We find out just how fast a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic can go if you give it plenty of road to play in.
Fiat Chrysler did something a little different when they created the 2019 Ram 1500. While the 1500 would enter its fifth generation for 2019, the previous generation would also live on and be built concurrently with the fancy new 1500. This was done for a few reasons, but the biggest of them was that FCA could then sell the previous-gen trucks for less than the current-gen models to use up their parts inventory.
They’re also more utilitarian, lacking many of the advanced features that are available in the true 2019 Ram 1500. But they do have one feature that nobody will complain about: a 5.7-L HEMI V8 with 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque.
Who cares that the infotainment screen is barely bigger than a cell phone and that the A/C only controls the climate of a single zone? Power is king, and the Ram 1500 Classic still has it.
But how fast is the Ram 1500 Classic? Not exactly a question we ask very often, but Johnny Bohmer did at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds in West Palm Beach, Florida, so we’re going to answer it with his help.
Being tested is the SLT trim with a crew cab, regular box, and 2WD. This keeps weight below 5,000 lbs and gives the pickup a lot of grunt. Going from zero to sixty takes around 7 seconds, which is very fast for a big pickup like the 1500.
Top speed is a little anticlimactic. To keep pickup drivers from doing something stupid like speed down the highway at 150 mph, FCA fits the 1500 with a limiter that keeps it from going faster than 105 mph. As Bohmer points out, it’ll pull a trailer and still go 105 mph, but no faster.
Which is a shame, because we get the sense that 105 mph is nowhere near where that 5.7-L HEMI tops out. Judging by the fact that the pickup smoothly accelerates to 105 and then stops dead, we bet it could easily surpass 120 mph without the limiter installed.
Bohmer also proved that the SLT trim comes with some pretty fantastic brakes and even handles fairly nimbly too. If you’re in the market for a cheap pickup, the Ram 1500 Classic certainly seems like a good buy.