2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10

To haul this fast truck down, the brakes are enormous: 15-inch ventilated rotors in front, paired with modified Ram Heavy Duty TRW discs with 14-inch rotors in back. Red calipers peek through the alloys. Three-channel ABS is standard. A new front fascia, that's been extensively wind tunnel tested, incorporates a serious hood scoop and NASCAR Craftsman Series-inspired brake cooling ducts. Dodge's Craftsman Series truck experience also helped with this pickup's tuned aerodynamics. The rear wing is functional, providing not only a 165-lb. reduction in lift, but a reduction in drag, as well. If you need to use the bed, you can move the wing forward and stow it on the bed rails, behind the cab.


There are new struts, front and rear, and a big new rear sway bar. The truck has been lowered an inch in front, 2.5-inches in back. Other SRT-10-exclusive mods include a new front steering knuckle, shorter and stiffer performance tuned front springs, and modified rear leaf springs. In back, there's an extra Bilstein shock that's fitted between the frame and the rear axle. Dodge calls it a "power hop damper." When you nail the throttle, the rear end plants itself and you launch cleanly with virtually no wheel hop, despite all that pavement-melting, tire-twisting horsepower. The Dodge PVO team claims that the third shock setup "...will wrinkle slicks on an ET run."

Packing an 8.3-liter, 500-hp Viper V-10 engine, with a whopping 525 lb.-ft. of torque, the Ram SRT-10 is the fastest pickup on the market.

I don't care how hot a hot rodder you think you are, you couldn't build this truck as well as the PVO team did.


The interior is very slick, from the red Viper 'start' button, to a new gauge cluster with satin silver faced dials, a grippy, carbon-fiber-look wheel, a Hurst shifter that's angled to meet your hand, and a Viper shift knob. Heavily bolstered, race-inspired leather seats keep you centered. All that's missing is a proper 'dead pedal.' We're told they're looking at it. There's a custom Infinity 505 Watt stereo system, but the wooly exhaust note, from new "Hi-Flow" headers and a real side-by-side, twin pipe dual exhaust system is so cool on this bad boy, you won't want to turn the music on. Those musical pipes run right to the back and exit through twin outlets under the rear bumper.


Underway, except for the high seating position, you just won't believe you're in a truck. Dodge turned us loose on some twisty roads in Austin, Texas' hill country and told us to have at it. 500 hp is a trip, even when you're motivating some 5,150 pounds of truck. It's the best-handling, quickest truck we've ever driven. The SRT-10 plants its tail and flat boogies, with virtually no wheelspin and side-to-side sashaying. It gets down the road so fast, you'd think you were in a serious sports car. Even better, when you hit the toolies, you don't have to slow down. The big Ram straightens out tight turns with aplomb, and you corner with immense confidence. If you do have to stop, those big ventilated binders do the job, over and over again.