It’s amazing what can change in three years. Flash back to 2023, and Ram was getting ready to nix the V8 entirely from its half-ton lineup. Dodge was discontinuing the lairy Charger and Challenger for a new EV-first model, and it felt like the party had finally died at Auburn Hills. Turns out, someone stashed a keg in the basement and now that Carlos Tavares is gone, it’s keg stands for everyone. Welcome to the 2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee, the closest thing to a brand new Charger Hellcat you can buy.
While Ram did co-release the Fox Factory Vehicles-built 650-horsepower 1500 Direct Connection street truck back in October, that thing was something of a teaser. This Rumble Bee is anything but; this is Ram going hog-deep into the street truck market with the heart of an absolute beast.
Specifically, the Rumble Bee SRT gets a 6.2-liter Hellcat supercharged V8 boosted to 777 horsepower, same as in the revived TRX. Ram claims zero-to-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at 116 MPH, and a top speed of 170 MPH. As far as I can tell, this makes the Rumble Bee SRT the fastest production pickup truck in the world. Boom! Doesn’t that just make you want to teach a bald eagle to chain-smoke Marlboros?
Mind you, even though Ram hasn’t released pricing, the Rumble Bee SRT is going to be expensive. Thank goodness there are two more powertrains to choose from. That’s right, you’ll be able to get the Rumble Bee with either the 395-horsepower 5.7-liter V8 from the regular Ram 1500 or a 470-horsepower 6.4-liter naturally aspirated V8 that you might remember from the Dodge Challenger Scat Pack.
Although the former is more show than go with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of 6.1 seconds, the 392 model should do the dash in 5.2 seconds. That’s more like it. Oh, and regardless of which engine you choose, you can lock the Rumble Bee in rear-wheel-drive should you wish to turn up to your local sanctioned burnout competition and cord a set of rear tires, or do a burnout before lining up for a four-wheel-drive launch down the drag strip.
If you want to go around corners, you’ll want to step up to the Rumble Bee 392 Scat Pack or the Rumble Bee SRT. Both those trims gain air springs, Bilstein adaptive dampers, a dedicated track mode that allows a little slip, 325-section rear tires, and enormous 16.1-inch front discs clamped by six-piston calipers. Given the sheer mass of the thing and all-season tires, a claimed 0.89g around the skid pad is entirely respectable. Oh, and while an asymmetric limited-slip differential will be available on naturally aspirated models, later on, the 392 Track Pack and SRT trims get a push-button rear locker for truly silly slides.
Now granted, some of you will be disappointed that the new Rumble Bee isn’t a regular cab short-bed special like the last Rumble Bee, which was available in 2004 and 2005. I hear you, but Ram has done some serious work here. It started with a Quad Cab (that’s Ram parlance for extended cab) model then chopped 13 inches out of the frame right behind the B-pillars. The result is a claimed 10 percent reduction in frame flex and the next-closest thing to an RCSB truck out there, an extended cab short (five-foot seven-inch) bed model. From there, Ram added a proper set of overfenders that boost overall width to 88 inches, bolted on a set of 22-inch wheels, and dropped the thing low. On top of that, Rumble Bee 392 Track and SRT models get an actual street truck body kit, with the SRT also gaining 325-section rear tires. If the opening riff to “Kickstart My Heart” didn’t play in your head as soon as you saw this thing, I don’t know what to tell you.
If you’re looking for something sensible in this sea of glorious madness, something that might make this a legitimate business vehicle, you’re in luck. Unlike the endearingly unhinged Ram SRT-10 of the mid-aughts, the new Rumble Bee is still rated to be used as a truck. We’re talking up to 8,890 pounds of towing capacity and up to 1,160 pounds of payload capacity, so you could theoretically tow your Viper to the track in a Rumble Bee SRT. Or pull around lawncare equipment. Or whatever.
