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2009 Dodge Ram Preview
Sep 09 2008 by Kristin Varela
9/9/08
Ram Designed With Family Life in Mind
Who buys pickup trucks? It might not be who you’re thinking of. Dodge says there’s a much-overlooked segment in the truck market: the New Fabric Family. This is defined as working-class families who are climbing the social ladder. When it looked to redesign the Ram, Dodge’s R&D and design teams spied on these families to see how they use their trucks.
New Fabric Families use crew cab pickups as their main family car: driving carpool on weekdays, hitting Home Depot and Lowe’s for DIY projects, and hauling gear on the weekends.
With a whopping 42 storage compartments (compared with 26 in the previous model), every square inch of space in the Ram was proactively utilized. I’m talking about innovative, hidden, in-floor removable bins with drain plugs, underseat storage, and the available Ram Box — two “weatherproof, illuminated, drainable, lockable” bins on either side of the truck bed that can fit golf clubs, baseball bats, helmets … or 120 12-ounce soda cans, plus ice, for the whole baseball team and everyone watching the game.
You’ll also be glad to know these Ram Boxes are equipped with standardize glow-in-the-dark emergency releases in case curious children try to find out if they can fit into it as well.
And speaking of safety, 35 safety and security features can be found in the new Ram, including standard front airbags and side curtain airbags (but, oddly enough, no torso side airbags), available adjustable foot pedals, rear park assist and a rear backup camera.
The Ram’s interior is fabulously untruck-like, more closely resembling a luxury SUV. I look forward to my two-week test drive with kids in tow. We’ll find out if the Ram is doable for this New Fabric Family.
User Comments
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This truck is not as bad on gas as people think..I own a 2003 Ram 1500 and it gets 16.6 mpg average..My new ‘09 with under 3,000 gets 17.4 average BUT: my ‘03 was getting 13.9-14.2 when under 10,000 so this truck should get at least 2 mpg better,as my older Ram did and my 2001 Grand Cherokee went up by 4 mpg by the time it hit 100,000.By the way my brothers Honda Accord 4 door 4 cyl averages 19 mpg…many minivans get 16-19 mpg..and for a family hauler a Ram would be the best,safety,safety,safety..any car colliding with a Ram has not a change..bigger is better,sur eyou can be frugal and drive a Yaris for a family car but if you get in a wreck,your family is injured,crippled your going to wish you had a Ram..
Yeah, but it’s still a truck with dismal gas mileage. Seems to me there are better family vehicles out there that will haul the family and Home Depot loot as well. Hey, if you need a truck, get a truck. But I’d bet that most families that have a truck, don’t NEED a truck.