V6 driving impressions

[habu987]

Picked up my V6 Longhorn on Friday, more info in this thread.

Definitely doesn't have the power of the Hemi, but plenty of power for my casual driving style. There are some transmission issues I lined out in the other thread, but the engine itself seems perfectly fine and I don't think it's underpowered for my needs. I'm coming from a 2014 Hyundai Azera and the engine feels comparatively powerful (the Azera has a 290 hp, 255 lb-ft V6).

Lie-o-meter said 13.8 mpg when I picked up the truck on Friday (21 miles on the odometer), I've put ~90 miles on it since then and it read 18.9 mpg as of yesterday afternoon, with a total of probably 45 minutes of idling on the clock. Moving forward, I expect the idling time to go down, since I won't be sitting there going through Uconnect.

I'm not going to really track the mpg again until I fill up the tank for the first time and do a hand calc. My normal driving mix is probably 75-25 city-highway. I'll post my results on fuelly going forward.

As a side note, both the auto start/stop and regenerative braking have been non-issues. Very, very slight deceleration when coasting, nothing like some of the hybrids I've driven in the past, and the start/stop is pretty easy to overlook since it's just a slight shudder when restarting and hasn't left me hanging waiting for it to restart before I can accelerate.

 

[stevetom84]

Now that it's been about a week, how are you liking the V6? I'm considering ordering a Ram 1500 and am torn between V6 vs V8 without having an opportunity to do a side by side comparison.

 

[4sallypat]

OP:
How are the headlights at night ?
I am worried since the insurance institute rated the lights (both LED and halogen) as "marginal".

Thanks for starting this thread - I did want a real life driving experiences on the 3.6L engine.

After my dealer test drive, I am satisfied to get one now since I don't tow and don't haul.

Finding a 3.6L is tough this month ! Only a few dealers have them in stock.

I may have to order one because I want the Ramboxes.

 

[Phoon]

I believe the LED lights were marginal because they were too bright and caused glare for on coming traffic. I find the Laramie lights, and the limited lights to be very good on dark back roads.

 

[habu987]

OP:
How are the headlights at night ?
I am worried since the insurance institute rated the lights (both LED and halogen) as "marginal".

Thanks for starting this thread - I did want a real life driving experiences on the 3.6L engine.

After my dealer test drive, I am satisfied to get one now since I don't tow and don't haul.

Finding a 3.6L is tough this month ! Only a few dealers have them in stock.

I may have to order one because I want the Ramboxes.

I think the headlights are just fine. My old Hyundai Azera had the best headlights I'd had up to that point, and I'd say these are equal in brightness and range. Regarding the IIHS marginal rating, I'm not sure why. The cutoff line for the lights when I'm behind a sedan at a stop light is usually below the top of the trunk lid unless it's a really short car. That being said, I haven't seen any DTs driving towards me at night around here, at least not that I've noticed, so I can't comment on what the lights look like coming towards you.

 

[habu987]

Now that it's been about a week, how are you liking the V6? I'm considering ordering a Ram 1500 and am torn between V6 vs V8 without having an opportunity to do a side by side comparison.

For the most part, I like it. It's got plenty of power for my needs, but the transmission seems to dislike shifting into 8th gear when cruising on the flats, causing some droning before it finally shifts into 8th. Besides that, no complaints. I've put ~400 miles on over the last 11 days and it's met my needs without seeming underpowered or anything like that.

All that being said, if some of the rumored engines are available when my lease is up in 2021, I'll probably go for a more powerful motor solely for the fun of it.

 

[Edwards]

OP:
How are the headlights at night ?
I am worried since the insurance institute rated the lights (both LED and halogen) as "marginal".

Thanks for starting this thread - I did want a real life driving experiences on the 3.6L engine.

After my dealer test drive, I am satisfied to get one now since I don't tow and don't haul.

Finding a 3.6L is tough this month ! Only a few dealers have them in stock.

I may have to order one because I want the Ramboxes.

And note that TruckTrend just voted Ram the best headlights compared to Ford/GM.
https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/2019-crash-test-ratings.3614/post-51529

 

[Willwork4truck]

Update please... still happy with the lease? Fuelly improved over your November post?

 

[JamMastaJ]

My loaner during my 2 weeks without my Hemi because of a new transmission at 10K miles was a V6. Adequate is exactly how I would describe my experience. It has decent power, no torque. Very high revving if your used to a V8. It feels like it's going to blow up when accelerating hard. In the end it will serve as transportation, but I don't think it could really pull more than a 2K LB trailer comfortably, I will admit it got excellent gas mileage compared to my Hemi but not many smiles per gallon.

