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Dec 07, 2023

2023 Ram 2500 Rebel brings diesel power to off

What is it: 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel pickup. Why should you consider it: Off-road capability with an optional diesel engine in a pickup that can tow up to 16,870. How much will it cost: Prices

What is it: 2023 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel pickup.

Why should you consider it: Off-road capability with an optional diesel engine in a pickup that can tow up to 16,870.

How much will it cost: Prices start at $67,045, excluding $1,895 destination charge.

When can you buy it? On sale late 2022.

PIONEERTOWN, California – Ram is about to add a tasty new flavor to its menu of full-size pickups: the 2023 2500 Rebel.

The Rebel trim level is already a hit on light-duty Ram 1500s. The 2500 brings it to Stellantis’ pickup brand’s medium-duty pickup lineup.

Ram calls the 2500 a heavy-duty pickup, but that’s marketing. It is a medium-duty vehicle by official regulatory standards, as are nearly all the pickups Ford, Chevy and GMC call heavy duty or HD. Don’t worry about that; they’re all heinously capable vehicles. Just please don’t email me asking why I call them all medium duty.

The 2500 Rebel competes with off-road models of the Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Ford F-250 and GMC Sierra 2500.

Base price: $67,045

Cummins diesel: $9,995

Warn winch: $2,500 (with gasoline engine only)

Level 1 Equipment Group: $4,220. Features include Uconnect 5 infotainment system, navigation and 12-inch touch screen; Emergency Vehicle Alert System; off-road and towing pages in display; power adjustable pedals and sideview mirrors; rain-sensitive windshield wipers; selectable tire fill alert; SiriusXM with 360L

Level 2 Equipment Group: $6,920 and includes everything in Group 1 plus Everything mentioned above in Level 1 Equipment Group plus 17-speaker Harman Kardon audio; bi-function LED headlights; electronic shift-on-the-fly transfer case; leather wrapped bucket seats, steering wheel, grab handles and shifter

Prices exclude $1,895 destination charge

What matters is that the 2500 Rebel combines serious off-road hardware with the popular Cummins diesel engine that has been one of Ram’s hallmarks for decades.

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Ram already has a medium-duty off-road model, the Power Wagon, but it costs about $2,300 more, doesn’t offer a diesel, and tows and hauls less than the Rebel.

The Rebel intentionally borrows some Power Wagon design cues, including black powder coating for the grille and bumpers and a Mopar Sport hood.

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New features include an optional video rearview mirror with three views — conventional, from the sideview mirrors for towing, and an auxiliary camera that can be mounted on the bumper, or on trailers. The cameras can also provide a 360-degree view for parking.

Driver assistance features:

The base engine is a 6.4L Hemi gasoline V8 that produces 410 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque. The 6.7L straight-six Cummins diesel — a $9,995 option — produces 370 hp and 850 pound-feet of torque.

The diesel Rebel can tow up to 14,920 pounds and carry as much as 1,970 pounds in its cab and bed. The Hemi can tow 16,870 pounds and haul 3,140.

The Rebel comes with 20-inch tries, 33-inch tires and skid plates to protect the fuel tank and skid plates.

The pickup can shift from rear- to four-wheel drive on the fly. A transfer case provides a low range of gears for rugged territory. As with other pickups with advanced 4WD systems, you have to stop and shift into neutral to activate the low range of gears.

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Features likely to be popular include:

The roomy crew cab can seat five or six people, depending on whether you get a front bench seat. Materials range from cloth seats to leather.

Interior features include:

I spent a day driving a pair of 2500 Rebels from California’s baking high desert into the San Bernardino National Forest to the equally parched — thanks, climate change — Big Bear Lake, a sometime boating destination that’s currently largely dry.

I spent most of the day in a diesel Rebel loaded with features including 17-speaker Harman Kardon audio and the towing and safety packages. It stickered at $89,835. All prices exclude destination charges.

Departing Pioneertown, a 1940s re-creation of the 1800s West that served as the set for numerous movies and TV shows, the Rebel was surprisingly smooth and quiet on a series of winding and rolling secondary roads through the desert.

Despite rugged 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler off-road tires, there was little road noise at high speed. The diesel was effectively muffled by insulation in the engine compartment.

The diesel accelerated confidently, including pulling up a couple of long grades up to 10%.

Off-road, the diesel’s torque combined with the low range of gears and locking rear differential to make easy work of a long haul on forest trails as the pickup descended from 8,000 feet elevation to Pioneertown’s 4,000.

The Ram 2500 is a big, long vehicle so the Rebel is at home on wider trails without a lot of tight switchbacks. The narrow twisties favored by recreational off-roaders are a better match for smaller vehicles. Ford electronically locks the inside rear wheel of some big SUVs to help them negotiate tight trails. The Rebel seems better suited as a working vehicle than weekend warrior. Expect to see it heading into the back country to repair fences, wells or check on livestock, not for family outings.

I also drove a Hemi-powered Rebel — sticker price $79,395 — for a couple of hours, including on some narrow and deeply rutted dirt roads clinging to mountain sides. It was more than capable, and proved quick and pleasant when I reached paved surfaces.

Base price: $39,950 (excluding $1,895 destination charge)

Rear/four-wheel drive, five- or six-passenger crew cab medium-duty pickup.

On sale late 2022

Primary model tested: 2023 Ram 2500 Rebel diesel

Price as tested $89,835

Specifications as tested:

Power unit: 6.7L inline-six diesel engine

Output: 370 hp; 850 pound-feet of torque

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Fuel: Diesel

EPA fuel economy estimate: Not available for medium-duty vehicles.

Wheelbase: 149.3 inches

Length: 238.8 inches

Width: 83.4 inches

Height: 80.9

Curb weight: NA

Ground clearance: 8.5 inches

Payload: 1,970 pounds

Towing capacity: 14,920 pounds

Assembled in Saltillo, Mexico

Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan.

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