Ram with a Hemi makes for a fun power trip

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – I was confused just reading the window sticker.

It said I was getting into a 2018 Ram 1500 Limited Crew Cab 4X4 pickup truck.  In other spot, it said the vehicle was a 2018 Ram 1500 Longhorn Crew Cab 4X4. Oh, and I got the “Limited Tungsten Edition” suite of goodies as well.  Tungsten all around, I tell you.

Bottom line, no matter what you call this truck: It certainly is big. A visual beast for the eyes.

It looked capable of toting a Longhorn cattle herd in the back bed, so I cheerfully vaulted myself up into the cockpit seat and fired it up.

I noticed that I was surrounded by a ridiculous number of extra perks: heated steering wheel, heated second-row seats, power sunroof, leather everywhere and so on.

That explains the $63,525 bottom line on the sticker, I thought.  A real Cowboy Cadillac, this Ram.

I was still taking it all in when I hit the gas on the uphill entrance ramp for the freeway.  My Ram pickup took off like scalded cat, roaring up the ramp and easily slipping into an open space at an effortless 70 miles per hour.

OK, that was worth the price of admission.

The tester was outfitted with a top-of-the-line 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 producing about 400 horsepower and a like number of foot-pounds of torque.  So powerful was the tester that I constantly felt like I was motoring way over the speed limit.

It turns out that I was doing just that.

Yes, it was a rush ... That much truck moving that quickly through traffic with seemingly little pressure on the accelerator.

Can you get hooked on that?  Yes, you can.

There is a price to pay on the fuel side.  The tester’s fuel economy ratings were a dreadful 15 miles per gallon in the city and 21 mpg on the highway.

I didn’t care.  I had a super-fun week putting the big brute through its paces, comforted a bit by the strong federal government safety ratings for the 2018 Ram pickup.

To be sure, Ram has rolled out a new and improved 2019 version of the Ram 1500 just barely in 2018.  It will have a basic Ram 1500 starting price of less than $32,000.

Does it have the HEMI engine option?  Yes it does.

I’m excited already.