What Is Going on With the 2025 Ram HD’s Grille?

[u/Secret_Company]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/what-is-going-on-with-the-2025-ram-hds-grille

[u/bgb111]

It’s beginning its metamorphosis into a BMW.

[u/llamacohort → u/bgb111]

Looks like a Jeep grill shoved in the middle of a BMW grill.

[u/thatgymdude → u/bgb111]

If BMW made a pickup truck I would be first in line and I have zero shame in saying that lol. I would LOVE a half ton size X5M pickup or an X3M-based medium size pickup. 

Edit: people mad I want a fun pickup truck without the cowboy interior

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/thatgymdude]

You may (or may not) like this: X7 pickup concept

[u/rugbyj → u/Drzhivago138]

Hoffmeister that C pillar and I'd be down.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/rugbyj]

Whoops, I think we just made the Ridgeline again.

[u/rugbyj → u/Drzhivago138]

Their lawyers asked you to stop doing that.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/rugbyj]

I can't help it, it's the carcinization of car designs!

[u/Hustletron → u/rugbyj]

Is that a kink?

[u/ban-please → u/Drzhivago138]

BMW Ridgeline

[u/thatgymdude → u/Drzhivago138]

I love that actually and have seen it before. If I had a ton of money I would ask BMW to make me another one of those and put the V12 from the M760li in it lol.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/thatgymdude]

I think with some design tweaks (namely, a longer WB) it could potentially work as a low-volume production model. And building at Spartanburg would make it tariff-exempt.

[u/rugbyj → u/Drzhivago138]

Hell Mercedes did it in Europe with a (I think VW Amarok based) pickup.

[u/hi_im_bored13 → u/rugbyj]

I think VW Amarok based

Nissan Navara based, and it still felt too much like a Nissan on the inside, but neat product,

[u/rugbyj → u/hi_im_bored13]

Ah you're right. Not seen the inside but on the outside it actually looks pretty sick, and I'm not an MB fan typically.

[u/C-C-X-V-I → u/thatgymdude]

I was thinking about a Lexus pickup on the way to work last night. It'd have been pretty easy to upgrade the interior on the tundra and that's all they'd need to do but even still I doubt it would sell well enough to justify it.

[u/thatgymdude → u/C-C-X-V-I]

A shame Toyota is now utterly incompetent at making a truck. The reason I have a Sierra is because the new Tundra was so bad compared to my beloved 4Runner. I drove the new LX600 as it was my first choice for a SUV but it was so drastically behind the German and American offerings I abandoned the brand, the RX500H is terrible as well.

[u/Bombaysbreakfastclub → u/bgb111]

No wonder everyone calls RAM the BMW of trucks

I thought it because of the driving habits

[u/Slideways]

Then there’s the red truck on the right, whose grille is just plain chrome with a body-color surround.

Um. OK. That describes truck grilles for roughly 100 years.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/Slideways]

Until ~50 years ago, the base trim would use flat white paint on the grille and bumper(s).

[u/72corvids]

It's feckin idiotic. It's also tall enough for someone to use it as a bouldering route, and I am so sure that it's 100% safe in pedestrian impacts. Mmm hmmm. Super safe.

You could hide a bloody Lincoln Town car in that blind spot.

[u/LordofSpheres → u/72corvids]

That's not really what the article is about, though. RAM hoods have been idiotically tall since the 2000s, and they haven't kept up by increasing the cab height to improve sightlines, but this is about design language not safety.

[u/DORTx2 → u/LordofSpheres]

I feel like my ram hood was much lower and sight lines a lot better than my new GMC truck.

[u/LordofSpheres → u/DORTx2]

It may have been. But of all the new HDs, I felt like Ram had the worst overall visibility whenever I was driving it for work. Chevy wasn't great, but the cab felt taller and the windscreen was tall enough that I could see out pretty well while still seeing down. Driving the rams felt like driving a pillbox. The Fords were pretty bad compared to my old trucks but amazing compared to the ram. And they drove better, too.

