Ram 2500 Hemi tow review - UPDATED

Mike Up wrote:
How does the 6.4L feel in the heavy 2500? I test drove a F250 with the 6.2L (lower at 385 Hp and 405 lbs torque) and it felt pretty slow. Of course it has a higher 4500 rpm torque peak than the 6.4L 4000 rpms.

After feeling that F250, I'd probably just get a heavy half 5.0L with 2400 lbs payload and save some bucks. Then again, that 6.4L Ram sounds great especially with 4.10 gears. Don't know if I could afford to drive it back and forth to work though. :) Right now I'm getting around 18.5 mpg with mixed driving to work and back, and it's still eating to much out of my wallet!

My next truck will most likely be a Ram 2500 gasser as I won't own a corrosion prone aluminum truck.:D

Keep in mind that the 6.2 with 3.73's has a lower overall ratio in 1st and 2nd gear than the 6.4 with 4:10's. Up to about 30MPH in 1st, the 6.2 effectively has 453 ft-lb of TQ at the crank when comparing overall ratios. A 6.2 with 4.30's would feel like 522 ft-lb at the crank compared to the 6.4/4.10's most of the way through 1st gear. The first real tow test will reveal this. Also, once in 2nd gear the 6.2 would effectively feel like 462 ft-lb at the crank.

The small gap in speed where the 6.2 needs to shift to 2nd (and the 6.4 is still in 1st) is where the HP and TQ of the 6.4 will come into play and should allow it to close the gap.

Also, I suspect your short test drive of the 6.2 gave you the same impression I had initially. The ETC tuning is really lethargic on the 6.2 and it takes a lot of pedal movement to get the throttle plate to open. My old ecoboost would be at full power at about 1/2 throttle while the 6.2 keeps building TQ all the way to the floor. It feels really good now that I am used to the throttle. The shifting characteristics and overall feel of the truck have changed since brand new but I think 90% of it is just me getting used to pushing my foot down a little further.