Ram Rebel TRX Concept: Fiat Chrysler Floats a Raptor Fighter

by Steph Willems

Published: September 29th, 2016

ram rebel trx concept fiat chrysler floats a raptor fighter

It looks like the media attention heaped on Ford’s newly improved 2017 F-150 Raptor has made Fiat Chrysler Automobiles a little jealous.

The automaker unveiled a brash off-road truck concept at the Texas State Fair today, testing the waters for a possible production version. Think of the Ram Rebel TRX as a Hellcat 1500.

From a distance, the pickup resembles a Ram Rebel or Power Wagon, as the concept steals both of those models’ appearance cues. Draw closer, and it’s clear this pickup has put on some girth.

To accommodate a set of massive 37-inch tires, FCA widened the Ram’s body by six inches. Wheel travel grows to 13 inches on each corner, an increase of 40 percent. Underneath, heavy-duty axle components and an upgraded suspension awaits punishment not only from uneven ground, but from the vehicle’s boosted engine power.

Compared to its would-be rival, the Rebel TRX beats Ford by 125 horsepower, thanks to a 575 hp supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. If the description sounds familiar, you might want to look under the hood of a Dodge Challenger (or Charger) Hellcat, where the same displacement makes 707 hp.

An eight-speed Torqueflight automatic with recalibrated shift points put the power to the wheels. For those off-road jaunts — and FCA does envision this thing galloping across the desert at 100 miles per hour — Ram’s 4×4 Performance Control System (and BorgWarner 44-45 transfer case) offers four driving modes, including “Baja.”

FCA describes the vehicle as an “engineering, design and consumer-interest study for an extreme performance half-ton pickup,” giving many hope that a Raptor-challenging production version could be just over the horizon. If fans show enough enthusiasm for the Rebel TRX concept, the desert could get a lot louder.

#ConceptVehicles #Fca #FiatChryslerAutomobiles #Ford #ProductPlanningOff-road #Ram #Ram1500 #RamRebelTRXConcept #Trucks

Steph Willems

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3 of 65 comments

Geekcarlover on Sep 29, 2016

God help me, but I want that thing.

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- IHateCars on Sep 30, 2016
  
  I like it as well....remove some of the tacked on vents and LED lighting (hate that sh!t) but otherwise it looks promising.
  
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Ajla on Sep 30, 2016

Whatever happened to sport trucks? Everything is a desert runner now and Ford seems to have that theme wrapped up well. I would like to see a Canyon Syclone with the ATS-V engine or a Silverado SS with the 6.2SC or a return of the Ram SRT or Lightning.

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