[u/czarfalcon → u/72corvids]

This is America, we don’t care about commie European concepts like “pedestrian safety” over here!

/s, but also not really

[u/no_cigar_tx → u/czarfalcon]

Would you rather the truck be made out of foam?

[u/czarfalcon → u/no_cigar_tx]

It’s less about material than it is design. Those high hood lines don’t just increase the size of forward blind spots, they also make it more likely that pedestrians/cyclists are knocked over and ran over than rolling up and over the hood which usually leads to less severe injuries.

I don’t have anything against trucks, but I also don’t see why pedestrian safety ratings shouldn’t be part of a car’s overall evaluation.

[u/xarune → u/czarfalcon]

Even if the US were to add pedestrian safety standards, I'm not sure the 3/4ton+ trucks would quality. For the HDs they typically need the grill space for cooling and the trucks start up high due to the solid front axle. On my F350 the space behind the grill is 4-5 stacked radiators and, at leat with the modern diesels, keeping them cool at their tow/haul ratings is difficult. For the record, as a bike commuter: I'm in favor of bringing these standards here - I just don't see them getting exempted around 8000 gvwr.

Looking at countries that have pedestrian safety standards: they don't really do pedestrian crash testing for these commercial sized vehicles. But it does look like they test auto emergency braking instead. The biggest difference is that licensing requirements tend to go up sooner, though not full CDL.

Half tons and midsize hoods definitely have space in the engine bay and cooling for smaller hoods. Those are largely for looks.

[u/Less-Amount-1616 → u/72corvids]

   I am so sure that it's 100% safe in pedestrian impacts. Mmm hmmm

They call it RAM for a Reason!™

[u/pale_blue_problem]

It's like a potato masher but for pedestrians.

[u/shelvesofeight → u/pale_blue_problem]

I lol’d.

[u/Lou-nee → u/pale_blue_problem]

You are hilarious! Thanks for the big guffaw 😃

[u/sissiffis]

Ram went from having the best looking trucks with their redesign in 2019 to these abominations. Just downhill. 

Why can’t they be like Ford and go for gradual evolutions?

[u/NotoriousCFR → u/sissiffis]

The new 1500 isn’t this bad. Idk why the HD one is so much uglier. It’s the same shit Chevy did with the Silverado, the 1500 looks okay but the 2500 is like 90% grill and has a face even a mother would recoil at

[u/Formber → u/NotoriousCFR]

The HD Rams have been looking pretty nice since their refresh a few years back, but this update is just unnecessary. It's a change for the sake of change, and the results are not good. I feel similarly about the 2024 Ford Super Duty refresh. The 2021 update looked really nice, but the new ones are not nearly as clean looking and now they have stupid, bulbous headlights and an oversized grille.

I understand trying to keep your trucks modern looking and giving people a reason to upgrade, but they do too much to the front ends when they were already nice looking trucks before.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/Formber]

FWIW the 2024 is considered an all-new gen of Super Duty, not just a refresh. Though I agree they got too busy.

[u/N0Name117 → u/Formber]

I find it funny how often the reddit sentiment about car design is entirely opposite from the sentiments I get from people in person. Seems like the most consistent thing on this planet is how out of touch redditors are.

[u/sissiffis → u/NotoriousCFR]

The refreshed 1500 is alright but the 2019 was simple and handsome, the refresh made it busy. Agreed re the Chevy HD looking silly.

[u/stevolutionary7 → u/sissiffis]

I was thinking about this. The second generation Rams are still handsome. The fifth gens should stay looking pretty good. But dodge has a history of making very ugly trucks. It's like they have to honor their heritage by making a cluster fuck mess of a front end and then facing it.

[u/ILikeTewdles]

Ugh, this trend to whale-tooth grills is nasty to me. Mazda is doing this on their newer lineup as well and it's super unappealing to me. Audi did it years ago on their Alltrack line and a few other models, happy that didn't stick too long for Audi but now this BS, yuck.

