2025 Ram 1500 vs Chevrolet Silverado 1500 comparison

It seems there's no segment that is immune to the pressures of powertrain downsizing. Following on from the launch in the United States of the Ram 1500 with a new twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine, we've got a right-hand-drive version in Australia for those who want a plus-sized ute with increased towing capabilities.

The introduction of a turbocharged inline-six-cylinder, which replaces the loved but undoubtedly old Hemi 5.7-litre naturally aspirated V8, does improve the breed. Putting ideology aside for those who love a V8 regardless of practicalities, the new Hurricane six-cylinder engine offers more power and more torque in more places.

But, how does it line up against our current favourite American-sized pick-up in the form of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500? Sticking with a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre petrol V8 under the bonnet, the Silverado LTZ from General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) hits a lot of the right notes.

But does the Ram 1500 hit more? It's priced higher, but also brings an impressive amount of standard kit. Let's shake out the details.

What we've got here is the entry-level offering in the six-cylinder Ram 1500 range for 2025. Laramie Sport brings an asking price of $141,950 plus on-road costs, sitting below the more powerful and higher-specced Limited as well as the off-road-leaning Rebel.

It's around 10 gorillas more than the Silverado LTZ in this comparison, but does have a higher level of standard equipment to offset the extra spend.

There's a new portrait-style 14.4-inch infotainment display on the inside, along with a third 10.25-inch passenger display and 12-inch digital instrument cluster. There are also twin wireless phone-charging pads, 19-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, electric-deploying side steps, a powered tailgate, tub-liner and RamBox side storage boxes.

There are also heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof and a reversing camera.

The new Hurricane engine outputs 313kW and 635Nm, both of which outstrip what the old V8 could offer. Stepping up to the Limited at $159,950 plus on-road costs is a big price impost, but it gets you more grunt (403kW/707Nm), air suspension, a larger fuel tank, and 22-inch wheels instead of 20s.

While there's an off-road-focused ZR2 to consider, the only other choice here in the Silverado range is the LTZ Premium. What we get here includes a Tech Pack as standard fit for the Australian market, and comes with an asking price of $130,500 plus on-road costs.

Standard fit here includes a 13.4-inch infotainment display, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and seven-speaker Bose sound system. There's also a digital rear-view mirror, power-sliding rear window, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, sunroof, wireless charging pad and heated rear outboard seats.

There are regular old side steps here, along with a powered tailgate, 20-inch wheels, a tub-liner and 360-degree camera system.

There's also a locking rear differential as standard, along with Rancho dampers, extra skid plates and Stabilitrak off-road traction control.

The 6.2-litre petrol V8 – which makes an equal 313kW but slightly less torque at 624Nm – sounds better than ever with a dual active exhaust system that allows the rumble to grow into a howl when you mash the pedal.

If you want to drop into a dealership, follow this link to find your nearest Ram dealership. Or, do the same at this link for Chevrolet.

If you're keen to do more research, read until you're chock full on details for both the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the Ram 1500 at the Drive website.

While both of these leviathan utes offer massive interior space, the Ram does a slightly better job overall of making better use of the available room. This is mostly because of the location of the gear shifter, which has moved to a round dial on the dashboard instead of a shifter atop the centre console.

While this might take a little while to come to hand naturally, the shifter location opens up the central area for a, frankly, ridiculous amount of storage space.

Along with two plus-sized cupholders (which can be slid out of the way), you've got an absolutely massive central storage space. And I really mean it when I say massive. It wouldn't be far off what you get in the boot of a Fiat 500 and possibly more than a Suzuki Jimny. There are more power outlets than you can shake an iPod at, twin wireless charging pads (in a vertical orientation), and the seats are as comfortable as a family room lounge chair.

Along with plentiful seat and steering column adjustment, you've also got adjustable depth of the accelerator and brake pedals, which means you can really dial yourself in behind the wheel.

The Silverado cannot compete outright with the Ram on upfront storage space because of the location of the regular-style gear shifter. However, it's still excellent for space. Some parts of the Silverado feel a little more hard-wearing with harder plastics, but there are some useful storage nooks for your things, along with a massive lidded storage bin.

The Silverado has a useful second glovebox in front of the passenger (where the Ram has a third display), which some buyers might prefer for practical reasons. The Chevrolet also has a broader range of physical controls for climate and vehicle functions, which will likely appeal to a more traditional buyer.

