If the towing wars between Detroit's heavy-duty pickups are an automotive cold war, the 2013 Ram 3500 is the Tsar Bomba. The Tsar Bomba was the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated. It had a theoretical yield of 100 megatons of power but had to be reduced to 50 megatons for testing purposes. Unleashing the full potential of the Tsar Bomba during a test would have yielded too much fallout, much like trying to tow 30,000 pounds without a commercial driver's license on public roads.

This Ram is a minivan with two seats and a flat load floor, plain and simple. It's less expensive and comes with more standard equipment than Nissan's NV 1500, but the Nissan has 89.7 more cubic feet of cargo capacity (standard roof models), and it's better suited for more jobs. That said, the Ram did a great job hauling my 1975 Honda CB750 motorcycle. The rear opening is tight, but the big bike squeezed through and stood upright in the cargo hold. The Ram had good tie-down points in the rear but nothing up front to help keep the CB750 in place. Luckily, our tester had a $450 cargo divider that I used to strap down the motorcycle.

As a result of the cantankerous divorce between Daimler and Chrysler, Ram has done without a large, commercial van for a little more than three years. That may seem like a small loss, but as Ram continues to target commercial and fleet buyers and increase its share of the vocational vehicle market, that small loss is a gaping hole -- especially when competitors are updating and innovating with new vans of their own.

Sum Up

The Ram 1500 is perhaps the best example of the pickup truck segment moving steadily upmarket. The 2013 model can be optioned with Nappa leather, a navigation system, an air suspension, and even real wood interior trim, the sort of goodies previously reserved for luxury cars. While plenty of buyers lust after all those luxury features, we remain adamant that there is no greater need than a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, and back in 2011, Ram introduced just the truck to prove our point. The Ram Express is an affordable, go-fast hotrod among workhorse trucks.

As the saying goes, judge not a book by its cover. The same apparently applies to heavy-duty pickups: the new 2013 Ram 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty models don't look radically different than the outgoing 2012 models, but there's quite a bit of new content lurking beneath the skin.

Maybe the Lincoln Blackwood wasn’t such a stretch after all. Maybe the notion of a pickup truck that’s as much luxury car as it is utility vehicle has more credence than the Lincoln’s one-year run suggests. Maybe the Blackwood -- with its $53,000 price tag, air springs, and trunk in place of the bed -- was simply ahead of its time. Because starting this fall, you can buy a 2013 Ram 1500 that feels strangely reminiscent of the 2002 Lincoln.

Fuel economy is typically a sore subject when it comes to pickup trucks. These beasts of burden have typically been sold based on their towing or payload capacities, with fuel economy hardly entering the discussion. Now that fuel is back in the $4 per gallon range, you can bet truck ads will be prominently displaying fuel economy figures. And Chrysler promises to have the best fuel economy in this segment with the 2013 Ram 1500.

The Ram Laramie Longhorn package -- which debuted in 2011 -- wowed buyers with sumptuous interior materials, but its rancher-inspired design may not have appealed to city slickers. Perhaps the 2012 Ram Laramie Limited package, which debuts at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, is the fix: it encompasses all the niceties of the Longhorn but in a less flamboyant package.

Although it's now three years since the Ram 1500's last redesign, the big pickup has kept current thanks to continual updates. Take the truck's automatic transmission, for instance. Mechanically speaking, the five-speed automatic previously used in the Ram really featured six forward gears (second gear actually consisted of two gears--one accessed during upshifting, and another used during downshifts). The "new" six-speed transmission is virtually identical to the five-speed, but it has been recalibrated so that both of those "second gears" are now individual gears. A revised torque converter is also bundled with the transmission, which allegedly improves fuel economy. The Ram's segment-exclusive coil-spring, multilink rear suspension helps it stand out, as do other practical innovations, such as the lockable RamBox storage bins in the fenders. Like most pickups, the Ram is available in numerous configurations, with three cab styles, three bed lengths, three engines, and numerous trim levels. Electronic and infotainment choices include a media center with a 30-gigabyte hard drive, a navigation system, a surround-sound audio system, and an optional rear-seat DVD entertainment system. The Ram 1500 is far from a show truck, though. Its available 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 produces 390 hp and 407 lb-ft of torque, which is more than enough for some serious hauling.

The most notable change for the 2012 Ram Heavy Duty lineup is the availability of a six-speed automatic transmission for trucks equipped with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine. What does that mean to an owner? Less gear hunting while towing heavy loads, which is always a plus. The transmission also performs automatic downshifts when decelerating. As it did last year, the Ram offers buyers a 6.7-liter turbo-diesel in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 650 lb-ft of torque with the standard six-speed manual transmission and 800 lb-ft with the optional six-speed automatic. The manual transmission has an ultra-low first-gear ratio, which makes hauling a breeze. Another benefit of diesel models is standard exhaust brake, which reduces brake fade and prolongs brake life. The Ram Heavy Duty pickup can be distinguished from its light-duty sibling by its larger grille and taller, louvered hood. The front fenders and the headlights are still shared with the 1500, as is the refined and technology-laden interior. To dampen some of the jostle that's inherent in big pickups, the HD Ram gets a pair of liquid-filled mounts between the rear of the cab and the frame. The off-road-ready Power Wagon has additional ground clearance, electric-locking front and rear differentials, electronic disconnecting sway bar, Bilstein shocks, 33-inch BFGoodrich off-road tires, underbody skid plate protection, a 4.56 axle ratio for hill climbing, and a custom-built 12,000-pound winch.