything they can stuff it into, the 2027 TRX SRT was brought back to life — and there was much rejoicing. Ram’s insane, banshee-screaming Baja truck is back for the 2027 model year, and it is as badass as it’s ever been. Maybe more.
Related: The Ram 1500 TRX Is Back and Even More Bonkers Than Before
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Because with the new TRX comes a more powerful Hellcat engine. A nicer interior. Even more capability than before. And a price tag that makes sure you won’t see one at every urban intersection in the middle of the night orchestrating a takeover and preventing traffic from passing through. And yes, it still jumps like a Baja racing truck.
How Much Does the 2027 Ram 1500 TRX SRT Cost, and What Do You Get?
Let’s get it out of the way quickly: The starting sticker price for a new ‘27 Ram 1500 TRX SRT is $102,795. That includes a whopping $2,795 destination fee to ship the Ram to your local dealership from the far-off, exotic port of suburban Detroit. That’s more than $26,000 more expensive than a 2026 Ram 1500 RHO with its high-output twin-turbo 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six-cylinder engine, which is one hell of a premium for an engine upgrade to the Hellcat V-8. But you get more than just a more powerful engine with the TRX. You also get some interior upgrades, as well, with unique leather, stitching, a full suede headliner, exclusive badging and more. Nearly everything that’s optional on the RHO is standard on the TRX (with the exception of the panoramic moonroof), so perhaps it’s better to compare it to a fully loaded RHO. In that case, the price difference is only about $6,800, which seems much more reasonable.
All of the requisite off-road goodies are present on the TRX, and the list of equipment is lengthy and impressive. It starts with the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8, making 777 hp and 680 pounds-feet of torque. It employs a 2.4-liter twin-screw supercharger and revised cold-air induction plumbing to provide a significant boost over the old TRX’s 707-hp V-8. It’s mated to a high-torque-capacity eight-speed automatic transmission and BorgWarner 48-13 full-time four-wheel-drive system, pumping power out to all four wheels shod with standard 35-inch all-terrain tires.
The truck has an 11.8-inch ground clearance and employs second-generation Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive performance shocks with enhanced urethane jounce bumpers and three-stage progressive hydraulic jounce control internals. All of this contributes to 13 inches of front suspension travel and 14-inches of rear-axle travel. That rear axle is a Dana 60 with full-floating axle shafts and an electronic locking differential, sprung by a five-link coil spring design. All of this electronically controlled paraphernalia allows for nine drive modes: Auto, Tow, Mud/Sand, Rock, Snow, Sport, Baja, Custom and Valet. Suffice it to say, this is no mere lift kit on a Ram 1500. The staggering level of systems integration creates a truck that can do extraordinary things on- or off-road.
Off-Road, Where It’s Meant to Live
Cutting right to the chase here: The 2027 Ram TRX SRT might just be the easiest high-speed off-road truck to use that’s ever been created. Don’t get me wrong, I love me an F-150 Raptor and Raptor R, but repeatedly flogging the new TRX around and around a specially prepared high-speed off-road course in Southwest Michigan on a brutally hot and massively muggy late June day with the air conditioning on full blast made me realize just how much engineering and development work went into this beast. Point the high nose at what you want to jump over, foot down, hold on — and over it goes with repeatable, unshakable repetitiveness. On one jump in particular, the right-seat Ram representative (who happened to also be the truck’s chief development engineer) instructed me to “put my foot to the floor,” which is not a command taken lightly in a vehicle this powerful. It’s a “pucker moment” when you floor a 777-hp monster truck and it launches itself into the air — but when it lands with a soft whump in a completely controlled, predictable manner, you realize that the truck is making you feel like a better driver than you probably are. That’s the level of incredibly sophisticated technology the TRX employs to allow for mind-bending amusement and safely repeatable performances that don’t destroy your expensive toy.
Take for instance what happened during that foot-to-the-floor jump. When the truck left the ground, ride-height position sensors in the suspension realized that it had. It automatically cut the throttle despite me not lifting my foot so as not to over-rev the engine in midair, when the wheels weren’t in contact with anything. It prepared the shock absorbers and electronic dampers for the landing based on the angle of flight. A clutch in the 4WD system also disengaged so as not to risk driveline damage on landing, as well. All of this happens in milliseconds and leads to a landing that isn’t jarring, dramatic or sketchy-feeling in the slightest. And it feels like the truck could keep doing this all day long … which it did.
