First drive Ram 1500 diesel

Bionic Man wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

parkersdad wrote:
Why do we care about 0-60 times in a truck? I bought mine to tow. Just asking. Mine is a 2500 Hemi though.

0 to 60 times are directly related to power output and that is directly related to how well the truck will tow uphill with a trailer on the tail.

My 6.6 diesel can blaze off some pretty impressive 0 to 60 or 1/4 mile times. With my trailer on the back it does not slow down on any hill that I have found.

My 6.5 diesel is a different story. Slooooooow 0 to 60 and slow 1/4 mile times and 30 MPH or less on big long mountains with the same trailer that my Dmax tows.

So yes, 0-60 is another chunk of data to use on how well a truck will get up to speed with a load on it.

If grinding up a grade at 30 MPH or less is ok with you I can see where this data wouldn't mean much.

I've said it before, and I will say it again. Your argument here for the vast majority of 150/1500 buyers will not apply for 2 main reasons.

1st, we are talking about a 15 series truck. The vast majority of these trucks will never pull anything. The ones that do will tow a boat, utility trailer, atvs, etc, trailers that will rarely push 5000 pounds.

2nd, you continue to compare the power to your 6.5. Your 6.5 is in a MUCH heavier truck, with half as many gears. The 8 speed transmission in addition to the lighter weight make your towing comparisons largely invalid.

Take a look at what surveys of prospective buyers value in a new vehicle. HP and torque are rarely at the top, but MPG is. And the MPG number that they calculate out at each fill up will largely outweigh the premium that they pay upfront (which they will probably get back in resale anyway).

The market is certainly big enough to support both technologies - diesel & small displacement turbocharged engines. The ecoboost will likely out sell the ecodiesel. And it will likely win the inevitable races the magazines show pulling up the Eisenhower tunnel. But the ecoboost will not win the MPG competition.

The increasing CAFE standards are forcing the manufactures to change the way they do business. As good of a towing engine the ecoboost is, there is no arguing that it is not a step forward in the MPG race. Similar powered non-turbo charged gasoline engines meet or beat the ecoboost in MPG. The ecodiesel is the new standard in MPG in a 1500 series pickup. That may change when Ford brings the aluminum body F150 to market, but even if it does, they still could get better MPG (and CAFE ratings) by adding a small diesel.

Sorry but some of your facts ring hollow:

1st, we are on a trailer towing forum. People here want to talk about towing TT trailers, tent trailers, 5ers, ect. This is not an ATV or boat towing forum and people "here" want to know how these trucks will tow a TT not a boat or ATV trailer. If I wanted to know how a new truck would tow a boat I would go over to a boat forum and ask that question there.

2nd, in case you didn't notice the trucks of now days have become just like me over the years. They are getting fatter every year! There are flat out obese now days.

My 93 2500 diesel truck with cast iron block, heads, full floating axel and all of the rest of the goodies a heavy duty pickup has weighs right at slim 4,800 to 5,000 lbs.

What will this new 1500 diesel truck weight? I have no idea. We will know soon though. Here is what a 2014 1500 Chevy weighs.

Yep, that new little 1500 alloy gas paunchy Chevy weighs as much as much or more than my heavy duty 2500 diesel of yesteryear!! :E

The Ecoboost is fatter yet at 5,400 lbs. :E Like I said above, I have no idea what the new little oil burner Goat will weigh but every diesel I have seen outweighs it's gas counterpart......and most of the time by a LOT! So much for your weight argument.

As far as the 8 speed goes :S . It has been said a billion times on here; GEARS DON'T MAKE POWER!! If this were true my friends 250 HP 3208 Cat, 5 speed box, 2 speed rear end powered service truck would haul ass up hill. It doesn't. It slower than a snail with arthritis. If you or anybody else wants to argue this point please post up a dyno chart that shows more HP with taller gears and I will believe you.

Gears may improve acceleration slightly, but they don't make HP. Diesels generally have a broad torque curve so they don't need a ton of gears to keep them in the torque curve like gasoline engines do.
So much for your gear argument.

3rd, if the market surveys show people don't want more HP then why are manufactures, both foreign and domestic constantly adding to it? :h Do you think they are really that stupid? :R Think about it.
Here is the specs over the years for the Dmax engine:
LB7= 300 HP
LLY= 305 HP
LBZ= 360 HP
LMM= 365 HP
LML= 397 HP :E
The same with Ford; the same with Dodge and same way with gas engines in the 150/1500 series from ALL manufactures. Are they ALL missing the boat? :R

Hell, the new small block Hemi makes almost as much power as the 426 Hemi did in the 60's!! :E A stock Yoda truck engine makes almost as much power as the race motor in my buddies race car! :E

As far as the rest of your post, I agree 100%.

I have no horse in this race so I couldn't care less if someone buy's a diesel or gas truck. But the bottom line is the bottom line.

When testing is done a 365 HP gasoline engine will absolutely annihilate a 240 HP diesel towing a trailer uphill........8 speed, 10 speed or 15 speed. :B This you can take to the bank.

The 240 HP oil burner will absolutely annihilate the 365 HP twin snail gas burner when it comes to fuel mileage. This you can take to the bank.

Pick your poison for what you do. :)