The Ram Rampage Night Edition Shows Its Dark Side, It Might Make It to America

Ram has been keeping the Rampage a South American-market exclusive product for quite some time. The American automaker unveiled the model back in June 2023 and has now come up with the first special version, which is black inside out and features quite a long list of standard equipment.

Customers can now order the Ram Rampage as a Night Edition, with black elements replacing the chrome of the standard version. The special edition is based on the top-of-the-range Laramie trim and sports a glossy black grille, headlight surroundings, mirror cases, and window frames. The rear bumper and exhaust pipes have also gone dark.

To avoid an all-black attire, the automaker equipped the model with contrasting Granite Crystal skid plates and badging. The pickup rides on five-spoke 18-inch wheels, predictably finished in black.

The dark theme continues inside, where the seats are wrapped in black leather upholstery instead of the Laramie-specific Mountain Brown leather, and so are the doors and dashboard. The headliner and the speakers have also gone black, and so have all the buttons and switches, which used to have a chrome finish.

The Ram Rampage Night Edition comes with generous standard equipment

Future owners will also benefit from the presence of the 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster and the 12.3-inch touchscreen that controls most of the functions of the vehicle. Wireless charging, blind spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control are also on the menu. To keep occupants safe, Stellantis fitted the pickup truck with seven airbags.

The Elite Pack brings the ten-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, the LED ambient lighting, and the power passenger seat for extra money.

The Rampage is underpinned by Stellantis' Small Wide 4x4 LWB platform. Ram sells the Night Edition version exclusively with the turbocharged 2.0-liter Hurricane petrol engine. The unit delivers 268 horsepower (272 metric horsepower) and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton meters) of torque. A nine-speed automatic transmission sends power to all four corners in an all-wheel drive setup.

This means that customers won't be able to choose a Night Edition spec with the turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel engine that is present in the Rampage lineup for the lesser trims. The diesel generates 174 horsepower (177 metric horsepower).

Designed and built in Brazil like the entire Rampage lineup, the Rampage Night Edition R$277,990, which is the equivalent of $54,395 at the current exchange rates. That makes it R$15,000 ($2,935) more expensive than the Rampage Laramie that it is based on.

But it is still more affordable – by R$ 12,000 (US$ 2,370) than the range-topping variant, the Rampage R/T trim. The extra money is justified by the presence of a more generous standard equipment, with the list including a different radiator grille, cladding in the body color, a sportier suspension setup, as well as the 19-inch wheels.

Despite what you would think, considering the R/Ts available on the US market, the Brazilian R/T gets no extra oomph.

The new Ram Rampage Night Edition was on display at the Agrishow, the most important agricultural trade show in Brazil.

The Ram Rampage might also be sold in the United States

Ram has been using the Night Edition tag for models such as the 1500, 2500, and 3500, which are all available in the United States, since 2019. The first lineup to get the special version was the Ram 2500 in 2019. In that case, it was also based on the Laramie trim.

The Rampage shares its muscular design with the three marketed on the American market, but Stellantis never had the courage to bring it to the US. However, it seems that the time has come for things to change.

There is no official information regarding the arrival of the Rampage in the United States, but last year, Ram confirmed that the model might be sold here as well at a later date. The Rampage should drop as a Ford Maverick rival. The Maverick is Blue Oval's smallest truck.

The debut was reportedly scheduled for the end of last year, but it is almost mid-2024 and it still hasn't happened. However, the pickup spotted testing in Colorado might be a confirmation.

Instead of importing the model made in Brazil, parent company Stellantis could build the Ram at the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico, where the Compass is manufactured. That would allow Ram to avoid the Chicken Tax, which is a 25-percent tariff on imported light trucks that the US government has been imposing since 1964.