“You’ll want to take this section at 40 mph,” said the PR minder, pointing to a 350-foot-long stretch of wildly uneven rutted dirt track, so that’s just what I did. Flooring it in four-wheel-drive high, the 2025 Ram 1500 Rebel felt remarkably like the discontinued Ram 1500 TRX as it blasted over the ruts. The TRX would have gone even faster, but the Rebel was just as happy to play while soaking up the bumps, and to hang its tail out in a giant dust cloud as we exited the bumpy track onto a gravel road.

This little excursion in the newly refreshed Ram 1500 was part of Mudfest, an annual brawl of crossovers, SUVs and pickups held by the Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) at Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. Events like this are about testing vehicles in a controlled environment, back-to-back, something that’s hard to do when testing just one car or truck. The Rebel (and 19 other vehicles) went through an autocross course, a paved track, and an extensive off-road obstacle course more than two dozen times. Each trip in the Ram was a hoot.

When Ram announced last year that the long-serving 5.7-liter Hemi V8 would be going away in favor of its new “Hurricane” family of high-tech 3.0-liter straight sixes for 2025, some longtime fans were skeptical. They needn’t have been. The Hurricane needs a few more revs than the V8 to deliver its punch, but it’s a steamroller when the boost is up and feels quicker than the old Hemi. It should provide slightly better gas mileage, too, as it has in the Jeep Wagoneer.

This Rebel used the 420-horsepower standard-output Hurricane, not the 540-horse high-output one, and its performance bodes well for the upcoming RHO model. It’s fast, laughed off the off-road obstacles and stayed remarkably composed on pavement and off. My only quibble? The Rebel’s pricier than it used to be.

Track Time In The Ram 1500 Rebel

This is a huge truck is 232.4 inches long in Rebel form (it comes only as a crew cab with a 5-foot-7-inch bed). It feels a lot like driving a city bus on a tight autocross course, but it was surprisingly spry around the track. Ram ditched leaf springs in for a multi-link rear suspension way back in 2009 and its trucks have had a handling and ride edge ever since, but Ram also added an optional four-corner air suspension back in 2013 and has been refining it ever since.

The air suspension, a $1,995 option on the test truck, lets it reduce ride height speed to save fuel and make it more stable in cornering. It also boosts ground clearance (to up to 10.7 inches) in its off-road modes. Neither the multi-link rear nor the air suspension can entirely disguise the fact that this a heavy machine over six feet tall, but these systems really do make a difference in how it rides and responds. It’s smoother and more precise than its full-size domestic competitors. It isn’t too loud on pavement either, despite its all-terrain tires.

The Ram’s cushy ride isn’t new, but the Hurricane certainly is. The version in this truck made 420 hp and 469 pound-feet of torque That’s up from 395 hp and 410 lb-ft in the old Hemi V8, and it feels faster. Unscientifically, it’ll do zero to 60 in the low five-second range, which is about a second quicker than earlier Hemi-powered Rebels. The big brakes haul it down smoothly, and it only took a little more distance to stop than a Kia Sorento.

Towing power is only marginally reduced, with the 2025 Rebel getting an 11,140-pound rating to the 2024 Hemi’s 11,200, but payload capacity is also down by about 200 pounds. Only a few users load these trucks up to the maximum, but it is a reduction. The Ford F-150 still tows and loads more, but it isn’t as civilized or quick when you’re not towing.

Off-Road Antics

2025 marks the tenth anniversary of the Rebel, which first debuted on the previous-generation Ram pickup (there’s even a “Rebel X” special model to celebrate). A partial response to the F-150 Raptor and the growing popularity of full-size off-road trucks, the Rebel packs a variety of off-road enhancements and butch visuals. They include special Bilstein off-road suspension dampers, a slower 17.8:1 steering ratio (16.3:1 is standard) a 3.92 rear axle ratio, an electronic locking limited-slip differential, 18-inch wheels shod with 33-inch all-terrain tires, a one-inch lift, skid plates, tow hooks, and more.

Steel springs are standard, but the four-corner air suspension adds even more capability since it can further enhance ride and ground clearance. With all that and those beefy all-terrains, the Rebel breezed through Mudfest’s obstacles like they were spitballs against an Abrams tank.

Mudfest has two off-road courses, a standard one that can accommodate vehicles like a Hyundai Kona (it did surprisingly well) and a second “extreme” one for dedicated off-road vehicles (which requires a company rep ride-along). The extreme track is more challenging, but vehicles like the Rebel and Ineos Grenadier have capabilities well beyond it. It didn’t bat an eyelash at foot-deep, muddy ruts, and mid-way up the most challenging hill, the rep had me stop the truck cold.

Ordinarily, when cresting a steep, slippery hill, you want to keep your momentum as you might not make it up if you stop. In four-wheel drive low, the Ram just started right up and powered its three-ton heft over the mud with no slippage. After the big hills, it was time for those ruts I mentioned earlier, a section where most crossover SUVs (like the Kona) are 18-mph max vehicles. The Rebel blasted through it like the TRX and F-150 Raptor R did at previous Mudfests. It’s clearly a capable crawler and dune basher.

In some off-road pickups, you can go anywhere, but the truck beats you up all day, transmitting lots of bumps to your body. That’s not the case here; it felt comfy and controlled even on bouncy sections. The upcoming RHO will be even faster, but there’s lots of fun in the Hurricane Rebel. It’s eager to play, encouraging you to put the tail out and push it hard. More extreme trucks exist, but the Rebel is born for mudding, like a 5,000-pound ATV.

2025 Ram 1500: What Else Is New, And How Much?

2025’s Ram 1500 refresh brings much more than just the new engine. The cabin, already the plushest in the full-size truck class, gets a major tech upgrade with a standard 8.4-inch infotainment display and optional portrait-style 12.0- or 14.5-inch ones. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are now standard, and there are many connectivity options and USB ports galore. The 12.3-inch gauge cluster integrates many displays, including turn-by-turn navigation and an optional passenger’s side entertainment screen.

The new screen replaces a few hard controls, which is good and bad, but Stellantis’ Uconnect 5 software is easy to learn. The lower elements of the big screens, however, do require a considerable glance downward and off the road.

Active safety has also gotten a boost, with standard adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, blind spot monitoring (a must in big trucks if you can get it) and a few other features. The Rebel gets lots of equipment, and even more items are optional, including evasive steering assist and surround view monitoring (again, super useful in a big truck), but not Ram’s hands-free Active Driving Assist. That’s reserved for the highest trims, including the RHO.

The Rebel lists for $66,435 now, including a $1,995 destination fee. That’s way up from previous years (it started for less than $50,000 in 2022), but it also reflects some of the additional stuff. Rebels used to come standard with the 3.6-liter 306-horsepower Pentastar V6, now they come only with the 420-horse Hurricane and all that extra electronic gear. Ladling on the options does, however, make it even pricier, and the loaded Mudfest truck had an $80,535 sticker.

That is a lot, but there’s plenty of value here when compared to the competition. The Rebel is genuinely fun and seems to split the performance difference between a choice like a Ford F-150 Tremor ($66,790 including destination) and the V6 F-150 Raptor. Notably, the Raptor starts just where the Rebel taps out: $80,325. Ram’s own RHO is set to start at $71,990 with more power, which might take some shine off the Rebel, but it’ll still have higher towing and payload limits than the high-output Hurricanes and the RHO also offers many options.

Either way, the Hurricane era promises to be just as fun as the Hemi one, and it’s off to a good (and dirt-splattered) start.