The 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 – vs. – The 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500

This year brought about a complete redesign for the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500, and Dodge has staked their claim as the top half ton truck in the market.  One key competitor in that market is the 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500.  There is little change from the 2008 model, but where Dodge has taken an approach of being the most powerful trucks on the road, General Motors has keyed the Silverado in on being the most efficient truck in the class.

Powertrain
The 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 and 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 offer the most powerful engine lineups in the full-size truck class, along with offering a base model V6.  The 2009 Ram has an improved engine lineup, beginning with a 3.7L V6 making 210 horsepower, followed by a 310 horsepower 4.7L V8, and the premium engine is the 390 horsepower Hemi.    The 2009 Silverado returns the VORTEC engine lineup from the 2008 model year, starting with a 4.3L V6 making 195, followed by a pair of V8s; one measuring 4.8L and making 295 horsepower, the other being a 5.3L offering 315 horsepower.  Chevy also offers two premium engine choices, although they do not come standard in any of the trimlines.  The first is a 6.0L making 367 horsepower, and the top option is the 403 horsepower 6.2L V8.

During the hauling exercise, we tested two 2009 Dodge Rams equipped with the 4.7L and 5.7L Hemi against two 2009 Chevy Silverados packed with the 5.3L and 6.2L.  The trucks were each packed with 850lbs of ballast, and the testing area was an autocross course with a variety of s-turns, long sweeping turns, hard hairpins, and a “lane change maneuver”.  All four of the test trucks had plenty of power to accelerate hard into the course, and the 5.7L Hemi Ram and the 6.2L Silverado both were able break traction easily.  Even with the smaller engines, neither truck seemed hampered in any way by the extra weight, although the Chevy’s transmissions shifted harder than the Ram’s and the drive train created a tremendous amount of cabin noise.

Surprisingly, both of these trucks struggled in the towing exercise.  The 2009 Dodge Ram 5.7L Hemi was matched against the 2009 Chevy Silverado 6.0L, both with the available towing packages.  The Dodge Ram and Chevy Silverado were each hitched to a 7000lb trailer and taken through a two mile road course.  The Dodge Ram had no problems pulling the trailer on the flat portions, but from a stop heading up a large hill, the Dodge struggled to reach the target speed of 50mph. The Dodge Ram’s transmission allowed the RPMs to sit at a point where it was not pulling strongly, nor would it downshift, causing the truck to slow towards the top of the hill. The Silverado was able to reach the target speed of 50 mph, but in doing so, the transmission shifted violently back and forth as the transmission attempted to keep the LS2 engine in its peak torque band.  During these repeated shifts, the engine noise inside the truck was excessive.  

Both the 2009 Dodge Ram and the 2009 Chevy Silverado offer a great spread of powerful engines,. The overall edge in power goes to the Silverado, but Chevy’s crude transmissions and interior engine noise aren’t worth the extra power compared to the 2009 Ram.

Ride Quality and Handling
The 2009 Dodge Ram has made a dramatic change to their new rear coil springs, whereas the 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 uses the more conventional leaf spring setup.  Right away, the advantage of the Ram’s coil springs were evident, as the Ram transferred less vibration from the road surface and offered a smoother ride through turns during the basic road test. When the 2009 Ram and 2009 Silverado were each taken down the Ford Proving Grounds Silver Creek Test Track, the advantage of the new Dodge suspension was clear.  The 2009 Ram was very smooth heading down the rough track, with only the most violent of the bumps causing the rear wheels to hop, but the story was very different for the Chevy.  The 2009 Silverado struggled with the medium to large bumps, shaking not only the chassis and steering wheel, but causing a violent shake to the dash and interior panels.  This vibration was so severe that it made it a bit uncomfortable to maintain the target speed of 30 miles per hour.

During the autocross hauling exercise, the Ram’s new coil suspension stood head and shoulders above the Chevy.  The Ram easily handled all of the hard turns, with only a slight amount of wheel slide on the last of the s-turns. The Silverado’s body roll was much worse, and in the hard, tight turns the Chevy felt like the weight was overwhelming the suspension.  This gave the driver very little feeling of control through the lane change maneuver, with only the traction control keeping the Silverado pointed straight ahead.  During the towing exercise, the Ram performed well, even though the 7000lb trailer caused the rear end to squat a bit.  The 7000lb trailer served to magnify the body roll of the Silverado, and during the long sweeping turns at higher speeds, the Chevy felt unstable.  Overall, the suspension of the 2009 Dodge Ram easily outperformed the 2009 Chevy Silverado in every category, whether pulling a trailer, carrying a full load, or simply running over rough road surfaces.

Exterior And Interior
While the exterior appearance comes down to a matter of opinion, the 2009 Dodge Ram has added innovations to make it far more functional than the previous generation Ram, as well as the 2009 Chevy Silverado.  Dodge has added the new RamBox Cargo Management System, a unique feature across the entire truck market.  This adds weatherproof, lockable storage compartments to the top of both bedsides, and the inside of the Dodge Ram’s bed features ribs to control the integrated bed divider/extender.  The 2009 Silverado offers a bedrail system with a handful of customizable, lockable configurations including a cargo box divider, a sliding toolbox, and side storage boxes.

The 2009 Dodge Ram and the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado offer interior packages ranging from a bare work truck to a luxury package fitted with leather, heated seats, and a state of the art sound system.  The 2009 Ram even features a heated steering wheel, which Chevy pokes fun at in a new commercial, but for those who live in the Northern US and have to wake up to sub-zero temperatures, the heated steering wheel in the Ram is a great addition.  Both trucks offer the popular touch screen navigation radio, but the Dodge has the advantage of their on-board Wi-Fi connection that works with devices like laptops or PDA within 100 feet of the truck.  The Chevy does not offer mobile internet capabilities, and although the Silverado offers satellite radio, the Sirius system found in the Ram is superior in quality and quantity to Chevy’s XM system.  Even from an aesthetic standpoint, the Dodge interior was much nicer.  The finish on the seats, door panels, and dash area were cleaner than the Chevy, the seats in the Ram were more comfortable, and the controls were all more accessible to the driver in the Ram.  Whether you are looking for an everyday work truck or a truck to tow the boat to the lake with the wife and kids, the Ram offers a much more comfortable and convenient interior and is the better choice.

Summary
The 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 has an all new look, new suspension, and improved engine lineups, and those revisions have put the Ram head and shoulders over the 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500.  Chevy may have a slight edge in horsepower, but the power difference is negligible, especially considering how much better the Ram was in every other aspect.  If you want to get one or two miles per gallons more out of your truck, then the Silverado is for you.  However, if you want a far superior truck for a similar price, the 2009 Dodge Ram is better across every trimline.

Is the Chevy advantage in MPG enough for you to consider a new Silverado over a Ram?

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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