Plus, you can pretty much have a Rumble Bee as fancy or as basic as you like. The cheapest trims come with manual cloth seats, whereas loaded examples get a 19-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, suede and leather upholstery, a 14.5-inch infotainment screen, and carbon fiber trim. It seems like Ram’s targeting street truck lovers with all sorts of budgets, which bodes well for actually seeing these things in the wild.
Actually, the first Ram 1500 Rumble Bees you see will be the slow ones. The 5.7-liter V8 model will arrive in showrooms by the end of the year, with the 6.4-liter and Hellcat-powered SRT models coming in the first half of 2027. On first glance, it’s going to be worth the wait. Yeah it’s wasteful, yeah it’s unnecessary, yeah it’s ridiculous and outrageous and probably an indictment of the genre. And you know what? I love it. Street trucks are so back, baby.
Top graphic image: Ram
It’s really cool that they seem to have put a decent amount of effort into these, and are actually making them accessible to a broad range of shoppers, price wise. But this. This.
Sweet Jesus, 1,160 pounds? In a full-size truck? And that’s the ‘Up-To’ number?! For comparison, the minimum payload capacity on an ICE Chevy Equinox is 1,152 pounds, and they actually go up to over 1,300 pounds if you skip the options.
Why does this matter? Well, let me give you a for instance:
You actually have a Dodge Viper, and, because it’s a Viper, you tow it in an enclosed trailer. Great! Now, just like 20 years ago, they make a truck specifically designed to tow your car! Your trailer and car weigh in at 7,500 pounds with a light amount of tools/gear in the trailer, so you’re good to go, right? Wrong! How can this be, if the truck is rated to tow 8,890 pounds?! Easy – Math! In the US, the typical suggestion for tongue weight is 10%-15%. Ignoring that upper limit (because then it gets really ugly – you’d have to weight 35 pounds to tow your 7,500 pound trailer) and going with 10%, that means your tongue weight should be 750 pounds.
So, 1,160-750 leaves you with 410 pounds of anything that can be on the truck. Two average Americans is going to be really pushing that figure, not to mention anything else that may be in the truck (a toolbox in the bed, for instance). And that’s assuming our multi-Stellantis owners are very diligent about putting any luggage and other belongings in the trailer, and not the pickup bed or backseat that’s right there. And of course, the closer you get to that not-quite-9,000 pound limit, the uglier it gets for your payload allowance.
The Rams are the worst, but, all of the modern 1/2 tons seem to be going this way. For comparison, my GMT400 Suburban 4×4 can take about 2,200 pounds in payload – and it’s only a 1500. A lightly-optioned 2wd 2500 can take over 3,500 pounds in payload. What’s wrong with modern trucks? Has tire and suspension technology not advanced at all since the ’90s? Is there some legal constraint? Because the GVWR doesn’t seem to have changed much – but the trucks now weigh 1,000 pounds more. The situation gets really ugly with the Wagoneers – some of them can’t even fill up each seat with a relatively lightweight adult without going over payload. Seems like a problem waiting to happen.
Ram buyers can’t read a post this long, so they don’t care that they are over capacity.
I mean the TRX was a tad under 8K for towing, that soft offroad suspension sagged a bit under towing, but it was usually enough for what you were talking, this is just an improvement if you plan to never take your 100K Muscle truck off the mall parking lot,
I think this is the rare case where the body kit actually looks less cool than the standard bumpers – it’s making the already-huge face look even taller. Gimme the red truck (but that yellow paint is fantastic).
Agreed. The TRX-style front end looks way better than the slack-jawed splitter.
Oh, boy, I just can’t wait to for when some local a*hole goes making noise with one through the neighborhood streets. Since that’s what these are used for, along with cutting people off dangerously on the expressway.
To be fair that is an improvement for what Ram trucks are currently used for which is getting DUIs
This lets you do both at once.
A real Captain Planet situation, with our powers combined, we will make the shittiest drivers you’ve ever seen
This is ridiculous of course, but I am actually really happy to see the return of the street focused sport truck.
