If you’ve ever taken a long hard look at a SEMA creation and wondered how it would perform in the real world, wonder no more. The owners of this Chevrolet Silverado monstrosity decided to put its ridiculous modifications to the test by cresting a very small jump. It didn’t go well. You’ll have to hop the jump to see the carnage for yourself. We have to say it’s the best $350,000 fail we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to replay the clip for another half hour. [Source: Autoblog]

Happy Monday everyone, Big_Blocker here and I’m not going to lie I am pretty amped off what I saw in the first two episodes of the Ram Challenge, a new aggressive marketing campaign to promote the 2009 Dodge Ram. At first I was a little bit apprehensive however, after watching episodes one and two, I am truly excited for parts three and four. Hit the jump for more of my review of the first half of the Ram Challenge.

Now I must admit, I am a pretty big Dodge fanboy seeing as I drive an 01 Dodge Ram 1500 however I had my doubts as to the badassery of the Ram Challenge prior to watching. Like myself, I am sure many of you have seen commercials on tv that show clips of the Ram Challenge that show trucks flying through the air while others swing from cables in an orgy of destruction. I am also sure that most of you are familiar with Hollywood antics and the art of promotion and are aware that there are some previews that hype something up to a fever pitch only to have it crash miserably to the ground (I am talking about you Jarhead). However, the commercials for the Ram Challenge are pretty accurate and represent the competition fairly well while leaving more to be discovered.

If any of you read my previous blog on the introduction of the 09 Ram you will know some of the unique features that make it a perfect candidate for this gnarly challenge. The new 5.7 L Hemi in the truck puts out 390 horsepower and 407 pound feet of torque which is monstrous for a factory pickup in my opinion. All that power should make for one hell of a performer, but what would the crew and director Tony Scott come up with to test this thing? I am going to answer that with a summary of what I have seen so far.

The competition starts in typical Hollywood form as the teams are flown in on a Huey helicopter straight out of Vietnam to some remote location (presumably Southern California) to the camp/obstacle course. The teams are introduced as 4 accurate representations of American workers: Cowboys, Fireman, Military and Contractors. The host (some fat white guy) shows the teams their trucks and then fires a shotgun to start the first race in which the last place team gets sent home. This is where the competition gets interesting because after that gun is fired, it’s a balls-to-the-wall race to the finish. There wasn’t really much structure to the first leg as teams were cutting each other off, knocking down course markers and literally launching their trucks through the air and slamming down again only to negotiate tight turns. Something I liked about it was that the teams didn’t have their hands held by the production crews but rather were thrust onto a course where they could make mistakes (such as busting out the rear window of their truck as the Fireman did with a front loader). On several occasions a team would make a wrong turn and would have to back up and adjust to get back on course while another team squeezed by. The first race wasn’t about babying the truck on an off-road course, no no, they beat the sh*t out of them in race one. The slogan adopted by Dodge for this campaign is quite appropriate I think.

Race two was a different story and required more of a collaborative effort of truck, passenger and driver. It consisted of a steep decent, use of the computer system for directions, trailer hitching and towing and bridge building in order to reach the finish line. There was a much larger room for human error in the second part of the competition especially in the towing portion where a couple of the teams had trouble lining up the hitch to the trailer. Again something I thought was good was that each team did not have a chance to see the course prior to driving and had to act on adrenaline and split-second thinking in order to successfully make it through the course in a quick time. There are definitely some pretty sweet parts of the second part including a near failure when crossing a shoddy bridge and trailers nearly jack-knifing off the trail.

All in all I am pretty happy with the first half of the Ram Challenge and will eagerly wait for part 3 to come out on the 20th of this month. I encourage all of you to check out the Ram Challenge even if you don’t like trucks because it’s a pretty badass competition. Big_Blocker out.

Greetings, Big_Blocker here with more interesting truck news. Some of you who read my blog last week on the new variation of the Ford F150 will squeal with delight when you read this. Likewise if you are a MOPAR fan like I am, you will be very interested as to what is going on over at Dodge in terms of the new 2009 Ram. For a look at what the Ram will bring to the table this next year, hit the jump.

