Although the name of this first 700-plus-hp production pickup is generally pronounced as its three constituent letters, the people that built it like to call it “T. rex” to tee up the rivalry with the obvious competitor, Ford’s F-150 Raptor. “T. rex destroys raptors,” says the head of the Ram brand, Mike Koval, referring both to the Jurassic era and, Ram hopes, the fourth quarter of 2020 when the Hellcat-powered TRX goes on sale. All TRXs have a crew-cab, short-bed configuration, and with a base price of $71,690—that’s $13,555 more than a crew-cab Raptor—it had better be impressive. Loaded TRXs will be pushing $90,000. The goal was to create the most megalomaniacal pickup, starting with 702 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque from the supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that’s finding its way into more and more engine bays. It’s a simple and yet oh-so-compelling strategy. But the TRX is way more than just a Hellcat-powered Ram 1500. Its flared fenders are a massive 8.0 inches wider, with a 6.0-inch increase in track width. In order to deal with hold-my-beer-grade off-road antics, the frame and suspension components have been comprehensively reinforced. Ram even moved the front axle forward slightly in the quest to endow this truck with more than 13 inches of suspension travel front and rear, closely mimicking the Raptor’s specs. Ground clearance is up by more than three inches, to 11.8. Adaptive Bilstein remote-reservoir dampers continuously vary their rates based on inputs from three accelerometers and a ride-height sensor at
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