Ram 1500 diesel review

bimbert84 wrote:
Sure, and I've not disputed that. But then again, choosing the right gear for the job doesn't bother me.

Believe me, I get it. And I know you do, too. But there are many, many people who don't. They just want to look at peak numbers and run with them. And for some reason, they're afraid of downshifting, and they learn that a diesel will keep them from having to do so. Then they notice on the spec sheet that the diesel has more peak engine torque, and they erroneously conclude that peak engine torque is what pulls a trailer up a hill. The article referenced by the OP does exactly that, and it's wrong. That's why I called it out.

It is peak torque that pulls the trailer up the hill and the lower RPM the engine makes that torque, the more power it makes at that RPM. Sure, if you increase RPM, you can put more torque to the ground with less engine torque by using the appropriate gear but that doesn't make it a better towing engine. If it did, a 3 liter F1 engine should be a towing beast if you just put the right transmission behind it, because it can make over 700 HP. Trouble is, it's at 19,000 RPM.


The statement isn't wrong, it is torque that gets the job done, HP is the rate at which the engine is applying torque.

I quoted your exact words above. But it's occurred to me there are two ways to interpret them:1.No one would argue against X, meaning "dispute"
2.No one would argue for X, meaning "claim"
where X = "the diesel is the more powerful of the two."

I interpreted it as the former (and I would argue against X). Did you mean the latter?

I said, no one would argue the diesel is more powerful. If I was arguing that the diesel was more powerful, that statement wouldn't be true, because someone would be arguing it was more powerful. Me.