RAM 1500 EcoDiesel sets new record for MPG
EPA Rated at 20 city / 28 hwy / 23 combined LINKY
Forum Discussion
otrfun wrote:
If you've ever lived in Europe, you can't help but love diesels--they're everywhere, in everything!
That is kinda funny, if only because the only three gearheads I "know" who live in Europe despise diesels. Ok, they are the guys from Top Gear, so I don't know them, and they despise pretty much anything that isn't super fast, but still ...
But I'm with you otrfun, I think this is most likely a good development for all of us. I spent a lot of time driving 2 diesels (Duramax and VW TDI), and really liked both engines. I want to see more diesels over here, the sooner the better. I'm also a fan of turbos, and am happy to see the proliferation of small displacement turbo charged engines coming out lately. I don't know if I'll buy the EcoDiesel -- I'm kinda smitten with the Ecoboost, but I'll certainly give the ED a drive when I'm truck shopping this summer -- but I hope it is a step in the right direction.
I guess there are 2 ways to look at the numbers. One is a basic number crunching calculation. In that case, what I'll call the premium or fuel saving option doesn't make sense. The TDI loses to the Jetta, the Prius loses to the Corolla, the EcoDiesel loses to the Pentastar, the Duramax loses to the 6.0 gas, the Ecoboost also loses to the 5.0. If absolute bottom dollar spent is your top priority, none of these options make any 'sense' for most buyers. Yet the premium outsells the base in nearly all cases (not sure about the Corolla, it probably sells more than the Prius).
And that is probably because of the second way to look at it -- in the case of the EcoDiesel, I can get a truck I'd like to drive better (I love diesel/turbo power delivery characteristics vs. naturally aspirated gas engines), that would likely cost about the same long term, and uses less fuel to boot. Sounds like a win to me. I wouldn't likely think twice about buying the EcoDiesel vs a Pentastar or probably even the Hemi for my uses.
But bottom dollar cost isn't my priority; driving what I like is more important.
