MT GARAGE

Arrival: 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport

EPA CITY/HWY/COMB Fuel Econ:

17/22/19 mpg

Full-time access to the Truck of the Year? My garden won’t know what hit it.
Scott Evans

Base price $47,835 As tested $62,020

“How can the other guys even compete with this?” associate online editor Stefan Ogbac asked after he borrowed our new Ram 1500 for the weekend. The Ford and Chevy fans reading this will no doubt have thoughts, but I got his meaning.

Ogbac was referring to our truck’s ride quality, infotainment system, and powertrain—though only one of those is standard. Every Ram 1500 comes with coil springs all the way around, with the rear set replacing the less forgiving leaf springs found on other trucks. We could’ve upgraded our Laramie to the optional air suspension, but the standard truck rides so well that we didn’t see the need.

The infotainment system and powertrain in our truck cost extra. The 12.0-inch Uconnect 4C nav system has the second-largest touchscreen offered in a vehicle today; it costs a cool $1,395 and gives you the ability to use SiriusXM’s 360L service. A big screen isn’t the first thing you think of when someone says “truck,” but it’s an impressive piece of technology that helped the Ram win its Calipers, and it needs an exhaustive vetting.

Just to have the option of fitting the big screen, we had to move up to the midrange Laramie trim, which also got us niceties such as a 7.0-inch screen in the instrument cluster, heated and cooled front seats, and a semi-premium audio system. We swapped out that last one for a 19-speaker Harman Kardon premium stereo because we like our tunes; it came as part of the Level 2 equipment group. That set us back $4,595 and also added automatic headlights, high-beams, and wipers; blind-spot monitoring; front and rear parking sensors; heated and reclining 60/40 split rear seats; a rear underseat storage area; a remote tailgate opener; and SiriusXM Traffic Plus, Travel Link, and Guardian services.

The optional 5.7-liter eTorque V-8 adds a mild hybrid system to the V-8. It’s a $2,545 upgrade over the standard 3.6-liter eTorque V-6 (which uses similar technology) and a $1,250 upgrade over the optional unassisted V-8. We went with four-wheel drive, as well, a $2,500 upcharge.

Those features are fitted to a full four-door crew cab with the 5-foot-7 short bed, which we upgraded to RamBox spec (cargo holds built into the bed sides). That