In the second row, it would surprise absolutely nobody that both of these vehicles offer mountains of space. There are cupholders and power outlets galore in both of these utes, and enough leg room and head room for a giraffe to squeeze in comfortably. For those who need to fit in five adults comfortably for long trips, both the Ram and the Silverado are leagues ahead of a regular-sized ute.

The seat bases flip up on both utes, which offers extra storage versatility and access to some hidden underseat storage. The Chev offers more in this regard, along with some trick storage behind the backrest of the outboard seats.

The Ram scores extra points for the airiness afforded by a larger sunroof, but the sliding rear window of the Silverado helps for ventilation.

Both utes in this comparison have big tubs and tub liners, so there is loads of room for your associated gear in the back. The optional electric tonneau cover in the Chevrolet was problematic for us and out of action, while the manual-folding set-up of the Ram had no problems.

Both tailgates are electric-folding, as well as the central-locking integration. However, the RamBox feature of storage built into the rear fenders could be seen to be very useful. These are weathersealed and lockable, and would be very useful for securing tools and other valuable or bulky items. This leaves the tub area to be more squared off in the Ram, which means there is less overall space, technically speaking.

In the game of screen inches, the Ram's 14.4-inch portrait-style infotainment is larger overall, which is new and different to the more traditional landscape set-up of the Chev.

While there are some physical buttons still, along with the all-important volume dial, some functions you might want to regularly access in the Ram are done through the screen. It's done well, even though some more traditional buyers will gladly die on the hill of vast, physical control panels.

Using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – which runs in a landscape orientation – only deploys a small portion of the big, wonderful display for things like maps and any other apps you regularly use, which is a bit of a shame.

The 13.4-inch screen within the Silverado feels better and more natural in this regard, using the majority of the screen for things like Waze or Google Maps. Although, the Chevrolet cannot match the Ram for in-built (or native) navigation away from tethering your smartphone.

In terms of interacting with the switchgear, though, I'd have to say that the Chevrolet feels a little more solid and premium, especially when you consider the high price point of both of these vehicles.

However, the third display in front of the front passenger gets the cool points, which is blocked from being seen by the driver and has its own HDMI input for auxiliary sources. Unnecessary overkill for a utility vehicle? Perhaps, but it's not something that can be matched by the Silverado.

Neither the Ram 1500 nor the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 are crash-tested through ANCAP, because they both fall outside of the more common and mainstream segments of vehicles that Australia's local crash-testing authority targets.

Lack of an ANCAP rating aside, the Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado both have good levels of standard safety equipment. Notably, the Chevrolet has a 360-degree camera system, whereas the Ram gets by with a regular reversing camera.

There are some elements that both of these utes miss out on that other vehicles (at lower price points, as well) have: traffic sign recognition and driver monitoring being the two major boxes that aren't ticked. Some might not mind that, however, and the important parts of autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warning are covered.

There's also tyre pressure monitoring for both utes, and good integration with trailers and towing.

Unfortunately, both of these utes come to the Australian market with a relatively underdone warranty offering of only three years and 100,000km. While such a warranty offering was commonplace in the 1990s, the Australian market has moved on, while these two lag behind.

For example, the competitive Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra both offer longer and better warranties.

Unfortunately, service costs for both of these vehicles are also unclear, without a capped-price servicing program to reference for either ute.

For insurance, we can get some data, however. Perhaps owing to the lower asking price of the Silverado, you're looking at a comparative insurance rate of $4216.41 for the year, according to an online insurance quote generator. The Ram is $4767.01 for the same time, with the same conditions and stipulations.

Both quotes are based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

While the claimed consumption of the Ram's smaller turbocharged engine in comparison is unsurprisingly more efficient, it's not massively so. The 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 of the Chevrolet is helped by cylinder deactivation, along with adjustments to the firing order, to trim back consumption.

And in the real world, our indicated consumption of both of these vehicles was closer again. Against a claim of 10.7 litres per 100 kilometres – mighty impressive for a vehicle of this size and power – we saw a number that floated around 13.5L/100km for the Ram 1500. Depending on your driving style, you could do a lot worse than this if you were trying.

In comparison, the Silverado used around 1L/100km more at 14.5L/100km against a claim of 12.2L/100km.

When towing a 2.5-tonne Jayco caravan, we saw an indicated figure that was difficult to split between the two at around 19L/100km.

