RAM’s 1500 TRX – an abbreviation for Tyrannosaurus rex – lives up to its moniker, because it’s the biggest, baddest truck on the planet. For pure laugh-out-loud fun, it’s hard to beat a hulking pickup that kicks out more than 700 horses and towers over everything else it encounters on the road. Even Nissan Patrols and Toyota Land Cruisers look puny next to it.
Size does matter
That TRX suffix is hugely significant, as one of the key ingredients it brings is a snarling, screaming 6.2-litre supercharged V8 that thrashes out 712hp and 881Nm. These gobsmacking outputs are sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic box with paddle-shifters; the TRX is the only RAM model with the latter feature.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
The 1500 TRX is massive in every sense of the word. The behemoth tips the scales at a gargantuan 2,880 kilograms, and measures 5,916 millimetres from bumper to bumper and 2,235mm across the bows.
Even so, the sheer grunt of the supercharged V8 enables it to sprint from standstill to 100 kilometres per hour in 4.5 seconds. Added drama is provided by the banshee howl from the supercharger and thunderous bark from the dual drainpipe exhausts.
Performance potential
Apart from that thumping supercharged V8, the TRX stands clearly apart from other RAM 1500 models via pumped fenders that are flared by 203mm to accommodate its wider track. The wheel arches are filled by 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres, wrapped around gloss-black 18-inch cast aluminium wheels.
Peer under those arches and you’ll see the TRX features a bespoke suspension set-up with class-exclusive Bilstein Black Hawk adaptive dampers. RAM’s boffins also comprehensively re-engineered and strengthened the chassis to cope with the TRX’s extreme performance potential.
The TRX isn’t just a hooligan’s delight; there’s utility on offer, too – the big truck has a towing capacity of 3,674kg and a maximum payload of 594kg. There are various drive mode settings you can choose from once you get off the beaten track, and these include Sport, Snow, Custom, Mud/Sand, Baja and Rock, with each of these tailoring the four-wheel-drive system, throttle response, transmission, suspension and steering optimally for the terrain.
Drive experience
The first surprise with the brutal TRX is how comfortable and refined the juggernaut is. The supercharged V8 doesn’t bombard your eardrums when you’re pooling around town or cruising on the motorway, while the cabin is sumptuously trimmed and equipped with every possible mod-con.
Needless to say, the RAM 1500s hulking dimensions earn you plenty of road respect, but its XXL scale counts against it when you need to park the thing in a shopping mall car park or even parallel to the kerb in many instances. A large glasshouse makes for good visibility in traffic, but you’re perched so high that you often can’t see even the roof of a car that’s driving alongside. What’s more, the bonnet slopes downwards towards the front, so from the driver’s seat you can’t see where the nose ends.
Get it out in the dunes, though, and the torque-laden RAM makes easy work of getting over and across whatever stands in its path. The massive grunt of the V8 means you can effortlessly charge up dunes. The knobby Goodyear tyres (325/65R18) also play their part here, clawing into the sand with tenacity, while the Bilstein Black Hawk dampers serve up excellent ride quality.
Sticky situation
However, the TRX’s approach and departure angles (30.4 degrees and 25.0 degrees respectively) are nothing to write home about, and the vehicle’s sheer size counts against it in some situations. Our progress came to a grinding halt when the vehicle beached itself at the front and rear in a narrow V-shaped valley, with the left-rear wheel dangling about a foot off the deck. The TRX was, however, able to drive out under its own steam. All it took was a little bit of digging, engaging the rear axle lock, and then doing some vigorous steering-wheel wriggling while applying judicious doses of throttle.
The RAM 1500 TRX is a classic embodiment of American excess, but for pure rambunctious fun and barroom bragging rights, it dwarfs the opposition.
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SERIES INFO
Schedule:
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
1st ODI, Wed Apr 10
2nd ODI, Fri Apr 12
3rd ODI, Sun Apr 14
4th ODI, Sun Apr 16
UAE squad
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe squad
Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
'Nope'
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Pathaan
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MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)
Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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You may remember …
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
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Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
