2025 Ram 1500 RHO Quick Spin: Rhino Over Raptor

For years, fans have wondered when the Ram brand was going to introduce a proper answer to the Ford F-150 Raptor off-road pickup. The Ram 1500 TRX was not quite the answer, seeing as it was a near-$100,000, Hellcat-powered monster machine that was more of an answer to the F-150 Raptor R. But something that still had the TRX’s off-road equipment at a more accessible price? Now that was what a lot of folks were clamoring for, and a few months ago, the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO finally arrived to enter the fight. The “T-Rex” is gone, and the “Rhino” has arrived.

Related: 2025 Ram 1500 RHO: Finally, the Ram Raptor You’ve Been Waiting For

With Ram’s update to its full-size 1500 pickup line for 2025 came the new RHO, which features a lot of the TRX’s amazing off-road equipment but packs the new-for-’25 Hurricane twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine. But perhaps most importantly, it also packs a starting price that’s around $8,000 less than a base F-150 Raptor. The RHO is also more powerful than the Raptor, has a comparably capable off-road suspension, and has tons of equipment and electronics to help it fly over desert scrub or climb over boulders.

But is a TRX without the Hellcat engine any good regardless of how much less expensive it is? Can it do what the Raptor does off-road, meaning blast over scrub and moonscape without beating the crap out of its passengers? Can it jump (and land) like a Raptor? Will it be a spongy mess on the street, or is it the “canyon carver” that Ram representatives claimed it would be at the unveiling? The only way to find out was to drive it, and that’s just what we did, taking it on the off-road scrub, hills and jumps of Holly Oaks ORV Park and the streets and highways of southeast Michigan over the course of half a day. We put the new Ram 1500 RHO through its paces — and came away thoroughly impressed. 

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Off-Roads Like a Champ

The biggest question was whether or not the Ram 1500 RHO could do what the F-150 Raptor can in the dirt, and the answer is an unqualified, resounding yes — and it does it with nearly unbelievable levels of capability. The truck’s Bilstein Black Hawk e2 electronically controlled shock absorbers are incredibly well tuned, isolating broken terrain outside from the soft, sensitive passengers inside. You can fly over scrub and rubble, especially when the truck is set to Baja mode (one of no fewer than nine drive modes from which to choose and the best one by far). The drive modes affect everything from steering feel to suspension response, from throttle sensitivity to gear holding and from torque split to traction control, and they all change the behavior of the RHO considerably. Baja mode dials down the traction and skid control sensitivity and puts the torque split at 25% front, 75% rear, allowing for tail-out driving fun. It also holds gears longer, keeping the powerful 540-horsepower twin-turbo Hurricane engine on boost for immediate power. 

The RHO is easily as capable as a Raptor, and in a couple of ways, it’s even better. The Ram suspension system controls both compression and rebound of the shock absorbers, allowing the RHO to do things that the Raptor can’t (the Raptor has standard compression control, with rebound control optional). For instance, there’s a sensor that knows when all four wheels have left the ground, like when you’ve found a fun hill and have jumped your RHO off the top of it. It then knows the angle of travel as you’re airborne and can set the rear shocks to be stiffer when you land (while also automatically cutting throttle) if it needs to, allowing for less bottoming out and a more controlled landing. The result is a truck that positively flies and also lands with confidence and (relative) comfort. Leaving the ground is a violent experience in any vehicle, but the Ram RHO’s ability to repeat the feat over and over again without any obvious detriment to truck or passengers is extraordinary. If you’re not laughing madly when driving this truck through the dirt, you’re simply not doing it right. 

Unexpected Civility On-Road

But most people don’t drive on logging roads and desert scrub every day, so the Ram 1500 RHO has to work on-road as well, and it’s here that it sets itself apart from the Raptor even more. The interior of the roughly $72,000 (all prices include destination charge) base model won’t have all of the niceties that my test truck had, and most RHOs will likely have the one available equipment package that includes a lot of upgrades. That $9,995 Level 1 Equipment Group brings a long list of features that includes stitched soft-touch trim on the dash, a 14.4-inch vertical touchscreen, a hands-free driving system and a kickin’ Harman Kardon audio system. It also opens the door to red seat trim and stitching, a $1,495 option. You don’t need all this to fully enjoy the RHO, but it does enhance things considerably. It also lessens the price difference with the F-150 Raptor so it’s a more apples-to-apples comparison, but the Ram apple is a massive step up from the Ford in terms of interior quality. 

Driving the RHO on the street is a treat. This is perhaps the most comfortable version of the Ram 1500 you can buy thanks to the big 35-inch tires on 18-inch wheels soaking up bumps and the coil-spring rear suspension with the Bilstein electronically controlled dampers absorbing what the tires don’t as well as enhancing body control so the whole thing doesn’t feel like a spongy, bouncy Baja race truck on-road. But the steering is what sets the RHO apart from competitors — it’s firm, communicative and requires a surprising amount of effort, but it provides far greater levels of feedback than you experience in an F-150 Raptor. This is even more pronounced when you switch the RHO into Sport mode, which firms everything up even more and allows you to really hustle the truck through twisty corners. Yes, there is some pronounced body roll (this is a heavy full-size pickup, after all), but it feels incredibly well controlled, there’s no lack of grip from the tires, and the engine and transmission seem to just know when you’re about to power out of a corner because they are spot-on ready to play when you stab the accelerator pedal — no lag, no waiting, just fly. I’m not sure I’d call it my preferred canyon-carving conveyance, but it certainly doesn’t embarrass itself in the slightest if you want to dance on your way to the off-road park. 

The Ram RHO’s powertrain is a big part of its overall goodness. Ram claims a 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.1 seconds at 105 mph from the high-output version of the Hurricane engine (standard in the RHO), and we can confirm that this combination is capable of generating these kind of numbers thanks to some recent instrumented drag-strip testing of a 2025 Ram 1500 Tungsten with the same engine and transmission. The RHO powertrain isn’t rated to make any more power than other versions of the Ram that use it, but thanks to a cold-air intake and true dual exhaust system, Ram says that it flows a lot better and changes the power and torque curves enough that you will feel it through your seat. After driving it, I have little reason to doubt that claim.

You’ll also be amazed at how incredibly quiet the Ram 1500 RHO is on the highway. Despite having big, knobby all-terrain off-road tires, there’s very little road or wind noise in the cabin. There’s also very little engine noise, for better or worse. Yes, the Hurricane six-cylinder does not sound as good as a Hemi V-8 at full throttle — but it doesn’t sound half bad, either. It is better than the Hemi in just about every other way, so I ain’t mad about this switch at all. 

Ram’s Made a Raptor Beater

So what Ram has created is a high-speed off-road truck that you can drive right off the showroom floor and into the wild. It’s nicer inside than the Raptor, is loaded with features to help you play in the dirt, drives beautifully on-road and is priced a lot less than the Ford to start but is more comparable when you load it up. A head-to-head matchup is most definitely called for, and I’m sure there will be dozens of them on the internet in the next few months. But based on initial impressions, I’d give the win to the new Ram 1500 RHO because of its body control, off-road and on-road civility, more communicative steering, and top-notch cabin fit and finish. Ram’s made itself a Raptor beater. 

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• Pickup Truck Buying Guide: How Much Truck Do You Need?
• Shop for a 2025 Ram 1500

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