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1 Year 3.6L Review After 15,000 Miles

EtherRam

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Hey Ram crew,
Thought I would drop in and give my two-cent review on my 2019 Ram Big Horn 3.6L ETorque since there just isn't a ton of information available on this V6 powertrain.
A little background on why I bought the 3.6L instead of the 5.7: I used my truck for general utility purposes and tow a little bit, but nothing over 5,000 lbs. I also wanted a truck that I could drive for 200,000 miles and not hate putting gas in it every time.

I'm mainly going to focus on the engine/performance here, as we all know how beautiful the interior and exterior of these trucks are.

Trim
2019 Ram Big Horn Crew Cab / 3.6L ETorque / 3.55 axle ratio / 4x4 / 20 inch wheels with Bridgestone dueler all-terrain tires

Environment
I live in a very hilly / slightly mountainous portion of North GA, which is important to this review because the 8-speed 3.6L does A LOT of shifting in this area in order to maintain speed and pull up hills.

Gas Mileage
I drive about 50/50 city/hwy and when I am on the highway I'm usually around 75-80mph, so I'm not exactly trying to "baby it".
With the in mind, I've averaged right around 21-22 mpg consistently over 15,000 miles. Pretty happy with that. If I lived in Flatabama (AL) I'm pretty confident I would be at 23+ mpg

Engine Performance
When I got this truck, I initially loved it during the first week, and then I started to absolutely hate it due to the throttle-delay and general crawl-to-sprint tendency of the engine. Basically, it wants to absolutely maximize mpg in every scenario, meaning it waits until it has no other choice before downshifting - This usually meant I was pushing further on the gas pedal for a solid second or two before the truck would "wake up". The other scenario was that if you pushed the gas just a little too hard, too fast, the engine would absolutely floor it for no reason.

LUCKILY I knew about the Pedal Commander, which literally saved me from trading in this vehicle. It removed all throttle delay, increased general predictability with the engine, and I'm pretty sure the more "normal" driving style helped out with the MPGs. I keep it at City+4 mode and it's been awesome. 10/10 the Pedal Commander is a MUST buy if you have the 3.6L. Model # PC78. You can buy it here

Issues

I have had two "scares" to far with the truck, albeit the truck is running fine after them.
  1. About 2 months after installing my pedal commander the voltage suddenly changed in the truck and I lost all throttle response and the truck went into "limp mode". Not a fun experience. It was extremely cold that day and I'm thinking somehow there was a voltage issue in what the vehicle was able to produce. I unplugged the Pedal Commander for a week just to be safe - plugged it back in and have had no issues the last 8 months.
  2. A few weeks ago I was driving in the city at around 35-40 mph and the truck suddenly made a "clunking" noise for about 2 seconds, followed by reduced acceleration. This one did scare me a bit. After I reached a red light and the engine cut off (stop start) and then fired back up I haven't had any other issues. If anyone can explain this one to me that would be great - I have no way of reproducing it though so no point in taking it in.
What I Don't Love
There are just a few things that I don't love about the Ram, but they aren't deal-breakers at all.
  1. As far as cheaper/V6 engines go, the F150s 2.7L Ecoboost absolutely wipes the floor with the Pentastar in terms of acceleration. I think it's like 1.4 seconds faster in 0-60, and it's definitely noticeable. It also gets roughly the same MPG as the Pentastar.
  2. Even with the Pedal Commander, I do find the engine to be "searching" every once in a while. It's not often, but sometimes the truck just doesn't react the way you would expect it to. I don't think Ram thought about hills when they redesigned this engine.

Overall Score
Overall I absolutely love my truck, although nothing is perfect. Without the Pedal Commander I would probably give it a 5/10 just because the engine performance is so unpredictable and lethargic.
HOWEVER, with the Pedal Commander I give the truck an overall 8/10 and I will absolutely be keeping her for a long time to come.

Thanks for reading!
 

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Fatherof3

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Thanks for the write up , I was curious about the 3.6 L in the new style . My brother in-law had the 3.6 L in his 4th gen Ram and he did a lot of towing and hauling , never had a problem with it at all . He had 140k on it when he traded it in on another one ( company truck )
 

Dookie

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Are all trucks in Ga. red? Seems like anytime I see a Bulldog sticker on a vehicle, its red, lol. Nice truck, Geaux Dawgs!
 

EtherRam

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Are all trucks in Ga. red? Seems like anytime I see a Bulldog sticker on a vehicle, its red, lol. Nice truck, Geaux Dawgs!

Generally red and black are the only approved colors in this great state, haha.
 

