Video: What's the Best Pickup Truck of 2026?

And that means that the 2026 Ram 1500 has a 5.7 liter HEMI V-8 again, and that's one of the reasons that we named the new '26 Ram 1500 our Cars.com best pickup of 2026. But there's other reasons too. Man, how nice is it in there? I mean, for a lower mid-range Big Horn trim, which this is, pretty nice. I mean, especially when you compare it to what is available at this level from other truck makers, but Ram has been good at the interiors for about a decade now. Yeah, they really have. They upped their game on interiors, and it's not just in the top luxury models. It's across the lineup from the lowest Tradesman model all the way up to the luxury Tungsten trim. They're dynamite inside. Now a note on that Tungsten trim, it is about as nice inside as any luxury SUV you could ever hope to be, and they really drive great too. They do drive well, and it's not just about how nice they feel or how good they look. This is probably the most civilized driving, full-size pickup truck that you can buy today. Yeah, in a complimentary way, these drive kind of like very, very big crossover SUVs. This is the 5.7 liter HEMI V-8 that returns to the RAM 1500 for '26. So this wasn't part of the lineup last year? They ditched the HEMI V-8 in favor of straight-six 3.0 liter turbocharged engines. The least powerful one was 420 horsepower, but Ram fans said, "Nope, we have to have the V-8" even though it makes less horsepower and costs more money. Okay, but why is that? I mean, what was the reason behind the big outcry for this return? Well, basically they wanted a truck to sound the way they thought a V-8 pickup truck should sound. And what should a V-8 pickup truck sound like? Oh, it should sound like this. (truck engine rumbling) (truck engine revving) This thing, no matter how you spec it, is a great vehicle overall. Yeah, and there are so many different ways that you can spec a Ram 1500. If you need to tow with it, there's a bunch of different towing packages. If you need to go off-road, you can get the Rebel or the truly incredible F-150 Raptor fighter, the RHO. If you need a basic work truck, there's the Tradesman. If you want a luxury liner, there's the Tungsten, so there's basically a Ram 1500 for just about everyone's needs, And especially if your needs involve your truck sounding like a muscle car. Yeah, we do welcome the return of the HEMI V-8, it does make it sound spectacular, and it's for all of these reasons and more that we have named the Ram 1500, our best pickup of 2026. (upbeat music)