2021 RAM 1500 vs 2022

What's the difference?

The Ram 1500 Limited is refined, comfortable and practical, with a real luxurious look and feel about it, inside and out.

It has truckloads of grunt, plenty of tech, and it drives like no ute has ever driven before – well, nothing I've steered around anyway. it really has set the gold standard for full-size pick-up trucks in Australia, but for the hefty price-tag you'd certainly hope it does.

This big purpose-built ute is very impressive on-road and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes off-road, as well as with towing duties – and, rest assured, we have those reviews in the pipeline.

It’s big, and it’s good. Helping out my mates who needed to move their tiny house was a great excuse to spend a week in the newer Ram 1500 DT Laramie, and the vehicle I drove was impressive in many, many ways.

Just keep in mind that if you’re shopping for one, you need to make sure it has the safety gear fitted. Otherwise it’s a far less compelling tow truck than it could otherwise be.

The Ram 1500 is 5916mm long (with a 3672mm wheelbase), 2474mm wide, and 1972mm tall. It has a listed kerb weight of 2749kg.

It is a big, imposing vehicle but it carries its size well. It looks a lot sportier and outdoorsy than the previous generations, now designated Classics, and it feels very premium inside.

From the front to the back, this ute has just the right amount of chunky presence, but its design, with so many practical elements onboard, is the real impressive feat here.

Don’t take my word for it – check out the accompanying photos and make up your own mind.

Particularly impressive though is the tub and how it’s been optimised for greater load-space versatility.

In the Limited, the space inside the panel over each rear wheel arch is now RamBox side storage, offering 210 litres of drainable, cargo space, with a 230-volt power outlet.

A tri-fold soft tonneau cover protects the tub, which is 1712mm long (at floor level with tailgate closed), and 543mm deep. Cargo volume is listed as 1.5 cubic metres.

The tub has an LED load-space light, a grippy tub liner, and the RamBox cargo-management system’s moveable cargo-separation barrier/tub divider, which can be removed and placed either further back or forward in the tub to suit your load-carrying requirements.

The tub has four fixed tie-down points in the tub wall and four adjustable tie-down points along the bed-rail (just blow the tub’s top edge) and these can be slid back and forth, again to suit your load-carrying requirements.

The tub also has a handy pop-out rear step, but use your foot/boot to open and close it, don’t be tempted to use your hand to push it back closed, because that is a serious pinch point between the step as it’s closing and the bottom edge of the vehicle.

The tailgate is central locking, can be lowered via the key fob and is fully damped / assisted.

I mentioned above the Laramie (and Limited above it) have auto side steps. These are brilliant - they fold down when you open the door, and back up a few seconds after you close it. Seems really smart, and negates the need for low-slung numbers that you’ll damage off road. Just remember them when you’re parked somewhere that the might bottom out, though.

The Ram 1500 we had included the Rambox feature, a pair of covered, secure, and lockable storage pods at the sides of the tub, and they offer 210 litres of storage. Those boxes are clever in that they have LED lighting, a powerpoint, and can be drained - meaning the uses for them are many and varied.

The 5’7” tub, as Ram calls it, is good for 1712mm of bed length, 1687mm of cargo width (and a pallet-swallowing 1295mm between the wheel arches) and the tub is 543mm deep. 

Sounds like it’s set up for a big load. And big, physically, sure. But big in terms of weight? Maybe not - the payload is just 779kg with the Rambox version of the ute (833kg without).

However, the Ram 1500 - like most other North American market trucks - is designed to tow, and with a 70mm towball fitted as our ute had, the maximum towing capacity is 4500kg.

So, a Ram 1500 with Ramboxes has a kerb weight of 2671kg, and we were aiming to tow a tiny house at almost 4500kg. That takes a big bite out of the maximum gross combination mass of 7713kg. But with about 540kg up our sleeve, it wasn’t our intent to load up the cabin to capacity. I drove the truck by myself meaning I still had more than 440kg to play with.  

