In the market for a new truck

If you decide to go to the 6.4 hemi, figure on doubling your gasoline budget to feed that thing. Its a very capable engine, and has 9 ft lbs of torque more than the Ford 3.5 Eco (429 vs 420), and Car & Driver had it averaging 11 mpg. It was a little slower than the Eco in the 1/4 mile (16.1 seconds), but the Ram is pulling around about 1400 more pounds in weight empty. It'll sure have way more payload than the F150 Eco. Wish Ford would put an Eco option in their SuperDutys, maybe we'll get that when the aluminum body SuperDuty comes out in 2 years.

ScottG wrote:
Just keep in mind the gauntlet is a pretty useless indicator. Rarely do sane people run full throttle over mountains. And that is no indicator or overall towing ability.
The 6.4 has tons of torque available during normal use and will out perform smaller engines regardless of idiotic stunts. It's this abundance of torque that makes towing enjoyable.

Just because you don't like the results, does not make it useless. I think it is certainly an indicator of towing ability. They towed 12.5K up a big hill at high elevation. I would say that the results of this hill run is certainly an indicator of what someone could expect as far as performance for from both pickups. You can argue that the time difference between 1st and 2nd doesn't matter to you, but it certainly provides some idea how a truck can be expected to perform. I am not sure what makes this hill run an idiotic stunt? It showed in this example (certainly not in all conditions perhaps) that the smaller motor out performed a larger one. They put it in gear and hit the accelerator and let the pickup do the rest (for better or for worse). I don't see an issue with that.

I have 14 f-250 with the 6.2 gas engine,I pull my loaded 10k TT all around the state of PA. The truck does a great job I am pleased with it. As with any gas engine you have to let it wind on the hills.And I normally lock out 6th gear just to keep it from gear hunting too much.
If I had to replace my truck today the only thing I would change would be I would go with the f-350 just for the extra payload capacity.

diesel!

Scott G i will agree with you on that i try to take those videos as a grain of salt as I am really leaning towards the hemi.

About 75% of the miles driven on our 2012 F-350 6.7 diesel are “around town.” For us this is a lot of 45 – 50 MPH driving with a stop every 2- 3 miles, so it is not as bad as city driving can get. The drive to work is 9 mi. one way. I have never had a “Dive to clean filer” message because of excessive soot buildup. Since regeneration requires minimum engine temperature (on Fords) getting the regens in during winter can be a problem if one drives short trips in cold weather. It has not been a problem for me in central Indiana although I do tend to not drive the truck on really cold days just because the cab heat doesn’t warm up very fast. Remember that a 250/2500 truck weighs more than a half ton, so unless you get a lot more engine, you’re not gaining anything except load capacity. Although I’m a Ford truck person, the RAM 6.4 gas engine does seem to get a lot of positive reviews. My recommendation: If you want the truck to pull fifth wheels in the future, buy a 350/3500 diesel—power to pull the hills and weight carrying capacity for the pin weight.

ScottG wrote:
Just keep in mind the gauntlet is a pretty useless indicator. Rarely do sane people run full throttle over mountains. And that is no indicator or overall towing ability.
The 6.4 has tons of torque available during normal use and will out perform smaller engines regardless of idiotic stunts. It's this abundance of torque that makes towing enjoyable.

My thoughts exactly.

Just keep in mind the gauntlet is a pretty useless indicator. Rarely do sane people run full throttle over mountains. And that is no indicator or overall towing ability.
The 6.4 has tons of torque available during normal use and will out perform smaller engines regardless of idiotic stunts. It's this abundance of torque that makes towing enjoyable.