The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX has been the biggest news of the week. And why wouldn’t it be? After all, it has a supercharged V8 that produces over 700 horsepower and enough ground clearance and suspension travel to get you almost anywhere. But what you might not remember is that there was a Ram truck that came before it that was just as impressive: the Ram SRT-10. We like to think of it as Michael Keaton’s Batman to the TRX’s more-improved Christian Bale. However, is the Ram 1500 TRX faster than the Ram SRT-10?

Ram 1500 TRX has more power

The biggest news about the Ram 1500 TRX are the power figures that are associated with it: 702 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. It’s impressive, yet familiar. That’s mainly because its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine is sourced from every other Hellcat iteration that Dodge has put out for the past few years. And why not? It’s a tried-and-true powerplant that can impress just about anyone and the power output alone is enough to win any bragging contest against worthy rivals like the Ford Raptor.

But we’re not here to talk about any dinosaur idioms or speculate that the Ram 1500 TRX is now the best and baddest truck on the planet (it probably is). We’re here to see if its faster than its V10-clad predecessor. Ram has stated that the 1500 TRX can get to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and blast down the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds. If you don’t believe those numbers, you can always buy the truck and test it yourself as it does come with the “Performance Pages” feature that allows you to record your quarter-mile times, activate launch control, and even see horsepower figures via an onboard dyno.

But the Ram SRT-10 had a lot of power, too

The Ram SRT-10 was produced from 2004 to 2006, and although you might only vaguely remember it, it’s performance formula might sound pretty familiar. Back then, there was no Hellcat powertrain to throw into a truck, but there was a Dodge Viper. As such, Ram shocked the automotive world by combining the Viper with its smallest pickup truck on offer: the Ram 1500 short bed pickup. The result was a small(ish) truck with a massive 8.3-liter V10 engine under the hood that produced 500 horsepower and 525 lb-ft of torque.

Just like the Ram 1500 TRX, it wowed the public and became one of the most sought-after, or most like “lusted after,” truck of the early 2000s. Funny enough, it also went head-to-head with an offering from a well-known rival: the Ford Lightning. However, the Ram SRT-10 was faster  as it was able to get to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds and down the quarter mile in 13.6 seconds. Even by today’s standards, that’s one fast truck.

Which one is faster?

Considering we’re bench racing based on the performance specs and power information that we have thus far, it’s easy to see that Ram has come leaps and bound in the past 15 years with the release of the new 2021 1500 TRX. Sure, 702 horsepower might sound like a gimmick, but when the rubber meets the road, it’s easy to see that the new TRX could easily beat the SRT-10 in a race, especially considering it has launch control. But ultimately, the Ram 1500 TRX has the SRT-10 to thank as it helped pave the way for high-performance pick-up trucks, much like Michael Keaton did for Christian Bale.