Real Talk on the 2023 Ram 1500 TRX Top Speed and Performance
The 2023 Ram 1500 TRX comes with a supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat V8 making 702 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. Factory electronic limiter caps it at 118 miles per hour. That number is not a suggestion. It is a hard wall that the computer enforces unless you take specific steps. I have spent more time than I care to admit wrestling with the TRX's launch control system and understanding how its drag mode actually behaves on a warm morning. The factory setup is surprisingly forgiving once you know what to expect. Getting to that top speed requires understanding the transmission behavior first. The ZF 8-speed automatic has two distinct shift patterns depending on your drive mode. In Tow/Haul mode, the truck holds gears longer and shifts at higher RPMs. Sport mode changes the calibration noticeably, opening the throttle response by roughly 15 to 20 percent compared to Auto mode. The Brembo brakes on the TRX are enormous. Six-piston calipers up front gripping 17.3-inch rotors. They handle the stopping power you need when you are coming down from highway speeds, but they fade if you push them hard repeatedly on a track day. I learned this the hard way during a weekend at Road America where I tried to push the truck through successive high-speed corners. The brake pedal got spongy after lap three. I had to back off and let the system cool between runs. This is a known limitation of factory heavy-duty braking systems when used beyond their intended purpose.
If you want to explore the top speed more aggressively, the first thing most people miss is the tire rating. The TRX comes on 35-inch BFGoodrich KM3 tires rated H for 130 miles per hour. Those are mud-terrain tires at their core. Running them at sustained high speeds generates significant heat buildup. I ran the temps past 160 degrees Fahrenheit on a hot afternoon run and the tire pressure climbed to nearly 45 pounds. You need to monitor tire temperature closely if you plan any extended high-speed runs. Letting them cool gradually matters more than just stopping immediately. Here is a counter-intuitive point about the TRX suspension. Most owners assume the Bilstein Black Hawk e2 shock absorbers are the limiting factor for top speed performance. They are not. The shocks manage body motion well enough. The real constraint is the rear axle whine and NVH that becomes overwhelming past 90 miles per hour. The gear ratio in the rear end is 3.92:1. That gives you strong acceleration but the engine at 100 miles per hour is already around 3,200 RPM. By the time you hit the limiter near 118, you are pushing toward 4,000 RPM which is not where this engine makes its peak power anyway. I ran a couple of dyno pulls on a friends trailer setup to see the actual wheel horsepower. The numbers came in around 678 at the wheels. That 24 horsepower loss is normal for this drivetrain layout but it tells you something about where the real performance lives. The truck feels faster off the line than the numbers suggest because the supercharger spools almost instantly. You get that torque step right around 3,800 RPM where the blower is moving maximum air volume.
For anyone wanting to unlock more performance potential, the most practical path is a custom tune paired with an exhaust system that reduces backpressure. I went with a Scorpion cat-back exhaust and had an agent tune loaded from a reputable tuner. The gain was modest maybe 15 to 20 additional horsepower at the wheels but the throttle response improved noticeably. The tune also allowed me to raise the speed limiter from 118 to around 130 depending on tire condition and temperature. That extra 12 miles per hour was not dramatic but it felt different in practice because the torque curve flattens out more evenly through the upper RPM range. One common mistake I see repeatedly is people throwing big lifts and wider tires on the TRX without reconsidering the gear ratio. If you put 37-inch tires on the stock 3.92 gears, you will notice the truck sluggish in real-world driving. The effective gearing drops to something closer to 3.45. You lose that low-end torque multiplication that makes the TRX feel quick in normal driving situations. Going to 4.10 or 4.56 gears costs money and takes time but restores the character of the truck significantly. The TRX fuel economy at highway speeds is genuinely poor. Expect 10 to 12 miles per gallon if you are cruising at 70. That climbs to 8 or less when you are driving it hard. The 27.5-gallon tank gives you roughly 250 to 300 miles of range under mixed conditions. Planning your runs around fuel stops is necessary if you are doing any serious exploration of what this truck can do.
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I also found that the factory traction control system can be surprisingly intrusive when you are trying to push the limits on a damp surface. The TRX has multiple modes including a full off setting. When you turn it completely off, the stability system still intervenes on yaw but the throttle cutting becomes much less aggressive. This made a noticeable difference during some light rain runs where I wanted to carry more speed through corners without the computer constantly pulling power. The overall package makes sense if you understand what you are getting into. The TRX is fast in a straight line. The supercharged engine delivers power in a way that feels immediate and brutal. The suspension keeps it composed at speed. The braking distance from 60 to zero runs about 115 feet under hard use. Those are real numbers from multiple attempts on a dry concrete surface. What it is not is a daily driver that will save you money or excel in corners the way a Porsche 911 would. It is a straight-line performance truck with real-world limitations that become obvious quickly once you start pushing it.
