2023 RAM 2500 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

If the new Ram 2500 Rebel looks familiar, your eyes don’t deceive you. It’s basically the same as the Power Wagon, but without the graphics and badging, the 17-inch wheels, and the 12,000-pound Warn winch integrated into the front bumper. Instead, it has an aluminum sport hood, 20-inch wheels, and cleaner flanks. It all results in a similarly aggressive appearance with a trendy blacked-out look.

All Ram 2500 Rebels come with the company’s Rebel-specific grille and a crew-cab configuration with a 6-foot, 4-inch (193-centimetre) cargo bed. A 6.4-litre V8 engine is standard, just like in the Power Wagon, but the Rebel also offers a 6.7-litre Cummins turbodiesel inline-six that you can’t get in the Power Wagon. Why not? Ram can’t package the Warn winch with the cooling requirements of the Cummins.

Ram sets the base price of the 2023 Ram 2500 Rebel at $79,195, not including a destination charge to ship it north from the Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico factory to your local dealership, which varies from $1,895 to $2,595 depending on the dealer and your location. Trims offered include the Tradesman, Big Horn, Rebel, Power Wagon, Laramie, Limited Longhorn, and Limited. In addition to the Cummins turbodiesel, our Hydro Blue Rebel had the Safety Group, Towing Tech Group (which requires one of the Power Wagon equipment groups), and a 17-speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system. In Canada, this brings its Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) to $98,920, including the generic destination charge estimate from Ram’s website.

The 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel also benefits from changes Ram makes across its lineup for the 2023 model year. A new 12-inch digital instrumentation panel is available, and Ram offers side-view cameras to show what’s in the truck’s blind spots when changing lanes. Towing enhancements include power telescopic towing mirrors, trailer and side-view capabilities for the digital rearview mirror, and a Trailer Tow Pages app. Trailer Reverse Steering Control is also new, a semi-autonomous steering technology that makes it easier to reverse a trailer.

Our Ram 2500 Rebel’s interior made its price more palatable. Quality materials, contrast stitching, and fancy finishes lent it a luxurious appearance, but we could do without the gloss black plastic surrounding the infotainment system. It shows every speck of dust, every fingerprint, and it reflects sunlight. On a bright day, you could hunt around looking for the climate controls before realizing you simply cannot see them lining the touchscreen display’s borders.

Just like with the Power Wagon, the Ram 2500 Rebel has a standard 6.4-litre V8 engine making 410 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive (4WD). The part-time transfer case offers 4-Hi and 4-Lo settings, and a front-axle disconnect system helps the Rebel eke out a little more gas mileage by allowing you to run the truck in rear-wheel drive (RWD).

Unlike with the Power Wagon, a standard-output version of Ram’s Cummins 6.7-litre turbodiesel inline six-cylinder engine is an available powertrain in the Rebel. It produces 370 hp and 850 lb-ft of torque, and it employs a six-speed automatic transmission. Ram says this engine option should satisfy customers who have repeatedly asked for a diesel Power Wagon, but without the bold graphics, winch, 17-inch wheels, and the Power Wagon’s exclusive locking front differential and disconnecting sway bar, it may come as cold comfort.

Not only that, but the Cummins is a pricey upgrade, jacking the window sticker of our test truck by about ten grand. And the diesel engine isn’t the towing and hauling king, either. You need the standard V8 to get the 2500 Rebel’s maximum 7,652 kilograms (16,870 pounds) of towing capacity and 1,455 kilograms (3,140 pounds) of payload capacity. Want that optional Warn winch on your new Rebel? The V8 is the only way to get it.

The Cummins is more efficient, though. Natural Resources Canada doesn’t provide fuel economy estimates for heavy-duty trucks, but our test model’s trip computer showed 12.3 litres per 100 kilometres after more than 120 kilometres of mostly highway driving. Chugging up two-lane mountain roads raised that result to 14.6 L/100 km. Add off-roading, and the number rose again to 16.0 L/100 km. Still, that’s better than what we observed another driver achieve over the same route with the 6.4-litre Hemi V8. That Ram HD’s trip computer showed a dismal 22.8 L/100 km on the same route and under the same conditions.

