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More than big enough for a 4x8 plywood sheet, the new 2027 Ram ProMaster City is a lot more capable than the 2015-23 vans were—and it comes pretty well equipped, even as a Tradesman! Get the full scoop including comparison charts!
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0:00
So today, our big news is a new
0:02
ProMaster City. And don't fall asleep. I
0:05
know it's a commercial van, but this is
0:07
actually a big deal because Ram has been
0:10
out of the compact and midsize van
0:13
market for quite a while. They left in
0:15
2023 and it's now 2026. And this new van
0:18
is coming in 27. And we should be
0:21
excited because it's completely new van.
0:23
It's been redesigned. It's got a uh
0:26
McFersonen front suspension. It's got
0:29
frontwheel drive, sorry, no all-wheel
0:31
drive and unibody design. So, it's got a
0:34
stiff light body. And it's got a new
0:37
trailing arm rear suspension. And I say
0:40
new and I mean since the last Promaster
0:42
City. Now, this is not a new van
0:46
developed for and within the US. This is
0:48
the van that has already been sold. Let
0:50
me look this up for a second. as the
0:53
Renault Jumpy, Fiat Scudo, OPPO Vo, and
0:57
Pujo Expert. And it is made in uh Bersa,
1:01
Turkey. Uh the good news for those who
1:04
carry plywood around is it can handle
1:06
4x8 sheets of plywood. It's a bit longer
1:10
than the old version. We'll go over
1:11
specs in a minute, but it has a 111 inch
1:15
load floor. That's pretty long. that is
1:17
competitive with the entrylevel
1:20
ProMaster, the smallest ProMaster.
1:22
Uh, it's got over 4 feet between the
1:25
rear wheel wells.
1:27
One reason to get it over a ProMaster is
1:30
height. Promasters are tall. This is
1:34
not. It's 77 in tall, so it should fit
1:37
into most parking garages and other
1:39
structures. Uh, it still has the 180°
1:42
swing doors in back, but it's also got
1:45
an optional lift gate. Now, just like a
1:47
minivan, it's got a really flexible set
1:50
of options for windows versus security
1:52
panels, and you can mix and match, but
1:54
the one thing is that the windows, if
1:56
you get windows in the back, they will
1:58
all be fixed in place. They don't roll
2:00
up and down. Uh, not really a minivan,
2:03
still a commercial van, but you can now
2:05
get it with seats. That's late
2:07
availability after the cargo van is
2:09
available and it will uh probably be
2:13
sent here as a cargo van and then
2:15
upfitted in Baltimore, Maryland at
2:18
Stlantis' own facility there. Uh
2:21
sensibly, it has a standard digital rear
2:24
view mirror because if you've ever
2:27
gotten a ProMaster uh with the divider
2:31
and a conventional rear view mirror, you
2:33
will know just how silly that is. also
2:36
has standard 10-in driver uh information
2:40
cluster, standard 10-in uh telematic
2:44
system, uh Apple CarPlay, Android. It
2:49
also comes standard with forward
2:50
collision warning and emergency braking.
2:53
And believe it or not, heated cloth
2:55
seats are standard even on the base
2:57
Tradesman model, which is pretty nice.
3:00
It also has standard paddle shifters for
3:02
the steering wheel, which is quite nice.
3:03
You can shift the ASIN
3:06
provided uh 8-speed automatic
3:09
transmission up and down manually if you
3:12
want to. The engine itself is a Pujo 1.6
3:16
L, similar, but not identical to the one
3:18
that's being made here in the United
3:20
States. It actually will be made in
3:22
Europe. Worth pointing out that this is
3:24
a unique powertrain for a medium-sized
3:28
Stallantis van.
3:30
Uh the ones that are sold in Europe are
3:33
generally either diesel or electric. Now
3:36
the styling looks a lot more upscale and
3:38
it's certainly a lot better integrated
3:41
as a Ram design than the old ProMaster
3:45
City was which made no changes at all
3:47
from the Fiat Dolbau it was based on.
3:50
But this one, you know, is a Ram. They
3:52
did a lot more on the front end to fit
3:55
it in with the Ram look. Also, it has a
3:59
new Ram logo, which you may or may not
4:01
like. In any case, if you get the SLT,
4:04
you also get a body color front bumper
4:07
and rear
4:09
uh bumper covers on the sides that make
4:12
it look more upscale. The headlights are
4:16
mounted nice and high up. Uh the reason
4:18
is so that in most crashes, you will
4:20
miss the headlights, which are quite
4:22
expensive to replace, as you can
4:24
imagine. Also, uh, the Ram guy said it
4:27
holds a ton and it toes a ton. The
4:30
target
4:31
payload and towing are both 2,000 lbs.
