RAM 1500 vs Mercedes-Benz E300

What's the difference?

As with all current-generation Ram 1500s, the Rebel remains one of our favourite full-sized American utes on the Australian market.

Yes, it is not cheap, and a few items standard on the Laramie Sport have been deleted for better or worse, but the Rebel offers better off-road capability without losing any of the regular 1500’s driver enjoyment, comfort, refinement and overall class.

An upsized Ranger Wildtrak with more civility than its redneck reputation suggests.

The E-Class is stacked with kit, looks great, and is an effective and comfortable way to get around in built-up areas or across the countryside.

While it’s not the most dynamically engaging - it’s pipped by its Bavarian rival there - it offers more comfort-oriented features than most, and the cabin is a pleasant place to spend a day driving.

If you're disposed towards stumping up the asking price, the extra outlay for the 'Plus Package' will probably be most relevant to you if you’re covering long distances due to the Airmatic suspension.

Otherwise, even a simple-spec E300 provides a step up from what you might expect from an executive sedan.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

Essentially, the 1500 Rebel is a Laramie Sport with a few changes to make it look a little more athletic.

Changes include an extra power bulge in the bonnet, a restyled grille treatment, black powder-coated steel bumpers, daytime running spot lights, 18-inch rather than 20-inch off-road alloy wheels and the aforementioned one-inch (26mm-ish) suspension lift – partly as a result of the knobblier tyres, Bilstein off-road dampers and revised springs, all for better clearances.

Speaking of which, that’s why the retractable side steps have been deleted. The approach/departure/breakover angles are rated at 20.9, 22.2 and 19.2 degrees respectively.

That the Rebel loses the RamBox does mean a bit more tub width, but at the cost of 210 litres of hidden storage.

What’s left are mostly visual changes, including a two-tone colour scheme with black paint on the lower sections, extra blacked-out trim, Rebel badges and decals and three grade-specific hues: 'Bright White', 'Flame Red' and 'Hydro Blue'.

Dimensionally, the 1500 is definitely in the next-league up compared to a Ranger or HiLux, with length at 5916mm, width at 2057mm (excluding mirrors – that balloons out to 2747mm with them) and height at 2006mm. Wheelbase is set at 3672mm. Which does wonders for interior space.

Inside, a red and black look pervades, resulting in Rebel upholstery and material applications, but the seats and dash remain pure Laramie Sport – and that’s no bad thing, as the DT series remains the most car-like and refined interior of all the big US utes.

Let’s dive in.

Evolution rather than revolution is obvious when it comes to the E-Class’ styling, but that’s in Mercedes’ best interests, because it’s still a good-looking thing, and being a bit subtle is warranted in the executive sedan game.

The biggest changes come in the headlights and tail-lights. Up-front there are now more than one million pixels in the LED headlights, which have adaptive high beam as standard and are more connected to the grille via black trim, as has been seen in EQ electric models.

Underneath, the bumper now features an AMG-style 'A-wing' apron as part of the 'AMG Line' exterior package as standard. A set of 20-inch AMG alloys are also included.

To the rear, and the digital tail-lights feature a Mercedes-Benz star motif, making its lighting signature now more recognisable from behind.

The German Rainbow is well-represented with mostly shades of grey, black, or white available, though 'Verde Silver Metallic' is a slightly retro green, and 'Nautic Blue Metallic' is a subtle and classy tone.

The daring ‘Manufaktur’ shade of 'Patagonia Red Metallic' is a $2500 option, as is 'Opalite White Bright' while 'Alpine Grey Solid' is $2900.

This is as much an interior review as anything else, because the Walkinshaw Automotive Group’s engineers have created nearly 50 unique dashboard parts in the 1500’s transition from LHD to RHD.

These join the hundreds of other items that have been modified throughout the big ute.

Haul yourself up and inside, and what you’re met with is essentially a Laramie Sport, but with a more-athletic vibe due to the red-and-black Rebel trim upholstery. In this evaluation example, the presentation, fit and finishes were exemplary.

