MotorTrend Tests the 1500's

FishOnOne wrote:

I don't think there was no surprises that a "small diesel" powered truck will produce better fuel economy than a gas powered truck. What was not advertised was the cost of ownership of these trucks and at this point it's my opinion that the gas powered truck will cost less in the long run compared to the diesel. What Ford has done with the 2015 trucks was put them on a diet and layed the foundation going forwards. At this point only Ford had the volume and the financial backing to make such a dramatic change to the design of their trucks and the material supply chain of their military grade aluminum, and I suspect GM and RAM will watch from the sideline for now.

Fish, don't you think that's a little broad of a brush to paint with for long-run ownership? Just today, I passed a few fuel stations where Diesel and Regular unleaded were priced the same. Going on gas buddy, I see $2.69 as the best regular price and best diesel price at 2.89. That's a less than 10% cost differential. Diesel prices have just collapsed by 30 cents around my parts while regular dipped a further 3 cents over the same time period. I hypothesize this was due to the quick ramp-up in home heating oil due to the early cold-snap the nation experienced. In my case, my metric that I measure my current RAM against is my 2010 F-150 w/ its 5.4 liter motor. I've had cheaper maintenance and fuel costs combined so far. I've never hit 3 digits in pumping fuel and putting more miles between fill-up (F-150 had a 36 gallon tank, my RAM has a 31 gallon tank) Brakes are wearing far slower as well (love the exhaust brake). However, I know in other parts of the country (eastern seaboard primarily), you will not break-even with a diesel. At least from what I see in their cost differentials.

However, I agree that light-weighting is going to be the trend in the next few years. With Ford switching to aluminum, the steel industry has decided to really crank out the Ultra-High Strength Steel as a possible alternative in the industry. GM has made it known they are going aluminum and applying different assembly techniques (aluminum welding and a new rivet/weld process I've seen). I wonder which path RAM/FCA will take? Go to UHSS or Al?