4:34
Whether they reach that or not, there's
4:35
no guarantees, but they're certainly
4:37
going to try because it's a fun thing to
4:39
say. All right. Now, I'm going to go
4:41
into this chart. It's actually three
4:44
charts in one. And you can see that the
4:46
maximum cargo width is considerably more
4:49
generous than the old 2015 city. uh as
4:53
and in between wheels you get an extra
4:55
half of an inch. But of course, the
4:56
ProMaster is a much wider vehicle and so
4:58
you get more space there. When I drove
5:01
the original ProMaster City, it really
5:03
did feel more like a minivan than a
5:05
cargo van. Uh let's see. The height has
5:08
gone up not that much. It's gone up by
5:10
1.7 in since the last time. But the big
5:13
thing is the floor length. 111 in.
5:16
Compared to the old one at 87, the
5:19
maximum height goes up to 54 in. that's
5:22
in the cargo bay. And overall, the cargo
5:24
volume is 167 square ft, which is a good
5:28
deal more. When they were asked why they
5:32
made this one so much bigger than the
5:34
old one, uh the RAM people said because
5:37
people really wanted to store a 4x8
5:39
sheet of plywood or other similarly
5:42
sized things in there. They needed the
5:44
extra space and it doesn't make the
5:45
exterior that much bigger. Uh, the
5:48
width, and this is without mirrors, grew
5:50
by 3.6 in. That's actually a pretty
5:54
decent growth, but it's still well below
5:56
the 80-inch wide ProMaster. It's 210 in
6:00
long. Sorry, I couldn't get a length on
6:01
the old one. Now, the transmission is
6:04
interesting. That's an 8-speed now
6:07
instead of a N-speed ZF. The Promaster,
6:10
of course, uses a six-speed Mopar
6:11
transmission. The engine is now 1.6 L
6:15
Pujo based engine. This is not the 1.2
6:18
that has the bad reputation. This is the
6:20
1.6, which so far I've heard uh not a
6:24
whole lot of complaints about versus the
6:27
old ones 2.4 L Mopar engine. Now, the
6:30
good thing is that it's a better engine
6:33
on the numbers for a commercial van
6:36
because although it has less horsepower,
6:38
it has more torque. You don't have to
6:41
rev as much to get into your power band.
6:43
Basically, 221 lb feet of torque is
6:46
pretty good. Let's see. Technology
6:48
includes automatic headlamps, the
6:50
automatic emergency braking, forward
6:52
collision alert, LED daytime running
6:55
lamps, ice warnings. When it gets uh to
6:58
freezing outside and it thinks that you
7:00
might skid without realizing that it's
7:02
iced up outside, it'll warn you. He'll
7:04
start assist. You're on a steep hill
7:06
with a heavy load. You don't want to
7:08
start rolling backwards when you take
7:09
your foot off the gas. Uh, so hill start
7:12
assist will keep the brakes on until you
7:14
press down the gas or there's a uh timer
7:18
you I think it's usually 3 seconds it'll
7:20
give you to get into gear and it's also
7:23
got rear parking sensor standard. If you
7:26
get the SLT, you also get front parking
7:29
sensors. Both uh Tradesman and SLT get
7:32
17in wheels. Steal on the Tradesmen, so
7:35
the SLT is probably worth it just to get
7:38
aluminum wheels. Uh they both come with
7:40
wheel-mounted audio control, steering
7:42
wheel mounted audio. Those are very
7:44
handy, tilt telescope steering wheel,
7:47
tilt telescope steering wheel, express
7:50
windows, and again the heated cloth
7:52
seats. Options include a heated steering
7:54
wheel, partition wall, and on the
7:56
passenger wagon, which is normally a
7:58
five passenger, it gives you the option
8:00
for a third row, making it an eight
8:02
passenger. And both of the rows of seats
8:05
can be removed, they say quite easily.
8:08
spare tire is an option on both models.
8:11
Orders begin in the second half of 2026.
8:14
Dealers start getting vans in the first
8:16
quarter of 2027. Uh they're made at the
8:19
Tofas plant in Versa, Turkey. There is a
8:23
market of about 100,000 vans a year,
8:25
they say, for this kind of van. And most
8:29
other companies have pulled out
8:30
entirely. So, it's not like the first
8:33
time when everybody and their kid
8:34
brother seemed to be making a van of
8:36
this type. Now, they will be just about
8:39
alone in the area, and I suspect it
8:42
really will take off pretty well. Now,
8:44
that's it from me, Dave. Keep an eye on
8:46
motel.com for uh much more detail on
8:50
this or stellpower.com where we're
8:52
putting the initial news
#Automotive Industry
#Ram Trucks
#Commercial Vehicles
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