ETorque equipped Rebel driven

[Ramajama]

Awesome write up. Mentally, it would really mess with my head to smell that electrical burning on the etorque Rams haha, hopefully just "newness" smoking off. Cheers!

Thanks!
I’ve bought a lot of brand new vehicles and you always get that new car “burn off” but I’ve never experienced anything like that before LOL! You could definitely tell there was an electric motor under the hood.

 

[alacombe]

Watched the Alex on autos video. It confirmed what I mostly knew and a few things I didn’t. I find it interesting that one of the possible issues was decreased performance in hot weather. The day we drive the truck, it was 102 degrees.

Awesome write up. Mentally, it would really mess with my head to smell that electrical burning on the etorque Rams haha, hopefully just "newness" smoking off. Cheers!

All this and the truck shuttering would upset me. Alot people on here are having issues with the regular 2019 I cannot imagine what kind of issues this e-torque will bring.

 

[Ramajama]

All this and the truck shuttering would upset me.

The smell could be normal...don’t know for sure but I’m sure it will be common knowledge soon enough if it is.

The “pause” at hard acceleration with S/S activated was a bit concerning, especially since it happened twice. It COULD be an anomaly??? But we’ll see I guess. I’ve never experienced that in our S/S equipped Disco Sport under hard acceleration...and S/S is always activated.

 

[rvsixer]

All this and the truck shuttering would upset me..

Yea this would be a showstopper for me for sure. I need all the MPG I can get so interested in anything that improves it, but not at the expense of constant and or acutely irritating driveability issues.

 

[SpeedyV]

All this and the truck shuttering would upset me.

I didn't experience anything like that on my eTorque test drive. I thought the stop/start system was very smooth.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

What's "matting" the truck from a dead stop proving? I never do that with any of my trucks. I see the E-torque doing a great job of getting loads moving. Roll into the throttle and I think that will be a noticeable improvement over the standard engine. At least that's my take on it and the reason I am buying one. Those that think it would work like a mini supercharger will be disappointed.

 

[Ramajama]

Yea this would be a showstopper for me for sure. I need all the MPG I can get so interested in anything that improves it, but not at the expense of constant and or acutely irritating driveability issues.

I didn't experience anything like that on my eTorque test drive. I thought the stop/start system was very smooth.

What's "matting" the truck from a dead stop proving? I never do that with any of my trucks. I see the E-torque doing a great job of getting loads moving. Roll into the throttle and I think that will be a noticeable improvement over the standard engine. At least that's my take on it and the reason I am buying one. Those that think it would work like a mini supercharger will be disappointed.

Let’s be clear here. In normal driving, this S/S operatesjust fine. It works just like the S/S does that I’ve been used to for the past three and a half years. ETorque just seems to be working quietly behind the scenes.

Let’s be clear again, I made four hard excelleration runs. The system stuttered on two of the runs and it didn’t stutter on two of the runs.
Let’s continue to be crystal clear, these were NOT “drag race” runs. These were real world accelerations with authority, I took my foot off the brake, let the engine start and I hit the gas harder than normal. the same type of accelerations that everyone does on occasional or multiple occasions when driving day to day. THATS what I wanted to feel and see how it responded to. If you are one that who drives like a 90 y/o person and never accelerates hard from a stop sign, to avoid something, to beat traffic or enter the highway on an on ramp, then you won’t EVER have the issue I guess. Kidding side, For the eTorque buyers, let’s not get defensive.

I wholeheartedly agree and have said for a long time, ETorque is not a performance booster. It’s a helper motor.

Again, the ETorque is definitely working...because I could literally smell it. The stutter was either an anomaly or will be exposed as an issue soon enough. But I can say that it happened TO ME 50% of the time under hard acceleration with S/S on. However It did not happen when S/S was off.

 

[go-ram]

So here comes the interesting part. We pulled off the highway and onto some side streets. And my salesman said that I ought to punch it! He said “this eTorque systems adds 130 lbs of torque on top of the 410 lbs the HEMI already has so it should pull like crazy”. So even the resident expert has the wrong idea of eTorque cause it don’t work that way.
But I wanted to see what it’ll do. I made 4 runs with SS on. I took my foot off the brake, let the engine turn on then I punched it. Two times it had a very weird shudder, stutter or slip. Whatever it was, it definitely took a pause, then lurched into action. Whatever it was, it was not good. Then two other times, it picked up and went without any hiccups at all. My seat o the pants dyno detected a little bit of extra grunt. Nothing to write home about though. Only real world timed runs will tell if it makes the truck any quicker.

