ecodiesel driving experience

[henrypretz]

I came to my Ecodiesel from an 06 Tacoma 4.0 V6. The Tacoma had the legendary Toyota reliability, it was a great vehicle for us. It towed and stopped our 22' camper (4K dry weight) pretty well, but averaging 8-9 mpg with a 20 gallon tank (18 mpg avg not towing). On two towing trips of about 300 miles each, the Ram averaged 13.5 mpg hand calculated. That combined with the 33 gallon tank was absolutely liberating. The power felt smooth and held well going over long grades that would tax the Tacoma.
On a recent 550 miles trip to southern CA I averaged 31+ mpg (I drive like the grandpa that I am).
So far I'm pleased with our decision to go with the EcoDiesel.

 

[Daverous]

Most of the complaints I see were resolved in mine post engine/transmission tune. Much more enjoyable, and it was already pretty enjoyable for my purposes. One thing I'd like more of is mpgs. In my rebel, even after the tune, I only manage 24/25 going 75+ with the cruise set. If you're doing a lot of highway do yourself a favor and get the 3.21. Or keep it at 70 and under. I can round out 29 or better if I manage under 70 on the highway. I'm interested to see what moving up to a 285/75/18 will do for me. It effectively drops my gear ratio to around 3.72. Not much, but if it gets rpms below 2k it should help out a bunch on highway mileage.

My driving consists of 8 mile round trips to work, followed by 800+ mile weekend trips. 90% of my driving is city, but 95% of my miles are highway. if that makes sense. I'm really enjoying it.

 

[Dragonmaster13]

. I'm interested to see what moving up to a 285/75/18 will do for me. It effectively drops my gear ratio to around 3.72. Not much, but if it gets rpms below 2k it should help out a bunch on highway mileage.
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I think this truck should actually have a 3.73 rear end stock, so swapping tires for that effective ratio might get the engine and trans in the perfect range depending on how much unsprung weight it adds.
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[Daverous]

Not to get too far in the weeds, but looks like it'll add around 15lbs per a tire( ridge grappler is my preferred in that size). Not great for city, but after they're rolling I expect an okay improvement. These stock duratracs are really light for a 33.

 

[silver billet]

I had a 2019 Hemi. Hated it. Constantly downshifted, needed to be wound out to get any power. Rarely ran in MDS and got 17-18mpg.

Traded it on a 2020 ED and love it. Never downshifts on hills, accelerates up them easily in 8th. 28-30mpg highway. Tows like a dream and barely works. Had a bit of lag but TSB took care of that.

Yes it's not as fast as Hemi, but hemis aren't fast either. Yes it's more expensive to maintain, but you can do a lot of stuff yourself. Wxman has a YouTube channel with a lot of how to's and you can save some serious $$ doing maintenance yourself. Yes modern diesels take DEF, this is such a small cost I don't even consider it. $17 every 6-7,000 miles.

In Ontario Canada diesel is currently 10-15 cents a litre cheaper than gas.

I'm not trying to change your opinion; but a hemi is significantly faster than an ED. Difference is at least a few seconds 0 to 60 IIRC. I live in Ontario; diesel is not 10 cents cheaper right now, though it is cheaper, and there are many periods where its more expensive especially in the last few years.

These trucks have 8 gears; I'm not afraid that my truck uses all 8, that's what they're there for.

Edit: also since you and I are in Canada; keep in mind that Ram doesn't offer ED in cheaper trims (tradesman, bighorn, or sport). So if just want a big horn like me, and don't like the distinctive rebel name/front end, that means you're shelling out signficantly more cash to get a diesel, and you lose the bench seat (which I wanted) and cloth seats etc etc. So that's not the fault of the ED per say, but it does change the facts considerably from a financial stand point.

I just can't justify it, and that's the main reason why Ram will probably not be my next truck. GM currently offers a cheaper diesel, once they upgrade the interiors ....

 

[Malodave]

The one negative about diesels ( I just traded in 2020 Silverado rst z71 duramax) is if you need to chill in your truck waiting on someone or something you will freeze to death because they highly recommend not idling the engine. Not sure about ram but my Silverado kept track of idle time. FYI I’m waiting on delivery of my new 2021 Rebel

Yes, the RAM does keep track of the Idle Time and Travel Time. It is on a page in the Guage Cluster on Vehicle info.

