RAM 1500 EcoDiesel sets new record for MPG

mercedes have been building diesels for over 40 years. Vw tdi for atleast 15 years, before that they called them ecodiesel.
I had an 87 inline 6cyl turbo diesel Mercedes. that thing was fast!

we had a vm motori 2.8 turbo diesel in a 2005 liberty. I loved that dirty diesel buggy. 25mpg,5000lb towing.

Mercedes has been building and selling diesels for many years. Paraphrasing what the man said to Dan Quayle, Ram sir, you are no Mercedes. We'll have to wait and see how 1500 diesels sell, but I applaud Ram for throwing it out there.

We have a Mercedes GL350, its a 7 passenger awd suv with V6 dsl. It gets better mpg than what was rated, is used primarily for short trips with a long trip a few times a year and has had no emmissions problems. Oil change is every 10k mi. In my mind this new Ram will be very similar to our MB.

What one generation wants is meaningless to the next generation. People used to always want a big block gas engine in tow vehicles. Now very few do.
Maybe people want more towing ability without having to buy a $60,000 truck or live with its harsher ride. It is definitely a price point.

Dog Folks wrote:

Seymore wrote:
Be intersting to see if Ford and GM follow now.

I expect they will as the demand for a 1/2 ton, with a diesel is high.

Not sure where you get your info?

IF the demand was that high, thy would have been available all along.
This offering is more to do with meeting CAFE, etc.
Its really a niche market but Ford and GM may follow suit.

Folks who do buy them will most likely do it because its different than what their buddies have and will give them one up.
Some will use the money they will save on economy to fool their wives for approval but really after an ownership cycle of about 5 yrs they really won't be ahead dollar wise.

This reminds me of all the guys saying they would buy a Ford or a GM 3/4 or 1 ton with a manual trans "IF" it was available.
It "was" available for years and not enough bought them so they are gone.
I challenge someone to go back over this forum only and find all the guys on here who have said for the last 5 yrs that whoever puts a diesel in a half ton first gets their business; and follow up to see how many step up and buy this new Ram/Dodge/Fiat Corp truck.
I would bet less than 1%
We all want what we can't have...:W

OK, I know people are really trying to draw from personal experience in regards to what they predict reliability of this motor will be. However, it seems like everyone is suppositioning everything on the VM Motori motor to be exactly the same as the Cummins/Power Stroke/Duramax. I've been curious myself and I wonder if this will be more comparable to something like Toureg Diesel? Mercedes GLK Bluetec? Audi Q5? etc... Personally, I haven't read much about these vehicles having issues being driven in town and on the highway. And I'm thinking that a half-ton will most likely have tuning similar to these other heavy truckish vehicles.

This is really a wait and see type of thing. Here in the PNW, these diesel rigs sell like hot cakes. VW dealerships are constantly selling out on TDI models of all makes, same with Audi. BMW and MB move a lot of D series or Bluetec vehicles respectively. Another item that people tend to forget is that Diesel prices tend to be tied with home heating oil prices. So winter is not the best time of year for Diesels. Heating oil is nearly the same fuel blended with different additives for furnaces versus engines. Depending on the time of year, the delta between diesel and regular unleaded varies. Data below is taken from the EIA as an average for the U.S. YMMV depending on what region you're from. Also with this new battering of cold weather hitting the US, Diesel prices did spike. Unleaded sinks because it is only tied to driving and well... not a lot of driving is going on with this weather. I tried to format it as well as this forum will let me.

Day - Reg Unleaded - Diesel - Delta - % difference
1/1/2014 - 3.313 - 3.893 - 0.58 - 18%
12/1/2013 - 3.276 - 3.882 - 0.606 - 18%
11/1/2013 - 3.243 - 3.839 - 0.596 - 18%
10/1/2013 - 3.344 - 3.885 - 0.541 - 16%
9/1/2013 - 3.532 - 3.961 - 0.429 - 12%
8/1/2013 - 3.574 - 3.905 - 0.331 - 9%
7/1/2013 - 3.591 - 3.866 - 0.275 - 8%
6/1/2013 - 3.626 - 3.849 - 0.223 - 6%
5/1/2013 - 3.615 - 3.87 - 0.255 - 7%
4/1/2013 - 3.57 - 3.93 - 0.36 - 10%
3/1/2013 - 3.711 - 4.068 - 0.357 - 10%
2/1/2013 - 3.67 - 4.111 - 0.441 - 12%
1/1/2013 - 3.319 - 3.909 - 0.59 - 18%
12/1/2012 - 3.31 - 3.961 - 0.651 - 20%
11/1/2012 - 3.452 - 4 - 0.548 - 16%
10/1/2012 - 3.746 - 4.094 - 0.348 - 9%
9/1/2012 - 3.849 - 4.12 - 0.271 - 7%
8/1/2012 - 3.722 - 3.983 - 0.261 - 7%
7/1/2012 - 3.439 - 3.721 - 0.282 - 8%
6/1/2012 - 3.539 - 3.759 - 0.22 - 6%
5/1/2012 - 3.732 - 3.979 - 0.247 - 7%
4/1/2012 - 3.9 - 4.115 - 0.215 - 6%
3/1/2012 - 3.852 - 4.127 - 0.275 - 7%
2/1/2012 - 3.579 - 3.953 - 0.374 - 10%
1/1/2012 - 3.38 - 3.833 - 0.453 - 13%

N-Trouble wrote:

ScottG wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
Real world numbers I suspect will be much less especially if people use these as grocery getters for short around town trips. Modern diesel DPF systems don't work well under these conditions and will only lead to more frequent and longer regen cycles hurting mileage.

Just wait til they get released and all the people calling foul when they find their mileage numbers are no where near EPA figures.

Actually the very newest diesels don't have problems with short trips as much as those just a couple of years ago. The use of Urea drastically cut the need for regens.

Are you basing this on first hand knowledge, or something you read in a magazine???
I have a 2012 Duramax that uses DEF and can tell you the emissions systems on these trucks don't like short trips. Its no different than my cousins 2009 Duramax minus DEF. There are lots of 3/4 ton diesel owners whos rigs use DEF that will tell you exactly the same thing. WHile these sytems work well when the truck is being worked carrying heavy loads or used for long highway trips, short around town trips/commutes are not where they shine. Mileage goes down the tube in a hurry. I expect the Ecodiesel will be no different in this regard.

I base this of technical articles and real world experiences - Duramax's aside.
This is for Cummins engines. Maybe I wrongly assumed DM's would be the same.
You say "lots of owners.." - please quantify that because I know "lots of diesel owners" (and fleets) and I don't hear that.

Isn't the 3.6 v6 gasser rated 25mpg? I love my diesel for a TV but I doubt if I'd get a diesel when a gasser gets that close for mpg. Craig

Dog Folks wrote:

Seymore wrote:
Be intersting to see if Ford and GM follow now.

I expect they will as the demand for a 1/2 ton, with a diesel is high.

Really? I live in truck country. Far more of the people I know drive trucks than cars. And, as we sit around the lunch table. I have yet to hear them wish they had a diesel in their trucks. It just ain't a big want. In this area at least. there is little demand for a diesel 150, or 1500. Not a lot of demand for diesels period. Or more would have them. The men I work with. Buy what they want.