2008 Tundra vs. 2009 Dodge Ram Part Three – Ride, Handling, and Comfort
Jason | Nov 10, 2008 | Comments 26
The third and final installment of our 2008 Tundra 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 comparison compares the ride, handling, and comfort of the two trucks. If you haven’t read part one – Mechnicals – or part two – Features and Pricing – then you might want to take a look.
RIDE:
We have to insert our caveats here. Both vehicles were tested empty. Also, it’s important to remember the most subjective judgments concern ride, handling and comfort.
The Ram rides like a car. Indeed, that was Dodge’s goal with the rear suspension re-design. Gone are the rear leaf springs, in come multi-link coils. The goal is to deliver a smooth, even ride empty or loaded – it works. You literally can’t feel the road on civilized city streets.
On the other hand, you can feel the road in the Tundra. That’s not a negative in our view – if you value a good ride, you probably shouldn’t be buying a truck in the first place. Our freelancer conducted “The Murphy Slalom Test,” which resulted in a stiffer feel (which Dan liked). Still, there’s no denying the Ram 1500 rides better than the Tundra (at least empty).
Winner: Credit should be given where credit is due. The Ram’s coil rear suspension results in a great ride.
HANDLING:
You can hardly separate the two in this category. Both have rack and pinion steering and handling/stability software to keep you out of trouble. Both have ample power in reserve and accurate, finely-tuned transmissions. The more defined front corners on the Ram helped maneuvering in tight parking lots. We really didn’t push either far enough to get any tire squeal, rebounds, or hops. The feel in both was solid and precise.
Slalom test data (which is nearly worthless in terms of real-world daily truck use) from Edmunds.com give the Tundra the narrowest edge over the Ram, despite the Ram’s softer rear suspension. The 07′ Tundra finished the slalom at 54.9 mph with a ‘good’ handling rating, the 09′ Ram 1500 finished the slalom at 54.6 mph with an ‘average’ handling rating.
Winner: Tundra. For all but the most extreme driving, the Ram and the Tundra are equal in the handling departments. Ties always go to the older truck.
COMFORT:
We’ll start with what both do well, then see how we can pick them apart. Both are as quiet as little mice, no wind noise, no vibrations or rattles.You are more aware of the engine in the Tundra, but that’s not a bad thing. The seats are great, leg position is comfortable, everything is ergonomically right on. All the basic controls are intuitive, though you may need to study the owner’s manual to figure out all the high-tech gadgetry – especially if you’re trading up from an older vehicle.
The back seat in the new Ram is spectacular – plenty of room. However, aside from leg room (the Tundra has about 6″ more) the Ram Crew Cab matches up to the Tundra in terms of shoulder, hip, and headroom and it feels better too (the stadium seating in the Ram helps a lot with the feel). The back seat comfort level in the Ram is just a bit less than the front buckets, but it should stand up to a road trip test for most adults. The door widths in both front and back alleviate some of the awkwardness of climbing up into either.
The Tundra lacks the level of refinement found in the Ram. The ergonomics in the Tundra are good, but Ram is just a little bit better (our testers, a 5′10″ 200 lbs male, a 6′4″ 250lbs male, and a 5′7″ 110 lbs female) all agreed the Ram was just a little more comfy. Of course, this category is a little subjective. We suggest you sit in both trucks (front and back) and make up your own mind.
Winner: Based on the average family buyer, the Ram is the winner.
OVERALL COMPARISON WINNER:
While it won’t surprise many people that have visited this blog for the first time (after all, it’s called ‘Tundra Headquarters’), we found the Tundra to be a better truck in a few critical ways – engine, transmission, towing, and pricing. However, the Ram won out in terms of ride, comfort, interior and exterior features, and a better frame. The remaining categories – payload, braking, safety, and handling – were basically a tie so they all went to the Tundra (the older design always wins a tie). When you do the math, the Tundra won 8-5, but it was really a much closer competition than the math indicates.
The truth is, you can’t go wrong with either truck. While the Tundra’s marked advantage in terms of towing and pricing will make the decision to buy a Tundra easy for many truck buyers, the Ram’s superior ride, interior, and comfort will also sway many buyers to the Ram.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a truck that does everything well – but doesn’t do everything perfectly – than the 2008 Toyota Tundra (a jack of all trades, master of many) is your vehicle. On the other hand, if you don’t need much in terms of towing and price isn’t really a concern, a case can definitely be made for the 2009 Ram 1500 (not quite as capable as the Tundra, but certainly more luxurious).