Malodave

 

[Finn5033]

If you have the need for it, it is fantastic. I had a 2019 with the hemi and for pure driving purposes the hemi is more enjoyable to drive IMO. I switched because I have an 80mile round trip per day work commute and we tow our camper 15+ times a year for trips. Towing wise there is no contest between the two. I got the 3.92’s and 33 gallon tank and it just pulls so nice compared to the hemi. Pulling the same camper with both I’d get 8-9mpg with the hemi and with the eco diesel I get anywhere from 11.5 in nasty wind to as high as 14mpg. I would say it averages 12.5-13 which is great.

I went camping last weekend. The camp ground was 140miles from my house. Had a full tank of gas when we left. We drove down on Friday and back on Sunday. Then Monday I drove 40 miles to work. On the way home from work I got to 1/4 tank so I filled up. With my Hemi I would have had to stop shortly after we left from the campground to fill up.

so IMO if you only put 10k miles a year or less on your truck and don’t tow often it’s hemi all the way. If you put on a lot of miles and tow often ecodiesel is the way to go

I’ve put 20k miles on mine in 9 months. Not one issue so far

 

[Aseras]

I'm not trying to change your opinion; but a hemi is significantly faster than an ED. Difference is at least a few seconds 0 to 60 IIRC. I live in Ontario; diesel is not 10 cents cheaper right now, though it is cheaper, and there are many periods where its more expensive especially in the last few years.

It's not super huge, until you start talking TRX. My 2020 Longhorn EcoD, 3.92 , rambox loaded up with 200lbs of me and 600lbs of equipment and every package but the pano sunroof pulls 6.5 with a pedal commander on sport 2. 3.92 does give you a bit more acceleration and torque, but not the highest fuel economy the 3.21 can get.

 

[traveller09]

View attachment 94172

It's not super huge, until you start talking TRX. My 2020 Longhorn EcoD, 3.92 , rambox loaded up with 200lbs of me and 600lbs of equipment and every package but the pano sunroof pulls 6.5 with a pedal commander on sport 2. 3.92 does give you a bit more acceleration and torque, but not the highest fuel economy the 3.21 can get.

Thats not bad at all, I was expecting way worse with my ordered Rebel ecodiesel and way better with the Hemi.

 

[silver billet]

View attachment 94172

It's not super huge, until you start talking TRX. My 2020 Longhorn EcoD, 3.92 , rambox loaded up with 200lbs of me and 600lbs of equipment and every package but the pano sunroof pulls 6.5 with a pedal commander on sport 2. 3.92 does give you a bit more acceleration and torque, but not the highest fuel economy the 3.21 can get.

It's at least 2 seconds difference; that chart isn't authoritative and has obvious errors (what's up with the 7.5 for the tradesman, is that the v6??). TFL truck and other outlets have run drag races, lets be honest, the ED is the slowest of all half tons other than N/A v6's.

But I think I've rained on the ED parade long enough and that wasn't my intention. It definitely has its pros, lets just not pretend that unloaded acceleration is one of them. The hemi is still the "sport" option.

 

[J-Cooz]

I'm not trying to change your opinion; but a hemi is significantly faster than an ED. Difference is at least a few seconds 0 to 60 IIRC. I live in Ontario; diesel is not 10 cents cheaper right now, though it is cheaper, and there are many periods where its more expensive especially in the last few years.

These trucks have 8 gears; I'm not afraid that my truck uses all 8, that's what they're there for.

Edit: also since you and I are in Canada; keep in mind that Ram doesn't offer ED in cheaper trims (tradesman, bighorn, or sport). So if just want a big horn like me, and don't like the distinctive rebel name/front end, that means you're shelling out signficantly more cash to get a diesel, and you lose the bench seat (which I wanted) and cloth seats etc etc. So that's not the fault of the ED per say, but it does change the facts considerably from a financial stand point.

I just can't justify it, and that's the main reason why Ram will probably not be my next truck. GM currently offers a cheaper diesel, once they upgrade the interiors ....

Yes a Hemi is significantly faster than an ED, but I don't care. I've had one. It's still slow. I've driven fast cars, had a jeep SRT before my Hemi ram. My buddy has a trackhawk.

I'm in Ontario. Diesel is still cheaper than gasoline and in some places it can be 10 cents cheaper easily. It doesn't fluctuate as much as gas. I was in Vaughn the other day and gas was 131 and diesel was 121.

I do 90% highway driving. The diesel is a beautiful highway/towing machine.

