2009 Dodge Ram RT Review

PickupTrucks.com takes a look at the 2009 Dodge Ram RT and interviews Mike ACCavitti and Mike Cairns from Dodge about the RT.

2009 Dodge Ram RT Review Michael Levine: This is Michael Levine form PickupTrucks.com and we’re here at the 2009 Chrysler media live preview to take a look at the 2009 Dodge Ram RT. We’re going to talk to Mike Accavitti who is responsible for Dodge and SRT marketing and also Mike Cairns who’s the chief engineer on the Dodge Ram. So Mike why don’t you go ahead and walk us through the new Ram RT model? Mike Accavitti: Well, what we did when we set out the new Dodge Ram lineup is we wanted to make sure that we had a truck for those buckets of customers that put a preference on one thing or another. So for the off road guys, we got out TRX model. For the on road guys, we have our sport model and for the guys that really want to go fast and gals, we have the RT model which is the fast pickup truck that me make. It’s a short box configuration. It’s kind of a one size fits all, five hemi liter engine. Mike’s going to talk here about some of the technical innovations that go into the product that allow us to make the claim it’s the fastest pickup truck that we have and we’re offering kind of attitude adjustment. It’s got a special look, it’s a real in-your-face kind of a design package and it’s a kind of truck that when you and I were in high school, that’s the kind of truck that we kind of aspire to that we thought “Hey, this is a really cool truck”. So that’s kind of what we’re going to after with this dual exhaust standard pick up truck. Michael Levine: Excellent and I noticed we’ve got this really bright RT badge here. Any other changes that are going to separate this truck or is this kind of the stealth truck that you can show up at a stop light? Mike Accavitti: That’s really. You know we can show up last and take off first or you know that’s kind of what we’re after with this. What we find is that the customers that wanted this truck, they do want to keep it a little bit under the radar screen. They don’t want it in-your-face super loud truck. They could customize it and personalize it however they want but what we wanted to offer them from the factory was that little special model differentiator which is that big RT badge in that front grill and that’s really going to let the people know what that means. Michael Levine: Let’s talk to Mike Cairns. Mike, you’re the chief engineer on this truck. So tell us what makes an RT an RT. Mike Cairns: Well of course, any great sport truck starts with a great power train. So we start with a new next generation hemi 5.7 liter hemi 390 horsepower, 407 foot pounds of torque. Now, for the RT model specifically, we put a special torque converter tuned to this model that helps translate that power to the wheels. We’ve also gone with the dual exhaust setup that specifically tuned for this RT model. Internally, we call it the aggressive dual exhaust because you got a treat sound and it allows a little back pressure which allows us to take the advantage of that great hemi horsepower. The other great thing is of course the standard cap short box configuration coupled with out new rear suspension in the 09 Rams, the new link core rear suspension give this truck not just great power going forward. It is great stop light power but also great handling and that’s one of the thing makes this sport truck so much fun. Michael Levine: My understanding, the heart of this is the torque converter. Mike Cairns: Absolutely, when we got a special torque converter that allows less slip and less loss of energy and the reason we do that, it’s a little harsher for the transmission shifts which to the general market may not be acceptable but in a sport truck costumer wants very crisp shift patterns, so we also specifically tune the shift patterns to make it a very aggressive acceleration pattern. Michael Levine: And my understanding is we’re going to see this to zero to sixty in under six seconds. Mike Cairns: Exactly. Michael Levine: What I’m hearing is 5.9 seconds, is that an accurate— Mike Cairns: Well, my engineers are still—they wont give me the number because they know once they say they’re done, I’ll take the truck away, so they’re still doing the whole shacks and trying to get the best out of it but yeah, we’re definitely under six seconds and we’re looking to go to 5.9 at this point. So we’re really, really happy with that.