EtherRam

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Thanks for the write up , I was curious about the 3.6 L in the new style . My brother in-law had the 3.6 L in his 4th gen Ram and he did a lot of towing and hauling , never had a problem with it at all . He had 140k on it when he traded it in on another one ( company truck )

I've driven the previous gen 3.6L and it was generally a better experience (probably because there were less computer algorithms running). With that in mind, I still think this new 3.6L is a great engine
 

J-Cooz

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Nice honest review. I think ram needs to look at their current powertrain line up and make some changes. The V6 is falling behind and so is the Hemi. The diesel seems to be a torque king and generally well recieved.

I have a 2019 Limited with Hemi and Etorque and find it's seriously lacking low end torque around town.
 

JimD007

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Thanks for your review. I have less than 3K miles on my 2019 Classic and mileage is climbing. But I am not up to 22 mpg yet. I will be less city due to no etorque but I am guessing my mileage will continue to get a little better for awhile.
 

EtherRam

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Thanks for your review. I have less than 3K miles on my 2019 Classic and mileage is climbing. But I am not up to 22 mpg yet. I will be less city due to no etorque but I am guessing my mileage will continue to get a little better for awhile.
Mine leveled out at around 8,000 miles so you're definitely still in the "breaking it in" period. It should go up a bit more.
 

EtherRam

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Nice honest review. I think ram needs to look at their current powertrain line up and make some changes. The V6 is falling behind and so is the Hemi. The diesel seems to be a torque king and generally well recieved.

I have a 2019 Limited with Hemi and Etorque and find it's seriously lacking low end torque around town.

Yeah I was pretty shocked when I drove the 2.7 EcoBoost since it's considered a "comparable" engine to the 3.6L. It's significantly more powerful at low RPMs. That being said, Ram destroys Ford in interior quality so I'll take the trade-off haha
 

Smerberj

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Awesome write up! I have a 2020 3.6L that I bought last November, I have just over 2,700 miles on it as of today and my average is 21 50/50. I love my truck. You are right though, it loves to stay in a high gear to maximize the fuel economy and on deceleration it LOVES to downshift quite a bit and stay there for optimal torque. I was thinking about getting a pedal Commander but wasn't sure it would do much.
 

EtherRam

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Awesome write up! I have a 2020 3.6L that I bought last November, I have just over 2,700 miles on it as of today and my average is 21 50/50. I love my truck. You are right though, it loves to stay in a high gear to maximize the fuel economy and on deceleration it LOVES to downshift quite a bit and stay there for optimal torque. I was thinking about getting a pedal Commander but wasn't sure it would do much.

The pedal commander is the best ~$250 you can spend on your truck to make driving it more fun. No hesitation.
 

Willwork4truck

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Yeah I was pretty shocked when I drove the 2.7 EcoBoost since it's considered a "comparable" engine to the 3.6L. It's significantly more powerful at low RPMs. That being said, Ram destroys Ford in interior quality so I'll take the trade-off haha
X2. I came from the original 2.7 (the upgraded one is even torquier...) and that thing would fly. Mileage wasn’t ever as advertised but then the twin turbos knock it down quick, and thats with a reasonable driving mode. But you’re right, the sparse utilitarian XLT interior I had is nothing compared with the RAM, and I don’t mean my Ltd. Even the Big Horn easily bettered it.
Now for 2021, if they improve the interior and with the powertrains and payload they have, it’s game on again...
 

MannymanX

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LUCKILY I knew about the Pedal Commander, which literally saved me from trading in this vehicle. It removed all throttle delay, increased general predictability with the engine, and I'm pretty sure the more "normal" driving style helped out with the MPGs. I keep it at City+4 mode and it's been awesome. 10/10 the Pedal Commander is a MUST buy if you have the 3.6L. Model # PC78. You can buy it here

Use code "GET$20OFF"
 

BigD

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Hey Ram crew,
Thought I would drop in and give my two-cent review on my 2019 Ram Big Horn 3.6L ETorque since there just isn't a ton of information available on this V6 powertrain.
A little background on why I bought the 3.6L instead of the 5.7: I used my truck for general utility purposes and tow a little bit, but nothing over 5,000 lbs. I also wanted a truck that I could drive for 200,000 miles and not hate putting gas in it every time.

I'm mainly going to focus on the engine/performance here, as we all know how beautiful the interior and exterior of these trucks are.

Trim
2019 Ram Big Horn Crew Cab / 3.6L ETorque / 3.55 axle ratio / 4x4 / 20 inch wheels with Bridgestone dueler all-terrain tires

Environment
I live in a very hilly / slightly mountainous portion of North GA, which is important to this review because the 8-speed 3.6L does A LOT of shifting in this area in order to maintain speed and pull up hills.