 

[habu987]

Update please... still happy with the lease? Fuelly improved over your November post?

The Fuelly badge in my sig is up to date. Not impressed with the mpg, to be honest, though I do live in an area with lots of rolling hills. Took it in for some recalls and the transmission getting stuck in 7th gear issue a few weeks ago and it's now shifting into 8th gear much, much more frequently. Haven't finished out my first full tank since the update, so I'm interested to see what the hand calc will come out to in the next week or so.

Beyond that, I'm pretty pleased with the truck. The V6 is perfectly adequate and isn't lacking for power, but it's not gonna produce any smiles per mile. Not a big deal for me, since I drive pretty leisurely, but if you love gunning it, the V6 ain't for you.

7 months into the lease now, I currently plan to purchase a 1500 when my lease is up, but it won't have the V6. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to buy in 2021, the engine lineup will be revamped and I'll have more appealing options to choose from.

 

[teewodham]

Good observations. I've got the 3.6L Bighorn for my company car and the gas mileage for highway driving averages about 20 MPG after 24k miles. I've used mine to tow a 22' center console boat and was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled and accelerated in tow mode. Outside of tow mode, it is sluggish when accelerating. Overall it is a very nice truck. I am considering a Pedal Commander to reduce the accelerator lag.

My personal truck is a 2017 F-250 with 6.7L turbo diesel. For obvious reasons it is difficult to compare the two.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Sure hope RAM engineers figure out how to squeeze a few more (50+) ponies to further combat Fords offerings... That's where we are in the back of the pack now, but can always hope!
It's already got more power (hemi) than I can really use but I'm in the minority.

 

[Billy James]

If you just casually drive your truck to work everyday (especially city) and do occasional trips; then I think the V6 is probably fine. The problem that you will experience with the V6 will be when towing or at highway speeds. The V6 makes its power (which is much less than the Hemi) at higher RPMs, so when you have a load (towing) or if you are traveling highway speeds (wind resistance), the V6 will need to operate at higher RPMs to provide the power. This is what is causing the transmission issues that you mention. Your truck is downshifting to bring up RPMs and make more power to maintain speed. With a Hemi, it can chug along in 8th gear without constantly shifting between 7 & 8 because it is making more power. I had the V6 in a Jeep and it was great everyday; but I had to tow my boat in 4th or 5th gear if there were any hills at all and often had to downshift to maintain highway speeds. For the way I use my truck; the Hemi was my only consideration. It all depends upon you needs and usage.

 

[JimD007]

You don't have to go back too many years to find V8s with less than 300 hp. I find my 3.6 to be peppy but I agree that it is well described by adequate. The only hunting I've observed is between 7th and 8th on the highway doing 70 mph or so. Flats and downhills are 8th, some uphills require 7th, with essentially no load. I have to watch to tach to see it shifting, however. If I am not bored and watching the tach, the shifts are almost imperceptible.

 

[howie12]

I have copied below my Post from the Ecodiesel forum regarding a tow I did with my Pentastar

Today I did a 320 mile round trip with my new 2020 Ram Longhorn with a PEntastar engine. 1000 miles on truck when I started and Blizzak snow tires all around. Half was with an empty tandem trailer that weighed 1800 lbs and the return was with a load of 5150 on that trailer totaling 6950 lbs. Speeds were 60-65 occasional 70. Start of trip was at elevation 1150 ft and location of load was at 840 ft elevation. Peak elevation was 1290 ft. SO with the empty trailer I went downhill a net 310 ft and on the way back loaded I went uphill a net 310 ft but topped the peak of 1290 in both directions. Terrain was lots of rolling hills. I started with the cruise control but quickly shifted to manual use of the accelerator. Too much holding back on the downhill and then catching up on the uphill in cruise.

Load was large precast concrete pots so no significant wind resistance beyond the truck and trailer. On the way back loaded the trip was in AWD since the road was quite slippery. I was in 2wd with the empty trailer. I have no idea how much the AWD affected mileage.

AMbient temp was in the low 30s and generally very light winds. Loaded water temps varied between 215 to 223 and oil temp from 199 to 219. I didn't note transmission temp carefully but it was always well below 200. Empty in the winter I never see either top 200.

I tried tow haul mode, regular and manual shifting. WIth the rolling hills I settled on manual shifting as best and downshifting at the bottom of the dips to stay ahead of things. Engine RPMs were generally between 2000 and 3000 unless on the level and then they dropped to abt 1600 and pulled the load well in 8th at 65. On one quite steep and long section it dropped to 4th gear and rpms jumped up to 3500-3600. Transmission shifted very nicely and engine revs quietly and nicely. Shifts in the 6-8 range are generally small rpm changes and unobtrusive. Downshifting to 5th and 4th at 60/65 mph makes you hear and notice what is happening but it isn't unpleasant to me. It is still way less of a change than an old torqueflyte shifting from 3rd to second Tow haul seemed to be calibrated to minimize shifting and it really didn't want to shift up to 7th or 8th even if level or slightly downhill.

