The 2026 Ram 1500: The HEMI V8 Comes Back, and in Canada Every Truck Is Four-Wheel Drive — Rated 8.2/10
Ram has put the 5.7-litre V8 back on the order sheet beside its twin-turbo Hurricane six, and the Canadian lineup runs to fifteen trims — four of them sold nowhere else. Prices open at $59,495. The Torbrook rating: 8.2/10.
A note on the model year, because Ram's Canadian site currently shows four at once. The mainline 1500 reviewed here is a 2026, as is the high-performance RHO. The returning SRT TRX, the Rumble Bee and the 1500 REV are all badged 2027 and are variously unpriced, sign-up-only or preproduction. This review covers the truck a Canadian buyer can order today.
Pricing needs unpacking too, because Ram advertises a number that is not the MSRP. The base Tradesman in Quad Cab with the six-foot-four box lists at $59,495; freight and pre-delivery inspection add $2,695 and the federal air-conditioning excise tax another $100, for $62,290 all in. The figure Ram promotes — $55,790 — is that total minus $6,500 in Consumer Cash. The ladder from there runs through Express, Black Express, Big Horn, Warlock, BackCountry, Sport, Rebel, Laramie, Limited, Longhorn and Tungsten before reaching the RHO at $119,995.
Four of those trims are Canadian peculiarities. Ram's own site describes the Sport as "only available in Canada," and the BackCountry, Black Express and Warlock are likewise particular to this market.
The engine bay is where the news is. After the 2025 redesign retired the V8 in favour of the twin-turbocharged Hurricane inline-six, Ram has reversed course: the company's Canadian site states plainly that "the HEMI V8 returns to select 2026 Ram 1500 models," and the 5.7-litre engine — 395 horsepower and 410 pound-feet, with cylinder deactivation and eTorque assistance — is orderable across eight trims. It sits in a four-engine lineup alongside the 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 at 305 horsepower, the standard-output 3.0-litre Hurricane at 420 horsepower and 469 pound-feet, and the high-output Hurricane at 540 and 521. Maximum towing is 11,220 pounds with the standard-output six; maximum payload is 1,840 pounds.
The Canadian configuration list is narrower than the American one in ways worth knowing. There is no rear-wheel-drive Ram 1500 sold here at all — every truck is four-wheel drive. There is no Regular Cab either, only Quad and Crew, and boxes come in five-foot-seven and six-foot-four. Every engine drives through the same eight-speed automatic.
Inside, Uconnect 5 runs on screens of 8.4, 12 or 14.5 inches, with a 10.25-inch passenger display available. Four-corner air suspension is offered on Crew Cab trucks, lowering automatically at speed to cut drag, and the Tungsten flagship carries a 23-speaker Klipsch Reference Premiere system. Ram Canada backs the truck with a ten-year, 160,000-kilometre limited powertrain warranty for retail buyers.
Two cautions for anyone reading the spec sheets closely. Ram's own pages contradict themselves in a couple of places — the Pentastar's towing figure appears as both 7,470 and 8,110 pounds, and the RHO's torque is printed once as 52 pound-feet where 521 is plainly meant. Where the site disagrees with itself, this desk has taken the engineering spec cards over the marketing copy.
An 8.2/10 from the Torbrook Rating Agency reflects a truck that answered the loudest complaint about its own redesign by putting the V8 back, while keeping the six-cylinder that out-tows it. The specifications above are Ram's; the score is ours.
This review assesses the vehicle on its published specifications and the manufacturer's stated figures. It is not based on a road test by the Rating Agency, and the score is the Agency's own independent judgment. Ram did not request, pay for, or have advance knowledge of this review. Ratings cannot be bought.