Powering the new Ram is a new generation 5.7 L Hemi that has several new features that make it not only more powerful but more fuel efficient. By utilizing variable valve timing and a multiple displacement system (MDS), the new Hemi makes more power than ever while delivering decent fuel economy (lets face it, any truck that makes big power has crappy mileage, and although it says “improved” I would say the best you get is about 14 city and 18 highway). Dodge also spent a great deal of R&D into making the new Ram aerodynamic and according to the truck maker, the new Ram delivers a best-in-class drag coefficient at .419. Power numbers come in at 390 for horsepower and 407 for torque which is quite big considering my 01 Ram with a 5.2 L made only 230 hp and 300 lb ft of torque when stock and achieves similar fuel economy (just goes to show what technology is doing I guess). All that power is said to propel the aerodynamic brick (all trucks are bricks no matter how aerodynamic they say they are) to sixty miles an hour in less than 6 seconds when geared with a 4:10 rear, which impresses this guy quite a bit. As far as the future Dodge is rumored to be introducing a smaller Cummins Turbo Diesel for light duty trucks after 2009, I certainly hope so.

The new Ram is fitted with a first in the arena of pickup trucks: a multi-link rear suspension. I myself was quite surprised when I read about this because as a truck owner I am used to nothing but leaf springs and some gas shocks, but hey I don’t complain. I am anxious to ride in one of the new 09’s to see how different the ride quality is. Like the rest of the truck makers, Dodge has incorporated as much storage space into their new truck as humanly possible. For instance, there is now storage in rails of the bed, known as the RamBox that provides weather-proof locking for anything you may need to store. All I know is that I hope the cops don’t find out about this RamBox as it is a brilliant place to store anything that you don’t want someone to find. The rest of the cab is also littered with places to put anything from tools to beverages in such a way as to be easily accessible but also convenient and out of the way.

Dodge has planned a new aggressive marketing campaign in order to saturate the prospective buyer market with interest over the new Ram. It is called the Dodge Ram Challenge and will pit 4 teams of iconic Americans (firefighters, cowboys, military personnel and construction workers) against each other in an elimination-type reality challenge in which each team is given a 2009 Ram and several timed tasks they must complete. Dodge really went all out on this one in my eyes as they hired director Tony Scott to come in and lead the project. The Dodge Ram Challenge begins on October 19 of this year but if you want to meet the teams, check out the site now and get amped for the new Ram as I already am. Big_Blocker out.

Happy Thursday everyone, Big_Blocker here with an interesting piece of news that was just released today by Ford. The news surrounds the release of a new variation of the 2009 Ford F150 toted as the Superior Fuel Economy edition. Ford claims that by using several advancements in aerodynamics and fuel systems, the F150 SFE is capable of 8% better fuel economy than the 2008 F150. To read how Ford achieved this as well as some of my opinions on the new SFE F150, hit the jump.

As gas prices go up, those who seek pickup trucks as their primary means of transportation are increasingly looking for ways to save at the pump. Ford knows this and thus has designed an F150 with fuel saving in mind. Designated the F150 Superior Fuel Economy edition, Ford claims mpg of 15 city and 21 highway. But how did Ford achieve this increase? First, they started off by dropping a smaller displacement 4.6 L V8 onto the K-member to reduce weight and gas guzzling. A newly developed 6-speed transmission is mated to the V8 to help keep the revs down and the shifts smoother. The 6-speed is said to have been engineered so as to deliver crisp responsiveness in the lower gears and a smooth power band in the high end. Another first for the SFE is the use of a 3.15:1 rear gear that helps the truck cruise down the highway while keeping the revs low. To round out the package, low resistance tires are standard on all for corners if the SFE option is ordered. Only available on the F150 SuperCrew and XLT 4×2, the SFE package will be a no-cost option with the chrome package ordered. The sleeker more aerodynamic design is said to have played a large part as well (overall aerodynamics are improved on all editions of the 2009 F150 resulting in improved economy and include refinements of the front valence, tailgate and rear of the cab).

Of course, with this drop in power and lower rear end, the SFE drops its towing capacity down from 11,300 pounds to 7,500 pounds, however if fuel is what you are looking to save and you don’t need to tow anything too massive, this may be the truck for you.

Now, what do I think about the SFE edition? Overall, I think that Ford is taking a big step in the right direction. Unlike the hybrid trucks which I feel are pieces of sh*t, options such as the SFE edition F150 still give those who own trucks an option to still have the practicality of a truck while maintaining some efficiency as well. Being a truck owner myself and having to deal with miserable mileage, I would not hesitate to look into a newer truck (provided I had money) that could give me V8 power and hauling capabilities while at the same time delivering 21 mpg (which I think is a little inflated but what isn’t). With gas prices going up, I see that Ford may sell a good amount of these SFE F150’s in the future and that other makers will follow suit if they haven’t already.

Hope you enjoyed this look at a new trend in trucks, Big_Blocker out. (There was to be a new Muscle Car of the Week today but after reading this I felt it was more important and the MCotW will come in the next few days)