Many hills it would pull nicely at 2000 rpms in 7th but shifting down to sixth resulted in a near immediate drop of 10 degrees in water temp and 7-8 in oil temp, I was surprised. It did seem happier revving a bit more in 6th. Instantaneous mileage was best in the highest gear it would stay in. If I had had it in tow haul it would have been in 5th on that kind of hill.

ANyhow, now to the mileage. calculated with initial and ending fills at the same station and same island pointing the same way 22.052 gallons. yielding 14.53 mpg for the round trip. If I assume a plus or minus 1 gallon on the fill(less than 5%) the mpg could be 13.89 to 15.21. My guess is the 2014 Ecodiesel I had would have gotten 20 or a bit more for the trip. SO the fuel cost was a push given the price difference here for winter diesel. My 2000 DOdge with a 5.9/360 gas engine never did better than 15 empty on this kind of drive and would have done 11-12 I expect with this trailer and load in tow.

All in all for me I am very happy. I will seldom tow this kind of weight this kind of distance and it was a relaxing trip no drama trip. Truck, engine and transmission all seemed comfortable. I don't plan on towing a house trailer of any kind but recognize the wind resistance of a boxier load could have made the trip feel different.

So with 1500 miles on the new truck the Pentastar suits me well. SO far glad I did not get the Hemi. Not enough good info on empty mileage yet but looking like 20-22 mpg with Blizzaks and 55-60 mph driving with occasional small town driving.

 

[howie12]

Lots of people comment on the amount of shifting these trucks do with the Pentastar engine. I think the 8 spd ZF transmission is part of what makes them so nice. The space between the upper gears is small so there isn't a giant increase in RPMs between gears. Mine has the 3.55 rearend because I wanted the higher towing rating. Anhow, today I was on a flat 4 lane road and noted the following. At 57 mph shifting from 8th to 7th was a 300 RPM increase, from 7th to 6th another 300 rpm increase, from 6th to 5th a 500 rpm increase and from 5th to 4th an 800 rpm increase.

I find the engine transmission match to be very good.

All the best,

 

[NatGNJ]

Personally, I do not think that the 8speed is too busy under normal driving (I have a V6 Crew Cab 4x4). I will say it down-shifts during up-hill grades, but if you keep your foot in a consistent throttle position, it maintains the gear. I can't speak to towing personally, but I have done a good deal of hauling (some loads over 1000lbs).

 

[go-ram]

I have copied below my Post from the Ecodiesel forum regarding a tow I did with my Pentastar

Today I did a 320 mile round trip with my new 2020 Ram Longhorn with a PEntastar engine. 1000 miles on truck when I started and Blizzak snow tires all around. Half was with an empty tandem trailer that weighed 1800 lbs and the return was with a load of 5150 on that trailer totaling 6950 lbs. Speeds were 60-65 occasional 70. Start of trip was at elevation 1150 ft and location of load was at 840 ft elevation. Peak elevation was 1290 ft. SO with the empty trailer I went downhill a net 310 ft and on the way back loaded I went uphill a net 310 ft but topped the peak of 1290 in both directions. Terrain was lots of rolling hills. I started with the cruise control but quickly shifted to manual use of the accelerator. Too much holding back on the downhill and then catching up on the uphill in cruise.

Load was large precast concrete pots so no significant wind resistance beyond the truck and trailer. On the way back loaded the trip was in AWD since the road was quite slippery. I was in 2wd with the empty trailer. I have no idea how much the AWD affected mileage.

AMbient temp was in the low 30s and generally very light winds. Loaded water temps varied between 215 to 223 and oil temp from 199 to 219. I didn't note transmission temp carefully but it was always well below 200. Empty in the winter I never see either top 200.

I tried tow haul mode, regular and manual shifting. WIth the rolling hills I settled on manual shifting as best and downshifting at the bottom of the dips to stay ahead of things. Engine RPMs were generally between 2000 and 3000 unless on the level and then they dropped to abt 1600 and pulled the load well in 8th at 65. On one quite steep and long section it dropped to 4th gear and rpms jumped up to 3500-3600. Transmission shifted very nicely and engine revs quietly and nicely. Shifts in the 6-8 range are generally small rpm changes and unobtrusive. Downshifting to 5th and 4th at 60/65 mph makes you hear and notice what is happening but it isn't unpleasant to me. It is still way less of a change than an old torqueflyte shifting from 3rd to second Tow haul seemed to be calibrated to minimize shifting and it really didn't want to shift up to 7th or 8th even if level or slightly downhill.

