2013 Ram 1500 Debuts in New York with 305HP V6, and 8-Speed Auto for Both V6 and V8 Models

The New York Auto Show hosted the world premiere of the meaningfully updated 2013 Ram 1500 pickup truck that brings a raft of improvements, the most important of which are the presentation of a new Pentastar V6, an eight-speed automatic transmission, a freshened up interior and several fuel saving technologies such as the stop-start system.

We'll start our tour of the 2013 Ram 1500 with the new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine that's rated at 305HP and 269 lb.-ft. of torque, delivering 42 percent more horsepower, 13 percent more torque and at least 20 percent better fuel economy over the outgoing 3.7-liter V6.

The new V6 is mated to a standard eight-speed automatic transmission dubbed TorqueFlite 8 that replaces the older V6's four-speed auto. The new 8sp automatic will also be available next year on the tweaked 5.7-liter V8 HEMI that delivers an additional 5HP for a new total of 395HP.

All 1500s equipped with the 8-speed unit ditch the column or floor shifters for a new rotary knob placed on the right-hand side of the center console.

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Ram Joins Chevy in Smacking Around the Ford F-150 with a New Commercial

You'll most likely remember Chevrolet's recent Super Bowl XLVI ad on the Silverado where it made fun of "Dave" who didn't make it to the rendezvous point with his friends after a post-apocalyptic catastrophe because he was driving a Ford F-150.

General Motors' move to take a swipe at the F-150 has found a follower as the Chrysler Group's Ram Trucks division has launched its own commercial poking some fun at the Ford pickup truck.

The ad starts by showing the Ram truck with a deep voice (doesn't it remind you of the garbled voices shouting "they took our jobs" in South Park?) in the background asking this question:

"What would happen if you were to take away 30-horsepower from a Ram 1500, remove 27 foot pounds of torque and subtract 40,000 miles from its powertrain limited warranty?" The same voice answers: "Well, you'd end up with a Ford F-150."

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Meet Optimus, a Monstrous Dodge Ram 3500 Truck with 1,200HP and Over 2,000 lb-ft

We've shown you a lot of insane pickup trucks on these pages but this one is quite the find - and not only because it has the potential to emit as much CO2 as a small country with every sudden move of your right foot.

Nicknamed Optimus, the heavily modified Dodge Ram 3500 truck is powered by a twin turbocharged Cummins diesel engine that churns out a whopping 1,200 horsepower and an even more mind-blowing 2,000+ lb-ft (2,711Nm) of peak torque! A pretentious beast indeed.

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