Everything seems to be in Cinemascope. The sheer girth of the cabin; the excellent vision afforded by lofty seating as well as the deep windscreen and side windows; the abundance of light showering in from the dual-pane sunroof; wide yet cosy front seats that ensconce you like a bear hug – are there comfier ones out there in the world of utes? We doubt it; and heaps of space for your head, shoulders, arms and legs.

Most people should be able to sleep crossways on the back seat floor.

Back up front, the vast multi-layered dash is conventionally designed, with a 12-inch instrument display ahead of the driver and a long, portrait-oriented 14.4-inch touchscreen (containing a superb premium audio system).

But, unusually, there’s also a 10.25-inch multimedia screen for the front passenger, which isn’t visible to the driver for road-safety reasons.

Drilling into the details, there’s a satisfying attention to design to the instrument dials that you’d expect from an Italian brand – Ram owner Stellantis is partly consisted of Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia, after all, as well as Citroen and Peugeot.

It’s also in the feel and quality of the presentation, as well as the general ergonomics, where most of the controls and switchgear are within reach, readily understood and easily operable – after a few moments taken to learn what’s what.

Confidence and swagger, without being too brash or ostentatious. An F-150, in contrast, seems cheap and hard inside.

Weirdly, given all the room around you, there’s also a sense of being a bit hemmed-in, thanks to the ultra-wide centre console. It houses an attic’s worth of storage capability, and is nicely integrated within the overall dash architecture.

It’s a pity, then, that Ram doesn’t offer a three-person bench seat up front – or, at least, a two-person love seat for the passengers right beside the driver’s bucket. There’s certainly enough space for that.

A half-day with the Rebel failed to showcase too many faults or irritations. There’s too much wind noise coming in at speed due to those elephantine exterior mirrors, there’s no digital radio and not everybody will like the red trim inserts. In this regard the vibe is more garish Germanic than restrained Italianate.

Remember, too, the Laramie Sport’s sliding centre console and reclining rear backrests aren’t fitted to the Rebel.

Not that you’d necessarily miss the latter, since the bench is nicely angled and seems comfortable enough. Obviously, there are acres of space to move and lounge about in, and pretty much all the usual amenities are present.

These include USB ports of both varieties, heated outboard seats, face-level ventilation, cupholders, map pockets overhead lighting, a coat hook, and the glorious sunroof that allows so much light to flood in.

There’s extra storage beneath the cushions as well as in the door panels, while a small portion of the back glass slides open. Apparently, that’s handy for hearing and giving instructions when working with the ute. Clever.

And, of course, so is the massive tub out back, complete with a full-sized spare wheel.

For now, Australia only receives the five-foot/seven-inch – or 1.7m long – tub, rather than the longer 6' 1" option offered in earlier 1500s. The Rebel’s payload jumps 30kg, and still maintains its 4.5-tonne towing capacity.

Note that, with the deletion of the RamBox cargo storage units, load-area width increases, but only by 15mm, and you lose 210 litres of hidden tub storage.

For the record, the tub dimensions are around 1700mm (length), 1295mm (width) and 543mm (height). The upshot is about 1500 litres of cargo capacity.

And, of course, there’s the maximum braked towing capacity of 4500kg (with a 70mm ball), 750kg unbraked, 7771kg for Gross Combined Mass (GCM), 3505kg for Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and an 893kg payload maximum.

Finally, a heavy-duty tow bar, 12-pin wiring harness and trailer brake controller are standard equipment.

Inside, the E-Class should feel familiar to anyone who’s spent time in a recent Benz, though the Superscreen might be the main point of difference. It’s an immediately comfortable place, though, with a relatively visually busy cabin.

The seats and their adjustability mean most drivers and passengers, regardless of height and size, should feel supported (and ideally relaxed), while touch-points are mostly either leather upholstery or digital screens.

The steering wheel, also seen in plenty of other Mercedes models, is a bit of a let-down, however, with its haptic touch pads on a slightly busy two-tier layout. This millennial found it irritating, surely too will the usually older E-Class buyer.

There are a few other small annoyances, one being that the MBUX Assistant sometimes won’t hear a command, or that not everything seems to be able to be controlled by it. The climate control vent positions are electrically adjustable to certain pre-sets through the menu, but the MBUX Assistant isn’t able to do this for you.

