Burly sheet metal hides fire-breathing drivetrain and next-generation suspension design.

In the battle to build the world’s best full-size pickup truck, there can be only one victor. In order to stand tall in what is the most competitive vehicle market in North America, the engineers and designers at Dodge have created one of the more ruggedly handsome and startlingly powerful truck platforms available.

The result is the Dodge Ram, a vehicle whose very appearance makes a powerful statement, even before the ignition key has been turned. The Dodge Ram (MSRP $22,420) is beautiful in the way El Capitan is beautiful – an encapsulation of raw strength through the molding of primal elements, substituting steel and iron for rock and granite. The design invites both appreciation and admiration in the minds of truck buyers who can immediately sense the impressive capabilities that the Ram’s shape suggests. A bold billboard grille embraced by gently arching front fenders gives way to the slab sides of the passenger’s compartment and the cargo area, silent monuments to the strength embodied under the skin of the pickup.

The Dodge Ram has become known for its powerful HEMI V8 engine, and the notoriety is not without cause. The 5.7-liter mill grinds out 390 hp and 407 lb/ft of torque thanks to hemispherical combustion chambers and aluminum cylinder heads. Not only is the engine brawny, but it has brains, too. An efficient management system shuts down up to four of the engine’s cylinders when under light load. This allows for an excellent highway fuel economy rating of 20 mpg along with 14 mpg city. In fact, the large V8 is just as efficient as both the smaller, 215-hp 3.7-liter V6 and the entry level 310-hp 4.7-liter V8. Part of this above average fuel economy can also be linked to the decision to sculpt the Ram’s bodywork to offer the least amount of drag possible. A four-speed automatic transmission holds down the fort when it comes to shifting gears on V6 editions of the Dodge Ram while both V8s are equipped with a five-speed auto.