Oh, it also has modes for slower-speed rock crawling, deep mud, sand and other challenging obstacles. And I’m sure it’s good at that too, but who cares? Lots of trucks are good at that. Not a lot of trucks are good at flight.
On-Road Civility
Most of us don’t live in the middle of the desert scrub or next to a dirt track, so we have to get to such places on paved roads and highways. And the V-8 powered TRX SRT is just as good on the tarmac as it is in the dirt. Civilized, smooth and powerful, it is a joy to drive on the street. Acceleration is mild unless you call on it to be something more. The steering is direct, the ride quality is sublime (thanks to those chonky tires and adaptive suspension), and it’s even reasonably quiet on the highway. Of course, the moment you put your foot into the gas pedal, the screaming supercharger whine and garrulous exhaust combine to remind everyone within a 200-foot radius what you have under the hood. On-ramps are a blur. Highway passing is a matter of point and shoot. The brakes are immensely strong and require a delicate touch lest you jerk everyone in the truck forward against the seat belts. The TRX is as much an on-road sport machine as it is an off-road beast, and it makes me really, really excited to see what Ram has crafted for the upcoming Ram 1500 Rumble Bee on-road sport trucks.
Is It Better Than the RHO? What About the Raptor R?
Yes, on both counts. It’s better than the RHO in that it has the sound and fury that the RHO’s turbo six can’t deliver. The RHO is a blast to drive, and being lighter than the TRX means it handles a bit better on the street. The RHO being a relative bargain also helps its case, but the more luxurious cabin of the TRX pushes this truck out front in the consideration set. The full suede headliner, the quality of the cabin leather and stitching, and the badges and trim all set the TRX apart not only from the RHO, but from either of Ford’s F-150 Raptors.
The Ram cabin simply puts the Ford to shame. For less money, the TRX’s occupant compartment is in another category versus the Raptor R’s. Yes, both are immensely capable, high-speed off-road trucks, and both have supercharged V-8 engines. But the TRX has tons more character, style and, most notably, a vastly more luxurious cabin. You cringe at a Raptor R’s price tag, wondering why it costs so much if it feels so dated and cheap. You don’t question the Ram TRX’s price tag when you’re sitting in it — it feels like it should cost what it does.
It isn’t perfect, of course. The vertical touchscreen has had its day and needs to be binned already — everyone else has realized that a horizontal touchscreen is really the way to go, as it allows for larger camera displays when reversing or looking 360 degrees around the vehicle. The Ram’s 14.5-inch vertical screen only allows for small camera views, which are suboptimal in a vehicle this big. But kudos to Ram for still keeping dedicated buttons for most functions and not (yet) putting everything into the big touchscreen. Still, it’s time for a rethink on the next-generation interior.
More on the Ram 1500 From Cars.com:
- All-New 2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee Sport Truck Brings Sting With Up to 777 HP
- He(mi) Is Risen! Ram Resurrects Famed V-8 Option for 2026 1500 Pickups
- How Good Is the 2026 Ram 1500 Hemi V-8’s Gas Mileage?
- 2026 Ram 1500 Hemi V-8 Review: Sometimes It’s Not About the Numbers
- How Much Is the 2026 Ram 1500?
It’s Nuts, But Only Crazy Uncle Ram Could Do It
One of our editors suggested that Ram (and Stellantis’ other American brands) is really at its best when it’s playing the role of the crazy uncle of the American auto industry. Doing things that defy sensibility, like stuffing a supercharged 777-hp engine into a monster truck and unleashing it on the public for 100 kilodollars. Or making not one, but four versions of the upcoming short-wheelbase Rumble Bee sport trucks. Or stuffing the Hemi V-8 back into the seven-occupant Dodge Durango and offering it up for several thousand dollars less than the average price of a new family SUV. That editor’s not wrong, as proven by this latest and greatest Ram 1500 TRX SRT. The TRX SRT is the product of crazy, convention-defying thinking and the new king of the pickups … at least until the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT arrives.
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