And while the driver display and central multimedia screen are fairly user-friendly, it’s not always immediately apparent what the quickest way to find some information or a setting is.

Our test car was fitted with the 'Plus Package', which means four-zone climate control available to the rear seats, which my 180cm-tall self found spacious with plenty of headroom, kneeroom, and even a fair bit of room under the driver’s seat.

Behind the rear seats, there’s a generous 540 litres of boot space, exactly the same capacity as the previous generation E-Class.

While cross-shopping the E-Class and a BMW 5 Series would normally be relatively easy, the Merc’s $131,500 starting price, before on-road costs, puts it plenty north of the base 520i, the only petrol one available, at $114,900. The electric i5 eDrive40 starts from $155,900, more than $20K over the Mercedes.

But the E-Class is stacked with features as standard, and while there are a couple of option packs, Mercedes Australia has tried to streamline the most popular features and specifications into the E300.

Its $131,500 price gets you a tech-heavy sedan with Merc’s latest 'MBUX' system housed in a visually impressive, if perhaps unnecessary, 'Superscreen' dash.

The dual-screen set-up incorporates a main 14.4-inch central multimedia touchscreen and a 12.3-inch display for the passenger, allowing the driver to keep, for example, a map visible while a passenger sorts out media or comfort settings.

The system is also designed to avoid taking users through sub-menus, though can be bypassed by wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

It also features a selfie camera mounted to the dash, which is disabled for the Australian market at present. Mercedes-Benz Australia hopes to change this soon.

Mercedes also plans to allow the MBUX system to learn what settings and functions will be most useful to the driver under certain conditions, but currently users are able to manually create so-called ‘Routines’ such as setting the climate control and seats to warm up if it’s below a certain temperature, and can even adjust the ambient lighting to a warmer colour.

More automation comes in the brand’s MBUX ‘Hey Mercedes’ system, which can now respond to commands without the driver needing to say “Hey Mercedes”. 

Heated and vented front seats, leather upholstery, wireless phone charging, and a 17-speaker Burmester sound system with Dolby Atmos 4D sound are also standard - the latter being a clever feature that positions different elements of the audio, usually music, to give a 360-degree feeling, as well as turning bassier tones into a physical vibration via “tactile transducers” in each front seat’s backrest. Good for bassline junkies, then (apologies to Mr. Rascal).

With the $9400 'Plus Package', the E-Class also comes with 'Airmatic' suspension and rear-axle steering (which I’ll touch more on later), power-closing doors, 'Urban Guard' to monitor your vehicle while it’s parked, an illuminated grille up front, a more capable version of the MBUX 'Interior Assistant', four-zone climate control and Mercedes’ 'Digital Light' function, which uses the more-than one-million pixels in the headlights to project onto the road or surface in front of you when turning the car off or in driving situations to alert road users of potential danger.

A $6200 'Energising Package' adds multicontour front seats with comfort headrests, upgraded climate controls with 'Air-Balance' and fragrances, upgraded seat heating with armrest heating for the front occupants and heated seats for the rear.

Underneath the power bulge bonnet is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo in-line six-cylinder petrol engine known as the 'Hurricane'.

Sharing just five per cent of its parts with Jeep’s version, the Rebel uses the Standard Output (SO) tune, meaning this Euro 5-rated direct-injection unit delivers a heady 313kW of power at 5200rpm and 635Nm of torque at 3500rpm.

The High Output (HO) in the Limited, on the other hand, ups the ante with 403kW and 707Nm.

Compared to the old 291kW/556Nm 5.7L Hemi V8, the Hurricane SO lacks its evocative exhaust burble and effortless low-down grunt, but the figures don’t fib: 7.6 per cent more power and 14.2 per cent more torque.

Tipping the scales at 2615kg, the Rebel returns an impressive 120kW/tonne (versus 109kW/tonne for the V8), resulting in a 0-100km/h sprint-time of just 6.0 seconds, according to Ram (HO: 5.3s). That the Hurricane weighs nearly 60kg less than the Hemi helps.

Torque is sent to either the rear wheels in 2WD mode or all four wheels in 4WD mode via an eight-speed torque-converter auto, that Ram evocatively calls ‘TorqueFlite’ – memories of old Aussie Chrysler Valiants here.

