Leaked Report Says Ram Is Bringing Back V8 Pickups And They Will Be More Powerful Than Ever

By Gary Gastelu |

Mar 9, 2025

Well, that plan didn’t last long.

Ram discontinued its V8-powered light duty pickups for 2025 and replaced the engines with turbocharged inline-six-cylinders, but information allegedly shared during a recent dealer meeting says those two pistons will be coming back with a fury later this year.

A screenshot of a summary of the meeting that was shared with Sportsnaut lays out the near future for the brand in detail.

It says the 5.7-liter V8 previously featured in the Ram 1500 will be returning along with brand’s 6.4-liter V8 in that model, which wasn’t an option on the last generation model.

The 6.4-liter is currently featured in Ram’s heavy duty trucks and the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392. The Dodge Challenger and Charger sedan that were discontinued in 2023 also offered it.

The leaked info also says that the Ram 1500 “TRX is coming back with more power.”

The 2021-2024 Ram 1500 TRX had a 702 hp supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that had been the most powerful gas engine ever put in a pickup until the 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R was launched with a 720 hp supercharged 5.2-liter V8.

The 2025 Ram 1500 RHO is essentially just a TRX with a straight-six and the 6.2-liter V8 with up to 900 hp (1,025 hp when running on E85) had been available in the Challenger, so it should be no problem taking back the title from Ford.

The document, if accurate, also supports the rumor that Ram is going to enter the NASCAR Truck Series in 2026 to set up Dodge’s return to the Cup Series in 2028.

A Truck Series effort would be a relatively cheap way to promote this coming onslaught of V8 trucks. Ram last officially competed in the series in 2013, but private teams raced its trucks for a few years after that.

Ram has not publicly commented on the reports of the V8’s return, but also hasn’t denied them and new brand CEO Tim Kuniskis told Motor1 in January that he’s “not ruling it out.”