Let the accusations of bias (and the complaints that our comparison didn’t match some other comparison) begin!!
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Filed Under: Toyota Tundra Reviews and Comparisons
Ha! I’m biased. Prefer the Tundra. I want a truck to be a work horse right out the door and not for a pretty penny either. Too bad trucks are becoming family vehicles. For a 1st truck, I got more than I expected in comfort and features and can still use it for “family” purposes if necessary. I also have more confidence in the foreign market overall (sorry) regardless of it being built in the U.S. When I started my research I completely overlooked Dodge because I never liked the exterior anyway.
Great report! Very comprhensive and thorough. Too bad a person can’t yet compare reliability and dependability.
????? Crew max has less room than the Dodge crew cab? Are you OK? Put down the glass pipe. The Tundra Crewmax has 5 inches more than the Quad Cab Dodge and 8 inches rear leg room more than the Crew Cab Dodge. I rode in both. The Tundra CrewMAX is a Limo. The DOUBLECAB is 2 and 5 inches less than the respective Dodges. The Dodge (Name says it all) models slot perfectly between the size of the Tubdra Double Cab and the Tundra Crew Max. The rear seat comfort of a Crew Max is lightyears ahead of the two Dodges and the Double Cab. If one is looking for the ULTIMATE in room and luxury it would easily be the Tundra Crewmax. The ride in the Crew Max is VASTLY better than the Doublecab and is about on par with the Dodges. The increased weight and shifted CG make for a smoother driving vehicle.
But the Dodge’s do look better.
Way to go Jeremy…..I agree with the Crewmax.
Dodge do look better than the Ford F-150. That thing makes you nauscious.
Yes, the new f-150’s are a little Lego block looking.
“Look Dada, I mades youz a trucks!”
I still can’t believe that the article said the Dodge was LARGER than the Crewmax. Sorry, I don’t wear Nike’s and I’m not drinking the Kool Aid.
I am in Disbelief. That is like saying the Washington Monument was created to dispense Cheese Whiz. Everyone knows it was the worlds first Pez Dispenser.
Fact Checking, More than a river in Africa!
I am going shake my head in disbelief in another room now.
Can we get a retraction and score adjustment? Yoda 9 Dodge 3
And we can give Dodge some points for making it look drop dead Sexy like say 5 points. I think that is more than fair.
Final Score:
Toyota 9
Dodge 8
Chevy 2
Ford -3 (Points deducted for making up bogus cargo and towing numbers)
Next Years Ford ad: “We have a Cargo rating of a Gazillionbizillion tons and a tow rating of Infinity, Now put on these Nikes and drink the Kool Aid.”
Jeremy – Egg – all over my face. Very embarrassing. Dan and I got our wires crossed when we wrote this thing. The Tundra Crew has more leg room than the Ram Crew – we got it mixed up. The article (there were two rough drafts and some editing from a few people) was supposed to say that the Ram’s stadium seating and nearly equal feel (save the legroom) gave it the edge. My apologies.
It is ok. I had a blast on my soap box. We will let this be your annual mistake. HA ha ha ha. Thanks for the great web sites.
Oh, yes…..Stadium seating beats the ability to park your Harley behind the front seats. Oh, wait, no it doesn’t. If the bottom of the seat folded up on the crew max I think I could fit my queen size bed with NIGHTSTANDS back there. Stadium seating is for Stadiums and Movie theaters, which is a type of stadium. You keep your stadium seating, I’ll keep the Grand Canyon on wheels. Also while I’m at it I would like to keep half the taxes I am paying.
I viewed the new Dodge and I will agree the instrumet cluster DEFINITELY wins over Toyota but I’m still not impressed with the overall look of either truck’s interior. Exterior – pleased with the Dodge as well and has nice sportier looking bumpers. Glad they finally scrapped the old bulky design. Now someone talk to Ford. They literally can use the letters F o r d and reshape them to spell L e g o.
Jeremy – Fair enough. I’m sure some Dodge fan will say we didn’t give the Ram’s 400hp enough credit too.
TXTee – Ford’s new F150 does sort of look like a Lego mobile…but I like the way they did the grill. It looks pretty cool.
The Ram’s engine is on par but the powerband isn’t impressive. As for Luxury Leg room trumps seating height every time, unless there are spikes sticking out the seat. The Ford Design isn’t bad nor is it good. The cargo numbers are lies. The truck can barely handle it’s own weight muchless cargo. Long term reliability and resale are going to be ages ahead of the “Domestics” for the Toyota.