A full-time on-demand transfer case is fitted, offering '2WD High', '4WD Auto' and '4WD High/Low' along with a locking rear differential.

As with all 1500s, there are wishbones up front and the rear axle is a coil-sprung rather than leaf-spring set-up.

This lone E-Class variant is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine pumping out 190kW and 400Nm, assisted by a 48-volt battery system. Under EQ boost, an extra 17kW and 205Nm is available for a short time.

It’s hooked up to a nine-speed auto that drives the rear wheels, and it’s all pretty traditional… for 2024, that is.

Mercedes says the E300 is able to hit 100km/h in a respectable 6.3 seconds.

Ram says the Rebel returns a combined average of 10.7L/100km, which translates to about 283 grams/km of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s a small improvement over the Hemi V8’s 12.2L/100km and 325g/km figures, aided by stop/start tech. But stirring performance, rather than outright economy are the priorities here, according to Ram.

Brimming the big 98-litre fuel tank with 91 RON standard unleaded petrol should see a theoretical average range between refills of 916km.

Mercedes claims the E-Class drinks 7.2L/100km on the combined cycle, and though we weren’t able to test that properly at the pump on the launch program, the trip computer showed up to 9.4L/100km after some quite spirited driving, which gradually averaged out to about 8.6L/100km in the afternoon once some more calm, E-Class-appropriate distance had been covered.

With its 50L fuel tank, the E-Class should theoretically be able to cover 694km on a single tank if the 7.2L/100km is achieved, though realistically it would be much less, 550-600km depending on driving style.

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Hemi V8 lover and dread the notion that a mere ‘six’ has taken its place in the Ram 1500 – and particularly in the sporty off-road Rebel we have here – then a rethink may be in order.

That’s because, in the spirit of iconic sixes of the past, including Ford Australia’s legendary Barra in the Falcon and Territory, the Ram’s Hurricane should blow any scepticism clear away.

And it’s all in the delivery.

Smooth and sophisticated, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six idles with a muted rumble at start-up, but then roars off the line with an unexpected and prolonged burst of hungry acceleration.

And the power piles on effortlessly as the revs rise, with the auto seamlessly shifting through each ratio without putting a foot wrong.

Reflecting the interior design’s overall cohesiveness, the powertrain possesses a sophistication that’s far beyond what a big American truck ought to have.

That’s in 'Normal' mode. Choosing 'Sport' ups the stakes, as it also seems to stymie the stability/traction control intervention. Throttle response is noticeably sharper and more urgent, but other than the opportunity to more-easily break traction whilst getting to licence-losing speeds slightly quicker, there seemed little sense in staying in Sport.

This is a very fast ute as it is, and also an enjoyable one to drive, with a level of nuance at odds with its excessive proportions.

Even on wet and windy back roads the Rebel feels connected and controlled at speed.

The steering is appropriately weighted, with a sufficient amount of response for the driver to push on with confidence when taking corners quickly.

Remember, this is a 2.6-tonne-plus full-sized ute on off-road-biased tyres, yet getting into a rhythm and flow with the road is easy. Yes, you feel the mass, but the 1500 also feels taut and secure. And you’re not constantly harangued by over-zealous driver-assist systems going off all the time.

The wishbone front/coil-sprung rear suspension set-up must take much of the credit here, smothering bumps and tracing the groove of the road without jolting or stepping out of line.

Comfortable and quiet, there is a sense of isolation from the outside world that, incongruously perhaps, is in league with better premium SUVs. Again, this is a big American pick-up, remember.

On a few downhill twisty bits, the driver of course feels the shift in mass, but deft handling, adequate grip (great for off-road tyres) and effective brakes mean the Rebel doesn't break a sweat, even through puddles blanketing the bitumen.

Downsides? Well, it's still a large, lumbering truck to drive and park, with an inevitably massive turning circle to make heavy work of manoeuvring this beast around. Regular car park spots are almost always too small.

There's some wind noise rustling around the large exterior mirrors. And a bit of road noise coming through over certain coarser surfaces.

