SEMA’s Urban Ram is the SRT8 that fast-truck lovers want to badly
While the large indoor Mopar display at the 2012 SEMA Show
in Las Vegas had an obvious bias towards small cars, there were a few Ram Brand
pickups on hand as well with the most intriguing being the dark gun metal gray
Ram R/T shown in the image above. The
catch is that this sinister Ram 1500 R/T is powered by the same 392 cubic inch
Hemi that is found in the current Dodge Challenger along with the SRT brake
rotors and calipers borrowed from the Grand Cherokee SRT8 – leading us to
wonder if this is our first look at the Ram 1500 SRT8.
When we got our first teaser of this dark truck with a Mopar
Blue driver’s stripe, the first thought was that we were getting a preview of the next Mopar branded vehicle
considering that this Ram 1500 features a similar exterior design to the Mopar
10 Challenger, the Mopar 11 Charger and the Mopar 12 Chrysler 300.
Once I saw it in person, I saw that this
sporty full size truck was actually a dark metallic grey and it was not black
like the Mopar branded vehicles. As soon
as the hood opened, the consideration of this being a preview of the Mopar 13
shifted to this truck being our first look at the Ram 1500 SRT8 with the SEMA
Show image vehicle named the Urban Ram.
In addition to the 392 cubic inch Hemi that offers 470
horsepower and 470lb-dft of torque, Mopar has added a set of full length
headers, a full Mopar high performance exhaust package and a cold air intake
kit. While Mopar has stated what kind of
power gains are had from this modified 6.4L Hemi, power figures could very well
be creeping up around the 500hp mark.
Finally, helping to make sure that the Urban Ram handles like a proper
SRT vehicle, Mopar has added a performance handling package with unique shocks
and springs along with the large brake calipers and brake rotors from the SRT8
Jeep.
On the outside, the Urban Ram has a handful of other items
that could lead one to believe that this truck would fit nicely into the SRT
lineup. Like all of the current SRT
products, there are not massive changes made to the Urban Ram compared to the
normal production Ram 1500 R/T but there are enough changes to allow it to
clearly stand out in a crowd. First off,
Mopar has added a body kit package that adds a chin spoiler, lower side skirts
and bedside extensions which work with the Mopar Performance suspension package
to give the 2013 Ram a more aggressive stance.
A Mopar Sport Performance hood with the “power bulge” design has been
added to keep the big Hemi cool while a fiberglass tonneau cover helps to
improve aerodynamics. Finally, a custom
set of the 22 inch Ram R/T wheels painted hyperblack with matching hyperblack
Mopar center caps finish off the exterior modifications – not to mention the
metallic paint job and the Mopar Blue driver’s stripe. There is also the massive reflective Mopar
Blue “Mopar” logos on both rear bed sides.
While the Urban Ram could just be another SEMA Show image
vehicle that will become little more than a memory, this Moparized 2013 Ram
1500 R/T shows just how easily Chrysler could build a Ram SRT8 with parts
already available. Almost everything on
this truck has a Mopar part number with the exception of the suspension and
braking package so realistically – this truck would not be that hard for the
company to build. This truck looked
great and with all of that power, the Urban Ram would make a fitting addition
to the current SRT high performance brand lineup.