The Ram 1500 is packed full of features that have real-world practical applications inside and out, and we’ll crash-tackle a fair few of them right here.

Firstly, it is a massive interior, so there is ample room for numerous and well-thought-out storage spaces, among them an impressive full-length centre console (with sliding storage with Bombay door and wrapped leather lid), and a big fold-down centre console in the back seat, as well as the usual door pockets and cupholders (two upfront, two in the rear centre console), and a glovebox.

Secondly, it is a comfortable interior. All seats are partial premium leather and all are heated and ventilated, except the centre seat in the back – poor him/her/them.

There is a soft-touch surface seemingly everywhere you look and touch, even the sections that look like they’re able to cop a real bashing during real day-to-day life are premium.

The front seats are comfy bucket seats with plenty of support, and both are 10-way power-adjustable with memory settings. The rear is a 60/40 stadium-style folding bench with manual recline. The back row of seats can be folded back – one or all – to open up a generous load space in that section.

Thirdly, it is a user-friendly interior. The 12.0-inch portrait-style touchscreen dominates upfront, and it is very easy to use, with split-screen functionality and navigation. 

The 7.0-inch multi-view six-gauge driver information display is also clear and simple to operate on the fly.

The cabin has five USB charging points, four USB-C points and a wireless charging pad.

The huge power sunroof above can be opened for light only or for fresh air as well, and the cabin’s rear window has a centre panel that power-slides open and shut.

Have you ever booked a place on AirBNB, arrived there and gone, “wow, this is heaps bigger than it looks from the outside!”?

Well, don’t expect that vibe from the Ram 1500, because it’s huge on the outside, and it’s still suitably large inside, too. There’s certainly no chance you’re going to feel cramped, with plenty of space for five adults in the cabin.

If you have children there are ISOFIX child-seat anchors and a top-tether attachment, and I fit in my 11-month-old’s rearward facing seat and there was ample space ahead of it for taller front-seat passengers.

Between the front seats there is a multifaceted storage box. The top compartment opens for a document box and it has a neat measuring tape/protractor emblazoned on it, and below that there is a shelf with cup holders that can be slid fore and aft, above a massive storage well that would easily be filled with too much junk if I owned this truck.

Then there’s the charge port section, with a wireless phone charger, a dock section to park your phone/s. As mentioned in the spec section, there are USB and USB-C ports everywhere in this rig.

The 12.0-inch touchscreen is in portrait orientation, and does take some learning. It’s a big, crisp display with good usability once you get to know it, but I wish the smartphone mirroring software went bigger than just half the screen. When you have your phone mirroring on, you can select what you want the bottom screen ‘card’ to be - it was climate, for me. 

Either side of the screen there are knobs (tuning and volume), buttons (fan, temperature, recirculate, de-mister) and there’s a nice “Screen Off” button, which is great when you just want to focus on the road.

The rotary dial gear selector near the driver’s left knee is easy to get to grips with, and happily there’s an electronic park brake. 

Storage in the doors is good, with drink holders abounding, and in the back there is a section under the floor known as the Ram Bin, a hidden storage box which would be good for wet gear. 

Back seat riders get plethora USB ports and directional air vents, as well as map pockets and the back windshield has an opening centre section as well.

With dual-cab utes commanding crazy prices and four-wheel drive SUVs seeing costs go crazy, a list price of $128,850 (plus on-road costs) for a Ram 1500 Laramie with Ramboxes actually doesn’t seem that big of an ask, even if it’s $4000 more than what you would have paid earlier this year. 

After all, this isn’t your average work truck. In fact, it’s such a primo piece of kit, the Ram 1500 has won awards for being the best luxury vehicle on the market in the US. Seriously.

Some of that must come down to the standard equipment list, which is extensive, and includes: 20-inch wheels, LED headlights, power side steps, part-leather seat trim, 5x USB ports and 4x USB-C ports, a wireless phone charger, 12.0-inch touchscreen media system, 19-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, 7.0-inch driver info cluster, sat nav, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and more.

