That's changed-drastically. With its first truly complete pickup redesign in 22 years, Dodge has served notice to customers that its new offering is worthy of switching brands. It's obvious that Dodge was determined to stand out from its full-size Ford, Chevy and GMC competitors. It worked. You've seen the new Dodge Ram's styling before, but never on a pickup.

The low-profile, stepped-down front fenders and close-to-the-road headlamp, treatment make the new Dodge resemble a big ol' Kenworth or Peterbilt scaled down to the full-size pickup format. Precious it ain't. Different it is.

There's also an array of muscle choices under the hood that Ford, Chevy and GMC currently can't match. The 5.9-liter 230 horsepower Magnum V8 that propelled our test vehicle had power and torque to spare. Chrysler's tried-and-true 5.2-liter 220-hp V8 won't disappoint either. While there's a difference of only 10 hp, the bigger engine has an impressive increase of 100 pound-feet of torque. Up the line, there's an optional stump-pulling Cummins Diesel six rated at 175 hp and a whopping 420 lb.-ft. of torque and-watch out-a 300-hp V10 based on the Dodge Viper engine, scheduled for availability in 1995. To say this is Dodge's way of making a forceful entry into the full-size pickup fray is a gross understatement.