Though it doesn’t exactly match the hardware that you’ll find in a Ram 2500 Power Wagon, the new Rebel is plenty capable when the going gets really rough. Like with other 2500 models, Ram constructs the truck’s frame of 98.5 percent high-strength steel, giving it a robust foundation. Rebels also have old-school hydraulically assisted recirculating ball steering gear and a sophisticated five-link rear suspension for what Ram claims is the best ride, handling, load carrying, and axle articulation of any truck in the heavy-duty segment. A rear air suspension is an option.

To this, the Rebel adds 20-inch wheels wrapped in 33-inch off-road tires, a locking rear differential, a limited-slip rear differential, and skid plates for the fuel tank and transfer case. The end result is a truck that Ram says is nearly as capable as the Power Wagon but can tow more weight, haul more stuff, and is easier to live with on a daily basis.

Accompanied by the faint but pleasing clatter of the Cummins and the whir of the off-road rubber, we tackled lumpy desert roads, well-maintained two-lane highways, the twists and turns of a winding mountain route, punishing trails, and treacherous terrain.

From parking in market and restaurant lots to cruising at 110 kilometres per hour with the adaptive cruise turned on, the Ram 2500 Rebel proved surprisingly smooth, unexpectedly docile, and remarkably refined. Sure, the V8 sounds great, and its 429 lb-ft of torque is easier to modulate with the throttle when you’re in 4-Lo and creeping up a rock-strewn hillside, but the turbodiesel’s effortless surge of 850 lb-ft is equally satisfying. However, while the Cummins delivers significantly better fuel economy, its dramatically higher price tag means you’ll wait a long time before it starts to pay for itself.

You’ll notice the recirculating ball steering on narrow, curving, shoulderless roads, where the slow response and on-centre play require constant input. On wide, straight highways, this isn’t an issue. Also, the Ram 2500 Rebel’s bulging hood is a liability off-road and when parking, but the truck has a standard front camera to assist with visibility. Otherwise, the Rebel proved itself to be more than a one-trick pony.

You will need to be in good physical condition to enter and exit the Ram 2500 Rebel. Long legs will help, too. To hoist yourself into the cab, you grab the huge handles on the roof pillars and jump up and over into the seat.

The Cummins turbodiesel’s six-speed automatic uses a column shift rather than the rotary transmission dial you’ll find with the gas V8’s eight-speed automatic. That column shifter, which you’ll use every time you drive the truck, feels and sounds like a snapping chicken bone and lacks clearly defined detents signaling gear engagement. It’s the only thing about the interior that seems cheap.

Depending on how you spec the truck, it will have cloth or leather upholstery and a front bench or bucket seats. (The photo truck had the leather bench seat.) Our test vehicle had premium Natura Plus leather and bucket seats divided by a centre console, and they proved comfortable after hours in the truck. The heated and ventilated seats came in handy on a driving day with temperatures ranging from 10 to 25 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, to use them, you need to dig into the Uconnect 5 infotainment system’s Comfort menu to turn them on and off. That’s irritating.

Unsurprisingly, the Ram 2500 Rebel’s Mega Cab back seat is roomy and comfortable and offers air conditioning vents, heated outboard cushions, USB charging ports, and a 115-volt/400-watt AC power outlet. Flip the rear seat cushion up to reveal useful storage space.

You won’t have trouble finding places to stash things inside or outside of the Ram 2500. Of course, trucks with the full centre console have even more storage space, but the front bench seat’s centre section folds down to provide cupholders and a shallow bin. Ram deftly hides dashboard storage behind the trim in front of the passenger’s seat and carves shelves and bins into the cabin wherever it finds room for them.

Cargo box options include a spray-in bedliner, LED lighting, and a step that deploys to assist you with access to the bed. Ram’s rivals offer appealing features that improve bed functionality and utility, especially when it comes to reaching and climbing into the cargo area. However, the available Ram Box locking bedside storage bins are pretty irresistible.