Many hills it would pull nicely at 2000 rpms in 7th but shifting down to sixth resulted in a near immediate drop of 10 degrees in water temp and 7-8 in oil temp, I was surprised. It did seem happier revving a bit more in 6th. Instantaneous mileage was best in the highest gear it would stay in. If I had had it in tow haul it would have been in 5th on that kind of hill.

ANyhow, now to the mileage. calculated with initial and ending fills at the same station and same island pointing the same way 22.052 gallons. yielding 14.53 mpg for the round trip. If I assume a plus or minus 1 gallon on the fill(less than 5%) the mpg could be 13.89 to 15.21. My guess is the 2014 Ecodiesel I had would have gotten 20 or a bit more for the trip. SO the fuel cost was a push given the price difference here for winter diesel. My 2000 DOdge with a 5.9/360 gas engine never did better than 15 empty on this kind of drive and would have done 11-12 I expect with this trailer and load in tow.

All in all for me I am very happy. I will seldom tow this kind of weight this kind of distance and it was a relaxing trip no drama trip. Truck, engine and transmission all seemed comfortable. I don't plan on towing a house trailer of any kind but recognize the wind resistance of a boxier load could have made the trip feel different.

So with 1500 miles on the new truck the Pentastar suits me well. SO far glad I did not get the Hemi. Not enough good info on empty mileage yet but looking like 20-22 mpg with Blizzaks and 55-60 mph driving with occasional small town driving.

.
Excellent report! Thanks for taking the time, and for reporting enough detail that one can get the whole picture!
.

 

[Nicksta43]

New here and have under 60 miles so far on my V6 1500 bighorn. So no real data to share however I would like to jump into the V8 vs V6 debate a little bit.

My last Dodge truck ( owned it around 18 years ago) was a 1998 5.2L 4x4. Just to compare my new truck has 65 more hp, 31 fewer torques and weighs probably around 1500 lbs less. Personally I'm not gonna call it slow by any means. Yeah it's a little light on torque but it's just about perfect for my intended use.

It's good that we have a choice.

 

[Zoompastu]

V6 VS. V8
Two different hammers for two different jobs. When you pound a nail in the wall to hang a picture you don’t go in the garage and grab your 5 pound sledge hammer. You use a small 16oz claw hammer. So in other words not everybody needs a hemi.

I’ll chime in since there’s not a big difference in drivability between the fourth and fifth GEN. I had my 3.6 L 2015 1500 Big Horn for almost 5 years 65,000 miles. It really was a great truck. I did a 3 inch lift and 33x11.5 inch tires and still got 20-21Mpg Highway. Stock was 22-24. I towed Closedbox U-Haul moving trailers and dump trailers full of gravel and a car hauler with a Jetta on it. Although that was before the lift I never got worse than 15 mpg towing.

let the E torque and start stop do its job. I did not have this on the fourth GEN obviously but it does work well. Yes there are times it’s annoying when the engine shuts off when you come to a stop but the delay is not long and it really does make a difference on fuel economy for city driving.

Most people don’t need the power of the hemi. Even if you go back 10 years ago Chevy trucks were only making around 300 hp. The gear multiplication of the eight speed transmission makes up the difference. If you’re going to be towing less than 6000 pounds every now and then and want good fuel economy the rest of the time you’re commuting etc. then the V-6 is for you and worthwhile. If you need to tow more than 6000 pounds then you’re probably not reading this and already bought the hemi.

If there was one thing I could change and do over on that truck it would be the rear end gear ratio. Most of these trucks come with 3.21 gears which is fantastic if you live in an area that does not have mountains or a lot of hills. If you are traveling up hills, mountains, or maybe live in a high elevation area I would recommend the 3.55 gears. The V-6 makes all of its torque between 3000 and 4000 RPM So the transmission will downshift more often on the inclines. Even with little hills at highway speed’s nothing major it would shift from 8 to 7th gear and not maximize fuel efficiency. This scenario became worse once I put on heavier ply all-terrain tires. I travel between Portland Oregon and Boise Idaho often and found this to be the case going from almost sea level to 3000 elevation. If I lived in the Flats of Texas or Nebraska then the 3.21 would be just fine. The 3.21’s may not be a dealbreaker for most of you but I am picky.

I had a quad cab and I needed more backseat space so I took advantage of the coronavirus sale and got a 2020 crew cab eco diesel. I definitely would recommend the 3.6L V-6.