Then I wondered what would happen if I turned off the start/stop and punched it. No one seems to know if eTorque is even active at this point? It did not pause like before but it had underwhelming acceleration. Maybe it was a bit better than non eTorque trucks, but I can’t say for sure.

If I understand correctly, based on the chief engineer's explanation at the NAIAS introduction last January in Detroit (link below), in addition to (1) enabling stop/start, (2) smoothing transmission shifts, (3) increasing the usable range of cylinder deactivation, and (4) capturing a small amount of kinetic energy during deceleration, all eTorque can do is add it's max torque up until the gasoline engine's torque matches the eTorque's torque, then eTorque disengages. It does NOT continue to add it's 130 ft*lb throughout the driving range.

I believe the 5.7 L Hemi generates 300 ft*lb of torque at 1200 RPM, so the eTorque's 130 ft*lb would only be in-play for probably less than a second or two upon normal vehicle launch. In other words, the 5.7 L Hemi matches the eTorque's torque just a wee bit above idle, then the eTorque drops out. If one tromps the accelerator pedal, I doubt that the average driver would feel any effect of the eTorque, because the gas engine's torque will likely surpass the eTorque's torque within a few hundred milliseconds of hitting the gas.

Here is the chief engineer's explanation from Pickuptrucks.com:

(the applicable part of the explanation starts at t=2:12)

 

[VectorZ]

I've romped on my E-Torque multiple times and there were no issues. Also no burning smell, but it did have over 300 miles on it when I bought it.

 

[Neurobit]

I've romped on my E-Torque multiple times and there were no issues. Also no burning smell, but it did have over 300 miles on it when I bought it.

Glad to hear. Keep us posted as your rack more miles with it.

 

[Ramajama]

I've romped on my E-Torque multiple times and there were no issues. Also no burning smell, but it did have over 300 miles on it when I bought it.

Yeah the one we drove was literally right off the rail car.

 

[Deleted member 85]

Awesome write up. Mentally, it would really mess with my head to smell that electrical burning on the etorque Rams haha, hopefully just "newness" smoking off. Cheers!

Brand new FCA vehicles stink the first time they're taken up to temp. Cherokees in particular are down right nasty, smell like they're about to catch fire.

 

[Polaris Man]

At the rate you (the OP) go through vehicles, a 2000 dollar e torque option would be a huge waste of money if you're intending to save som through fuel economy. It will take 8-10 years to pay back the e torque option in fuel savings with average driving distance per year, and that's assuming that it get the fuel economy savings they say it does and that once warranty is up you never have fix anything on it.

IMO it's a neat option that leaves FCA with huge potential for expansion, I wouldn't order a vehicle with e torque to save money on fuel, because it isn't going to happen.

 

[NoBrakes]

The only thing you haven't factored in is the possibility of increased resale value.

 

[Ramajama]

At the rate you (the OP) go through vehicles, a 2000 dollar e torque option would be a huge waste of money if you're intending to save som through fuel economy. It will take 8-10 years to pay back the e torque option in fuel savings with average driving distance per year, and that's assuming that it get the fuel economy savings they say it does and that once warranty is up you never have fix anything on it.

IMO it's a neat option that leaves FCA with huge potential for expansion, I wouldn't order a vehicle with e torque to save money on fuel, because it isn't going to happen.

Well, we’re really trying to slow down our vehicle turnover frequency, at least with one of us. Problem is that any new vehicle is getting harder and harder to justify as a long term keeper. Too many things to go wrong with it and very expensive when they do go wrong. I’ve just about come to the conclusion that car payments are going to be with us for the duration, might as well keep getting the latest and greatest as long as we buy them as well as we can and can afford it.
As for payback? youre right, very, very, very few will ever get a payback out of ETorque.
I’ve decided that I will not be buying an ETorque equipped RAM. Not worth it to me.

 

[Ramajama]

Brand new FCA vehicles stink the first time they're taken up to temp. Cherokees in particular are down right nasty, smell like they're about to catch fire.

Hey Bobbi, this wasn’t the first time it was taken up to temp. I've had many new vehicles, my last 6 vehicles that I’ve bought for myself were all RAM trucks. I know they burn off but this...this was nothing I’ve ever smelled before that came from a new vehicle. Could be normal but...

 

[Ramajama]

The only thing you haven't factored in is the possibility of increased resale value.

Not likely.... unless this starts miraculously saving gas at some point. For now, I doubt it. Have to wait for longer tests.