First drive Ram 1500 diesel

thomasmnile wrote:
I don't really understand the 'old school' characterization of the Ecodiesel.
It does have a couple of features in common with the Ford 6.7 Powerstroke; a CGI block and 'structural' aluminum oil pan. Isn't that a 'new school' approach to weight reduction of a diesel engine?

Structural pan and CGI block are new-school. But in my post, I was referencing the Solenoid actuated injectors versus piezo crystal which is common in the PSD, Duramax and Cummins. And by no means does old-school mean bad. For example, a Cummins Turbo Diesel still uses old-school solid-tappet lifters versus hydraulic roller lifters which I know Ford uses and I think the Duramax uses as well. Heck, pushrods are typically considered old-school, but I see nothing wrong with that. The VM Motori block though is a DOHC design though, but it still flows from the inner valley to the outer valley like a traditional V-engine versus doing something like Ford did with the 6.7. The A630 block is actually an update of the 629 block that VM Motori has had out for a while. So I see it as a european ISB coming to America really.

Again, I understand the motive of picking this motor.
1-it puts out more power than the original Cummins ISB motor. In fact, it matches the base output of the 5.9 up until 2004. So it's more than up to the task of tow duties for a half-ton.
2-your typical half-ton owner doesn't need a whole lot of peak horsepower, but more usable power for typical half ton duties. This should appease those that use a truck as a truck vs. the hot-rodders. However, hot-rodders are also hip to diesels now a days and will probably play with this motor as well.
3-Fiat owns this engine, it's probably cheaper for them to source this engine than the ISV.

Nothing wrong with cheap and having been around for a while. In fact it could possibly be the very solution RAM needs for a truck. But only sales data will be able to tell the tale in the end. I just hope RAM keeps this engine out for a minimum of 2 years to hopefully get the fuel economy word out there. They did such a poor job of advertising the diesel Jeeps of yore that they are coveted by people who know about them, but most people have no idea they even exist.