It's official. A 1500 Ram with a Cummins
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From: Massachusetts
All this discussion about economy/power in diesels reminds me about an article I read a while back about the same subject. The article - I can't quote it because it was almost a year ago - said that up to a point, the more power you get out of a diesel due to proper tuning, the better efficiency you get as well. The article used a Duralax as an example. They tuned it to get quite a bit more power, and increased the mpg too. I don't remember the numbers, but I was impressed.
I don't remember if it said anything about emissions, so that may be what DC and Cummins are after, and not power/efficiency.
I don't remember if it said anything about emissions, so that may be what DC and Cummins are after, and not power/efficiency.
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The article - I can't quote it because it was almost a year ago - said that up to a point, the more power you get out of a diesel due to proper tuning, the better efficiency you get as well. The article used a Duralax as an example. They tuned it to get quite a bit more power, and increased the mpg too.
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From: Austin, TX, Toronto, ON
Mr T, I don't think this is a mild difference in mpg if you are comparing the hemi currently offered in the 1500 which gets 12-14 mpg running empty vs this new diesel for the 1500 they are offering which is supposed to get 21 mpg city and hwy combined, that means a possible 22-24 mpg on the hwy. Never been a Hemi that will touch that in mileage, plus the benifit of 500 lb/ft of torque. Comparing to the 2500 diesel, I agree that the milage difference is minimal, but if you put the current 5.9 in a 1500, the front end would be wore out in 5000 miles. This new v-8 diesel is very close in weight to the current hemi, I believe I read they were within 100 lbs. I do agree that they should have just based it off of the current 4 cyl cummins but I do see that they have to keep up with or set the bench mark for the other auto makers.
but yeah anythign looks nice on fuel after the hemi
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From: Northern Iowa
Here you go (it's a neighbor's engine here...)
http://www.maxxforce.com/products/de...d=1&itemid=001
Reasons for not putting a 3.9BT 4-cyl into a Durango/1500...
--Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH)
--Intended for commercial, lighter heavy-duty equipment applications.
--Emissions regulations
--Weight
--Cost $$$$$$$
--Life cycle/intended use
--Image of "V8 means Fast, Power, American..." "And 4-cyl is wimpy"
--Soccer Mom's transport, meaning quiet, comfortable, etc.
--2007 emissions
--2010 emissions
--25 years on any engine platform is long enough...??
http://www.maxxforce.com/products/de...d=1&itemid=001
Reasons for not putting a 3.9BT 4-cyl into a Durango/1500...
--Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH)
--Intended for commercial, lighter heavy-duty equipment applications.
--Emissions regulations
--Weight
--Cost $$$$$$$
--Life cycle/intended use
--Image of "V8 means Fast, Power, American..." "And 4-cyl is wimpy"
--Soccer Mom's transport, meaning quiet, comfortable, etc.
--2007 emissions
--2010 emissions
--25 years on any engine platform is long enough...??
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From: Pattonville, Texas
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From: Massachusetts
I realize that, I guess the key words are "up to a point". But gasoline has less energy than diesel, gallon for gallon. Tuning a gasser for more power usually results in less mpg, while tuning a diesel usually results in better mpg. Of course, there are limits on both before they start going the other direction, but the diesel has a higher limit than gasoline.
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From: Flower Mound, Texas
It's not the engineers. It's the marketing pukes. They probably figure they'd have a hard time selling a 4 cylinder truck. So, a V-6! It's got the sexy V, and the number of cylinders that Americans think are minimum for power.
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From: Flower Mound, Texas
...i mean 20mpg city and 24mpg highway out of a 3.0 diesel in the jeep??....gimme a break.....i slmost get that out of a 7000lb truck...i expect nothign less that 30+ mpg on the highway to attract me to buy it...i expect more considering that gm offers 1/2 tons trucks equipped with the 4.8 V8 asser and that gets more than 20mpg on the highway
Tad
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From: Morrison CO, USA
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From: Pattonville, Texas
) for more power (up to a point, as you said - which implies significant yet modest power increases - not doubling the HP/cubic inch!) you effectively raise the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption to a higher value, usually by increasing the engine's volumetric efficiency...BSFC is a direct measurement of an engine's ability to convert fuel into work, in this instance moving a vehicle, which translates directly into MPG.
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From: Louisville, KY
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From: NE Tarrant Co, Texas
I have to admit...before I saw the light and starting researching diesel engines, I was put off by the Cummins because I wanted a V8!! I was headed to the Ford Powerstroke because there was no way I was going to own a pitiful little I6!!
Z
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From: Austin, TX, Toronto, ON