Ford’s got the Lobo with optional supercharger
Ram has the Rumblebee now
and GM is going to GM and sit this one out again
The new fastest way to get a DWI. In Minnesota, these will probably come from the dealership with whiskey plates.
Hold on!
What brand of whiskey?
Any bets on when the first one shows up at a Pick-and-Pull?
Day after it ends up on Copart after it gets crashed on delivery day.
As a leading Stellantis critic you’d think I’d hate these, but I don’t. Ram in general is the only Stellantis brand I semi-trust.
It’s 2006. You just rolled out of the Dodge dealership with your badass new street truck. The Republican President is amping up a war of choice in the middle east that he started over supposed weapons of mass destruction. Gas prices have gone up, but it’s probably fine. Lots of people are getting new loans and the economy is just “booming”, so what’s the risk? Life is good.
It’s 2026. You just rolled out of the
DodgeCJDR dealership with your badass new street truck. The Republican President is amping up a war of choice in the middle east that he started over supposed weapons of mass destruction. Gas prices have gone up, but it’s probably fine. Lots of people are getting new loans and the economy is just “booming”, so what’s the risk? Life is good.It’s like Deja Vu all over again.
“If I had ever been here before
I would probably know just what to do” -Crosby ,Stills and Nash
Nothing bad can happen. It can only good happen. DJT
I think these look amazing and the only thing I could say to make them improve is to offer a single cab variant. I know they won’t because I think I’ve heard Kuniskis mention cost of building a single cab for them. I saw where he also appeared to say that eTorque is dead.
Yep.
Only 3% buy reg cabs so Dodge doesn’t make em.
What wasn’t said is that there’s no auto start/stop.
That would seem to confirm that eTorque is gone then.
The grey one reminded me immediately of a Belgian Blue bull.
https://www.lazerhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Belgian-Blue-Super-Cow-with-woman.jpg
And looking at the pic of the frame, I don’t think that gas tank is gonna be big enough.
If the 5.7L is not ridiculously priced, it would be a much more practical truck than most of the trucks for sale. Let’s be honest 90+% of trucks will never go further than a dirt or gravel road, so ground clearance is moot. Most people don’t use low range, so it having a 1 spd transfer case is not important. It should get better fuel economy than the standard 5.7L trucks due to aero. Best of all you no longer need to be 7ft tall or use a step ladder to load stuff in the bed due to the lowered height.
I had a lowered 2014 truck and the bed was so easy to use because of it. It is one of my biggest beefs with current trucks that even the standard models are so high off the ground.
If it’s utilizing the TRX bodywork as it appears to, it will be extremely wide, though.
I love it. The proportions are a bit odd though and would certainly look better with a single cab, but Ram sadly (understandably) doesn’t offer one with the DT series.
(Looks at gas prices)
I’ll pass, thanks.
The vast majority of these trucks will be purchased to turn interstates into impromptu race tracks (to the detriment of all travelers). Much to Stellantis’ delight, they will be driven being driven by neaderthals who buy them with almost no money down, poor credit, and usurious interest rates.
I love the concept of this truck, but I would never buy one because I don’t want to be associated with the ones that will. A few years from now, you can do a search for them and find 90% of them have been wrecked to various degrees.
The very first Dodge Viper I ever saw in person was in a junk yard after being launched over a curb.
That’s the whole reason I never bought a Viper. I am not always the most skilled driver, and the Viper has no idiot controls to keep me from the consequences of my driving.
That’s the same logic that keeps me from owning a motorcycle!
Definitely on-brand…the first Hellcat Challenger delivered to a customer in Colorado was wrapped around a tree within an hour.
Stellantis abusing an old engine to make a new limited edition trim? We’ve seen this a few times.
Kudos for the sport truck. We need a new Taco XRunner, and if this gets trucks lower to the ground, I’m all for it – it makes it easier to load into the back, and brings bumpers closer to alignment to other cars on the road.
It looks pretty great, especially rocking that yellow. I even dig the “custom” cab/bed configuration.