It’s pretty loaded for the money, but one massive consideration you need to keep in mind: buyers who choose a Ram 1500 Laramie at the moment will miss out on a range of standard safety gear that the previous version came with due to the global semiconductor shortage.

All the following items are now missing, but were fitted to the vehicle I tested: pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping assist, trailer sensing technology, a 360-degree surround view camera, and auto parking technology that are all now missing from the Laramie.

Premium paint - so, all colours but the Bright White you see here - adds $950 to the price.

The DT series variants have the Ram’s 5.7-litre Hemi petrol V8 engine – 291kW at 5600rpm and 556Nm at 3950rpm – but this time, as well as cylinder-deactivation tech, which switches off cylinders when they’re not required, these all-new RAM 1500 Laramie and Limited variants have an eTorque mild hybrid system aimed at improving fuel efficiency and all-round drivability. This system combines a belt-drive motor generator unit with a 48-volt battery pack engineered to enable the vehicle’s start/stop function and provide short-term torque assist, and it is regenerated via vehicle braking. 

The Ram 1500 has an eight-speed automatic transmission and a full-time on-demand 4WD system.

You bet there’s a big old honking V8 under the hood. It’s a 5.7-litre HEMI V8 petrol engine, producing 291kW at 5600rpm and 556Nm at 3950rpm.

As you can see by those power figures, this isn’t a low-down grunt fest like some diesel utes, but the power is surprisingly usable thanks to a clever eight-speed automatic transmission. 

Power goes to all four wheels via an electric full-time 4WD system, and there are different modes to drive it in - 2WD high for normal on-road driving, 4WD Auto if you want the truck to do the thinking for you, 4WD high for dedicated four-wheel driving (low traction surfaces), and low-range 4WD for more serious, slow-speed off-road driving.

The Ram 1500 engine features fuel-saving cylinder deactivation tech, and you’ll see the benefit of that when the motor is under lower loads.

The Ram 1500 Limited has an official fuel consumption of 12.2L/100km on a combined cycle.

On test, we recorded fuel consumption of 13.9L/100km.

The Ram 1500 Limited has a 98-litre fuel tank.

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 12.2 litres per 100 kilometres, and the Ram 1500 will run on 91RON regular unleaded. 

In our testing, I did the maths on the towing leg, and without a load in tow. 

First, the regular running around, including more than a hundred kays of open road and urban testing - I saw a real-world consumption figure, at the pump, of 13.8L/100km.

With the load in tow, including a fair bit of slow-speed manoeuvring, without any long-distance highway driving, and sticking below 80km/h, I measured a return of 30.0L/100km.

Living with this big unit is good fun and that starts even before you start the engine. 

When you open the doors, the electric side steps* auto-deploy for your ease of entry – but make sure you don’t smack your shins on them! – and then they return to their resting place once all doors are closed. (* The auto-deploy electric side steps are standard on the Limited, but an option on the Laramie.)

Ground clearance is listed as 217mm (front axle) and 221mm (rear axle). It’s worth noting that the Ram’s air suspension can be lowered by 51mm below its normal ride height to help passengers get in and out of it or, if you’re tackling some tough 4WD-only terrain, it can be raised by up to 51mm above that normal ride height to help the Ram get through serious terrain. I wasn’t doing any off-roading this time so was happy to leave the ute to automatically settle at its own programmed height for optimised aerodynamics. With this aerodynamic goal an aim, the steps tuck away automatically once the doors are closed, as mentioned, and the Ram grille shutters close while this big ol’ US of A ute is on the move.

Before you head off though, you can then dial-in your driving position with pinpoint precision as the steering wheel is reach and rake adjustable and the driver’s seat is 10-way power adjustable with memory settings. Nice.

There’s a welcoming rumble from the 5.7-litre Hemi petrol V8 when you fire it up, but that’s kept to a low-level backing track due to a cabin that’s so well-insulated from any noise, vibration and harshness that you feel like you’re cocooned for the entire duration of your travels.

