Jumped, Drifted, Road Tested: 2025 Ram RHO First Drive Review

While the TRX paved the way and had more power, the RHO continues the sport truck charge at Ram into 2025. While less noise and power is on tap, the 2025 Ram RHO does most things better and in more comfort than the TRX could.

Yes, this is basically the same truck with a new motor, but it’s really quite the evolution of the original. While there are only a few subtle visual clues to the differences, there is a lot more going on under the skin of this wild beast than you might think.

Ram closed down the Holly Oaks ORV area outside of Detroit for a media first drive event for its latest sport truck. The ORV park/gravel pit/ski resort offered up a few miles of windy dirt, sand, and mud roads with substantial elevation changes. It also offered up a groomed jump section that Ram built to show that these big trucks can fly.

In short: The 2025 Ram RHO is wide, sure-footed, fun, capable, a good value, and impressively luxurious. It sadly doesn’t make amazing noises or instantly break traction when you lean into the skinny pedal, but that honestly all adds up to a very usable and impressive truck.

2025 Ram RHO Review

The Dinosaur That Left the Room

Of course everyone, including me, is going to first compare the RHO to the TRX. They look pretty much the same and are designed for similar customers and use cases. Ram says the RHO isn’t the replacement for the TRX, but for now, at least it is the most capable sport truck in its lineup.

So, let’s first dive into the differences before moving on to why the RHO is an impressive package and a worthy crown bearer in the Ram sport truck lineup in 2025.

First, the engine. The TRX had a 6.2L Hemi V8 under the hood, putting out 703 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. That was good for a 4.5-second 0-60 mph time. The RHO has a 3.0L I6 Hurricane HO engine putting out 540 horsepower and 521 pound-feet.

While big power loses, it’s only 0.1 seconds slower to 60 mph. With that said, I did find the RHO to feel considerably slower than the TRX — but that could just be because it doesn’t make the amazing V8 sounds.

The RHO weighs in 150 pounds less than the TRX — about a 2% reduction in weight. All that weight comes off the front axle and moves the weight balance backward on the truck. It for sure makes for a more balanced truck. This is especially true when flying through the air in this big machine.

The suspension has been reworked and tuned for this new weight distribution, and it includes a new rear trailing link design and forged aluminum front control arms. The Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive performance shocks are a carryover from the TRX, but have been reworked with the latest software calibrations.

Other changes in the driving feel come way of transfer case tuning to allow for more sliding in Baja mode, a reworked stability control system, and lighter steering. You get the same 2-inch lift, 35-inch all-terrain tires, and 14 inches of rear suspension travel.

New Looks & Luxuries

Besides some optional graphics and standard badging, it’s hard to tell the two trucks apart. The RHO gets a new grille, redesigned bumpers, new exhaust tips, as well as new LED headlights and taillights.

Inside, the trucks are very similar as well, but have a few key differences. The RHO gets all sorts of massive screens: 10-inch full-color HUD with animated shift indicator, optional 15-inch infotainment touchscreen, and a new class-exclusive 10.25-inch front passenger screen. It also gets optional front massage seats — which are a very luxurious upgrade.

While there is no sporty suede steering wheel in the RHO like there was in the TRX, there is a reason for the change. Suede does not work for Level 2+ cruise control — which RHO gets — so it was changed to leather.

There are new trim rings inside that are designed to mimic CNC vertical milling marks, giving the feeling of machined metal. On the back of the front seats in the RHO are new Molle strips to securely fasten small items.

Driving the 2025 Ram RHO

You can drive this truck normally, not something you can really say about the TRX. This truck does not beg to be driven hard like the TRX does. I think that mostly comes down to the lack of super-pleasing engine and exhaust notes and squealing tires every time you blip the skinny pedal. While the RHO exhaust note is fine, it’s not a growling HEMI V8.

I think it could be argued that the power in the RHO is about perfect for the chassis and plenty for 99% of drivers. And, it still chirps the big 35-inch tires easily enough.

The RHO drives lighter than the TRX. It’s got a slightly lighter steering feel, and the weight balance of the truck just makes it feel lighter and creates less nose dive with aggressive maneuvers. Impressive that shedding 150 pounds and some recalibrated software can change the feel this much.

There is a bit of throttle delay, even in Sport mode, but its way less than most modern vehicles. There is also noticeable turbo-lag, which means when driving this truck hard you need to get on throttle early to extract the most performance. This takes some driver calibration to get dialed into extracting the truck’s full performance.

Baja mode is the fun mode, and the mode I’d use most of the time — even though it’s for off-road driving only. It holds at 4,400 rpm before shifting, which helps keep you in the powerband. It also allows for two-foot and left-foot driving, which other modes don’t.

There is still no 2WD version of this “new” truck. The reasoning that Ram gave me about the TRX not having selectable 2WD was the horsepower-damaging components. That’s not a valid excuse with the RHO, but tuning has mostly negated the need for 2WD — which would really only be for smoky dry pavement burnouts anyway.

