Is the Ram 1500 finally catching up with the competition?
This pickuptrucks.com article shows a Megacab mule. The thing that caught my eye was the 6 lug wheels. Maybe they're finally trying to compete in the payload category.
Forum Discussion
Santa Fe wrote:Mike Up wrote:
I'm not a chrysler fan by no means so it was a minivan rental and just assumed it town and country, but it was the 8 speed with the 3.6L. It had that silly rotary dial right on the dash instead of a shifter.
If you were driving a Chrysler minivan with a rotary dial shifter, you were driving the new 2017 Pacifica. Those models do NOT utilize the 8 speed Torqueflite gearbox; instead, it uses a 9 speed ZF unit. This is the same unit used in a variety of other FCA products, from the Pacifica, to the Chrysler 200 to the Jeep Cherokee and Renegade. My mom has a 2016 Cherokee (3.2L V6 with the 9 speed auto). It's a great combo, plenty of power from the Pentastar engine, but I do feel that transmission is slightly less sorted than the 8 speed in my truck. Less sorted, but still fairly smooth for what it is and by no means uncomfortable or confused.
Adding those extra gears into modern transmissions is the way that all manufacturers are going, so it's something that we'll all have to adjust to.
I give the little Cherokee credit; 271 HP V6, 4x4, and it gets the same if not better mileage than her old 4 cylinder RAV4 did. That says alot for a slightly larger vehicle with almost 100 extra horses. Those extra gears and the stop/start system make a difference, whether the average customer is willing to accept it.
The ZF 9 speed was launched with a lot problems and perhaps should have been delayed. I wouldn't form an opinion on the Ford and GM 9 and 10 speeds based on your Chrysler/ZF 9 speed experience.