But if they wanted to, say, “set the world on fire,” it should have been a true RCSB.
Or, buy a much better sports car and get some old work truck that does truck things. The only tool this yellow truck is carrying is the owner.
If you hate trucks like this, the Syclone, the original Lightning, the SRT-10, the 454SS… that’s a you problem. Not every truck has to have a welding rig in the back, or just do runs back and forth from the gravel pit.
You complain that most buyers of Ferraris just drive them on roads that could be done with a Prius?
I thought people just complained that jeep owners never off road.
No, I just hate tools, but if you must know, I’m also not fond of gaslighting commentors. Is it OK if I hate Cybertrucks or is there some deep meaning to that too?
The “do you hate sports cars too?!?” response to people not liking pickups is so tired.
A sports car like a Ferrari or 911 requires compromise on the owner, doesn’t create massive blind spots for everyone near it including the driver, aren’t driving the increase in pedestrian deaths, and they’re like 0.5% of the cars out there. Is Ford still bragging that the F series trucks are still the most sold new vehicle in the US?
I’m not trying to ban trucks, but come on. Just admit that the vast majority of truck owners are just buying a socially acceptable form of conspicuous consumption. And the Raptors/TRXs/Rumble Bees are that idea taken to 11.
Ferraris and Porsches aren’t conspicuous consumption? LOL dude, LOL.
I don’t get the point of putting roller skates on a hippo.
I know it isn’t entirely fair to compare this to the cocaine-powered SRT-10 Viper truck from 20 years ago. A hell of a lot has changed since then in safety requirements, and the public has benefited from those improvements. This just can’t come close to the hilariously unhinged SRT-10 from when RAM was still Dodge however.
But that’s going to be true of any modern high performance version of a regular vehicle compared to the wild and dangerous shit we got a few generations ago. That doesn’t even get into the classic muscle cars with 300+ HP being reined in by manual drum brakes and tires we wouldn’t call good enough for a Power Wheels today.
Coming soon to a 4-pack of handicapped spaces in a parking lot near you!
This is excessive and stupid. Im in!
I like this and I like that the timing kinda implies that this is the 1st thing they started working on once Tavares got the axe.
I LOVE that Ram is bringing street trucks back in a big way, I’m just not sure I’m into the lowered TRX/RHO look. It appears they’re just using the same front/rear fenders as the TRX/RHO. I love the wide body kits on the Challenger and Charger, but that’s really just wider flares, not baja pre-runner stile extended fenders. Looks like they’re just reusing the TRX/RHO front bumper on the non-SRT/Track models too, which again just makes them look like lowered off-road trucks.
We live in a world in which even a Bugatti Chiron can be dusted by any halfway decent EV. HP and quarter miles just don’t seem all that interesting anymore.
the Veyron came out, 1000hp seemed like an impossible dream becoming reality. Now it’s just another Tuesday afternoon.
And you’ll still get people saying “But emissions regulations are killing the industry!”
What emissions regulations? Those are all gone now for the most part. Automakers can make things that pollute at will, for now.
I believe the hummer EV is just as fast in the 1/4 mile and faster to 60, but lower trap speed. Also the new Rivian R1T quad motor is apparently capable of 10sec 1/4 miles, so rumble bee is not the fastest production truck. Fastest ICE, yea. Looks fun and glad it will exist but also it’s not particularly special, as I would rather have the EV trucks, or. Raptor R, or a normal truck depending on my needs.
I was about to pile-on with you and mention the cybertruck as well.
But I think they’re looking a top-speed in their “fastest” claim. I haven’t looked at rivian or Hummer, but the Cyber is like 130, pretty short of 170 this thing claims. Nevermind, I will go look it up…
So, fastest to 60, no that award goes to an EV. Fastest period, the Ram gets it.
Thank you for looking that up. I suppose I never think about top speeds of pick up trucks but yea 170 makes their claim of fastest technically correct (the best kind of correct). Though now I am scared to think of who really wants to find that top speed in this type of vehicle.