High-Flying Ram 1500 RHO Tackles Tough Terrain With Ease

HOLLY, MI – The famed Bullitt movie car chase aside, as a general rule it’s not a good idea to launch a vehicle with all four wheels in the air, let alone multiple times in rapid succession as we were encouraged to do in the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO sport truck.

At a recent test drive here at an off-road-vehicle park north of Detroit, Ram engineers pushed us to propel Stellantis’ latest 1500 light-duty performance pickup off three jumps in a row at speeds up to 50 mph (80 km/h).

Usually, that’d be a recipe for breaking a truck in half, or at minimum severely damaging suspension and underbody components. But the RHO handled all three leaps in stride, without bottoming out the suspension or scaping the skid plates, and without as much as a dirt clod caught in its bumpers.

Powered by the same 540-hp, 521-lb.-ft. (707-Nm) 3.0L Hurricane High-Output Straight-Six Turbo that earned a 2024 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems trophy, the RHO adds heavy-duty desert-racing-inspired suspension bits and special tires to beef up the truck’s high-speed off-road capabilities, says Doug Killian, chief vehicle synthesis manager.

High-output turbo I-6 fed by cold-air intake.

Front suspension travel extends to 13 ins. while the rear gets RHO-unique geometry that permits 14 ins. of travel – a 40% increase compared with other 1500s. Ground clearance is up 2 ins. (51 mm) to 11.8 ins. (300 mm).

Long-travel Bilstein adaptive aluminum shock absorbers and forged aluminum upper and lower front control arms provide the robust level of support needed to allow the truck to traverse rugged, rock-strewn trails at speeds up to 50 mph without tossing the vehicle off course or unduly agitating the driver.

Aluminum Bilstein shocks continuously adjust for changing terrain to provide balance between off-road endurance and on-road ride control.

An intake built into the hood (vs. in the grille) pipes cooler air into the engine’s intake while a true dual exhaust reduces back pressure. While the engine’s SAE specifications remain the same, “real world is better,” Killian assures.

Inside, RHO badging and stitching is prominent, as are the displays, including a 12.3-in. (31-cm) instrument cluster, a 14.5-in. (37-cm) touchscreen, a 10.25-in. (26-cm) passenger screen and a 10-in. (25-cm) head-up display.

On the beaten path, the RHO offers Hands-free Driving Assist, which provides L2+ hands-off, eyes-on driving assistance. The system performed flawlessly on a short highway drive that even included operating in a construction zone. The system relies on GPS mapping to engage and cameras to manage the lane centering.

Interior splashed with RHO badging, big screens.

The RHO expands the Ram lineup into the high-speed, off-road racing segment inhabited by the Ford Raptor models, which are renowned for offering significant capability to run at speed in rough desert rally conditions.

In addition to the RHO, Ram’s rough-and-ready off-roaders include the light-duty-based-Warlock and Rebel, with heavy-duty offerings adding the 2500 Rebel Heavy Duty and Power Wagon. Starting prices range from $56,255 for the Warlock to $73,610 for the Power Wagon.

The Warlock is the sleeper of the group, building on a base Tradesman trim with relatively simple UX interfaces and cloth interior, but upgrading the powertrain from the 305-hp Pentastar 3.6L V-6 to the 420-hp Standard-Output 3.0L I-6 turbo, along with some off-road and sport truck upgrades.

Warlock upgrades base Tradesman with turbo I-6, off-road bits.