2026 Ram 2500 Warlock Priced for Australia: HEMI V8 Heavy Duty From $157,950 Before On-Roads, $15,000 Under the Diesel

Image credit: Ram Trucks Australia. 2500 Warlock in Ceramic Grey, a $950 premium colour.

Ram Trucks Australia has put the HEMI V8 back into its heavy-duty range. The 2500 Warlock is a single-grade 2500 Heavy Duty crew cab with a 6.4-litre HEMI V8, and Ram's own build and price tool lists it at a vehicle RRP of $157,950, with on-road costs on top. It slots in under the Cummins diesel 2500 and 3500 Laramie, and Ram pitches it squarely at owners who have outgrown a 1500 but do not want to pay diesel heavy-duty money.

The headline numbers on Ram's Warlock page are big ones: a 10,001kg gross combination mass, 6,700kg of maximum braked towing and a 1,275kg payload. The towing figure comes with conditions printed in the footnotes and in Ram's specification document, and they change the picture for anyone buying this truck to pull a conventional caravan or boat. So this piece spends less time on the V8 and more on what the money buys, how the Warlock lines up against the Rams either side of it, and what Ram has still not published.

Pricing

Ram does not print a price on the Warlock model page itself. The figure comes from Ram's configurator, which splits its estimate into a Vehicle RRP and Estimated On Road Costs. The Rams either side of it are below at the RRPs the same configurator lists, because the real shopping decision here is which Ram, and which engine.

For a driveaway figure, we asked the configurator for a private buyer at Ram's Melbourne City dealer (postcode 3121) in the standard Bright White. It returned an estimated driveaway price of $167,380.40: the $157,950 RRP plus $9,430.40 of estimated on-road costs. Ram says the estimate includes 12 months' registration, a compulsory third party insurance estimate, stamp duty and a maximum dealer delivery charge of $3,995, excludes fleet, government and rental buyers, and will vary by state, dealer and your own circumstances. The four other colours, Ceramic Grey, Silver Zynith, Granite Crystal and Diamond Black, are $950 each.

Against the rest of the range the positioning is clear. The Warlock is $15,000 less than the diesel 2500 Laramie Cummins High Output and $20,000 less than the 3500 Laramie. From the 1500 side, it is $38,000 more than the 5.7-litre HEMI 1500 Big Horn with the short tub, and $2,000 less than the flagship 1500 Limited Hurricane High Output. Of the full-size heavy-duty pickups we list as on sale, which are the Ram 2500 and 3500 Laramie and the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, the Warlock has the lowest RRP.

What You Get

The equipment list reads like a working truck with a mean paint job. Ram lists Bilstein shocks, a transfer case skid plate, hill descent control, black tubular side steps, a deployable bed step and a Heavy Duty tow bar. For towing there are power heated, folding and telescoping tow mirrors and an integrated trailer brake controller with trailer sway control. Inside is a 12-inch portrait Uconnect 5 NAV touchscreen. The styling is blacked-out badges, grille, bumpers and flares, plus the Warlock decal.

For safety, Ram lists blind spot monitoring with rear cross-path and trailer detection, forward collision warning with active braking, pedestrian and cyclist detection, active lane management, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition and drowsy driver detection. The gaps are worth knowing if you are coming from a Laramie. Ram's specification document marks the 360-degree surround view camera, the sunroof, wireless charging and heated and ventilated front seats as not available on the Warlock, and the seats are manually adjusted cloth. It is the bench-seat work truck of the range, and it seats six where the Laramie seats five. For a crew or a family, that is a genuine plus.

Read the Towing Footnotes Before You Buy It for 6,700kg

Ram's headline towing figure for the Warlock is 6,700kg. Ram's specification document ties it to the genuine auxiliary gooseneck tow hitch and air brakes. A gooseneck hitch sits in the tub and needs a gooseneck trailer, the kind used for big horse floats, fifth-wheel style caravans and machinery trailers. With the genuine tow bar and tow ball mount, which is how most Australians hitch a conventional caravan or boat, Ram quotes 4,500kg, with a 450kg maximum ball download.

Now run the gooseneck figure against the GCM, using only Ram's own numbers. The Warlock weighs 3,220kg at kerb and has a 10,001kg GCM. Add a 6,700kg trailer and you are at 9,920kg before anyone gets in, which leaves 81kg for the driver, passengers and everything in the tub (Ram's kerb figure already includes a full tank). In practice, you cannot use the full 6,700kg with a passenger aboard. Ram says as much in its disclaimer: the truck cannot be run at maximum payload and maximum towing at the same time. The 6,700kg figure is real, but it is a ceiling for a nearly empty truck.

On a tow bar the numbers are much kinder. A 4,500kg van puts the combination at 7,720kg with an empty truck, well inside the GCM, so the limits that decide what you can carry are the payload and the tub cap. The 450kg ball download counts against the 1,275kg payload, which leaves about 825kg for people and gear, and Ram sets a 1,050kg maximum combined tub and tow ball load. That is a strong result for a caravan tow vehicle, and it is where the Warlock's case really sits.

One more point from Ram's specification document. The GVM of 4,495kg can be uprated to 4,535kg, lifting payload to 1,315kg, but only if it is nominated before the truck lands in Australia. A higher GVM can change the licence class needed to drive the truck, so check with your state licensing authority before you order the upgrade.

When you have your own trailer's figures, run them through our TowingSorted planner or the towing and payload calculator. They do the GVM, GCM and ball-weight sums, which is exactly where a big headline towing figure can mislead.

