Dodge has released pricing on their 2012 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Compressed Natural Gas pickup truck, starting at $47,500 including a $995 destination charge.
The Dodge Ram 2500 HD CNG will go head-to-head with the recently announced Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD Pickups with CNG capability. The Ram 2500 HD CNG will be available as a crew cab 4×4 model in either SL or SLT trim level.
Chrysler also announced that the CNG-only range on the Ram 2500 HD will be around 255 miles and the backup supply of gasoline will allow it to travel an additional 367 miles. Under the hood of the Ram HD CNG is a 5.7L Hemi V8 with compressed gas storage tanks and an eight-gallon backup gasoline tank. The truck will automatically switch from CNG to gasoline once the CNG tanks are emptied.
While CNG does offer significant savings, it’s worth mentioning that there are only about 1,500 CNG fueling stations in the US – and only half of those are accessible to the public. If you think remembering which local gas station has diesel is a pain, CNG might not be a great option for you.
Comparatively speaking, the base 2012 Ram 2500 ST crew cab 4×4 with a 5.7L Hemi V8 starts at $36,300. So there is over a $10,000 premium to fetch yourself a CNG variant, while you’ll save about $1.25 per gallon equivalent of gas when using CNG. Worth it? That’s up to you.
Another quarter has gone by, and our Ram continues to be a favorite vehicle of the staff. Whether it’s the exceptional highway range, great ride, sizable cabin, or seamless Hemi power, everyone has found a reason to like this truck.
During our testing, we have loaded up the bed, used it as a commuter, and taken the family on road trips, but the one thing we haven’t done with the Ram until this quarter was tow with it. In the rush to get Project ‘Con Artist finished before the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab we had to shuttle the Jeep between shops, and this gave us the chance to hook up our Carson trailer and do some testing.
With nearly 9,000 pounds in tow, the 5.7L Hemi worked flawlessly, with more than enough power to get the load up to freeway speeds. We found the Ram to be very stable, with nicely weighted steering and plenty of brake reserve. The rear link-coil suspension helps the Ram track straight and makes it less susceptible to the chassis being upset by crosswinds or larger vehicles passing on the highway.
Depressing the Tow/Haul button activates the Electronic Range Select, which allows the driver to limit the highest gear available from the transmission and locks out multi-displacement. We tried towing with and without Tow/Haul selected, and favored the extra control and firmer shifting of the Tow/Haul mode.
Not only does Ram offer four- and seven-pin trailer connectors, but the connectors are mounted high in the bumper and thus protected from being damaged.
Our TRX4 came standard with the Trailer Sway Control (TSC) feature, which we were able to experience when we loaded the trailer with a little too much rear weight bias. When trailer sway is detected, TSC activates individual brakes on alternating sides and/or reduces engine power until the trailer returns to its normal state. Our truck performed as advertised by bringing the load back into check safely and quickly. With the trailer hooked up, we recorded a favorable 12 mpg in mixed driving and about 13 mpg on the highway.
Something worth mentioning, especially at max trailer weight: The coil springs are more sensitive to tongue weight than a leaf-sprung truck. However, with a properly loaded trailer, the Ram didn’t display any ill manners.
Towing also enlightened us as to another use for the awesome and lockable Ram Boxes-holding all of our towing gear and making the trailer tie-downs, hitch, and gloves easily accessible. No more climbing on the trailer and in and out of the bed to retrieve our gear, or dirty tools rolling around the back of the cab.
Our only real complaints this quarter are an intermittent key fob issue that sometimes requires several attempts to unlock the truck, and a stubborn Bluetooth system that, no matter how many times we set the iPhone as the primary phone, almost always defaults to the BlackBerry. Perhaps the software developer wasn’t a fan of Apple?
We’ve been fans of the new Ram since it first came out. With only one more quarter of testing to go, we’ll be sorry to see this one go back.
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