 

[Rebelguy2020]

Yes a Hemi is significantly faster than an ED, but I don't care. I've had one. It's still slow. I've driven fast cars, had a jeep SRT before my Hemi ram. My buddy has a trackhawk.

I'm in Ontario. Diesel is still cheaper than gasoline and in some places it can be 10 cents cheaper easily. It doesn't fluctuate as much as gas. I was in Vaughn the other day and gas was 131 and diesel was 121.

I do 90% highway driving. The diesel is a beautiful highway/towing machine.

Up in Timmins Ontario, regular gas is $1.37 but was as high $1.39 and diesel is $1.16/litre, regular gas has been going up for weeks but diesel remained unchanged for several weeks.
I keep track of my DEF usage, I have been adding a 3.78L jug when I gat the warning, yesterday I got the warning to add fluid, I did over 700km/litre of DEF, the last time I was at over 600km/litre, it is getting better, in the winter I did some trailering, the worst I ever got was 350km/litre. Last summer the average was around 400km/litre.
I got my first oil change at 15,000km and used Shell Rotella T6, I am wondering if that could be the reason why my diesel is using a lot less DEF.

 

[392DCGC]

This is my first diesel engine. I have had a few 2019 and 2020 RAMs with Hemi's. I do not miss them one bit, and have been loving the EcoDiesel driving experience. Engine sounds great, MDS is gone (I never hated it, but didn't enjoy it either). I don't care about not having eTorque/stop/start because the idle fuel burn is so low. Shifts are about 95% as smooth as eTorque despite not having it. Low-end torque is a great at avoiding some of the constant downshifting the Hemi always did at cruising speed when encountering any kind of grade. I only have a few hundred miles so far, but it looks like my typical driving will be getting me 25-26 MPG (4x4 on 22's with 3.92 gears). I do not regret trading to an EcoDiesel one bit!

All prior diesels I've driven were that way. Transmission holds gears forever because all the torque is down low. You could accelerate without ever downshifting. VERY nice driving experience. None of the engine revving up and down and up and down like a gas engine. Just steady and strong. Even my old Jeep Liberty CRD was like that. Dip into the throttle and it would put me into the seat without downshifting. Niccceeee!!!!

This Gen 3 EcoDiesel is very different. The trans. shifts all the time just like a gas engine. And the throttle response is absolutely horrible. If you need to move out of the way quickly, you push the throttle, make a ham sandwich, flip through your Facebook feed for a while, check the stock market, take a sip of Pepsi, and then the truck takes off. It's not typical diesel behavior.

100% agreed, but worth every check your pants moment when trying to turn through traffic.


2012 4th gen SXT crew Hemi awaiting retirement. Ordered 2021 Rebel Billet Silver Metallic EcoDiesel March 10, built May 18 awaiting shipping. Dutchmen 268bhs 33’ trailer.

i love the car only downfall is the throttle response when having to zip around someone its just a laggy take off. but over all its been good to me i commute alot of highway

I have a March built 2021 and have not experienced any throttle lag whatseover. When I push the throttle, it goes without any hesitation. In fact, it's more responsive than my 2019 and 2020 Hemi's were. I will say I am a little surprised at the shift behavior sometimes. It does like to shift just a little more than I'd expect it to with having all that low-end torque, particularly when using cruise control. It will rev out above 3K RPM for seemingly no reason if I just let cruise do its thing to accelerate up to speed.

 

[davidajpritchard]

I have a 2020 Ecodiesel Limited and I absolutely love it. I've also had an 18 eco limited, 16 eco Laramie, 14 eco Laramie and a 10 Hemi SLT.

They have all been 4x4. The new Ecodiesel definitely feels stronger than the previous ones. They have all returned great fuel economy. My hemi averaged 15l/100kms and all of the ecos have been 10l/100kms. Diesel has most of the time been less than gas over the years and we should remember that you should be using midgrade gas with an 89 octane rating for the hemi. That is 8 cents more per litre I believe.

I can tow my 14' enclosed trailer and get better mileage with my eco than the hemi unloaded.

The throttle response especially when cold can be so delayed! Some mornings at the first all way stop can be fun. I push the go pedal and nothing happens, then compensate by pushing more and then I squawk the tires. Besides that it seems to tip in pretty decently when warmed up.

I have driven each truck over 100,000kms and they have all been great. I have no regrets.

