Hello Ram 1500 Diesel!

wilber1 wrote:

Mike Up wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Bob you know it will have the 8 speed right? I doubt the EB will "absolutely destroy" it. But only time will till.

Don

I don't have high hopes for the 8 speed auto at all. Motortrend tested both the Ford and Dodge Regular Cab 2WD with their V6 engines, which are just about the same in HP and torque, and the Ford with the 6 speed was still faster. And F150s are heavier than Ram.

I think Ram finally stepped it up with a decent transmission, but I don't see it being much better than most 6 speeds that are true 6 speeds, hense Dodges 6 speed that only uses 5 speeds.

The 8 speed Chrysler unit is a US built version of the ZF transmissions used by, Audi, BMW, Rolls Royce and Jaguar, among others. Until the North American plant was finished, transmissions were brought in from Europe. It's one hell of a good transmission. In the new Jeep Cherokee they are upping it to a 9 speed.

When it comes to drag racing, more gears are not always better, but when it comes to just about everything else they sure are.

The 8 speed goes into all the rear wheel drive vehicles and the 9 speed will go into the front wheel drive units. We are building the torque converters for both transmissions.

As far as Mike and his MT reference here is part of that article.

The Ram's engine was notably quieter, and paired well with the new eight-speed automatic. The dial-operated shifter takes some getting used to, especially in a three-point turn. We were also impressed with the eight-speed's performance -- it held gears when appropriate, but used its broad range of ratios to good effect. This revealed itself in quick off-the-line acceleration, as well as relaxed freeway cruising, where the Ram held a consistent 2-mpg advantage over the Ford in average fuel economy. The Ram was also faster to 60 mph, where it took 7.4 seconds -- the F-150 needed 7.6. Looks like the Ram won or am I reading it wrong?

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