Looking at the new 2025 lineup that will soon start showing up at your Ram dealer, you might notice a conspicuous absence, especially if you’re an avid off-roader. The Ram 1500 TRX made its debut for the 2021 model year, and it sang its swan song during the 2024 model year. But just because it’s not making the TRX anymore doesn’t mean that Ram is getting out of the lucrative, beefed-up off-road truck game. There won’t even be a gap year between the TRX and its replacement: the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO.
We’ll rip the band-aid off and give you the biggest bummer up front: you can say goodbye to the 702 hp V8 that powered the TRX. The RHO’s 540 hp Hurricane I-6 just won’t have the same roar, though it does have advantages, like being about 150 lbs lighter than its predecessor. Of course, it’s important to keep this in perspective: the RHO will be perfectly capable of holding its own against competitors like the Ford F-150 Raptor, which is powered by a 450 hp V6. So, the RHO has a new name and a new engine. What else is different, and what is carrying over from the TRX? Let’s dive in and see what the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO has to offer.
What’s Staying the Same?
Ram isn’t throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the RHO—it’s hanging onto a lot of things that made the TRX the rugged off-roader that it is. That includes the strong frame and the all-important off-road tuned suspension, complete with Bilstein dampers and forged aluminum front control arms. The RHO will also come standard with the same set of 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain tires that were used on the TRX. It’ll be able to handle many of the same obstacles that you might tackle in the TRX since the two trucks boast similar departure, approach, and breakover angles, and both can ford up to 32 inches of water.
Engine Change Pros & Cons
We’ve already mentioned that the new High-Output Hurricane engine brings less horsepower to the table than the outgoing Hellcat V8. But the new powertrain isn’t all bad news. In fact, the RHO is actually capable of towing and hauling more than the TRX. While the TRX had a maximum towing capacity of 8,100 lbs and a payload capacity of 1,310 lbs, the RHO can tow up to 9,920 lbs and carry 1,520 lbs of payload in the bed. That also puts it above the 8,200 lb towing capacity and 1,400 lb payload capacity of the 2024 F-150 Raptor, making the new Ram the better choice for off-roaders who like to bring a lot of gear along for the adventure, either in the bed or a trailer.
While the RHO’s fuel economy figures of 14 MPG in the city and 16 MPG on the highway are lower than what you’d get from the average vehicle, they’re an improvement over the 10 MPG in the city and 14 MPG on the highway that the TRX delivered. That’s generally not a huge factor for drivers looking for a high-powered off-road truck, but there’s no denying that it’s nice to spend less on gas and spend less time pulling over to fill up. Incidentally, the new stats are quite comparable to what you’ll find on the 2024 F-150 Raptor, which gets 14 MPG in the city and 18 MPG on the highway.
Since the new engine balances out its lower stats with its lower weight, it doesn’t really affect speed too much. The RHO has the same top speed as the TRX (118 mph), and the time it takes to go from 0-60 mph is only 0.1 seconds slower (the TRX can get there in 4.5 seconds while the RHO takes 4.6). That is still almost a full second faster than the Raptor. While the RHO may not deliver the same gnarly sound effects, the new engine will be able to hold its own when it comes to both practical matters and delivering thrills.
Interior Upgrades
Off-road capability may be the main selling point of the RHO, as it was with the TRX, but that doesn’t mean that Ram was holding back while designing the interior of either trim. The TRX was a high-level trim that came standard with plenty of nice features, like a 12-inch touchscreen, auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a 10-speaker audio system, and it was available with even more niceties, like heated leather-trimmed seats, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, and a 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio system. Moving into the 2025 model year, Ram is bringing even more luxury features to the interior.
Adding the RHO Equipment Group to the Ram 1500 RHO gets you some next-level features that couldn’t be had on the TRX at any level. The front seats are both heated and ventilated and even offer a massage feature to help you unwind after a long day of off-roading. In addition to power-adjustable seats and mirrors, there are also power-adjustable pedals, so you can get your position just right. You can also upgrade the touchscreen to a 14.5-inch version and get the ability to use your smartphone as a digital key—you can even charge that phone next to your passenger’s in the class-exclusive dual wireless charging pad.
Ram is also making its Hands-Free Active Driving Assist available on the Ram 1500 RHO. The brand is using this as yet another way to compare the RHO favorably to the F-150 Raptor. While Ford has a similar technology (called BlueCruise) and does make it available on some trims of the F-150, it hasn’t made it an option on the Raptor as of the 2024 model year.
Price Cut
Automakers often use the excuse of a “new and improved” model to hike prices, so you might be expecting the RHO to be more expensive than the TRX. But Ram is going the other way on this one, slashing the starting price so that its off-road warrior can be more accessible to the masses. While the 2024 TRX had a starting MSRP of $96,585, the 2025 RHO has a starting MSRP of $69,995. Of course, we can’t help but take a look at the F-150 Raptor to compare it. Surprisingly, the new price is also lower than the 2024 Raptor’s MSRP of $78,440, making the RHO the cheaper option. While there are plenty of factors that probably played into the price cut, we can’t help but suspect that the team went out of its way to significantly undercut the price of the main competitor.
It May Not Be a TRX, but the RHO Has a Lot Going For It
Comparing the incoming RHO to the outgoing TRX, there’s really not too much to complain about and a lot to appreciate. Horsepower going down is still going to disappoint some, but many will find the tradeoff well worth it for the RHO’s lower price, comparable speed, improved fuel economy, and higher towing and payload capacities. While Ram certainly doesn’t want the RHO to look like a downgrade compared to the TRX, let’s be honest: the brand is mainly worried about how it compares to the elephant (or should we say dinosaur?) in the room: the F-150 Raptor. Ram seems to have gone out of its way to make the RHO superior to the Raptor by many measures, including several where the TRX came up short. In a race against a worthy opponent, Ram has put in the effort to create an off-road truck that does a lot right and is sure to help fans of the TRX dry their tears as they tear down the trails in their new ride.
