2016 Ram Rebel balances off-road attitude, practicality
Special edition pickup trucks - cooked up in the hopes of stirring buyer interest and bundling the most popular option or two - have been luring shoppers for years.
Trouble is, all that specialness often adds up to little more some chrome bits here, some vinyl graphics there - and maybe some bolt-on running boards thrown in.
Sure, its dominating black grille and black wheel-well flares may make the Rebel easy to spot in a sea of pickups at a Texas mall, but this recently introduced half-ton Ram's extensive list of upgrades goes far beyond cosmetics.
Available only as a crew cab with short (5 ft. 7 in.) cargo box, Ram's engineers and product planners have concocted a pickup aimed at drivers who might enjoy the swagger of a hardcore off-road brute (like Ram's own heavy-duty Power Wagon) but are grounded by reality.
The massive, powder-coated grille with its big silver "Ram" badge smack in the center is a complete departure from the "cross-hair" grille that in one form or the other has been Ram's signature for more than three decades.
The factory lift complements a couple of other Rebel-only features: 33-inch Toyo Open Country A/T light-truck tires and silver-and-black aluminum wheels.
Red accenting is applied to headrests, center stack trim, vent rings, door trim and the standard heated steering wheel's semi-perforated black leather wrapping.
In addition to the usual gear like air conditioning and power windows and door locks, standard equipment features include the 3.92 axle ratio, class IV receiver hitch, 26-gallon gas tank, locking tailgate, Uconnect 5.0 infotainment system with six-speakers and SiriusXM satellite radio, tilt-steering column, overhead console, power driver (10-way) and passenger (6-way) seats, power rear sliding window.
[...] with V8, back-up rear camera, 32-gallon fuel tank and 8.4 Unconnect (a must for its large, clear, easy-to-use interface and accompanying dual-zone automatic climate control), a 4WD Ram Rebel will come in at just under $49,000 with destination but before any incentives kick in or price dickering.
MAJOR OPTIONS: 5.7-liter V8, $1,500; 8HP70 automatic transmission, $500; Ram cargo box management system, $1,295; Uconnect 8.4 NAV, $1,105; luxury group, $660; rear camera and park assist group, $595; trailer tow mirror and brake control group, $460