Against the Diesel 2500: $15,000 Less, More Payload, Far Less Torque

The obvious question is whether to spend the extra $15,000 on the 2500 Laramie Cummins High Output. On Ram's figures the diesel makes 313kW and 1,458Nm against the Warlock's 306kW and 582Nm. Power is close; the diesel has two and a half times the torque. Ram also gives the diesel a 12,750kg GCM and 8,000kg of gooseneck towing, and on the tow bar both trucks are rated at 4,500kg.

Here is the surprise. The diesel weighs 3,710kg at kerb on Ram's figures, 490kg more than the Warlock, on the same 4,495kg GVM. So Ram quotes the diesel Laramie at a 785kg payload with the standard tub, against 1,275kg for the Warlock. With a 4,500kg van and its 450kg ball download on the back, the diesel has about 335kg left for people and gear, against about 825kg in the Warlock. For a family towing a big caravan off a tow bar, the cheaper truck carries more.

Where the diesel wins clearly is heavy gooseneck work. Its 12,750kg GCM leaves about 1,040kg for occupants and load behind an 8,000kg trailer, where the Warlock has almost nothing left at 6,700kg. The diesel also brings leather-trimmed heated and ventilated seats and the 360-degree camera. And then there is fuel: Ram has not published a consumption figure for the Warlock, and a naturally aspirated 6.4-litre V8 in a truck this heavy is unlikely to be cheap to run, especially towing. Until Ram publishes a figure, nobody can honestly tell you how long the $15,000 saving lasts at the bowser.

Against the 1500s and the Other Full-Size Pickups

Coming the other way, the Warlock is a big step up from a 1500. The 1500 Big Horn is also a HEMI V8, a 5.7-litre with eTorque mild hybrid assistance, and it is $38,000 cheaper. What the extra money buys is heavy-duty capacity rather than more engine. We list the Big Horn with an 878kg payload and a 7,400kg GCM, and a 4,500kg towing rating, against the Warlock's 1,275kg, 10,001kg and 4,500kg on a tow bar from Ram. If you are routinely near a 1500's payload limit, that headroom is the whole point.

Outside Ram, the nearest on price is the Toyota Tundra Limited, which we list at $155,990 before on-road costs, $1,960 under the Warlock. It is a half-ton pickup with a twin-turbo V6 that Toyota quotes as 3.5 litres, and on the figures we list it tows 4,500kg with a 758kg payload and an 8,030kg GCM. The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD LTZ Premium is the other heavy-duty choice, which we list at $168,000 before on-road costs, $10,050 more than the Warlock. It is a diesel with far more torque and a much higher trim level, and we list it with a 733kg payload. On specification, these are the trucks a Warlock buyer is most likely to cross-shop.

The Full-Size Pickups We List, Side by Side

The Warlock against the diesel 2500, the HEMI 1500, the Silverado 2500 HD and the Tundra. Pick any two.

Safety, Tax and the Fine Print

ANCAP. We hold no ANCAP rating for the 2500 Warlock, and neither Ram's Warlock page nor its specification document claims one. Treat it as no data. If your employer or fleet policy requires a star rating, check before ordering.

Luxury car tax and FBT. As general information for the 2026-27 financial year, the luxury car tax thresholds are $80,809, and $91,661 for fuel-efficient vehicles. Whether LCT applies to a particular pickup depends on the ATO's rules for vehicles designed mainly to carry goods, and the RRP a manufacturer lists is not something you add tax to yourself. How fringe benefits tax treats a dual-cab pickup used for work depends on the amount of private use. Business buyers should get their accountant's view before assuming either way.

Warranty and servicing. Ram quotes a 3-year/100,000km warranty and 3-year/100,000km roadside assist for the heavy-duty range. The Warlock's service interval is 12 months or 12,000km, against 6 months or 12,000km for the diesel Laramie, which is a small but real running-cost difference in the petrol truck's favour.

Timing. Ram's configurator has the Warlock live with a stock enquiry button, and the model page carries register-interest, quote and stock enquiry links. Ram gives no delivery date on either page, so ask the dealer what is in stock or on the water.

What Ram Has Not Told Us Yet

• Fuel consumption and CO2. Not in the Warlock page or Ram's September 2026 specification document, and the biggest unknown in the petrol-versus-diesel sum.
• Gooseneck pin weight. The 450kg download is for the tow ball; Ram does not print a separate figure for the gooseneck.
• A delivery date. None on Ram's pages.
• A safety rating. None claimed, and none we hold.

Who It Suits, and Who It Does Not

It suits the 1500 owner who keeps bumping into payload limits and tows a big caravan off a tow bar. On these figures the Warlock carries far more than a 1500 or the diesel 2500 at that 4,500kg rating, for $15,000 less than the diesel. It suits a buyer who needs six seats in a full-size pickup, and the one who wants a V8 petrol with 12-month servicing rather than a diesel with emissions hardware.

It suits less well anyone buying it for the 6,700kg figure. With a gooseneck trailer at that weight, Ram's own kerb weight and GCM leave almost nothing for occupants, and the diesel 2500 is the truck built for that job. It also suits less well the buyer who tows long distances every week, where the diesel's torque and likely fuel advantage should earn back the difference, and anyone who wants the Laramie's comfort and camera kit.

The Warlock is now in the CarSorted directory, where you can compare it against any other ute we list. Current offers across the market are on our deals page.