Overall, though, the Rebel behaves way-better than expected – and you don’t often get a chance to say that about a ute. Rapid, refined and engaging from behind the wheel, it is the best-driving full-sized US pick-up by some margin.

What V8!

That’s on road. We also had a brief off-road stint in the Rebel at the ex-Holden proving ground at Lang Lang, and we were pretty impressed with the ability and ease demonstrated over some short but demanding rough-track sections.

We doubt – at nearly $150K – that most buyers will go bush-bashing in this, but it’s good to know the hardware is there underneath to get you through.

While the E-Class has taken fairly sizeable steps in terms of its tech, it remains a fairly traditional car from behind the wheel, save for a few small changes like its mild-hybrid system and rear-wheel steering.

It’s still a petrol-powered rear-drive sedan, and it feels built more for eating up highway kilometres than it does tackling twisty turns. But that’s okay, because it will still do the latter.

Comfort is the main focus, clearly, for the E300, and the big Merc does it well. We weren’t offered a car without Airmatic air suspension on the launch, but the E-Class doesn’t seem like it would be particularly rough without it.

With it, however, large bumps and minor road annoyances only make their way into the cabin in the sense that you’re aware of them, but not bothered by them.

That slight dulling of feedback does extend to the steering wheel however, where, despite the rear-wheel steering making the car more nimble, the feedback to the driver is less encouraging of eager driving. 

While 190kW on paper doesn’t seem like enough, the E-Class makes do with its meagre engine quite well - and even though it can seem like it’s working a bit too hard at times, the E-Class’ natural state isn’t responding to a planted foot, so it’s unlikely to be a daily bother.

Engine noise, as well as wind and road noise are suitably dulled by the E300’s NVH fitout, too.

The tuning of its drive modes, in particular Comfort and Sport, seemed well-judged on our drive loop, with the option to set the 'Individual' mode to a custom configuration, most elements in Comfort while the drivetrain is set to Sport is particularly helpful when on gentle, high-speed country roads.

If you do start to approach the limits of the big sedan’s capability, it’ll let you know fairly early on. The heavy E-Class isn’t prone to sudden lurching or poor handling, and isn’t much phased by mid-corner bumps.

It’s not as dynamically engaging as some rivals, particularly the 5 Series, but it does appear to be a better provider of cross-country comfort.

ANCAP hasn’t had a go at crash-testing the E-Class yet, and it might not given the relatively small number that will be sold here compared to volume models, but Mercedes’ track record with safety is pretty stellar, and it’s extremely rare for a Mercedes to not cop the maximum five stars.

In the new E300 there are 11 airbags - plenty for a sedan. Mercedes lists front airbags, knee bags and pelvic/thorax airbags for the driver and front passenger, side bags for the rear and a front centre airbag.

It also comes with a fairly extensive suite of safety tech, including the usual ABS, lane-keep assist, blind spot monitoring and surround-view parking cameras.

But on top of that, there’s also ‘Evasive Steering Assist’, semi-automated cruise control with sign recognition, distance assist for following leading vehicles and can even project light arrows onto the road if leaving your lane, when 'Digital Lights' are optioned.

The E-Class also has a function if an imminent collision is detected in which it can, depending on the type of collision, take occupant protection measures. In the case of a side-on collision, the E-Class can “move an affected front occupant towards the centre of the car” before impact.

Ram drops the ball when it comes to warranty.

That’s because, like GMSV’s Silverado range, it only offers a three-year, 100,000km warranty with roadside assistance, which falls short of the rival Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra’s five-year/unlimited kilometre coverage.

In an era where Chinese rivals are rolling out utes with seven-year schemes, Ram's (and GMSV's) warranty is severely lacking.

Service intervals are at every 12 months or 12,000km, and there is currently no capped-price servicing on offer.

The E-Class comes with Mercedes’ fairly industry standard five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, though Mercedes-Benz Australia was unable to confirm exact servicing pricing on the launch. 

It does however list pricing for the E-Class on its website for a three-service pack at $3325, four at $4535, and five at $6800, the latter averaging out to $1360 each.

This could increase with the new generation car, and Mercedes doesn’t list estimated serving pricing for new E-Classes yet in its booking system (I checked with one of the test cars).

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 25,000km, whichever comes first.