Bound through Maritimes on single tank
EcoDiesel engine may seem like an expensive option, but gas savings make up for it
HALIFAX— Three provinces, and I still had a quarter tank of fuel left.
That was the idea behind a 760kilometre drive, organized by Chrysler, that took me from Fredericton to Charlottetown, and then back to Nova Scotia’s capital city in a Ram 1500 pickup truck with its EcoDiesel engine. The result wasn’t surprising, given that the truck’s typical range is 1,225 kilometres, but it’s still interesting to see it as real roads, rather than just a number.
This is currently the only halftonne pickup available with a diesel engine, offered alongside the Ram’s other choices of a 3.6-L V6 or 5.7-L Hemi V8, and making 240 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque. Nissan will be equipping its all-new Titan XD with a diesel, but according to the company, that truck is intended to bridge the gap between a halftonne and heavier-duty three-quarter-tonne truck.
So after a good night’s sleep in a room overlooking the Saint John River, and a muffin and cheese breakfast that would be my only non-seafood meal of the trip, I got on my way. The first leg would take me to Alma, N.B., on the Bay of Fundy.
My three-province trip started in Fredericton and took me through such places as Oromocto, Norton, and Sussex before a lunch stop at the Tides Restaurant in Alma (have the lobster roll). From there, I followed Hwy. 114 up to Moncton and then to Hwy.15, which leads to the Confederation Bridge.
It’s another 50 kilometres to Charlottetown and the Great George Hotel, which includes 20 historic houses that have been turned into guest rooms. Dinner was downtown at Fishbones Oyster Bar, a wonderfully casual restaurant that, as the name suggests, specializes in seafood.
Rather than take the bridge back, it was off the next morning to the Trans-Canada Highway and the Wood Islands Ferry, which crosses the Northumberland Strait to Caribou in Nova Scotia. I went from one side of this narrow province to the other, through New Glasgow, Stellarton and Trafalgar to end up at the Henley House Restaurant in Sheet Harbour. It’s shorter to travel inland to Halifax, but instead I followed the coastline, ending up just in time for dinner at Salty’s Restaurant on the waterfront. We’ve seen this engine before Although Ram uses a Cummins inline-six diesel in its 2500 and 3500 models, the 1500 uses a Fiat-sourced 3.0-L V6 diesel that we first saw in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. While the Cummins uses a six-speed transmission, the Fiat diesel is hooked exclusively to an eight-speed automatic.
The combination is deliciously smooth and surprisingly quiet, with just enough rumble to tell that it’s not gasoline in there. If you get a diesel, you want people to know.
After lunch in Alma, our fleet of four trucks headed up to Moncton and then to my first drive across the Confederation Bridge into Prince Edward Island. It takes about 10 minutes to drive across, and you don’t pay on the way in; rather, you get dinged with the $45.50 toll when you come back across it. I didn’t do that, but instead spent the night in Charlottetown and then drove to the Wood Islands Ferry, which I rode back across to Caribou, N.S.
The fuel gauge still hadn’t moved all that much, which was the whole point behind driving this two-day trip without filling up any of the trucks. Diesels get excellent fuel economy, which in turn accounts for the longer range. Going by the published figures, the diesel does consid- erably better than either of the gasoline choices, at a combined city/ highway average of 10.6 L/100 km, versus 12.6 for the gas V6, and 14.1 for the V8 (all for 4x4, which is what I drove).
At one point, my truck’s trip computer logged me at 7.7 L/100 km. Eight of us continually switched between the four trucks, and the entire trip’s average came to 8.8 L/100 km.
But, of course, “your mileage may vary” needs to be taken literally. Unlike many people who vacation in these provinces, I wasn’t hauling a camper and my payload consisted of carry-on luggage. The diesel will still outperform its gas siblings when heavily loaded, but don’t expect to get those single-digit fuel figures.
I’m not the only one who likes this smooth-driving engine: Chrysler reports that one in four Ram 1500 trucks it sells in Canada comes equipped with it. In the two top trim lines, the Laramie Longhorn and Laramie Limited, the diesel accounts for half.
So should you buy one? The answer is “it depends,” because there’s more to it than just making sure you use the yellow nozzle when filling it up. What you need to know Price is definitely a consideration, since the diesel is a $4,700 option. And if the trim line you’ve selected normally comes with a six-speed transmission, you’ll pay an additional $1,000 for the diesel’s eight-speed, even though you can’t get it any other way. The least expensive, dieselequipped truck in the lineup starts at $39,295.
The fuel’s price can fluctuate wildly and, in the winter when refineries are also trying to meet the demand for heating oil, it can be pricier than premium gas. Go by yearly averages, not the price at the pump that day.
Be prepared for maintenance, which catches many new-to-diesel owners by surprise. They require diesel exhaust fluid, and their oil changes are pricey. When I asked a dealer about cost on the 5.7-L, I was quoted $70 for regular oil or $110 for a synthetic oil change. The EcoDiesel is $250.
And while those who regularly tow or haul will probably look at the heavier-duty models, crunch the capacity numbers if you’re considering the 1500.
One of the factors is the total weight of the truck, trailer and load, so the heavier the truck, the lighter the load has to be. Since this engine weighs more, its maximum capacity is less than that of the V8.
Which is not to say that this won’t be the right truck for you, but you do need to do some homework to be sure it is.
As for me, it was a great drive along the last leg from Sheet Harbour along the coast, meandering past fish-processing plants and a surfing beach (who knew?) until I arrived in Dartmouth and drove over the MacDonald Bridge into Halifax and the end of my drive. I’d still have to look at my own driving habits before making such a decision, but from behind the wheel, this is a pretty nice way to get around. Jil McIntosh is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald, nmcdonald@thestar.ca