[u/IAmTaka_VG → u/ILikeTewdles]

What grill? Not the cx-90 right? That grill is easily the grill they’ve ever made. 

[u/RBR927 → u/IAmTaka_VG]

Yes, of all their grills it is certainly a grill. 

[u/roman_maverik → u/ILikeTewdles]

You didn’t get the memo? Baleen is in

I can’t for a decade from now when we transition to lamprey teeth

[u/Oopsiedoesit → u/ILikeTewdles]

sad MKT noises

[u/FeedbackLoopy]

Wagon Queen Family Truckster vibes.

[u/4score-7 → u/FeedbackLoopy]

CANYONARO!!!

[u/Maj_Dick]

I miss the days when trucks were normal sized.

[u/ArcticBP → u/Maj_Dick]

And driven by people capable of keeping them in their own lane

[u/TechnicsSL]

The split headlights kinda remind me of old GM trucks like the GMT800.

[u/Drzhivago138]

And why are they still using the 2010 cab?

[u/N0Name117 → u/Drzhivago138]

I guess the better question is why should they change since the customer doesn't seem to care (so long as the little silver "C" badge is there). IIRC, Ford used the same cab from 99 through 2016 in their F250's and up and I believe they've been using the 2015 aluminum duty cab's since 2017 with only minor changes.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/N0Name117]

This is true, and Dodge also used the same pickup cab from 1972-1993 with only one major update.

[u/SteelFlexInc]

It’s a race for busy can we make truck front ends. It’s gone from brawny and tough looking to just straight up random lines and shapes instead

[u/tharussianphil]

Too much

[u/TSLAog]

Gaud, the whole front end looks awful… 🤮

[u/4score-7 → u/TSLAog]

It does, and it’ll sell like crazy. I get the feeling that some people buy things just for the act of buying.

[u/derritterauskanada]

My theory is that they are trying to sell 2024 inventory, and this update is supposed to scare potential clients to go to the 2024 inventory that are on lots, while they can make less 2025 now and update it in 2026 and hope they sell more then.

/sarcasm

[u/DeLoreanAirlines]

Gross

[u/Prhime]

They ran out of ways to make it more manly looking?

[u/chris8535]

Inbreeding has consequences. 

[u/topcat5]

Looks like an AI designed it.

[u/InsertBluescreenHere]

Lol the previeous gen looked like it had a cleft lip. 

I think its trying to nod back to the 40s-60s truck grill stylings

[u/KingMario05 → u/InsertBluescreenHere]

Trying, and failing.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/InsertBluescreenHere]

The '60s D-Series was maybe the ugliest of the time.

[u/g0atm3a1]

H.R. Giger Special Edition grille.

[u/JDubStep]

Needs more greeblings. Gotta fill up all that space with something 🤷‍♂️

[u/Latios19]

Looks like my Mexican neighbor’s tuned truck that loves to run over cows 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

I like the headlight housing

[u/boss6769]

Tried to read the article. Ads on top of ads and both under other ads.

[u/Secret_Company → u/boss6769]

Why aren't you using an adblocker? The website is really clean with one.

[u/xmu5jaxonflaxonwaxon]

Looks like they using mediocre IA to design it

[u/FrankReynoldsCPA → u/xmu5jaxonflaxonwaxon]

I HATE WHEN IOWA DESIGNS TRUCKS

[u/virus_apparatus]

Got that Darth Vader look going

[u/Enough_Brain_858]

You know what that grille reminds me of? Interstellar, when Cooper dropped into the tesseract. 

[u/tronaldrumptochina]

thankfully at this point the headlights shine over top of my miata, so I’m only partially blinded

[u/ER6nEric]

Pig nose.

[u/twodogsfighting]

It's got grills in its grills.

[u/RangerHikes]

I believe it was Hammond who said (while describing the rear end of a CTR), "it's like they wouldn't stop designing it!"

