Highway 11
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I recently explored replacing my 2023 2.7 Ecoboost Supercrew XLT due to ongoing quality issues, but ended up keeping it. During this time, I test drove the following vehicles:
2024 Ram 1500 Sport with 5.7L E-Torque
2024 Ford F150 XLT with 3.5L Ecoboost
Additionally, I drove a Powerboost Lariat when I was purchasing my truck. It's an older comparison, but I figured I'd throw it in. Car and Driver constantly raves about the ride in the Ram, and it's frequently mentioned as being a notch above the F150 in interior quality and comfort. I wanted to see what this was all about and to see if the Ram was a decent competitor.
Ram 1500 Likes:
2024 Ram 1500 Sport with 5.7L E-Torque
2024 Ford F150 XLT with 3.5L Ecoboost
Additionally, I drove a Powerboost Lariat when I was purchasing my truck. It's an older comparison, but I figured I'd throw it in. Car and Driver constantly raves about the ride in the Ram, and it's frequently mentioned as being a notch above the F150 in interior quality and comfort. I wanted to see what this was all about and to see if the Ram was a decent competitor.
Ram 1500 Likes:
- It comes with 4A on the Bighorn and Sport trims, where the F150 doesn't have it until the Lariat Trim. I miss this a lot in the grey area between dry roads and full blizzard.
- I found the seats in it much nicer than the F150. If my XLT's seats aren't set perfectly I'll know it. I melted into the seats in the Ram.
- The storage in the back is amazing. The folding storage under the seat and the in-floor storage compartments are things I wish I had in my F150 in lieu of my current setup.
- Stupid, but I liked the key-fob more. It felt more premium than the F150.
- It takes rough roads a bit better than the F150. The coils do help, but it is a solid rear axle truck. It felt a bit softer than the F150 and I can see why people would say it's more car-like.
- The interior does feel more premium. The dash was soft-touch where on my XLT it was hard plastic.
- The centre console packaging is better. Every F150 with a console should come with the work surface, or the lid should split into 2 for additional storage. The Ram spanks the F150 here.
- It came with full LED lighting. The XLT *still* comes with halogen rears.
- I preferred the hybrid analog and digital setup in the previous Rams. The Ram I drove came with the new digital cluster... and I found some of the ideas behind it great but the execution lacking. There's a screen where navigation replaces the gauges, and the customizability is up there. But in its default state, I found it a bit lacking design wise. Ford on the 21-23 digital cluster and the 24+ cluster took inspiration from analog gauges, but didn't replicate them. I love the nice big speedometer inside the faux analog ring on the F150. Ram had digital needles sweeping on a replica gauge. That can work - see the Mustang. But it was in black and white and the white needles and numbers clashed - the needle became translucent to cover the numbers but all I got was a muddled mess of pixels. Meanwhile, the digital speedometer is in the middle of the screen where other stuff could have gone - I felt even the 21-23 analog/digital hybrid on the XLT302A did better. But I'm a snob about this sort of thing and I've always felt CDJR products have been hit or miss. My old Charger Pursuit had the Spiderman font for all of its gauges and the digital screen design wasn't half bad. My Durango Pursuit had an entirely different font (Agency FB) and a laughably bad digital design. There's no consistency, where at least Ford sticks with the same font and colour scheme.
- On the engine front... Ram needs more engine variety. It feels like there's a huge gap between the 3.6 Pentastar and the 5.7. The 5.7 is fun to rev out. I've always liked it, though it's long in the tooth. The new Hurricane feels like a competitor to the 3.5 Ecoboost. The 3.6 feels anemic in a Durango, so I have no idea why it's in a Ram - it's like Ford's 3.3 V6. I feel like there's a middle ground they haven't targeted - the people that would go for a 2.7 Ecoboost or 2.7 Turbomax. Not everybody needs the power and towing capacity of the Hurricane/Hemi, but they want something more than the base Pentastar. Plus there's so much character to each engine. I can't speak to the 5.0 as I haven't driven one. The 2.7 wants to go and spin its turbos like a race car. It's fast off the line. The 3.5 comes off the line slightly slower but once it gets going it's like a freight train. The Powerboost advances effortlessly like physics is a joke. With Ram you get V8 roar or U-Haul Fleet.
- For two trucks that are roughly the same size, the Ram feels a lot smaller. My wife likened it to being in the cockpit of a fighter jet vs. passenger jet. The dash on the F150 feels further away. Some people like the fighter jet feel, some like the flight deck feel.
- The Ram I looked at has been on the lot for 271 days. Another truck I looked at has been on the lot for 290 days. Just what the heck is going on?
- I can't believe Ram is allowed to sell the E-Torque the way it's currently set up. The gas pedal was super twitchy starting off, and when I'd coast to a stop I could feel it activating and slowing me down before I touched the brake pedal. When I test drove the Powerboost, I had to ask my sales rep how to tell it was switching back and forth because it was that smooth. It wasn't twitchy and yet it would get up and go when asked.
- It's still made of steel and not aluminum. I live in the land of Maple Syrup and road brine.
- I was busy driving, so this one is from my wife. UConnect was extremely laggy and she managed to lock it up changing the climate controls. She commented on how much she likes the buttons on the F150 and the aspect ratio of the screen - The Ram screen seems smaller than it actually is. Android Auto only runs on half the screen and it's laughably small.
- The gear shift knob is easy to reach and I prefer it over the folding gear shift. But why does it feel so cheap?
- I've been spoiled by the F150. Boxlink might be useless, but it exists and I can bolt something there. I can also get into my bed using the tailgate step. Ram has a few tie-downs and a bumper step. It felt very downmarket.
- There's no steering feel. The power steering is over-boosted. It's precise, but I had no feedback.
- Tech-wise, it's far behind. The dealership I was at scoured their entire inventory and didn't have a model with 360 cameras, trailer brake control, or trailer backup assist. Their hybrid system is a larger alternator... vs. a hybrid that can power your entire house.
- RamConnect is 200 CAD+ a year. Fordpass is free.
- This is going to sound petty, but this bothered me the most. The turn signal stalk is mounted 1/2 to 1 inch forward of where it is on the F150. I had to break my grip on the steering wheel and twist around the back to use the turn signal, where on the F150 I straighten my fingers out and flick the turn signal.
- I'm annoyed by how much I like the keypad on my F150 and how heartbroken I'd be if I had to give it up.
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