Gas Mileage
I drive about 50/50 city/hwy and when I am on the highway I'm usually around 75-80mph, so I'm not exactly trying to "baby it".
With the in mind, I've averaged right around 21-22 mpg consistently over 15,000 miles. Pretty happy with that. If I lived in Flatabama (AL) I'm pretty confident I would be at 23+ mpg

Engine Performance
When I got this truck, I initially loved it during the first week, and then I started to absolutely hate it due to the throttle-delay and general crawl-to-sprint tendency of the engine. Basically, it wants to absolutely maximize mpg in every scenario, meaning it waits until it has no other choice before downshifting - This usually meant I was pushing further on the gas pedal for a solid second or two before the truck would "wake up". The other scenario was that if you pushed the gas just a little too hard, too fast, the engine would absolutely floor it for no reason.

LUCKILY I knew about the Pedal Commander, which literally saved me from trading in this vehicle. It removed all throttle delay, increased general predictability with the engine, and I'm pretty sure the more "normal" driving style helped out with the MPGs. I keep it at City+4 mode and it's been awesome. 10/10 the Pedal Commander is a MUST buy if you have the 3.6L. Model # PC78. You can buy it here

Issues

I have had two "scares" to far with the truck, albeit the truck is running fine after them.
  1. About 2 months after installing my pedal commander the voltage suddenly changed in the truck and I lost all throttle response and the truck went into "limp mode". Not a fun experience. It was extremely cold that day and I'm thinking somehow there was a voltage issue in what the vehicle was able to produce. I unplugged the Pedal Commander for a week just to be safe - plugged it back in and have had no issues the last 8 months.
  2. A few weeks ago I was driving in the city at around 35-40 mph and the truck suddenly made a "clunking" noise for about 2 seconds, followed by reduced acceleration. This one did scare me a bit. After I reached a red light and the engine cut off (stop start) and then fired back up I haven't had any other issues. If anyone can explain this one to me that would be great - I have no way of reproducing it though so no point in taking it in.
What I Don't Love
There are just a few things that I don't love about the Ram, but they aren't deal-breakers at all.
  1. As far as cheaper/V6 engines go, the F150s 2.7L Ecoboost absolutely wipes the floor with the Pentastar in terms of acceleration. I think it's like 1.4 seconds faster in 0-60, and it's definitely noticeable. It also gets roughly the same MPG as the Pentastar.
  2. Even with the Pedal Commander, I do find the engine to be "searching" every once in a while. It's not often, but sometimes the truck just doesn't react the way you would expect it to. I don't think Ram thought about hills when they redesigned this engine.

Overall Score
Overall I absolutely love my truck, although nothing is perfect. Without the Pedal Commander I would probably give it a 5/10 just because the engine performance is so unpredictable and lethargic.
HOWEVER, with the Pedal Commander I give the truck an overall 8/10 and I will absolutely be keeping her for a long time to come.

Thanks for reading!
Dude, I'm averaging 19.6 mpg with the 5.7 Hemi etorque 4x4 crew cab 50/50 city/highway. Should've got the Hemi for the 2mpg difference
 

Emarkowski24

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If you don’t mind me asking what model of the pedal commander are you using. The email team over there was telling me that it’s a different unit for the v6 rather than the hemi.
 

MannymanX

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If you don’t mind me asking what model of the pedal commander are you using. The email team over there was telling me that it’s a different unit for the v6 rather than the hemi.
Same model, PC78. I guess they just tune it differently. PC78 will work perfectly on both.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 

EtherRam

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Dude, I'm averaging 19.6 mpg with the 5.7 Hemi etorque 4x4 crew cab 50/50 city/highway. Should've got the Hemi for the 2mpg difference

So a couple guys in my Army unit have the 5.7 hemi, and they have a very similar drive to me (same terrain, weather, etc). They average 14.5 and 15.5. I'm hanging steady at 21.5. So for the driving conditions I'm in it is a much bigger difference than 2 mpg. Results may vary.
 

WXman

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I've had four of the Pentastar engines, both Gen 1 and Gen 2. Not a single issue with any of them. Fantastic engines, albeit low on torque. About the only negative you ever read about with them is occasional valvetrain issues, and generally those are due to faulty rocker arms or poor installation at the factory. I especially love that the Pentastar does NOT have direct injection, forced induction, or any of that other crap that makes competitors' engines so problematic.

Having said that, in a full size truck the 260 lbs/ft just doesn't do it for me. So I had to venture away this time around.
 

Skyflyer

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I've had four of the Pentastar engines, both Gen 1 and Gen 2. Not a single issue with any of them. Fantastic engines, albeit low on torque. About the only negative you ever read about with them is occasional valvetrain issues, and generally those are due to faulty rocker arms or poor installation at the factory. I especially love that the Pentastar does NOT have direct injection, forced induction, or any of that other crap that makes competitors' engines so problematic.

Having said that, in a full size truck the 260 lbs/ft just doesn't do it for me. So I had to venture away this time around.
How do you like the Ecodiesel vs the Pentastar?
 

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