Sent from my SM-N986W using Tapatalk

 

[Howie Dub]

This is my first truck and first diesel. It's been smooth so far. It accelerates fast enough for me. It's made me a less aggressive driver. I love the gas mileage on it. At 300 miles in, I'm averaging just over 24mpg between city and highway and I still have over half of my 33 gallon tank left. I have a 2019 Ford Expedition Max with a 28.3 gallon tank and while it feels a lot faster than the Ram, I'm also lucky if I average 15mpg/tank.

 

[Dragonmaster13]

This is my first diesel engine. I have had a few 2019 and 2020 RAMs with Hemi's. I do not miss them one bit, and have been loving the EcoDiesel driving experience. Engine sounds great, MDS is gone (I never hated it, but didn't enjoy it either). I don't care about not having eTorque/stop/start because the idle fuel burn is so low. Shifts are about 95% as smooth as eTorque despite not having it. Low-end torque is a great at avoiding some of the constant downshifting the Hemi always did at cruising speed when encountering any kind of grade. I only have a few hundred miles so far, but it looks like my typical driving will be getting me 25-26 MPG (4x4 on 22's with 3.92 gears). I do not regret trading to an EcoDiesel one bit!




I have a March built 2021 and have not experienced any throttle lag whatseover. When I push the throttle, it goes without any hesitation. In fact, it's more responsive than my 2019 and 2020 Hemi's were. I will say I am a little surprised at the shift behavior sometimes. It does like to shift just a little more than I'd expect it to with having all that low-end torque, particularly when using cruise control. It will rev out above 3K RPM for seemingly no reason if I just let cruise do its thing to accelerate up to speed.

I’ve only had the experience long term test driving a few EDs turning left across traffic and not being used to the delay. Not sure if they had the TSB done or not. My truck was built May 18 and has a window sticker today, expecting it to arrive in June with software 100% up to date.

 

[DLT123]

This 1500 diesel doesn't seem to have slow throttle response.

Diesel-Powered Ram 1500 Does 4-Second 1/8-Mile Pass, Sets Pro Street Record

Top Fuel and Funny Car dragsters, the quickest NHRA slingshots out there, may be running on nitromethane, but diesel-powered racers are nothing to sneeze at nowadays. Granted, diesel trucks won't run three-second quarter-mile passes at more than 300 mph, but Pro Street rigs are powerful enough...

www.autoevolution.com

 

[go-ram]

Just finished a 186 mile trip towing my enclosed 8x16 trailer loaded with appliances, 21 mpg (imperial), this eco diesel is so efficient, my 2011 outdoorsman with the Hemi did 23.5 mpg at best without towing and the best I did towing the same trailer was 13 mpg, exact same trip.
The speed limit 50 mph so I drove at 55 and let it go down to 50 on hills. I had it in tow haul at the beginning but it revs too much for nothing, I kept an eye on the transmission temp, it stayed at the same temp the whole way, it was also unusually hot today here in northern Ontario, it was 80 Fahrenheit, it I was in 8 gear most of the time, it shifted to 6th on a few hills, but usually only down to 7th. I am at 1000 ft above sea level, but having a turbocharged engine it is not affected as much as naturally aspirated engines.

If I recall correctly, all Rebels come with 3.92 differential gearing? But to remove all doubt, you might consider updating your signature to include rear end ratio. Just a friendly suggestion to help other readers who aren't as familiar with Ram's options, because when one is providing either driving performance or fuel-economy info, the differential's gearing matters.

 

[Rebelguy2020]

If I recall correctly, all Rebels come with 3.92 differential gearing? But to remove all doubt, you might consider updating your signature to include rear end ratio. Just a friendly suggestion to help other readers who aren't as familiar with Ram's options, because when one is providing either driving performance or fuel-economy info, the differential's gearing matters.

Ok I will add the 3.92 ratio to the list

 

[mhb1638]

I currently have a 2020 Limited hemi 4x4 3.92. I've been 'considering' a 2021 limited ED 4x4. Not sure on gearing yet. I'm trying to justify the costs I suppose. The ED is what, 2/3s higher than the hemi on the build sheet? Plus 10c more a gallon give or take? So my truck, leveled, with 285/55/22 Nittos gets 14 city, 16ish on highway. I know the Eco will give better milege, but at what point do I see the benefit if i rarely tow? I'm talking overal cost to MPG. 1 year? 5?