If you think pickup trucks only exist for hauling, towing, and transporting others in, the Ram 1500 TRX will prove you wrong. Equipped with the same Hellcat engine that powers Dodge's Challenger and Charger muscle cars, the TRX breaks from pickup conventions with performance fit for a drag strip and the off-roading credentials to tackle any trail. It's no wonder Stellantis, parent company of Ram trucks, declares it the "quickest, fastest and most powerful mass-produced pickup truck in the world."
The 2021 TRX has everything we look for in a muscle truck: quick acceleration, aggressive styling, and a high-performance engine. For almost a decade, the Ford F-150 Raptor dominated the segment with nary a challenger in sight, until the Ram TRX came along and upped the ante to ludicrous levels. Among high-performance trucks, the TRX's high-speed racing capabilities makes it the clear winner for HotCars Best Pickup of 2021.
What We Love Most About The Ram 1500 TRX Pickup
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About the TRX's powertrain: where do we start? It's absolutely bonkers that Ram put the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8—better known as the Hellcat—in a pickup truck. This powerplant gives the TRX 702 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, not to mention delivers plenty of good engine and exhaust sounds. The pickup's performance is staggering, giving it enough power to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds.
The TRX borrows parts from others where it makes sense, such as getting the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk's eight-speed 8HP95 transmission. And its also got parts that are exclusive to it, helping it excel in what it does best, such as Bilstein shocks for adapting to different terrains.
While some complain that it only tops out at 118 mph, let us remind you that it's built for off-roading too—remember, this is a high truck with heavy tires. The fact that this pickup can even accelerate to what it does in mud-terrain tires is incredible.
As an added bonus, the TRX has plenty of Mopar factory-backed upgrades available, so owners can customize the pickup to his or her liking.
Why It's The Pickup Truck To Beat
The Ram TRX appeals to enthusiasts of all kinds, making it an in demand pickup buyers are willing to pay top dollar for. Despite the base 2021 TRX starting at a hefty $72,120 (and more for the 2022 model, sticking out like a sore thumb against the 2022 Chevy Silverado ZR2's price tag), no other pickup in the segment offers as much performance or muscle. In fact, no other truck even comes close.
While the 2021 F-150 Raptor starts at $65,840—around $6,000 less than the TRX—Ford's engine develops 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. It's impressive in its own right, but frankly nowhere near the TRX's absurd performance figures. From an enthusiast's standpoint, there's no comparison which high-performance pickup captures more attention, particularly from a marketing standpoint. Remember Ram's savage response on Twitter when Ford revealed its 2021 F-150 Raptor? Three words said it all: "Pop the hood."
Worthy Of Mention: Launch And Ignition Editions
Look, the last thing the Ram TRX needs is a higher price tag. But let's pretend price isn't a factor to simply recognize how appealing the Ram TRX Launch and Ignition Editions look.
The Launch Edition models kicked off the truck's entrance into the market, and the more than 700 units set aside for the limited run sold out in a matter of hours. Separating these models from the regular production versions are Anvil Gray-painted exteriors, carbon fiber interior trim, Level 2 Equipment Group package, and more.
Ram introduced the Ignition model for the 2022 model year. Highlights include a unique exterior color, panoramic sunroof, LED cab-mounted brake light, and more. It's almost enough to make you forget it starts at $91,585, making it one pricey pickup. It's clear the Ignition Edition best serves the ones who want to separate their baddest off-road truck from the rest.
What We Loved Watching The TRX Do In 2021
Anyone who reads the site knows we're big fans of good old-fashioned drag races, and the year gave us more TRX action on the strip than we could keep up with. A common theme running throughout the year's drag races involved the pickup rivalry playing out between the Ford F-150 and Ram TRX: once in Florida between two modified versions, and another time at the Pennzoil Proving Grounds with Hennessey's Venom 775-Upgraded F-150.
Speaking of Hennessey, we always count on the Texas performance house to roll out some ludicrous version that takes already potent machines and turns up the dial even more—and the TRX was no different. With the TRX already packing a Hellcat engine, Hennessey went the next step up, shoving a great big Hellephant engine into the Ram pickup to produce 1,000 horsepower. Apocalypse Manufacturing offered their own twist on the TRX as well, with a 6x6 Warlord version fit for the zombie apocalypse.
Many wonder what the future holds for this performance pickup. Will it be a brief but bright spot at the tail end of internal combustion engines at Stellantis? Or will it signal the start of a long-running nameplate, with a switch to electrification in its near future? If the Ram 1500 TRX RexRunner concept we witnessed at SEMA earlier this year is any indication of things to come, we can't wait.