Drive modes are the answer, with Baja mode sending up to 75% of the power to the rear wheels. In Auto mode, 60% is sent to the rear, Snow is 55%, and Rock mode is a 50/50 split.

The brakes are adequate all around and the pedal feel is very controlable. But, I do think the brakes could be better on such a big heavy and sporty truck. They could have more initial bite, which would expand the performance envelope a bit more.

The Level 2+ hands-free system worked very well in the limited use I had with it. It did hug centerline more than I would have liked, however. Overall, it is very intuitive. It maxes out at 89 mph, but that’s not something I tried. It will change lanes by itself if you use the turn signal.

Do note that this is a very wide truck! That can make it hard to deal with on a daily basis and in urban settings. It’s awesome in wide-open terrain, but when the trail gets tight, you might find yourself holding your breath, hoping it will fit.

The Little Things

Sure, you lose sound and power over the TRX, but you also gain some fuel economy. The RHO gets 17 mpg combined, 15 city, and 21 mpg highway, where the TRX got 12/10/14. As with the TRX, my guess is that you’ll see much less than those numbers, as you’ll want to enjoy what the skinny pedal delivers often.

As with the TRX, the RHO has a great command driving position with impressive visibility — it is a tall truck. While I’d prefer it if the driver seat would go a bit lower and bucket a bit more, the new massage feature helped soothe my back and ergonomic woes. The adjustable pedal box is also a great feature for shorter drivers, as well as dialing your preferred seating position.

I found that the truck was very well put together, with no interior creeks or loose parts, even over very rough terrain repeatedly. You do notice the cold air intake hood flexes a bit when bouncing around off-road, though. On road, you do hear quite a bit of road noise from the tires in the cabin, but impressively, not much wind noise from the big truck.

While there are no external hydraulic jounce shocks, there are internal stops in the front shocks (not rear) and foam/plastic jounce shocks mounted inside the front springs. I tested these all out repeatedly with many big jumps of the truck.

A smoothish landing is pretty much guaranteed, even if you come down a bit heavy on the nose and hit the front bumper on the ground. Yes, I did that (see the next paragraph). Luckily, the middle lower section of the front bumper is removable and replaceable — and is the part of the truck that hits the ground first when jumping the truck, and tends to bend.

In the speedo screen on the driver cluster (page 1), one touch of the OK button changes from mph to kph. This is not an issue unless you’re trying to hit a jump at a specific speed — which I was doing in testing.

I’m going to call this the Detroit function, as they drive back and forth across the bridge between the U.S. and Canada all the time and would use this feature. I think it’s too easy to switch between the two settings, and there should be a confirmation second OK button push to change it, but I also realize it’s a tiny fraction of a percent of people that would be effected by this.

The RHO should also be a better towing truck, as it has a 3.92 final drive ratio (versus TRX’s 2.55), a 205K torque converter with a higher stall speed (now around 4K rpm), and now has a unique suspension tune for the Tow drive mode. It also has a slightly larger towing capacity, up to 8,380 pounds.

I’m impressed after talking to some Ram engineers about the endurance desert testing the company does. It does it at “race pace” — finish 1,000 miles in 20 hours, which is SCORE Baja 1000 completion time cutoff — mostly around Johnson Valley and on the Parker 425 race course. The testing is all done during daylight and in about 250-mile chunks, intended to test just the vehicles and not the drivers.

2025 Ram RHO: Pricing & Availability

While you can technically buy a base 2025 RHO for $69,995 ($71,990 including destination charge), you’re much more likely to get one with a window sticker of $80-90K. The main reason for that is that you’ll most likely want the RHO Level 1 Equipment Package — and nearly every truck that makes it to a dealer lot will have this package.

The RHO Level 1 Equipment Package costs $9,995. It gets you the following: massage and ventilated front seats, heated and ventilated and 60/40 split-folding and reclining rear seats, Hands-Free Active Driver Assist, 240A alternator, HUD, 14.4-inch screen, front passenger display, surround-view camera system, power-adjustable pedals, power tailgate, dual wireless charging pads, leather interior treatments, 19-speaker Harmon Kardon premium sound, rain-sensing wipers, and more …

The review vehicle I spent the most time in had a window sticker of $87,605. This included the Level 1 Package, Mopar Rock Rails ($995), Tonneau ($695), RHO Graphics ($495), 18” x 9” bead-lock capable alum wheels ($1,895), Trailer Tow Group ($595), and Bed Utility Group ($945). Most of those options are ones you’ll likely want to make the most out of this truck.

The 2025 RHO just started rolling into Ram dealers this month (October 2024).

2025 Ram RHO Review Wrapup

While not a direct replacement for the TRX, the 2025 RHO does fill the top spot in Ram’s sport truck lineup. For 2025, the sport truck lineup includes the 1500 Warlock, 1500 Rebel, 2500 HD Rebel, Power Wagon, and RHO.

The 2025 Ram RHO is an impressive truck that does things very few factory pickups can do off-road. And, it’s crazy comfortable and feature-rich for life on pavement. Sure, it’s massive, not inexpensive, and still guzzles dino juice, but it’s one hell of a good time.