Ram 1500 diesel

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Right, but the diesel isn't on the 'build your own' site yet that I could see, unless I missed it.

My dad has a serious hard-on for this truck, but if the trim levels linked to the diesel become too pricey, he won't jump ship from Ford (which has also gotten quite 'spensive as of late.... but I guess they can, now that the Ranger is gone).
 

cmitchell

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Location
Central Oregon
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS black / black leather
I just averaged 22.8 MPG on a trip to Reno & back with the monster truck in my signature. I've thought about getting something smaller, but daughter's boyfriend only gets 21 MPG with his 2000 4X4 Tacoma that's equipped with the 4cyl 5sp combo ... so why bother? I would like something smaller to make maneuvering parking lots easier, but if the diesel 1500 is only going to get a few MPG better, I don't see it as a choice either ... especially since the big truck is paid for ...
 

storx

Veteran Member
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Jan 16, 2006
Location
Earth!!
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2009 Jetta CR140, 2010 Corvette Z06
Ecodiesel Worth it??

So over the weekend i attended the show they had at a local jeep/dodge dealership in my area advertising the eco-diesel that is coming soon to the ram1500 at the end of this year and we were allowed to test drive there test truck... well first impressions is it seems ok... almost like its lacking something but what i was impressed about was the 17 miles trip i took around town averaged 31.3mpg with zero highway driving..... but the only drawback i felt was initial take off seemed good and torque-y but once you were moving acceleration seemed a little held back... almost as if the pedal travel didnt care and it just accelerated at the same rate almost.. even going from half pedal to full WOT the engine never downshifted and just tried a little harder to get up to speed.. Maybe the new 8speed tranny isnt designed to downshift but i felt like it needed it to at sum points..overall i was extremely happy with the build quality and how the truck drove but the whole lack of downshifting thing kinda confused me..

Has anyone else test drove the new ecodiesel yet? I been contemplating picking it up if the MPG were really at what they advertised it at or better..

Also there was a display with Banks.. already advertising warrantied covered upgrades with the chip upgrade saying it adds 44hp/90tq...
 

Oberkanone

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Location
NW Indiana
TDI
13 Jetta TDI Premium manual "gone"
Delay, delay, delay....now 2014 MY and CY

Ram 1500 diesel is delayed until 2014 calendar year. Originally it was scheduled to debut as 2013 MY in 2012, then 2014 MY in 2013 calendar year and now it *tentatively* scheduled to begin production in January 2014.

:(
 

Oberkanone

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Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Location
NW Indiana
TDI
13 Jetta TDI Premium manual "gone"
Bummer... Diesel World mag is on the list to drive one as soon as they are available though...
Ram circulated a number of units around to press within the past month so there should be a flurry of first drive articles available now and in the next few weeks. 1500 diesel was supposed to ship to dealers in September and the press publicity coincide with availability of test drives at dealers and drive up orders. EPA mpg 20 city and 27 highway rumored from within Chrysler organization.

Either there is something that needs to be rectified with the truck or EPA rained on the parade. Between this and the nearly 10,000 Jeep Cherokee parked and gathering dust and unable to be shipped to dealers, it's not a great week for Chryco.
 

Ski in NC

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Jul 7, 2008
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
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2001 Jetta ALH 5sp stock
Cruze sure didn't have any trouble getting epa certified. Chryco/Fiat and Mazda seem to be having trouble. I guess that inside connection GM has with the government has its advantages.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yep, pretty close to the Pentastar... just for a whole crap load more money. So now you've removed the economic reason to buy one (unless you are REALLY bad at math... and clearly many Americans are), so that leaves the enthusiast diesel-lover side. Will there be enough of them (us) to make it worth while? And will they buy them year after year? Or will it just fizzle before it even hits the showroom floors?

But hey, GM is evidently finding enough people bad at math to shell out $27k on a diesel Cruze, so maybe there is hope after all! :D
 

bhtooefr

TDIClub Enthusiast, ToofTek Inventor
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Location
Newark, OH
TDI
None
That's the other thing, what does it actually do in the real world, versus the Pentastar?

I thought VW was lobbying for a more diesel-friendly EPA test, too...
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Real world doesn't always get people to make a purchase, though. Of course, pie-in-the-sky internet hype can be just as bad. How many people have we seen here over the years buy a new or even used TDI that WE all know to be one of the less efficient models and complain they are not getting 50+ MPGs like "everyone" said they would :rolleyes:.
 

bhtooefr

TDIClub Enthusiast, ToofTek Inventor
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Location
Newark, OH
TDI
None
Well, if it gets significantly better real-world than would be implied by the EPA rating, that's a sign that Chrysler should lobby to get that fixed.

And, yeah, overstating fuel economy is bad, too. VW was even guilty of that, with the 40/60 stunt they pulled before they got EPA numbers on the CBEA cars.
 

kjclow

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Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
That's the other thing, what does it actually do in the real world, versus the Pentastar?

I thought VW was lobbying for a more diesel-friendly EPA test, too...
VW can lobby all they want but until they get a few more voices behind them, EPA will pay no more attention to them then you would a mosquito.
 

Ski in NC

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Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
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2001 Jetta ALH 5sp stock
Looks like it easily passed all criteria execpt NOx, pretty close there. PM way below spec. Maybe they could open up pore size a bit on DPF???
 

ranger1

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Location
SouthEast
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NA
http://www.hybridcars.com/how-jeep-and-dodge-trucks-came-to-use-a-gm-clean-diesel-engine/

Basically it says GM commissioned the diesel for Euro Cadillac and then never used the engine.
Interesting article. What it doesn't account for is that in early 2005, VM had the same 3.0L V6 diesel engine, then called the VR630, on their website, available in both cast iron and aluminum block versions, long before GM announced their Cadllac ATS Euro with the engine. The location of the turbo was different, it used to be down on the driver side below the left bank exhaust port, now it's up in the V of the engine and it's now water cooled. Other than that, not a lot has changed. Either GM was at work for 4 years on it before announcing the ATS lux diesel, or the writer has little idea of the history of the engine.
 
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kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Coworker told me that they have been advertising fairly heavily in Canada. Diesel engine has a $2500 Canadian up charge from the gasser.
 

Ski in NC

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Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
TDI
2001 Jetta ALH 5sp stock

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
From the article:
"The small diesel and tall final gear allowed the 5,800lb pickup truck to average an impressive 24.2 MPG during my week with the truck which included out towing, hauling and 0-60 tests. On the open highway it had no trouble averaging 29 MPG at 70 MPH."

So 24 mpg when used as a truck and 29 for cruising. That gives a pretty steep hill for the diesel Colorado to climb. Might be back to the same old arguement between buying a full sized or mid-sized truck if the mileage is similar and (assumption) the out the door prices end up being similar.
 
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