- Journalists Kristin Shaw and Jill Ciminillo competed in the Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road rally in the United States, in a new Ram 1500 RHO.
- Shaw and Ciminillo were the first journalists in the world to drive the RHO, navigating some of the toughest terrain in the U.S.
- The competitors put the 540-hp RHO to the test for nearly 2,000 miles over the course of the eight-day rally.
2025 Ram 1500 RHO: Put to the Test During the 8-Day Rebelle Rally
Over the course of nearly 2,000 miles, the team piloted the new Ram truck over tough off-road terrain
In our third crack at the challenging Rebelle Rally, a world-class off-roading competition, Jill Ciminillo and I co-piloted a new 2025 Ram 1500 RHO in the deserts of California and Nevada. Our first two years in the rally were behind the wheel of a lifted Hyundai Santa Cruz, a hardy "trucklet" (as Jill calls it) that served us well in the X-Cross (crossover) class. This year, we wanted to try something different and signed up for the 4x4 class in the full-size Ram truck.
Rebelle Rally founder Emily Miller and her staff, including Off-Road Motorsports Hall-of-Famer Jimmy Lewis and world-class rally navigator and driver Chrissie Beavis, up the ante every year. As a result, 2024 was more demanding than the last two years, and the longest: the total route was more than 3,000 kilometers, or nearly 2,000 miles. It's taxing for the teams — 65 in all, with two women in each vehicle — and also punishing for the vehicles. Even after the first Prologue (practice) day, many of the trucks and SUVs were at the mechanic shop for everything from a quick fix to a whole new engine installation.
- 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUVLearn Morembusa.com
- 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EVLearn MoreChevrolet.com
- The BMW Road Home Sales Event.Shop Now.BMWUSA.com
- 2025 Volvo EX90Learn MoreVolvocars.com
Photo: Ernesto Araiza/Ram 1500 RHO at Rebelle Rally
Powered by a 3.0-liter Hurricane high-output inline-six engine boosted by twin turbochargers, the Ram 1500 RHO boasts 540 horsepower. It's built for power and speed in the desert, a worthy successor to the beastly Ram 1500 TRX, which was discontinued in 2023. Compared to the 702-hp TRX (affectionately called "T. rex"), the RHO may sound like a runner-up, but it's anything but. The RHO performed admirably across the board, and those muscular Bilstein shocks are clutch. As a bonus, our RHO had heated and massaging seats — welcome niceties throughout the event.
What is the Rebelle Rally?
Started nine years ago by champion off-road competitor Emily Miller, the Rebelle Rally is a test of grit, persistence and endurance. It's not just 100-plus women racing around in the dirt, either — the rally is about precision, not speed. That's why it's called a rally and not a race; all competitors must abide by specific speed limits both on- and off-road. This isn't the breakneck-speed Baja 1000.
When I share with friends and acquaintances that I'm competing in an off-road rally, they often say, "Wow, that sounds fun." Then I explain that our phones are sealed up in clamshell boxes and wrapped with secure tape for the entire eight days and that our digital screen has to be covered so we don't have access to GPS. Even our SOS button overhead had to be obscured to ensure we couldn't call in for location assistance. After learning all that, their eyes open a little wider, wondering how one navigates that kind of distance without technology.
Photo: Nicole Dreon/Ram 1500 RHO (front) at Rebelle Rally
The answer is that the Rebelle Rally is a true navigational mind game, requiring a set of paper topographic maps and pencils, scaled map rulers, compasses and navigation plotters. We carry an entire backpack full of tools to plot, then chase, dozens of checkpoints each day.
Fun isn't always the first word I think of, especially when I'm slipping out of my comfortable sleeping bag between 4 and 5 a.m. to take down the tent and get ready for the next base camp. Or trying to compute segment times based on distance and speed before dawn. I don't know about you, but my brain doesn't work as quickly pre-sunrise. With the help of a playlist made by Harman Kardon and stored on a USB drive (since our satellite radio and screen were disabled for the rally), the long transits included a pop soundtrack to keep us energized.
Starting 11,000 feet above sea level on Mammoth Mountain, all 65 teams completed a multi-point inspection to ensure the vehicles were sound and able to tackle the course. Similarly, each team member was required to present a note from her doctor stating she was cleared to compete. During the inspection, we discovered that our spare tire on the underside of the RHO was a little loose and the attending mechanic recommended we tighten it up. That was a stroke of luck, which I'll explain later.
Photo: Paolo Baraldi/Ram 1500 RHO at Rebelle Rally
The pit stop we wanted desperately to avoid
Our RHO was clad in four brawny 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain tires that endured a gnarly trek across Sperry Wash on day 5. Partly in jest, other competitors called it "spare"-y wash, as tires were often casualties of sharp rocks in the Death Valley-area canyon. Our rubber shoes prevailed, partly because we tiptoed through as gently as we could, and in one case, Jill and I moved a boulder aside by hand to avoid ripping through the sidewalls.
Once we got to Glamis Dunes on day 6, we noticed a slight crack along the Goodyear logo on the rear passenger tire. After conferring with two other teams, we concurred that it was ripped only through one ply, and it would hold up. The psi recommendation for these tires is 38 on asphalt, and we had aired down to 30 for the previous segment. In Glamis, the largest dune complex in North America, we aired down even more to increase our contact patch, settling on 20 psi.
I was nervous entering the dunes, as Jill and I didn't have the chance to practice with the RHO in the sand before we picked it up a few days before the rally. As a big truck that weighs more than three tons, digging in means it sinks pretty quickly, and staying on top of the sand was critical. Technique also comes into play, and it's important to sweep along the ridges of the larger dunes in a "fly by" to see what's on the other side before proceeding forward. Pointing downhill and stopping gradually are also key steps to avoid getting stuck.
Photo: Paolo Baraldi/Ram 1500 RHO at Rebelle Rally
We did have to break out our shovels and Maxtrax traction boards twice near the beginning of the day as we ventured into the valley of the big dunes. With the help of Tami Jo Benson and Amber Hodson from team Plottin' and Schemin', we dug out and carried on quickly. Luckily, eBay Motors had provided us with the gear we needed in case we got really stuck, like Bubba Rope recovery equipment. We were prepared to yank another vehicle out of the sand if needed.
At the very end of the rally, just after we clicked on the final checkpoint, we headed back to base camp and noticed the pressure dropping rapidly in the front driver's side tire. We almost made it the whole rally without changing a tire, which was one of my personal goals. Some of the rocks in our path had other ideas, apparently. Since we had learned how to tighten and lower the tire underneath the Ram at tech inspection, we put that knowledge to use and with the help of a few nearby teams, that heavy tire was switched out as quickly as we could manage. Then all four teams soldiered on through the last light of the sunset to the finish line.
Photo: Paolo Baraldi/Ram 1500 RHO at Rebelle Rally