With the somewhat recent debut of the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor off-roader, it’s tempting to draw parallels between it and the Ram Power Wagon. But for all their similarities, these are beasts of a different breed.

First offered as part of the 2005 (Dodge) Ram Heavy Duty lineup, the Power Wagon is just as much a hard-core off-road machine as the Raptor, but the target audiences share only their distaste for pavement. For the Raptor, home turf is the low-lying deserts, places where it can flex its suspension at 100 mph over sand washes and scrub. The Power Wagon, though, answers a higher calling and makes its home climbing mountains and patrolling the back roads of our highest altitudes, not our lowest.

2010 Ram Power Wagon Rear Three Quarter View Snow

For everything the Power Wagon offers, though, there are a few options we’re left pining for. The redesigned-for-2010 package can only be ordered with the Crew Cab four-door body and 6.4-ft. bed, making the truck simultaneously too long for the most serious off-roading while handicapping customers who need the load space of the 8.2-ft. box. The Power Wagon also is only offered with the 5.7L 383-hp Hemi gasoline V-8 engine and its 400 lb.-ft. of torque and the five-speed automatic. The combination is more than enough to pull the rig through most any situation, but we can’t help but wish the legendary Cummins turbodiesel were available, and maybe a stick shift.

2010 Ram Power Wagon Front Three Quarter View High Mud

The recipe to build a Power Wagon is rather simple. Start with a $39,430 Ram 2500 SLT Crew Cab 4×4 and mark the $6,350 option box innocuously titled “Customer Preferred Package 26P.” For a base price of $45,780, you walk out the door with an old-school manual transfer case on the floor, lockable front and rear axles, a remote-disconnecting front stabilizer bar, skid plates on the fuel tank and transfer case, a Warn winch up front and a high-output alternator to run it, Bilstein shocks, a trailer brake controller and tow hitch, 17-in. wheels wrapped in 32-in. all-terrain tires, a 2-inch lift, and a 4.56 rear axle ratio.

The Chevrolet Cobalt has been put under federal investigation due to a large number of steering complaints, according to multiple reports. The investigation covers model year 2005-09 Cobalts and 2008-09 SS models, possibly afflicting 905,000 vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received 1132 complaints about the Cobalt, concerning “difficulty controlling the vehicle, such as departing from the desired travel lane.” Most of the complaints were made in the last six months.

The Department of Transportation reports eleven crashes and one injury relating to the complaints, but no fatalities.

“We are cooperating with the agency in the investigation,” General Motors spokesman Alan Adler told Automotive News.

Source: NHTSA, Detroit News, Automotive News

The U.S. Department of Transportation is including Toyota electronics as a possible conduit in its investigation of unintended acceleration, Automotive News reports. The news Web site cites an unidentified Transportation official who confirmed the inclusion of possible electronic problems via email.

Thus far, Toyota has suspended production and sales of key models in its lineup while it rushes to revise its pedal assemblies. The world’s largest automaker has also issued recalls affecting some 7.5 million vehicles worldwide (Click here for our timeline).

“We’re not finished with Toyota and are continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an unrelated statement today, chastising the automaker for what he feels was a reluctance to initiate a recall.

Toyota issued a response on its media site today, saying, “Since these issues first came to our attention, we have understood that the soonest possible action would be in the best interests of our customers and have acted accordingly. We are very grateful for the advice of all the government agencies involved and feel that through our handling of the recall we have a chance to regain the trust of our customers.”

Source: Automotive News, Detroit Free Press, Toyota