A new 12-inch digital instrumentation panel debuts in the 2023 Ram Heavy Duty models, offering both gauge and menu tile display configurations. You control the system using buttons on the steering wheel, and it is mostly intuitive. However, you’ll want to set this up and get to know how it works when you’re not driving because it can cause distraction.

Additionally, Ram is rolling out numerous improvements to its heavy-duty truck’s exterior camera systems and trailering technologies. In addition to standard surround-view and forward-view cameras, the Rebel now offers blind-spot cameras that show what’s on either side of the truck on the infotainment system display screen. Another upgrade is a digital rearview mirror that can show you what’s behind and to either side of your trailer.

Ram also adds Trailer Reverse Steering Control to the 2023 Heavy Duty models. This option equips the truck with a knob on the dashboard that the driver can use to translate the desired direction of travel for a trailer into steering that will produce that result. Input some data, twist the knob, and the truck will steer accordingly.

Every Ram 2500 has a next-generation Uconnect 5 infotainment system running the automaker’s latest software that’s shared with Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles. Our test truck had the 12-inch touchscreen mounted in portrait orientation on the dashboard, and highlights included Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, a navigation system, and more. The optional 17-speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system sounded terrific, as we expected.

While glare is a problem for the digital instrumentation panel and the controls surrounding the display, the infotainment screen remains bright and visible on sunny days. You can configure the Home screen to show commonly referenced information, like the navigation map and radio data. For deeper dives, you’ll find primary menu selections at the bottom of the screen, which makes it relatively easy to find the information you seek.

The voice-recognition system works well but isn’t quite as good as the digital assistant on your smartphone. For example, when you seek directions to a specific address, you must first request help with navigation. Nevertheless, the Ram 2500 Rebel’s Uconnect 5 system handled common point-of-interest queries without issue. Furthermore, while using the navigation system to find our two destinations for the day, it provided useful, accurate instructions.

Ram offers several advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) on the 2023 Heavy Duty models, and our test truck had them all. They include automatic high-beam headlights, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking (including for trailer brakes), lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control.

We set the adaptive cruise control at 110 kilometres per hour and activated the lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist systems. Out in the middle of nowhere, the driving aids proved worthwhile, matching and adjusting pace with the traffic ahead on the wide two-lane highway. How it might fare on a multi-lane highway or in denser traffic is unknown.

Just as you won’t find fuel economy ratings for a Ram 2500, crash-test ratings don’t exist. However, considering how this truck is larger and heavier than most other vehicles on the road, you likely need to worry only about how it might perform in a single-vehicle crash into something like a tree or a ravine.

As you would expect, Ram prices the new 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel competitively. It’s significantly less expensive than the 2023 Ford F-250 Platinum with the Tremor package and also starts a few grand lower than a 2023 GMC Sierra 2500HD AT4.

The Ram’s distinctive look, impressive towing capacity, generous standard equipment, and overall sense of refinement justify this positioning. But at nearly $100,000 as tested, you’ve gotta wonder who is buying these rigs.

With that said, changes are coming to this segment. The 2023 Ford F-250 Super Duty gets a redesign accompanied by new engines, new tech, and new everything. It will be a formidable rival, especially with a new XL Off-Road Package that provides much of the Rebel’s hardware at a lower price point.

General Motors isn’t sitting on its thumbs, either. The 2024 GMC Sierra 2500HD gets a refresh infusing it with more power, more technology, and what GMC is touting as class-leading towing capacity. A new AT4X trim level also arrives, adding more off-roading capability to the existing AT4 model.

In addition, Chevy will no longer be absent from this heavy-duty off-roader segment. The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD gains most of the same improvements as the Sierra and adds a new ZR2 trim level to address customers seeking more off-roading capability accompanied by an appropriate look.

So, while the Ram 2500 Rebel is a worthy addition to the lineup, the competition is about to step up its game. Ram Trucks will need to keep innovating if it wants to appeal to more than just its existing customers who are seeking a diesel Power Wagon.

Note: Images and video show a US model.