Welcome to the return of the muscle truck. While hopped-up mulch haulers seemed to largely disappear around 20 years ago, they’re now back with a vengeance. Take the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee, for example. A cut-down, beefed-up half-ton truck with up to 777 horsepower and the ability to do big, smoky skids. Except it doesn’t have up to 777 horsepower. Ram just announced larger superchargers for its performance trucks that will boost the output of the Hellcat-powered TRX and incoming Rumble Bee SRT trucks to a figure almost beyond belief.
Specifically, the party piece here is a three-liter twin-screw supercharger matching the displacement of the blower on the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. Strapped to the 6.2-liter V8, it helps generate what Ram says is “over 900 horsepower.” Even if the final figure only lands at 901 horsepower, that’s still an absurd amount of horsepower for a half-ton pickup truck.
Best of all, the supercharger doesn’t just fit the Hellcat engine. Ram is launching a kit for the 6.4-liter V8-powered Rumble Bee 392 which should boost horsepower to more than 700. Considering the $25,000 delta between a non-Track Pack Rumble Bee 392 and a Rumble Bee SRT, the Direct Connection supercharger kit should give you nearly Hellcat horsepower at a substantial discount if you don’t need any of the Track Pack handling goodies.
Of course, the list of offerings doesn’t end there. You’ll be able to have a three-liter supercharger fitted to the base 5.7-liter Ram Rumble Bee to boost the $62,790 entry-level street truck to more than 600 horsepower. Given how the Ram 1500 DC650 makes 650 horsepower from a 5.7-liter V8 with a three-liter Whipple supercharger, don’t be surprised if the Direct Connection supercharger kit for the base Rumble Bee ends up landing in that sort-of output range.
Ram isn’t the only truck company offering a dealer-installed supercharger. Your local Ford parts counter will sell you a three-liter Whipple unit for a late-model F-150 with the five-liter V8, boosting output of that truck to 700 horsepower. Ford’s kit also comes with a three-year/36,000-mile warranty if it’s installed at a Ford dealership or by any ASE-certified technician. However, Ram is about to blow Ford out of the water when it comes to warranty coverage. We’re talking about a five-year/60,000-mile warranty if installation’s handled by an ASE-certified technician.
By now, you’re probably wondering what all of this extra power costs. The answer is $10,995 plus installation. That certainly isn’t inexpensive, but it’s also not egregious considering the warranty coverage and factory-backed tuning that comes with the supercharger kit. It’s $745 more than the F-150’s supercharger kit and while it doesn’t boost 5.7-liter Rumble Bee models to the same 700 horsepower as the Ford, an extra two years and/or 24,000 miles of powertrain warranty coverage goes a long way.
Of course, the supercharger kits aren’t the only factory-sanctioned speed parts announced for Rumble Bee trucks. A series of Magnaflow-built catback exhaust systems range in price from $1,599 to $2,399 depending on engine, and there’s a Ridetech suspension package for non-Track Pack models that includes new springs, adjustable dampers, and control arms for a one-inch drop up front and a three-inch drop out back. Cool stuff, albeit a bit pricey at $4,590 plus installation.
Still, it’s horsepower that wins the headline of the day, and with the only V8 muscle-ish car currently sold new being the Ford Mustang, muscle trucks are so hot right now. We really are living in the golden age of horsepower, and with these supercharger kits expected to arrive as each Ram Rumble Bee variant drops, chances are we’ll see a few right out of the gate that are much quicker than standard.
Top graphic image: Ram
Lemme guess… single digit MPG? All that energy has to come from somewhere.
There must be some reason (emissions? manufacturing constraints?) that these aren’t just offered as options from the factory.
Why would Ram (and Ford) want to cut the dealers in on the profits from these kits? A “Ram Demon” with 900 hp from the factory would be sold out at $125,000.
“The Direct Connection supercharger kit should give you nearly Hellcat horsepower at a substantial discount if you don’t need any of the Track Pack handling goodies.”
Handling is for Yurpeans, amirite?
I dig it. If I had gobs of cash it would be fun to have one as a tow vehicle for my rich guy track car on my rich guy aluminum trailer.
Stuff like this is fun. I hope I see one someday.
I agree. And I also hope your rich guy trailer is one of those super neat kneeling ones that can lay basically right on the ground.
Coming to a street takeover near you
Being waved off to the side at a DUI checkpoint near you
Coming through the front wall of a house near you
This is utterly fantastic, because every time I’ve been ruthlessly tailgated by a divorced guy in a black Ram while going 10 over the limit, my sole wish has been that his truck would have approximately 200% more horsepower.
I’d really rather not share the road with vehicles that weigh more than double my car while also making 3.5x more power.
A special license should be required for that much power.
Really, these things are like the stall at the flea market that sells Chinese throwing stars and fake katanas. The people most attracted to them are the ones who really shouldn’t be trusted with them.
Ok, but why would you want to look like an over leveraged mullet.
And probably finance it over nine years