Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
MILTON, ONT. — Ram, Ford and GM have each taken a different approach to the biggest issue of owning a fullsized truck: fuel consumption.
Regardless of whether you’re a farmer, tradesman or simply hauling wood, boats or motorcycles, a truck’s fuel economy is always painful with fill-ups regularly costing more than $100 per tank.
Ford, of course, has invested heavily in turbocharging, its EcoBoost V-6 engine having now surpassed two million units made. GM has moved to direct injection and cylinder-deactivation, while Ram has taken what might be considered the boldest step of all — installing a diesel engine in its 1500, the only half-ton pickup on the market with a diesel engine.
Ram is in a good position to try something that many have been wanting for years. Ram is now the No. 2 truck maker, behind Ford, moving the needle on its market share to 30 per cent from 13 per cent in 2009. According to Ram officials, the brand also has the highest customer loyalty rate, and has improved its quality ranking among all makes from 17th to fourth, so it’s on solid ground to experiment.
Except the new diesel in the Ram 1500 is not just a test. This is an engine that is here to stay because the minute truck owners experience the 3.0-litre V-6 turbodiesel, I can say with certainty they will never look back to gasoline. In fact, I’m guessing Ram’s new diesel will even hurt its own take rate on the 5.7L Hemi, such is the power, smoothness and refinement of this diesel.
Ford will also need to have something innovative up its sleeve because the Ram EcoDiesel has the same amount of torque as Ford’s EcoBoost — 420 pound-feet — yet the diesel gets, according to Ram, 25 per cent better fuel economy.
While official figures are not yet out, Ram says the diesel will get mileage better than its Pentastar V-6, which is rated at 7.8 L /100 km highway. Making some rough calculations, that should mean, based on Ram and Ford figures for 4x4 models, a highway rating of about 7.4 L/100km and roughly 11.5 city in the Ram EcoDiesel.
On a country drive on a warm fall afternoon, the 1500 EcoDiesel averaged 7.4 during 80-to-100km/h cruising. That’s almost as good as a compact car.
The engine is quiet at idle and cruising, too, but not so hushed as to eliminate the sound from the common-rail diesel, which only adds to the truck’s personality. It’s as buttery as a diesel gets and makes the driver feel in command of something substantial.
The truck was heavily updated in 2013 (including a new UConnect media centre with 8.4-inch touchscreen display) and still has one of the best interiors in the business, including a new top-line Limited model with rich leather and beautiful black-wood trim.
With the extra noise insulation, most passengers will probably never even notice there’s a diesel under the Ram’s sculpted hood. Compared to the 5.9L Cummins diesel offered in the Dodge Ram in the mid-1980s, which produced a then-staggering 400 lb-ft of torque and could be heard hours before it was seen, the new diesel is the phone equivalent of iPhone 5S compared to the rotary phone.
The pull from the diesel even feels the same as Ford’s EcoBoost. Sure the Ram’s 5.7L Hemi gasoline V-8 is fast, sounds terrific and is smooth; but the Hemi and EcoDiesel are not far apart on acceleration. Like the Hemi, the EcoDiesel is married to a TorqueFlite eightspeed transmission made by ZF that makes excellent use of the diesel’s low-end torque. The union of diesel and eight gears is possibly the best combination I’ve ever driven in a half-ton pickup.
Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickups will be available starting in about February 2014.