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A good way to start the day, it was, crawling along some dirt trails in the 2014 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn Crew Cab 4X4. A Cummins diesel provided the power.

Ram is adding to its diesel arsenal this fall with a smaller 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6, the EcoDiesel, designed for its half-ton pickups.

The Wednesday morning venture for us, though, was with the tried-and-true 6.7-liter turbodiesel inline-6 which pits the Ram head-on against heavy-duty offerings from the Ford F250, Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. The Ram power climbs past 800 lb.-ft. of torque and 17,000 pounds of tow capacity.

Four-wheel-drive lock, with the twist of a dial on the dash, gives the Ram the means of handling the offroad dirt surfaces and ruts. The turbodiesel is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. The Ram averaged 15.5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. It rides on Firestone LT275/70R18 tires.

On a cold morning, with the Ram parked in the driveway, push the remote-staart button twice from inside; 6 or 8 seconds later there is a bit of clatter as the turbodiesel fires up. I remember years ago the long delay after turning the ignition key on diesel-powered cars, waiting for the glow plugs to heat the cylinders. A Peugeot diesel in 1978 required a wait of 90 seconds before starting.

With coils having replaced rear leaf springs in the past year, there is another side to the Ram 2500 – pleasant highway travel. It rides almost as smoothly as the Ram half-ton.

We drove it one evening to Hudson for dinner at the Pepper Pod with friends Rich and Linda Gaber, Tim Coy and Cynthia Rutledge.

The Ram’s Laramie Longhorn interior is impressive, finished in “cattle tan” leather. It’s solid color, even the Longhorn logos, which is more attractive in my opinion than other Longhorn editions which use lighter-colored inserts in the seats.

While the truck is equipped with a large 8-inch display screen for navigation and audio, its image from the rearview camera is better-placed but much smaller, positioned in the mirror.

Among other interior highlights are wood trim, heated and cooled seats, berber carpeting and “saddle-bag-type” flap-closure seatback map pockets for rear-seat passengers.
Outside, the bed features a trifold tonneau cover and locking Ram Box storage in the sides.

The Laramie Longhorn four-door 4X4 is base-priced at $52,200 and soars to $66,850 with the pricey additions. The strong Cummins diesel adds $7,995.