The Real Reason This $275,000 Ram Pickup Won't Go Over 57 Mph
The Ram 1500 TRX arrived in 2020 with heaping doses of muscle car attitude. Under the hood of the TRX's monstrous bonnet is a 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 from the Hellcat, pumping out no less than 702 horsepower and a tire-shredding 650 pound-feet of torque. Ram claims the TRX is the "quickest, fastest, and most powerful mass-produced truck in the world," and it has the numbers to back up that bold claim.
With the engine sending power to all four wheels using a fortified TorqueFlite 8HP95 eight-speed automatic gearbox, the Ram TRX can scamper like no other truck. It goes from zero to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, while zero to 100 mph takes just 10.5 seconds. Best of all, it crashes the quarter-mile run in 12.9 seconds at 108 mph and has a 188 mph top speed.
The TRX is essentially a high-strung muscle car trapped inside a half-ton pickup's body, and it got the world's attention with its phenomenal performance and exhilarating sound. But there's a similar breed of animal from Texas getting attention for all the wrong reasons.
Hennessey Mammoth 1000: The baddest TRX of all
Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE), a Texas-based tuning company renowned for turning magnificent to extraordinary, unveiled its version of the Ram TRX called the Mammoth 1000. As expected, it's a tuned variant of the already-spectacular Ram TRX, but HPE founder and CEO John Hennessey wanted something to "bring all other trucks to their knees."
As if the stock Hellcat engine is not enough, the masterminds at HPE took out the stock supercharger to make room for a larger 2.65-liter blower developed in-house by HPE. The Mammoth 1000 also got higher-flow fuel injectors, bespoke stainless steel long tube headers, higher-flow exhaust pipes, and upgraded pulleys to unleash more power. In true HPE fashion, the list of engine mods is enough to make any car enthusiast swoon in delight.
The Mammoth 1000 has 1,012 horsepower and 969 pound-feet of torque, a far cry from the stock TRX's engine output. It even gets 20-inch wheels wrapped in 35-inch all-terrain tires, electric folding side steps, a 2.5-inch lift kit, and custom front/rear bumpers to seal the deal.
With all that muscle, the Hennessey Mammoth 1000 is seriously quick. Zero to 60 mph happens in 3.2 seconds, and it breaches the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 120 mph. It's evident the Mammoth 1000 has the power and speed to make sports cars green with envy, so what's behind this particular Mammoth 1000 making waves on the internet that, according to its listing on NettiAuto, can only reach around 57 mph (93 km/h) at top speed?
From Finland to Texas
According to The Drive, this Hennessey Mammoth 1000 made its way to the Finnish online auto classified site (NettiAuto) for approximately $272,000 with one serious modification under the hood. Hennessey only made 200 examples of the Mammoth 1000 in 2021, and each had a $135,350 base price, so the Mammoth in Finland is almost double what HPE wants for the truck.
The reason behind this is fuel economy. Whereas a stock Ram 1500 TRX achieves 12 mpg in the combined cycle, we can only imagine how much fuel the Mammoth 1000 consumes at any given moment, especially since HPE has yet to clarify the truck's fuel economy ratings.
Nevertheless, it's safe to conclude the Mammoth 1000 drinks gas like a top fuel dragster while spewing out 506 g/km of CO2, which is a problem if you're importing a gas guzzler to Finland. If you register the Mammoth 1000 as a five-passenger car, you'll need to absorb the 44.8% Finnish import tax, hence the astronomical price tag.
Tax loophole
However, the Mammoth 1000 tips the scales at over 7,800 pounds (3,539 kg), making it eligible to classify as an N2 commercial vehicle in Finland. And if you were to abide, you can import and register the truck without paying the 44.8% import tax.
But hold your horses. As a member of the European Union, Finland must adhere to regulations that stipulate N2-registered vehicles to have speed-limiting devices. In this case, N2 commercial trucks are limited to 90 km/h or 55 mph on the road, which also means the almighty Mammoth 1000 TRX is limited to under 60 mph in Finland. That's where the 57 mph (93 km/h) listing comes into play — as The Drive notes, this Hennessey TRX Mammoth's official limit is 90 km/h, just under the speed listed in the NettiAuto spot.
Is the 60 mph speed limit worth the 44.8% tax loophole? The law is the law, but it's such a waste to have a 1,000-horsepower monster truck limited to such a mediocre speed.