2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab SLT

A guy is towing a 1960s Dodge Charger on a trailer behind a new Dodge Ram Heavy Duty pickup. Two scruffy characters in a '60s Plymouth Barracuda pull up next to him at a light. "Hey," asks one, "That thing got a Hemi—"


The light changes, the Cuda takes off, and the truck and trailer out-accelerate it to the next light. The guys in the Cuda are stunned.


"Did you mean the Charger—" asks the Ram driver, gesturing back at the musclecar on his trailer. (Slack-jawed nods from the Cuda.) "'Cause, you know, that's got a Hemi, too."

Controls and instruments are attractive and easy to see, reach and operate.

And so goes the amusing ad for Dodge's new Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks, billed as the most powerful heavy-duty pickups on the market. The all-new 5.7-liter, 345-hp "HEMI Magnum" V-8 comes standard in both and will soon be a $795 option in the new-for-'02 standard 1500 pickup. It makes an impressive 365 lb.-ft. of torque and provides best-in-class acceleration and towing (18,000 lb. GCWR) capability, according to Dodge,


If that's not enough, there's an optional all-new 5.9-liter 6-cylinder Cummins diesel, which—in high-output turbocharged form—pumps out a peak 305 horsepower and 555 lb.-ft. of stump-pulling torque, enough to tow up to 23,000 lbs. and possibly break free of Earth's gravitational pull. Or you can choose the 8.0-liter Magnum V-10—a toned-down truck version of the potent Viper sports-car engine—good for 305 horses and a somewhat more modest 440 lb.-ft. of torque.