Taking a farewell ride with the world’s most powerful mass-produced V8 was never going to be a cheap exercise. So it has proved.

LAY down quarter of a million dollars and you’ll get enough change to put just over two litres’ fuel into its 125 litre tank – which it’ll consume, when going hard, in around the same time it takes to read this sentence.

That’s the scenario for those keen on buying a RAM 1500 TRX, the grand slam ‘super’ version of the large American traydeck presenting the final chance to involve with the supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi ‘Hellcat’ V8 that only has a year of production remaining and then will be dropped as it prepares its wide family of brands for an all-electric future.

The Dodge and Jeep brands have been best known for using a powerplant that creates an astonishing output of 523kW and 882Nm – and now it’s RAM’s turn. Going big is taken literally with the TRX version of the RAM 1500.

A variant Kiwis began to sign up for a year ago now has an official price tag; one larger than that the local fanbase might have been preparing for.

Anyone in line for the beast who’d set their budget on taking the Australian market sticker and simply converting it to NZ dollars will come up just over $22,000 short of the actual expectation from RAM Trucks Australia and NZ owner Ateco Group.

It today announced the model will cost $249,990, which makes it the most expensive showroom item in the Stellantis’ North American portfolio sold here.

That sticker is indicated as a starting price; there are cost-extra options. Plus, the variant described as the “apex predator of the truck world”, also wears a Clean Car emissions penalty.

“The TRX sets new benchmarks for extreme performance trucks and confirms the Australasian market as a true success story for RAM Trucks,” said Neville Crichton, Ateco Group chairman, in supplied comment.

“From nothing seven years ago to more than 13,000 happy owners now and the largest, most diverse full- size pick-up truck range on offer, what RAM Trucks has achieved in Australasia is impressive.”

RAM isn’t bothered if any dinosaur references are flung at this model; they see that as a compliment, to point where there’s an embossed plastic panel in the cabin architecture that shows how much larger the type’s namesake from the prehistoric world, the T-Rex, is compared to a velociraptor, inspiration for Ford’s Raptor models.

Even though the TRX is bluff, massive and weighs 3057kg with the sunroof fitted, Ram claims it’ll still hammer out the 0-100kmh dash in 4.5 seconds and the quarter mile (400m) run in 12.9 seconds at 174kmh. Top speed is rated at 189kmh. Economy? There’s no official figure but in tests across the water, averages of around 17-18 litres seem common.

Talk of the TRX being in the mix cemented last year as the RAM’s NZ-market factory-sanctioned production process – which involves re-engineering of US-fresh vehocles from left to right hand-drive in Melbourne - transitioned from the DS generation model to the latest ‘DT series.

 DS availability has continued, in a lower price slot than DT, which delivers significant technical advancements over its forebear.