Wow, That was fun. Jason needs to make more mistakes so I can drone on and on about it until my fingers hurt. That was fun.
Blanka – Thanks for the comments. The Ram’s biggest concern is definitely long-term reliability (Consumer Reports certainly thinks so at least).
well ,,,, i need to know that 5 speed gear of DODGE is a good or a bad thing !
+ whos fastest DODGE RAM R/T or TUNDRA regular TRD ????????
+ty sooooo much for comparing the two viechles ,, but id like to see the comparing list of DODGE RAM R/T & TUNDRA REGULAR 4×4 or 2X4 !!! now that would be a nice topic to see and comment on !!
Well, this is a late posting but I’ve only owned my ‘08 Crewmax Tundra grade for a little over a month. My wife and I were in the market for our first pickup to trade our ‘04 Infiniti G35X on. The new Ram 1500 really had me looking twice at it but knowing Toyota’s toughness and reliability (we have an ‘01 Sequoia), we didn’t even take a test drive before buying our ‘08 Tundra. Not even two weeks old and I was rear-ended by another pickup – bent the rear bumper. Believe my surprise when the Insurance company rented me an ‘09 Ram 1500 for the few days it took to get my Tundra bumper replaced. I agree with the reviews here – the Ram ride was really nice, instrument cluster also nice. I really like the steering wheel being more comfortable for my seating position. BUT, the Tundra’s Drivers seat can be raised for a more comfortable seating height; I felt like the visibility was better in the Tundra; Further, the Tundra felt roomier and I actually liked the comfort of the Tundra seating more than the Ram. Both engines were very peppy and exciting to throw around the horsepower, but the Tundra’s gearbox was smoother and didn’t jump around as much as the Ram’s. So, this family man gives the nod to the Tundra. Nicely done, Toyota. Keep moving forward.
Jon – Thanks for the vote of confidence on our review, and thanks for commenting.
lets face it, all trucks nowadays whether ford, chevy, dodge, toyota, and possibly nissan are all good trucks worth considering. This article hit the nail head on: power, price, tranny, towing, braking = tundra / comfort, neat features, ride, handling = newly designed dodge. Your choice, but my money is on the tundra. If only they could design a real 1/2 ton tailgate and not tinker toy sheet metal, no rusting, and a slightly better ride quality, it would win in all categories for me.
mk – Word. The tailgates and rust issues are very disappointing, but considering all the issues that GM, Ford, and Dodge vehicles have had in the past, that’s no reason to rule out the Tundra. Funny how we’ve come to expect perfection, isn’t it? 10 years ago, a truck with 381hp and 18mpg performance would have been a dream come true regardless of rust and tailgates, right?
Hey I am a Dodge guy and I just looked at the Tundra and to be fair this article is great and the Tundra is a great truck. I do like the Dodge because of interior and looks of the truck. I am a strong HEMI supporter I own a Dodge Charger R/T with the HEMI and I beat it hard and its never failed me and I can not find much information about faulty HEMI cars. Now after saying that I will not buy a Chrysler product with anything but a HEMI, the rest are junk. My opinion is that if I bought a truck today I would go for the Tundra because I am not afraid that Toyota will be out of business. If I wait a year or so and Chrysler looks like its going to be around I will get the Dodge. Last note, I am looking at these trucks both fully loaded and they were the same price. $47,000 or so.
Albee – Thanks for your comments. For the record, I would say that Chrysler has a few good products besides the Ram and I agree that the HEMI is kick-ass. As for the pricing, it’s constantly changing, but generally speaking the Tundra’s better resale value will overcome any up-front cost advantage that the Ram has (in this case, there’s no up-front cost advantage either way).
Ram’s ride quality is unreal. I had a 2007 ram 1500 prior to my 2009 and it was a world of dirfference- a bit scary of bumps and offorading…stiff. The 2009 is like a new vehicle and the hemi with VVT always has power available- and better gas mileage than the Toyota with MDS. What percentage of your driving do you actually tow anyways-get realistic? The new Ram is an innovation in truck design. The toyota is more of the same.
ButtRBoy – I think that the Ram deserves credit for being innovative, but I don’t think we should gloss over the Ram’s diminished towing and hauling capacity. According to Ford, nearly 40% of truck buyers are using their vehicle for towing. http://www.tundraheadquarters......up-trucks/