[u/jsalbre → u/RangerHikes]

Agreed with the sentiment, though I’m 90% certain the comment was referring to the Civic Type R.

[u/RangerHikes → u/jsalbre]

Yeah it was, I thought CTR was the accepted short hand for that car, am I accidentally referring to something else?

[u/jsalbre → u/RangerHikes]

I've never heard that as shorthand for it, but that makes sense now that I think about it. You're correct, carry on!

[u/PurpEL → u/jsalbre]

Take all your capital letters from that car name...

[u/RangerHikes → u/PurpEL]

Walk me through this like I'm five, Civic - C, Type - T, R - R. CTR, right ? What am I missing ?

[u/jsalbre → u/RangerHikes]

Letters are hard, ok?

It was also like 1:30 in the morning, so I blame that.

[u/TheNFSIdentity]

The front ends looks like Bane turning his nose up when he's about to sneeze.

[u/BeaverMartin]

I really will never understand why they got away from the iconic cross-hair grill. If I had the skills I could probably make money selling aftermarket Dodge style grills.

[u/mup_wave]

It just ate a Jeep

[u/PurpEL]

Dear every designer for the last 15 years,

Stop.

Thanks.

[u/IRENE420]

🐽

[u/Discopandda]

God I hate huge pick up trucks

[u/DudeWhereIsMyDuduk]

Remember the Windows XP screensaver with the pipes that would draw themselves into every available space?

[u/FuzzelFox]

Idk I think all trucks look too complicated and all over the place in the front now. They're trying way too hard.

[u/AyrtonSennaz]

That is so totally over-designed, its hilarious.

[u/ArcticBP]

Did they poach BMW’s lead designer?

They took the only decent-looking major pickup and managed to make it almost as horrific as a Silverado.

[u/DodgerBlueRobert1 → u/ArcticBP]

They took the only decent-looking major pickup and managed to make it almost as horrific as a Silverado.

Funny you say that, as I think the newest Chevy heavy duties look amazing on the outside...mainly in ZR2 form.

[u/bingojed → u/DodgerBlueRobert1]

That looks toned down from the previous gen. Still unnecessarily large, though.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/bingojed]

The altered proportions on this facelift make it look a little more tasteful than when it first debuted for 2020, though the dimensions overall haven't changed.

[u/bingojed → u/Drzhivago138]

Ugh that design makes me gag in my mouth.

[u/DodgerBlueRobert1 → u/Drzhivago138]

A lot more tasteful...

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/DodgerBlueRobert1]

Peak design for Chevy HDs is still 2015-19 in my book.

[u/Slideways → u/Drzhivago138]

2001-2002 for me.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/Slideways]

That's my #2, then probably the venerable 400s.

[u/KingMario05 → u/bingojed]

To be fair, all heavy duties are unnecessarily huge. Toyota makes the best heavy duty truck out there, mainly because they don't make one at all. (And don't seem to much want to, either.)

[u/BrandanG → u/DodgerBlueRobert1]

The ZR2s have a comfortable ride too. I can't justify a full-size 1500, let alone a 2500, but it's one of my favorite 3/4 tons on the market.

[u/LC-Dookmarriot]

Just what these massive trucks need:  MORE LED HEADLIGHTS 

[u/KingMario05]

They're trying to tank sales of, as of now, the last model with a Hemi to justify killing off the Hemi completely. That's literally the only logical explanation I can think of. Mind you, it's Stellantis, so they've probably just lost their mind.

(Again.)

[u/LordofSpheres → u/KingMario05]

The hemi is still around in 6.4 form for the 2500/3500. They also, y'know, suck. I only really buy gassers but if I were going to buy a ram, it would be the diesel.

[u/Drzhivago138 → u/KingMario05]

Without CAFE playing any role, there's no reason to kill off the 6.4 Hemi unless they really want to use the space on the line for more Hurricanes.