2026 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn Review: The V8 the Market Demanded

There is no mistaking a Hemi cold start. Press the Start button, and the 5.7L Hemi engine in the 2026 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn Edition catches, settles into a deep burble that reverberates off the garage walls, and tells you exactly what kind of truck you’re sitting in before you’ve touched the throttle.

Ram forgot the visceral feeling and joy of the Hemi engine for exactly one model year. The sales data, the dealer feedback, and the internet made the consequences clear enough that CEO Tim Kuniskis went on record without softening it: “Ram screwed up when we dropped the HEMI — we own it, and we fixed it.”

For 2026, the 5.7-liter V-8 is back on the menu across the Ram 1500 lineup. On the Limited Longhorn, it arrives as a no-charge alternative to the standard Hurricane High-Output engine, paired with a GT performance exhaust that sharpens its already distinctive character.

Yes, That Thing Does Have a Hemi

The 2026 Ram 1500 lineup offers four powertrains. On lower trims, the relevant choice is the base Pentastar V-6 eTorque or the Hurricane SO at 420 hp and 469 lb-ft. On the Limited Longhorn, the conversation is different. The Hurricane High-Output at 540 hp and 521 lb-ft is the standard engine on this trim. The Hemi is the no-cost alternative.

The Hurricane HO makes 145 more horsepower and 111 more lb-ft of torque. It is the most powerful engine available in any half-ton pickup truck. On paper, it is the obvious choice. The numbers that do not favor it are the ones that matter most to truck buyers: it tows 1,320 lbs less than the Hemi and carries 160 lbs less payload. It also returns slightly worse fuel economy, at 17 mpg combined, compared with the Hemi’s 18 mpg combined.

The honest answer for anyone who needs maximum towing from a half-ton is that the Hemi is the stronger tool. The buyer who tows a boat, a horse trailer, or a loaded camper to the limit of what a 1500 can handle is better served by the V-8. For the buyer whose priority is straight-line performance, the Hurricane HO makes a compelling argument: 540 hp and the most powerful engine in any production half-ton. But it does so at the cost of 1,320 lbs of towing capacity.

It is the sound, the reliability, and the cultural identity of a V-8 that has lived in Ram pickups, Dodge Challengers, and Chargers for over two decades. You get on the throttle, and the GT exhaust answers with a sound that pulls from somewhere deeper than the engine bay: the mechanical joy of the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 that has defined the Ram 1500 since 2003.

Ram received 10,000 preorders within 24 hours of announcing its return. You cannot quantify that kind of loyalty with horsepower figures.

The Luxury Sedan with a Truck Bed

The Hemi’s naturally aspirated character is what the turbocharged Hurricane cannot replicate. The 5.7-liter pulls cleanly from low rpm and rewards you for using the full rev range. There is no waiting for boost to build, no pause between the throttle and the response. What you ask for is what you get, immediately.

The 48-volt eTorque system does its best work not at peak power but in the moments that used to expose the V-8’s rough edges. At a Houston traffic light, the stop/start is transparent: the engine restarts without the shudder that made previous generations of cylinder deactivation noticeable and occasionally annoying. Rolling away from a stop, the electric motor meets the initial torque demand before the V-8 fully pulls, and the transition is seamless enough that you stop noticing it after the first day.

The ZF 8-speed automatic has been the benchmark for this class for years. Paired with the Hemi’s broad torque band, the 8-speed never hunts for a gear the way it occasionally does behind the Hurricane HO.

The electric power steering runs with heavy assistance at low speeds. It does not communicate road texture back through the wheel, and it is not trying to. It does make the Limited Longhorn the most effortless truck to maneuver in the mainstream half-ton class: backing down a boat ramp, threading a parking garage, or making a tight turn at a gas station requires less physical effort than the F-150 or Silverado ask for in the same situations.

On FM 529 between Cypress and Bellville, where the asphalt heaves and buckles from years of Texas heat cycles, the air suspension does something leaf-spring trucks simply do not: it absorbs the road rather than reporting it. At highway speed, the system lowers automatically, the truck settles, and what was a series of surface imperfections becomes background noise. Load the bed and the suspension levels the chassis automatically, keeping the steering geometry intact and the front wheels in full contact with the road. The wandering, light steering feel that comes with a heavily loaded F-150 or Silverado on leaf springs does not appear here. The Ram handles a loaded bed the same way it handles an empty one.

Buckles, Wood, and Bison Brown

The Bison Brown full-grain leather with alligator-embossed inserts covers the seat faces and bolsters. Filigree stitching runs along the bolster edges in patterns inspired by high-end Western saddlework. Belt-buckle motifs appear on the console and door panels, recurring across the cabin as design punctuation that holds the theme together from one end to the other. The back-of-seat map pockets close with actual metal saddlebag buckles. Not a buckle-shaped plastic clip styled to approximate one. Metal saddlebag buckles. It is the kind of detail that reveals how seriously the brief was taken.

The dashboard and door panel accents use genuine open-pore wood with the Longhorn name branded into the grain. Run your hand across it, and the texture is there. The Silverado High Country features a wood-look surface that reads as premium from across the showroom floor and reveals its premium nature on contact. The steering wheel is leather-wrapped with real wood accents integrated into the rim, consistent with every other surface in the cabin, rather than decorative. The appeal is not just the open-pore wood or the alligator-embossed leather. It is how the cabin feels to spend time in: warm, considered, and like somewhere you actually want to be.

