You can keep your stinkin' Hemi. I am QUITE happy getting 21.5 mpg every day as I drive back and forth to work. I can't imagine trying to feed a Hemi with gas prices the way they are right now.

 

I got both the Hemi and the CTD. Of course I love my CTD, but the Hemi is alot of fun to drive. Mind you it is in that Daytona package, which is a limited run, numbered truck. The milage sucks in the Hemi, no doubt there, but I didn'y buy it for the MPG, I got it because it looks cool. I don't think it is a very fast truck, I would guess around a 16 second 1/4 mile time but who knows. All in all I am proud of my Dodge products, they treat me great. The CTD for my day to day work and long haul duties. My Hemi for all the other stuff.

At the end of the day, if I had to choose one over the other, I will keep the 6 cylinder. THats a no-brainer.

 

I believe that the diesel engine is just going to keep improving more and more. As they improve and gain more market share, it becomes obvious that the oil burners have more potential. The electronic advancements play in here, the fuel is much cleaner, the economy of increased numbers plays in, etc. Daimler Chrysler just announced this morning that they will now be building our trucks for Europe, which is way into diesels already, and Cummins just posted a lengthly statement about their "Cummins Emissions Solutions" division having logged 30 Billion miles on their "Cooled EGR" technology engines sinse 2002, and that they are easily meeting the 2007 specs. This is in reference to the OTR engines, but will certainly yield some "trickle down" benefits to our trucks.
Yeah, fuel prices are up, and it is my personal belief that they will go much higher, but the fact is it costs me less to move my 04.5 7,000 Ram now than it cost me to move my wimpy F250 the same distance 5 years ago.
I am wondering if we will ever see a diesel/hybrid unit. Don't know if that makes sense or not. Sounds good, but I have to think it have pros and cons. Big initial price increase, added weight..........Thoughts?

 

HUH?? My 03 would smoke 33" swampers if i got on it. The truck was fast. Very fast. Burned too much gas though.

 

Go try an SRT 8 - Hemi power in a BIG way!!

 

I own a Hemi and let me tell you, it's no slouch. The upper RPM range is where this engine really shines, but obviously, we're not at Talladega or the strip every time we drive. The bottom end is o.k. This engine's 2 major problems are lack of low-end grunt and poor gas mileage. It's a great motor, but it belongs in a car. Dodge really needs a big block V8 if they want to contend in the HD gasser world. If I could afford the hit I'd take on selling this truck, I'd have my rear end in a CTD, pronto.