Ram Australia has confirmed it is working hard behind the scenes to return Hemi V8 utes to its showrooms.
While the V8 has made a triumphant return in the States, MY26 Ram 1500s in Australia are powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder 'Hurricane' engine, albeit more powerful and more torquey than the Hemi it replaces.
But even though the new engine has become more popular than the V8 in the big ute's home market, Ram Australia is aiming to bring the option of a V8 back in the form of a fire-breathing top-spec performance variant - the Ram 1500 TRX SRT.
Read more
"Earlier this year, Ram Trucks USA confirmed the return of the Ram TRX," Ram Trucks Australia spokesperson Joshua Dowling said.
"We said at the time the reborn TRX is under serious consideration for Australia, and that statement remains true today.
"What we can tell you is that the TRX is more likely to come to Australia than not, but we still have a number of engineering gateways to go through, unlike the grey import market."
One of the reasons American utes are so much more expensive than they are in the US is the remanufacturing process, which is also the reason there's a delay between the model cycle there and here in Australia.
The extreme likelihood of the TRX returning to Australia is only dampened slightly by the small potential for an engineering 'hurdle' to deem the project too expensive, but it seems almost certain that it'll happen.
In fact, despite the lack of full confirmation the TRX will launch in Australia, Dowling said there are customers who have placed deposits in the event the supercharged V8 ute returns to Oz.
Revived by new Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis, the new generation of TRX boasts a 6.2-litre supercharged 'Hemi' V8 under the bonnet, producing 579kW and 922Nm and making the full-sized 'truck' capable of a claimed 0-100km/h sprint in just 3.5 seconds.
The TRX most recently available in Australia offered up 523kW and 882Nm, by comparison.
Order books opened this week in the US for the 2027 TRX SRT, starting from USD$99,995 (A$145,000), so Australians can be expected to pay plenty more once reengineering has taken place. For reference, the last-gen TRX Final Edition (with 523kW and 882Nm) was priced from $249,950 in Australia a year ago.
"Our vehicles are made to factory quality standards and, in order to be thorough, that process takes time," Dowling added.
"So we ask our TRX fans, please be patient… and we hope you won't be waiting too long.
"We can confirm we are working around the clock with our engineering team in Australia and with engineers in the US to make the return of TRX a reality."
In further promising news for V8 fans, the even more wicked-looking Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT is also a chance for Australia.
"The recently unveiled Ram 1500 Rumblebee muscle truck is also on our wish list. If it were to come to Australia, it would come after the TRX because of the engineering work required… but if everything goes our way, it won't be far behind."
In its top-end specification, the Rumble Bee SRT has the same supercharged Hemi V8 as the TRX with the same 579kW/922Nm, but a 'standard' Rumble Bee with a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 with 295kW/556Nm is also available, as is a Rumble Bee 392 with a 350kW/617Nm 6.4-litre Hemi V8.
Ram Australia didn't indicate which version is at the top of the wishlist.