2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 4x4
Little has changed because we got our first shot at the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel: The Donald's coiffure stays a success of used engineering, artisanal toast inexplicably is nevertheless a factor, and Ram stays the sole full size, half-ton pick-up to provide a diesel. Shortly, nevertheless, there will be new competitors, albeit in direct. Nissan's 2016 Titan XD tweener is planned to reach showrooms later this year packaging a Cummins diesel V8, and General Motors's somewhat smaller Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon twins are including a diesel four-cylinder for 2016. For the time being, however, the Ram gets the full size, light duty section to itself.
By the Numbers
Ram declared late last year that one-fifth of all 1500 pick-up output capacity--completely twice the planned amount--was devoted to the EcoDiesel, also it stays higher than 15-percent. That declaration should come as little shock, as diesels usually offer a couple of things points truck customers covet: torsion and efficiency.
As for the former, the Ram's 3.0-litre turbocharged EcoDiesel V6 cranks out 420 lb-ft at a comparatively low 2,000 rpm, perfect for doing truck things like towing, trucking, and crawling about in four wheel drive low-range while offroad. By comparing, Ram's 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 is rated at 269 lb.-feet, the large-canine 5.7-liter Hemi at 4-10 pounds-ft. Even though the diesel's 240 horse-power can not fit the 305- and 395-hp amounts of the gas V6 and Hemi V8, you had never know it centered on about-city driving. The diesel's low end grunt makes fast work of motivating all 5688 lbs of A - 19-foot-extended Crewcab 1500 like our evaluation version.
Rated to tow an SAE J2807-qualified 8560 lbs, the EcoDiesel bests an equal 1500 3.6-litre, which is rated for 7180 lbs. Choice a Ram 1500 Crew-Cab with all the Hemi, nevertheless, and you'll be able to tow up to 10,150 lbs. (At that stage, yet, several consumers with that much to lug may be tempted to simply move as much as a three quarter- or one-ton diesel-run machine-like a Ram 3500, Ford Super-Duty, or Chevy Silverado 3500 HD.)
While these figures correctly represent ability, it is simple to give an excessive amount of credence to paper successes when when you compare trucks. According to our real world expertise, the EcoDiesel's torsion and its own linear reaction make it an ideal partner for truck responsibility aside from payload.
As for performance, the problem is a little more complicated. Selecting the diesel alternative in the Ram 1500 will cost you $4960 on the foundation Hemi V8 using a six-speed automated, $4270 mo Re compared to V6 using the eight-speed vehicle, and $3120 mo-Re than the usual Hemi with all the eight-rate. For the amount, you not only get the 3.0-liter V6 oil burner, but also a 230-amp alternator, 800-amp battery, max-duty engine-cooling, a 26-gallon fuel-tank, and a 3.55:1 back axle. The diesel additionally needs an improve to the 8HP70 eight-speed automatic, for $500. So you are in for almost $5K before you burn off through your first tank of diesel gas.
Our test truck came outfitted with all the provocatively called Big Horn bundle ($1205), which provides a Class IV trailer hitch, a power-shift transfer-case, fog lamps, bright exhaust tips, an electric driver's seat, a leather-wrapped steering-wheel with audio controls, a folding back seat, and a-115-volt A-C wall socket. Swapping in a 3.92:1 rear-axle ($50) for these 3.55:1 device and including front and back rubber floor mats ($80) just nicks the beer fund. Chrysler's recognizable Uconnect program ($1005) with the 8.4-inch display and the normal complement of solutions (AM/FM/sirius-xm with Bluetooth, plus USB, SD, and auxiliary input signals) manages the info-tainment chores. Our truck included the 17-inch chrome wheel choice instead of 20-inchers, activating a $500 credit. In all, the extras added $6610, bringing the overall cost to $47,555.
MPG and MPH
With EPA ratings of 19 mpg city and 27 highway, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel tops the 16/23 approximations for the V6 1500 Crew-Cab and the 15/21 figures for the same truck with the 5.7-liter Hemi and 8-speed vehicle. In our hands, the EcoDiesel came back 21 mpg in combined driving. We did see an revealed 29 mpg on very long, level expanses of expressway at 65 miles per hour in nearby states with infamously strict rate-enforcement guidelines. (Hi, Cleveland!) Conversely, we were a bit more competitive with the accelerator pedal around town in relation to the typical owner will probably be. However, when considered against the 15-mpg we noticed in our evaluation of a 2013 Ram 1500 V6 along with the 17 mpg of our 40,000-mile, longterm Ram 1500 Crew-Cab V6, the EcoDiesel's 2-2 mpg is a remarkable amount.
Somewhat less remarkable is the zero-to-60-miles per hour amount, with the EcoDiesel using 9.0 seconds, a total 1.2 longer than our bygone longterm V6 Ram. The quartermile measure do likewise, the EcoDiesel's 16.9-second-time lagging somewhat behind the extended-termer's 16.0-second-run. Neither will win several races, but where the gas V6 occasionally feels extended, the EcoDiesel only powers through, as if declaring to the motorist, "Yeah, what else ya got?"
The wildcard here, needless to say, is the Ford F150 3.5-liter Eco Boost. Not content to merely fit the EcoDiesel's 420 lb-feet of torque, the double-turbo Eco Boost V6 retains 365 hp on tap, satisfactory to knock-out a 14.4-second-quarter-mile time, as quantified in our testing. In once, but the Ford yielded only 16 mpg in combined driving. Interestingly, despite an aluminium-intensive building, the 2015 F150 Crewcab Eco Boost 4x4 we examined weighed in at 5577 lbs, only 111 pounds fewer in relation to the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel.
It will require a lot of research to find out if dropping the additional coin on the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel will pencil in your benefit. Your kind of driving, payloads, trailering, yearly mileage, as well as the price of diesel locally all will factor to the equation. On the other hand, no spreadsheet can illuminate how right the EcoDiesel feels in the driver's seat.
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