The steering is well-weighted and, at just under six metres long, just under two metres tall and weighing in at 2749kg, the Ram 1500 is a surprisingly nimble beast, always feeling highly manouvrable even when suburban streets become a little bit congested with parked cars and through traffic.

The Ram’s sheer bulk and 3672mm-long wheelbase add to that feeling of total and consistent stability.

Visibility is plentiful, and the driver’s position is commanding as the Ram sits high.

The Hemi and six-speed auto is an unfussed combination, never stressed, and consistently produces an even-handed delivery of power and torque (291kW and 556Nm) across a wide rev range. 

There’s plenty of punchy go about the V8 from a stop-start and while on the move for overtaking but, better still, this ute simply trucks along on the open road, no doubt with that aforementioned cylinder-deactivation tech, switching off cylinders when they’re not required to reduce fuel consumption, doing its bit when needed.

Ride and handling are superbly well sorted, with coils springs all-round, as well as that finely calibrated air suspension set-up yielding a comfortable experience for driver and passengers. 

The DT Series has a 701kg payload, 750kg (unbraked towing capacity), 4500kg (braked towing capacity, with a 70mm ball), a 3450kg (Gross Vehicle Mass), and a Gross Combined Mass of 7713kg.

I’m looking forward to load-testing and towing with the Ram 1500.

Easy to live with, and surprisingly easy to drive… provided you’re not stuck somewhere that the lanes are tiny, the parking spaces are a joke and you don’t have too many tight roundabouts to concern yourself with.

It’s big. You can’t escape that fact. But it has a solid footprint on the road, and you might be surprised just how manageable it feels from the driver’s seat.

The steering is light. In fact, at times I felt it was a bit too light, especially on the highway. It responds quicker to inputs at pace than you might expect, though you still need to have a bit of arm-twirling at parking pace to pilot it into position, with a 14.08m turning circle making it a bit of a monster to park. 

That makes the move to remove the auto-parking system a little more annoying for those who aren’t confident parkers… But if you’re not confident parking, you’re unlikely to be driving something quite this large. 

The ride is something else. Having coil springs at all four corners (the rear is a five-link, solid axle, coil spring setup) means this truck doesn’t drive like one. It’s far more considered in the way it hits bumps and recovers from them, though nothing can hide the bulky nature of those 20-inch chrome wheels, which can exhibit a notable thump over sharp edges.

The V8 engine and eight-speed auto team really well together, with a nice free-revving nature that allows quick acceleration and quite a soundtrack, too. I had no real issues with the powertrain at all, but some people might find the switch to four-cylinder mode a bit unnerving, as it can sound like the engine is misfiring.

I really liked driving it. I didn’t load up the tub, because that’s not what the job called for. Instead, we put it to the test towing a tiny (not so tiny) house.

There is no ANCAP crash test rating for the Ram 1500 range. Normally, I’d say that a truck with all the active safety gear that the Laramie previously had fitted as standard was on its way to benchmark-setting levels of equipment.

However, due to the semiconductor shortage and the subsequent removal of potentially life-saving technology like pedestrian detection, surround view camera, active lane keeping, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, I would be suggesting you think twice about committing more than $130,000 on the road to a vehicle missing so much stuff.

The worst part? Ram’s Australian operations could not confirm when the 1500 Laramie would be reinstated with all the important equipment at the time of writing.

Until the brand adds that stuff back in, you’d best be considering stepping up to the Limited spec, if you can bear the $20,100 price hike up to that trim level.

The 2021 Ram 1500 DT is in showrooms now, and comes with a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Roadside assist is for three years/100,000km, and service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 12,000km.

More disappointment here. The Ram 1500 warranty cover is just three years/100,000km, making the brand one of the last in Australia with such a level of cover.

That duration is the same for roadside assist, included at no cost.

Servicing? 12 months/12,000km, whichever comes first - again, well below industry expectations. And there’s no capped-price servicing plan, either.