Hello Ram 1500 Diesel!
Have been driving/testing these for a while now, but couldn't say anything, until today! And yes it'll have plenty of towing capacity... Chrysler wrote: Ram to Build Industry's Only Light-duty...
Forum Discussion
Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
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?
Read more: LINK
I believe it was in the Pickuptrucks.com shootout where the 8 speed Hemi could barely keep up with the Ecoboost despite the Hemi having more HP. And I believe the Hemi also had worse fuel economy than the Ecoboost.
So under certain circumstances the 8 speed helps and in many it is neutral.
I think the Diesel will flop in the Ram. Why? Cost!! You have less power than the Ecoboost or Hemi. You have higher fuel costs and higher maintenance and/or repair costs. Just makes no sense when, say the Ecoboost has the flat torque of a Diesel, OK fuel economy, lower maintenance costs, and uses cheaper gas.
