Hello Ram 1500 Diesel!
Have been driving/testing these for a while now, but couldn't say anything, until today! And yes it'll have plenty of towing capacity... Chrysler wrote: Ram to Build Industry's Only Light-duty...
Forum Discussion
Alan Maschek wrote:
@itguy08
I own a 3.2 Mazda BT50 (essentially a global Ranger). It's a diesel with 200hp and 350ftlb of torque. I live near Darwin. I do know my vehicle weighs 4 600lbs and is a 4x4 with a bullbar/driving lights/heavy tow package. These accessories will reduce mpgs by a mile or two.
Our speed limit up here is 85mph at that speed I'm getting 23mpg. At 65mph I'm getting about 32mpg.
I have only towed a trailer from Melbourne to Darwin. the trailer had a pantech on the back and was about 6' high from the bed and 6' wide. This offered some wind resistance. Towing the trailer between a steady 70-75mph I was getting 26mpg.
My VW Touareg TDI gets similar numbers with a 3.0 unloaded. 28-30 MPG at 78 MPH depending on wind. Typical tank average is 27 MPG with a mix city/highway. I would not expect 30 MPG with truck having poor aerodynamics with the same engine though. I'm thinking maybe 27-28 at 65 with the new Ram diesel.
Towing is a whole different story from yours though. I'm averaging 14.5MPG with my TT at 60MPH, which presents about 80 sq ft of wind resistance. The engine is on the turbo the whole time fighting the wind and weight. This probably about only 10% better than HD trucks are getting towing with the new diesels, and it's not as capable for that purpose.
Bottom line is that I think the smaller diesel powered trucks are great with a clear MPG advantage if you are not towing, but for towing there isn't going to be much of a penalty for going with the larger diesels.
