In the market for a new truck

If performance is important to you, lets not forget that the 6.4L Hemi won nearly every single performance test against the other two in a recent comparison. The high elevation tuning is an anomaly though.

Here are the graphic representations of the results for all of the testing done by Pickuptrucks.com - excluding the Eisenhower tunnel test:













See what I mean? Ram takes first place over and over. Loaded, empty, uphill, on the flats, always fastest.

Is isn't until they test it on the Eisenhower Tunnel grade (same as used by TFLTruck in their "Ike Gauntlet" test) that the Ram was slower. I chalked it up to the fact that it was carrying between 2000# and 3000# more than the GM and Ford because they loaded all the trucks up to 90% of their GCWR and the Ram has a much higher GCWR so it had much more weight.

It appears though, that it was the extra weight AND something to do with the engine programming for high elevations.

Here is the Eisenhower tunnel test done by PUTC:



And the note that followed the description of their Eisenhower tunnel grade towing test:

"How We Did the Testing

We knew we wanted to do something special here, so we opted to run each truck as close to its manufacturer-stated GCWR — meaning all it can carry and tow. Simply put, we wanted to see how well or poorly they performed at their limits. We know most people aren't likely to do this kind of towing (and if they did, they'd probably buy a one-ton dualie turbo-diesel), but how well a pickup does near its limits is likely to say a lot about how well it will do when things aren't so tough.

Our trailer for this event, when empty weighs, about 6,000 pounds but we had two 330-gallon water tanks (each weighing 2,800 pounds) wedged inside, bringing the total weight close to 12,000 pounds, near but not over each truck's stated maximum conventional tow ratings.

The F-250's GCWR is 19,000 pounds; the Chevy's is just more than 20,000 pounds, and the Ram 2500's is just more than 22,000 pounds. We attempted to adjust each max trailer weight by dumping a certain amount of water from each truck or trailer, getting as close as possible to 90 percent of the vehicle's GCWR number."

I went from a dmax to a 6.4 3500 SRW with 3:73 gears. Towed my 38'11,000 tt home last week. Very pleased. Granted, theres no Ike gauntlet around here, but its far from flat.

I went from an EB to a Ram 2500 5.7l and would not go back. Good luck with your choice.

I don't go wide open throttle from the base of a hill or pass, but there plenty of times we pull off at a lookout midway to admire the view before continuing on. So we do stop and then have to get rolling back to safe speeds as we merge on to the roadway.

People don't start at zero speed at the bottom of hills. And I don't believe most people even those towing RVs up hills use WOT. Anyway, pick your favorite HD. Skip 3/4 ton straight to 1-ton.

I've had my 3rd place finish 2012 Ram CTD non DEF or over two years and 23,000 trouble free short distance miles and it's the best truck I've ever owned.

If you are moving from a 150 Eco and, " I don't want to worry about payload limitations anymore,"
Skip the 250 and go 1 ton.

I'll stay out of the rest of the brand preference advice.

I would not use a diesel for a short commute. If you really want diesel, look at getting a cheap commuter car for those short trips and keep the truck dedicated for longer trips.

I also have a well matched combination but am looking at upgrading my F250 to a F550/5500 for future hauling needs. My diesel F250 did some errands but was never used for trips less than 30 minutes. My replacement will most likely also be diesel and will be dedicated to travel.

The new gasoline trucks have impressive power and better mileage. If I didn't have dreams of going to larger RV's, I would not hesitate to get one these since some can surpass what 10-year old diesel can do.

I went from an Eco to a Ram, Love my Ram!!!

ksss wrote:

ScottG wrote:
Just keep in mind the gauntlet is a pretty useless indicator. Rarely do sane people run full throttle over mountains. And that is no indicator or overall towing ability.
The 6.4 has tons of torque available during normal use and will out perform smaller engines regardless of idiotic stunts. It's this abundance of torque that makes towing enjoyable.

Just because you don't like the results, does not make it useless. I think it is certainly an indicator of towing ability. They towed 12.5K up a big hill at high elevation. I would say that the results of this hill run is certainly an indicator of what someone could expect as far as performance for from both pickups. You can argue that the time difference between 1st and 2nd doesn't matter to you, but it certainly provides some idea how a truck can be expected to perform. I am not sure what makes this hill run an idiotic stunt? It showed in this example (certainly not in all conditions perhaps) that the smaller motor out performed a larger one. They put it in gear and hit the accelerator and let the pickup do the rest (for better or for worse). I don't see an issue with that.

Well said ^^^^^.

I can guarantee you that if I'm down to 30MPH on a hill, my right foot is going to be pushed straight to the floor. I have been WOT for more than 10 minutes at a time many times with my old truck. And that was with a turbo.