Truck lovers, I have a beauty for you this week! Feast your eyes on the 2025 Ram 1500 Rebel, a serious off-roader that doubles as a nice everyday truck. This truck is unique in that it’s not really a competitor to Ford Raptor, or even last year’s TRX. It falls somewhere in the middle, but it does fill a hole for certain truck gals and guys.
Note: This is a pre-production model that has not been certified by the Feds, so some information will be missing, but I wanted to get this to our listeners as soon as possible.
While this truck is outwardly very good looking with its 1” factory lift kit, Bilstein shocks, 33-inch tires and 18” wheels, the raised hood with air vents look terrific tells you this truck is tough and capable.
Click photos to enlarge.
You’ll also see huge tow hooks in the front, LED lighting, factory dual exhaust, and the 2025 sports a new grill that looks great. I absolutely love the big Rebel graphics on the rear area of each side.
Powertrain
The BIG NEWS, which I was very worried about, is what is under the hood? Gone is the Hemi engine I always loved, and it was replaced by the new 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight six-cylinder Hurricane engine. As we know, F-150 and Tundra have both gone to twin-turbo sixes with great success. The Hurricane is putting out 420-horses, an amazing 468 pound-feet of torque, and this engine is silky smooth. If you choose, you can go up to the High Output version and go to 540-horses, to which I say: OH YES!
For those mentally struggling with giving up a V8, get over yourself, progress has taken over. I’ve accepted it and embraced it, especially since the six-banger has 25 more horses and 58 more pound-feet of torque than the old Hemi did. It’s also smoother and more fuel-efficient, and this bad boy will tow 11,560 pounds! Who needs a Hemi?
The Ram Rebel for 2025 comes only in 4-wheel drive and it is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission with shift paddles on the steering wheel. It has pin-you-to-the-seat acceleration and I actually wish the engine was a little louder to go with the feel of the power, but the Ram trucks are whisper quiet inside, something I’ve said every single time I’ve reviewed one since 2010.
As you move to the inside, you see a huge interior that will comfortably, and I mean COMFORTABLY seat five adults. There is a large center console between the front seats that slides, and one thing I love about the Ram is the way the back seat folds up to reveal in-floor storage bins and rear seat passengers get their own air vents, USBs, and power outlet. Everything inside is soft-touch materials, and there is an abundance of stitching throughout the cabin.
The Rebel’s leather seats are embroidered with the Rebel insignia, they are very cushiony and wide and everything is easy to reach. Large 12.3” digital gauges are easy to read and configure and there is the massive 14” U-connect 5 screen on the dash that looks like a large, vertically placed iPad. The U-connect system virtually operates everything including the 19-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a cell phone charger, a Wi-Fi hotspot, and literally page after page of apps and settings.
Uconnect 5 works like a dream, is easy to operate, lightning fast, and super intuitive. Ram has made it very easy for everyone, no matter what their experience is in the past with infotainment systems.
Be sure to check out the off-road pages, and just wow to the amazing number of different camera angles you can see on the massive screen. You can maintain control of your drive with the help of five different available drive modes. Choose from Normal, Tow, Snow, Sport and Off-Road to optimize performance.
But wait, there’s MORE! Also new for 2025 is a screen on the passenger side that measures 10.25-inches and cannot be seen by the driver. A wireless device can be connected just for this screen, radio settings can be changed, Bluetooth headphones synced, the passenger can also see the navigation screen and cameras. I first saw this in the Jeep Wagoneer and loved it!
On the safety front, you get hands-free highway driving, adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, cross-traffic alert and braking, blind spot alert, rear cross traffic alert, emergency steering assist, automatic parking, parking sensors, traffic sign recognition, head-up display, lane departure alert and assist, and drowsy driver detection.
The Rebel comes with a nice suite of standard equipment as you would expect in a truck topping $80,000. While I don’t have a complete breakdown of the options and prices, my tester has the Rebel Level 2 package, which I know is $2,495 and an exceptional value. Here is what you get:
115-Volt Auxiliary Rear Power-Outlet, 19-Speaker Harman Kardon Premium Sound, 4G LTE Wi-Fi Hot Spot, Apple CarPlay, Automatic-Dimming Exterior Driver Mirror, Automatic Power-Folding Mirrors, Connected Travel and Traffic Services, Driver-Seat Memory, Dual Wireless Charging Pad, the Front Passenger Interactive Display, 8-Way Power Adjustable Front Passenger Seat, Google Android Auto, GPS Navigation, HD Radio, Heated Second-Row Seats, Heated Steering Wheel, Integrated Voice Command, 2 Charge-Only USB, Power Adjustable Pedals with Memory, Power Tailgate, Proximity Approach / Departure Lamp, Rear Window Defroster, Security Alarm, SiriusXM 360L, and Smartphone as a Key. I left some other items out, but for $2,495 this is a MUST HAVE package.
Don’t skip over the 115-volt power outlet in the 5’7” pickup bed that has a track system, tie downs, and in-bed lighting. This one has the $595 Towing Tech package which is Trailer Hitch Line-Up Assist, Trailer Reverse Guidance, and Trailer Surround-View Camera System. This one also has the $1,595 dual pane moon roof, and one of my favorite Ram options ever: The 4-corner air suspension system that keeps your truck level at all times, and gives it an outstanding quality of ride, even over the roughest of roads
Verdict
The Rebel package may not be your jam, and that’s OK, but I encourage you to pay attention to what Ram is doing and the cool features available in the many other models they offer. Pickups keep getting better and better thanks to competition between the automakers and thank goodness for that. We truck lovers are the beneficiary of this with quieter cabs, true luxury, and expanding capability.
This is a truck you need to get behind the wheel of and really drive it, to experience it. You will forget it is a pickup when behind the wheel, in the passenger seat, or in the back seat.
Being pre-production, the EPA hasn’t certified the mileage yet, but I do know the MSRP as you see this one is $82,130 with transportation. It’s a lot of money for a truck, but damn it’s a lot of truck. Kudos to the Ram folks at Stellantis, you knocked it out of the park.
What I liked most: Good grief, EVERYTHING. Nothing here not to love.
What I would change: Power deploying running board would be helpful for those vertically challenged peeps.
MSRP: Base price $64,195. As equipped $82,130 with transportation.
Fuel Economy: Not Rated Yet.
Weight: N/A but GVWR is 7,100 pounds.
Length-Width-Height: 232.9” long/82.1” wide/79.2” high.
Fuel Tank Capacity: 26 gallons with the filler on the passenger side.
Towing Capacity: 11,560 pounds, cargo capacity 2,300.
2025 Raml 1500 Rebel in a few words: A heck of a heavy-duty truck with amazing capacity and off-road capability.
Warranty: 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper, 5-year/60,000 mile power train warranty with roadside assistance.