The front seats are 12-way power adjustable with heating, ventilation, and massage standard. The cushioning is built for long-haul comfort: thick and supportive with moderate bolstering that works for a range of builds. The rear seats offer 8 degrees of recline, a flat load floor, and under-seat RamBins deep enough to swallow a full-size backpack without the seat needing to move.

The screen stack is the most comprehensive in the half-ton segment, surpassing the F-150 King Ranch and Silverado High Country: a 14.5-inch Uconnect 5 portrait touchscreen, a segment-first 10.25-inch passenger display that operates independently of the driver’s screen, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a full-color 10-inch HUD. The passenger display is particularly useful when the driver’s screen is occupied with trailer camera feeds or navigation during a long highway run. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. The 19-speaker Harman Kardon system, dual wireless charging pads, and two 120-volt AC outlets complete a cabin that the F-150 King Ranch and Silverado High Country cannot match on material authenticity or screen coverage at this price.

Every design decision in this cabin answers to the same brief. The F-150 King Ranch puts Western embroidery on the seats and calls it a theme. The Longhorn carries the language from the steering wheel to the seat pockets to the door panels to the console. The longer you spend in it, the more details you find.

Notably, a 360-degree and front-view camera are not included on the Limited Longhorn tested here. At this price point, every competitor offers multiple camera views as standard equipment. As best I can tell from the Ram Configurator, the only way to equip the Surround View camera feature is through a $5,460 Limited Level A Technology Group option package. That pushes this truck just over the $90k mark, which starts to make a little less sense to me.

From 11,320 Pounds to Flats of Spring Flowers

Spring in Houston means the nursery run: flats of seasonal plants, bags of compost, and whatever else the garden center has staged out front. Loaded with over 90 plants and supplies, the Ram 1500 barely registered the load, which is exactly the point. Most 1500 buyers are not towing 11,000 lbs. They are hauling landscape or household project supplies on a Saturday, loading the bed for a camping trip, or covering highway miles with the family. The Longhorn handles it all with the best ride comfort in the segment.

The 60/40 split multifunction tailgate opens nearly 90 degrees on both sides, putting you close enough to the bed edge to load without reaching over a dropped gate. Anyone who has tried to load a truck with a hitch receiver blocking a conventional tailgate drop has already done the math on this. You stand at the bumper instead of reaching past it.

The Active-Level air suspension is the reason the ride feels as composed as it does, and it comes with a trade-off worth naming. The system prioritizes comfort and adaptability over maximum payload. Leaf-spring trucks like the Silverado High Country and Sierra Denali carry more in the bed, but they transmit every imperfection in the road directly into the cab while doing it. For buyers whose primary use case is hauling at or near the maximum, the leaf-spring setup is the right choice. For everyone else, the ride-quality advantage is the more relevant metric in daily life.

Maximum tow rating is 11,320 lbs with the 3.92 rear axle, 1,320 lbs more than the standard Hurricane HO. Trailer Reverse Steering Control, a digital rearview mirror with dedicated tow mode, and Blind Spot Monitoring with trailer detection are all standard. The Trailer Hitch Line-Up Assist uses the rear camera to guide you onto a trailer tongue in a single pass rather than the usual series of small corrections and door openings.

Worthy Opponents: Strong Competition in a Strong Segment

The Silverado High Country and Sierra Denali run leaf springs in the rear. On the heat-cycled, cracked asphalt that covers a significant portion of Texas backroads, the Ram’s five-link coil rear with active air leveling absorbs what both GM trucks put directly into the cab. The difference is felt at low speed over expansion joints and heard at highway speed as a settled, composed silence rather than the underlying jitter that leaf springs transmit into the cabin.

The F-150 King Ranch tows 1,380 lbs more than the Hemi Ram and costs less. On capability and price, it has a legitimate argument. On materials, it does not. The King Ranch uses Western-themed embroidery on the seats and contrast stitching on the door panels. The Longhorn features full-grain leather with alligator embossing, genuine open-pore barnwood trim branded with the Longhorn name, and metal saddlebag-buckle hardware on the map pockets.

The Tundra 1794 Edition is the closest analog in positioning: Southwestern heritage theme, standard air suspension, and a genuine luxury interior. Its iForce MAX hybrid makes 437 hp and 583 lb-ft as standard equipment on the 1794, the strongest torque figure in this group. The Tundra’s 10,100-lb tow ceiling trails the Hemi Ram by 1,220 lbs.

SSL Verdict

A week in the 2026 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn proves that Ram still owns the interior-quality argument in the half-ton segment. The appeal is not just the open-pore wood or the alligator-embossed leather. It is how the cabin feels to spend time in: warm and like somewhere you actually want to be. Between the active air suspension isolating the cab and the heavily boosted steering, this is the most composed riding truck in its class.

The Hurricane HO is a great engine in its own right: 540 hp, 521 lb-ft, and the most powerful option in any production half-ton. But it tows 1,320 lbs less than the Hemi and returns worse fuel economy. On this trim, the Hemi is not the compromise. It is the more capable choice for the buyer who actually uses a truck as a truck.

Choosing the Hemi in this truck is still an emotional decision over logic, and my heart says to buy the Hemi anyway. It turns an otherwise quiet, isolated luxury cruiser into something inherently mechanical. Every morning when that 5.7-liter catches, barks, and settles into its idle, the math stops mattering. It makes perfect sense why 10,000 buyers put their names on a waiting list within 24 hours of Ram announcing the return of the V-8.