Australian website spills beans on big lugger’s RHD heart transplant.

MEDIA investigation has settled a speculation Ram has yet to clarify - that their monster 1500 pick-up will continue in right-hand drive supply for New Zealand when supply of the current type’s trademark Hemi V8 exhausts.

The replacement engine for that naturally-aspirated 5.7 mill is of course no surprise - there’s just one it could achieve. 

That’s the 3.0-litre petrol twin-turbo inline six that is already powering the updated model in the United States, the edition shown today.

Australian motoring website Drive.com.au has reported variants with the six-pot mill have been approved for sale in Australia ahead of the launch of the facelift model, also already in circulation Stateside as a 2025 product.

That approval also green-lights acceptance for New Zealand; it was our neighbour’s paperwork that needed to be sorted to make this all work. Here restrictions are less challenging.

The strength of current V8 Ram 1500 availability is not clear, but Drive.com.au says it is in runout across the Tasman. 

Ateco New Zealand operation has said nothing about when it will deliver the updates. Presumption is that this will be a 2025 action.

Drive.com.au has reported Australian Government approval documents reveal the 2025 1500 will offer a standard-output (designated SO) tune for its new 3.0-litre ‘Hurricane’ inline-six in Big Horn and Laramie trims, while the top-of-the-range Limited has the high-output (HO) tune.

In US form the Big Horn and Laramie variants have 313kW and 636Nm – up from 291kW/556Nm in the Hemi V8 – while the Limited offers 403kW/736Nm.

A new rear axle is fitted to models with the turbo engines for improved comfort over bumps.

The website believes the 1500 line-up will continue to be offered with a short-wheelbase Big Horn trim with a 1.7-metre tub, a long-wheelbase Big Horn with a 1.9-metre tub, and long-wheelbase Laramie. It will also be offered in Laramie form with an optional RamBox cargo management system, and the top-of-the-range Limited with the RamBox as standard.

Drive.co.au believes the new ‘RHO’ model that has launched in North America with similar off-road capability to the TRX super ute – a quarter of a million dollar challenger that offered a 523kW/881Nm 6.2-litre supercharged ‘Hellcat’ V8 - has not been approved for this part of the world, but might yet at a later date.

The RHO has the 403kW twin-turbo V6.

Design revisions for the 2025 model include a restyled front with slimmer headlights, a new grille design and a larger Ram badge, revised LED tail-light signatures, and a power-operated tailgate activated from the key.