While climbing up and into the cabin of one of these big American trucks might be a daunting experience, driving does allow them to shrink around you a little after some time behind the wheel for acclimatisation.

No, the driving experience is not nimble or zippy, but you do tend to get used to the size and comfort on offer, and start to enjoy being behind the wheel of both vehicles.

While both big utes might go about their business in slightly different ways, it’s not a huge shift or rift in terms of performance or responsiveness between the two. 

Twin turbocharging is key here for the Ram, which doesn’t need any head-start to build up boost and deliver torque. It feels seamless and eager, and easily more potent than the old V8 it replaces.

The Silverado has better performance than the old Hemi V8 as well, it's worth pointing out, and has a characteristic rumble that does grow into an angrier yowl when you’ve got the foot planted, and that bi-modal exhaust system goes into loud mode.

Don’t get me wrong, the Ram has some good and enjoyable powertrain noise. But, the Chev takes some beating.

Both utes here deliver well in terms of ride comfort, with loads of absorption offered over bumpy roads and rough surfaces. We’ve noticed that travelling on corrugated dirt roads can upset the connection between car and road for larger American trucks in the past, but demolishing highway kilometres and threading through suburban streets are both dispatched elegantly.

It’s quite difficult to split the two in terms of refinement or ride quality, despite the difference in powertrain and suspension specs.

Neither vehicle is what you would call ravenously fast, despite having over 300kW of power at the ready. Both powertrains are tuned in a lazy manner that leans into the meaty torque, rather than chasing power at the top of the rev range. 

While there is an indication of more torque being available at a lower rev range in the Ram, it’s not a hugely noticeable difference when driving and neither vehicle feels underdone for grunt by any means.

The six-cylinder Ram probably revs a little higher (and is quite happy to do so) when under load, but is impressively smooth and refined as an overall powertrain. 

One minor difference to note between the two vehicles is the auto 4WD function of the Ram, which the Silverado doesn’t have. This mode allows the Ram to run around in rear-wheel drive, but can automatically engage four-wheel drive when the vehicle encounters enough wheel slip in low-traction conditions like loose or icy surfaces, or even something a bit steep.

In the Chev, you’ll need to proactively (or reactively) engage this yourself.

Only when towing did I feel the need to really bury the pedal in either of these vehicles to merge, overtake or keep up with general traffic. Both are responsive and potent enough, without feeling fast.

When towing, we only noticed the Silverado to rev out a little more as it accelerated with the 2.5-tonne caravan on the back. But classic high-capacity engine elements are alive and well here: it’s unfussed by extra load and demand, but responds with a dash more revs, leans into the mid-range torque and gets along well. It’s managed well by the 10-speed automatic gearbox – which is honestly overkill – that stays smooth and clinical in its operation.

The same can be said for the Ram, which runs through a seamless eight-speed automatic transmission that keeps the engine feeling unfazed and understressed.

We noticed a little bit of jiggling in the suspension of the Silverado when towing on the highway, as the trailer downforce over the towball put some extra pressure on the rear suspension. It’s minor, and can be expected when doing 100km/h. But, it's worth noting.

We like the Chevy's employment of the 360-degree camera system when towing, which throws up a wider image of your blind spot to help you keep an eye on other road users and when navigating tighter corners.

In the absence of Ford versus Holden scenarios that we once had in Australia, these American big rigs feel like one of the more tribal and one-eyed scenarios in terms of brand loyalty.

If that's the case, then a lot of buyers would have likely made their mind up. And if you prefer a V8, then it's only the Silverado that currently fills that desire: Ram, Ford and Toyota all go for six cylinders and forced induction instead.

However, if you're sweating over which truck here is objectively the best, it's genuinely hard to split the two. Both are similar in terms of powertrain performance, refinement and ride quality, with similar interiors that offer oodles of space and comfort. The Ram wins for storage up front, but the Silverado has a few handy tricks in the second row.

And while the Ram has a newer and larger infotainment display, the landscape set-up of the Chev (with more physical buttons) has its appeal.

Finally, there is the price. The Silverado has a lower starting point, which will be important to a lot of buyers. But the extra spend of the Ram does get you more features and equipment through the cabin and into the tub.

It boils mostly down to personal preference here, because these two utes are so closely matched in so many ways. But for the two of us who were part of this comparison, we lean towards the Silverado.

Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell

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