So it looks fairly likely that Ram might actually be the first to get a diesel in their 1/2 ton trucks according to this report.

Ram to get diesels in late 2013? at Allpar Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep News

Apprently its a Cummins V8 diesel with 250hp and 440lb/ft of torque that is speculated to award 18mpg city and 23mpg highway (I assumed this is when attached to the new 8-Speed auto that has been confirmed for 2013 Rams) Intrestingly enough its said to have an over 5,000RPM Redline? Seem's a little far out there for a non-performance diesel, even if its a lower displacement one.

With the recent thread we had going about who would perfer a diesel who wouldn't...What are your thougts on this? Do you think Ford should follow suit and go ahead and move forward with a baby Powerstroke for the F-150 is Ram does get a Cummins for the 2013/2014 model year?

To me personally a small diesel seems rather pointless now...Diesel is about 4.00$ per gallon where I live...Regular unleaded is about 3.69$ per gallon. Factor in the extra money it will add to MSRP to purchase a diesel (most likely 3,000 to 5,000$ or more)...The fact that Ford is getting much higher horsepower numbers out of their GTDI V6 (Ecoboost) and about the same torque numbers, the marginal increase in fuel econmy the small Cummins has over the Ecoboost doesn't seem like it would be worth it.

But anyway voice your opinion here and now!

 

I'd still love to see the 4.4 Powerstroke. I think the power and mileage potential could beat the ecoboost, as great of an engine as it is... They'd certainly have to keep the cost down though. What is the Ecoboost premium? $700?

 

Weather it makes good fiscal sense or not, I certainly hope that Ford isn't resting on it's laurels and betting the farm on the Ecoboost. Ford must compete and dominate even it means that they invest hugely in the diesel program.

I could see the 3.7L being dropped and the 5.0L becoming the base engine.

 

On the XLT it looks like the EB is an extra $2,095 over the V6 and $1,095 over the 5.0l. Don't know about the other trim levels, I'm only interested in XLTs.


As for the diesel Dodge a lot of people buy it just because its a diesel. Too many people are under the assumption diesel engines are some kind of magical powerhouse. Add the Cummins name on top it yet and the fanboys will cream their pants and ***** out their daughter to buy it. I'd expect the diesel option on the 1500 Dodge to be at minimum $4,000 over the 5.7l. The V8 Cummins sounds to me like they designed a diesel engine to perform more like a forced induction gasoline engine. It will probably use DEF also. I still wouldn't buy one. With what the EPA has done to diesel engines the chances of me ever owning one is slim to none.

 

Agree with dkf. The EPA has made the diesel impractical and too expensive for the average truck owner who tows heavy occassionally. Just the fuel and maintenance alone will be double the cost of a gas engine. And that doesn't even account for the $ premium for purchasing that engine. A 4.6L EB gas engine would be much more cost effective for the average user who tows heavy imo.

 

If the Ecoboost continues to prove durable, it looks like a better option head-to-head with the proposed Ram diesel. You figure the extra service costs and the extra cost of diesel fuel and the Ecoboost has similar torque, HP and MPG figures, the Ecoboost appears to be the better deal. I have a VW diesel car and it is that much better than its competition so I am happy with it but I don't see the gap in the light trucks yet.

 

440 lb. ft. doesn't seem like much torque for a diesel V8, and the mpg doesn't seem worth the option cost sure to follow. A V6 turbo diesel sounds like an option that would provide good power and good mpg rather then a V8. Half ton trucks are expensive enough. I would love to see a diesel in a half ton but mainly if mpg were further into the 20's.

 

If you build it, they will come. I loved my diesel, but I'm not sure I'd jump back into one...well, I definitely wouldn't unless it was a Ford.

 

Ditto love my 7.3l but EPA reg put new one's out of reach. ,looks like a 6.2 for my next RV rig.

 

Those power/torque numbers don't seem right. I mean, Ford and GM were both making 300+hp and 500+ft-lbs of torque from their sub-5.0L diesels. Unless Cummins is leaving a lot on the table for tuners, I just don't see those being the final numbers.

I think someone got confused, as those numbers are more in line with what we see from ~3.0L V6 diesels. For example, Mercedes little V6 diesel in the GL350 makes 240hp/455ft-lbs tq. Otherwise, I'm thinking they might be the numbers for the export/military version, which are always significantly lower than production versions.

Either way, if the RAM 1500 gets a Cummins diesel with the 8-speed ZF, air suspension, and RamBox it would be really hard to stop me from buying one.