The first thing you’re going to think when you see the new 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 in your rearview mirror is, “How do I get out of the way?”
Dodge has taken an already aggressive design and put it on steroids.
Love it or hate it, the front leaves no doubt in your mind that this is a truck.
Side views are mellower, but not much. The huge wheel wells can make regular-sized tires look puny, so the sport package option adds 20 inch alloy rims – if you know the right codes you can get steel wheels – and tires under the truck, which fills the gap nicely.
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Unless you park old next to new, you will probably never pick up on the changes designers have made to the truck’s proportions. Quad cabs are roughly 14 centimetres longer than in the past and the back of the short box pickup has been changed to make better use of the space.
Up front, the windshield rake has been increased to improve airflow over the cab. How air goes over the front affects how it leaves over the back and with this new design, there is little if any fuel economy improvement by removing the tailgate.
Better airflow also means a quieter cab. There is a tiny bit of wind noise from the mirrors, but most of the time the murmur of road noise from the tires drowns it out.
Noise varies with road surface – gravel being the loudest.
The noise in the fenders from rocks is almost non-existent. I don’t know if that is because of improved sound deadening in the fender area or if the 20-inch tires just don’t pitch as many stones.
Running boards are a must-have option. The door sill on the 4 X 4 is a touch higher than my knees. Without running boards, I had to use the grab handle on the A pillar to hike myself into the seat.
My wife thought I should get one of those old step stools that conductors used on trains so she could get in. The only one who didn’t seem to care was my 6 foot 3 inch teenager.
All seat areas are comfortable. Up front is a 40/20/40 bench seat. It’s set up so it looks like two buckets with a huge centre arm rest and has a large range of power adjustments on the driver side and manual adjustments on the passenger side.
The steering column and foot pedals can also be adjusted.
In the back seat, passengers can enjoy the extra 14 cm of space. Leg, knee and head room are all good enough to keep my teenager happy.
On the option list is a “steel floor” seat back. When you fold the seat cushion out, there is a corrugated panel on the bottom that provides a surface for loads such as tools.
Similarly, the seat back can fold down, providing an industrial quality storage area without having to remove the seat.
Making its debut in the 2002 Ram is a new 4.7 litre V8 and a new four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission.
This new single overhead cam engine puts out 240 horsepower and 295 pound feet of torque. The transmission is calibrated to make the best use of the new engine’s torque output.
This engine will be standard on Quad Cab 4 X 4s and the old 5.9 L will be the optional engine.
The old hydraulically operated transmission will be used behind the 5.9, so shifting quality between the two units should be noticeably different.
Going for a drive requires a sense of adventure and a rather deep wallet. The truck seems like it can go almost anywhere and keep you comfortable. At 79.9 cents per litre, filling the gas tank is close to $75.
I got an average of 16 L to 100 kilometres, but if I work at it I can probably get closer to Dodge’s official rating of 12.9 L per 100 km for highway use.
The trick is to keep it out of passing gear, which skyrockets fuel consumption past 75 L per 100 km.
The Ram Quad Cab starts at $30,365. My test unit was $40,020. It included expensive things like the customer preferred group at $2,455 and the sport group at $1,460. The new automatic will set you back an additional $1,215.
I am impressed with the new Ram and can hardly wait until later in 2002 when the 2500 and 3500 series will be updated.
