Rookie RAM owner Questions

[ToolJunkie]

I just bought a 2022 Laramie on New Years Day and had a few rookie questions.

• At night, the dash in front of the steering wheel reflects on the side window somewhat obstructing the view of the side mirrors. Would a window tint dampen the reflection a bit? I really hate to darken the windows because I struggled with seeing at night with my previous vehicle with an added dark tint on the side windows. I like a bright dash but, maybe just lowering the brightness will help.
• There is a nice foam cup holder on the driver's side door. I didn't see it at first because it is obstructed from view by the bucket seat. You can't grab a beverage from there because you need to open the door to get access. Any thoughts on why they even put it there? My only thought is to hide a couple of cold ones for later.
• The vehicle came with a 5.7L Hemi eTorque. The city mileage is 18mpg on the sticker, while a 5.7L without the eTorque option shows 15 mpg. Do you really get a 3 mpg mileage improvement with just the stop and starts at a stop light or does the eTorque help out while driving. I could perhaps see a lot of fuel savings if you live in Manhattan with a stop light at every corner. Is there a good description of what the eTorque does somewhere on the Internet?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[bigdodge]

I just bought a 2022 Laramie on New Years Day and had a few rookie questions.

• At night, the dash in front of the steering wheel reflects on the side window somewhat obstructing the view of the side mirrors. Would a window tint dampen the reflection a bit? I really hate to darken the windows because I struggled with seeing at night with my previous vehicle with an added dark tint on the side windows. I like a bright dash but, maybe just lowering the brightness will help.
• There is a nice foam cup holder on the driver's side door. I didn't see it at first because it is obstructed from view by the bucket seat. You can't grab a beverage from there because you need to open the door to get access. Any thoughts on why they even put it there? My only thought is to hide a couple of cold ones for later.
• The vehicle came with a 5.7L Hemi eTorque. The city mileage is 18mpg on the sticker, while a 5.7L without the eTorque option shows 15 mpg. Do you really get a 3 mpg mileage improvement with just the stop and starts at a stop light or does the eTorque help out while driving. I could perhaps see a lot of fuel savings if you live in Manhattan with a stop light at every corner. Is there a good description of what the eTorque does somewhere on the Internet?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

while i can not yet answer these

welcome to the forum

 

[AngelPhoenix]

Congrats on your new truck and welcome!

No experience with tinting but I keep the brightness pretty low. I think the resolution is good and don't need it to be bright to see it clearly but that's me.

How useful that cup holder is will really depend on where your seat is. I can reach both but it have to lean forward and reach over and around the tip left corner of my seat. Seems more like it's for your secondary beverage. Swap it with the one in the center console when appropriate.

eTorque is a nice system, but it probably won't net you +3 MPG's unless most of your driving is city. There's a good video of one of the engineers that worked on the system explaining all the ins and outs. Will try and find but someone else will probably beat me to it.

 

[Goatmann]

Window tint did not help the dash glare for me. You will get used to it and your peripheral vision will block it out. Dimming the dash a tad will help also.

the foam inserts are not located for use while driving, but the big area in front of that space is great for keeping a water bottle in a huggie, if the other 4 cupholders are occupied.

don’t have the etorque can’t touch #3.

 

[jkm312]

I've never noticed a reflection obstructing the side mirrors, but then I keep my dash lights really dimmed at night.
eTorgue is designed to save a little gas by the stop and start. It also aids in getting the truck moving. I don't have it, didn't make sense for me and how I operate. The other thing is from all the rental cars I've been STUCK with that have stop and start, it's not for me.

Congrats on the truck. It will take a little while to get it dialed in like you want it. That's some of the fun part. Lots of info here and some great people to answer your questions.

 

[ToolJunkie]

Thanks, for the feedback. I love the truck. It rides better than the Cadillac I traded in. The technology is a little overwhelming right now, but I have no regrets.

 

[ToolJunkie]

I've never noticed a reflection obstructing the side mirrors, but then I keep my dash lights really dimmed at night.
eTorgue is designed to save a little gas by the stop and start. It also aids in getting the truck moving. I don't have it, didn't make sense for me and how I operate. The other thing is from all the rental cars I've been STUCK with that have stop and start, it's not for me.

Congrats on the truck. It will take a little while to get it dialed in like you want it. That's some of the fun part. Lots of info here and some great people to answer your questions.

Thanks for your feedback. I have never liked the start-stop on rentals either. I may turn it off when I figure out how, but I'll try it for a while.

 

[ToolJunkie]

Window tint did not help the dash glare for me. You will get used to it and your peripheral vision will block it out. Dimming the dash a tad will help also.

the foam inserts are not located for use while driving, but the big area in front of that space is great for keeping a water bottle in a huggie, if the other 4 cupholders are occupied.

don’t have the etorque can’t touch #3.

Thanks, I was hoping to hear from someone who has the tint. I had tint scheduled to be installed tomorrow along with a bedliner. I already paid for it as part of the negotiation. I postponed the tint install a while ago. Maybe I can trade it for another cupholder on the passenger door.

 

[Goatmann]

Get the tint, you can always order the passenger side foam at another time.

 

[ToolJunkie]

Get the tint, you can always order the passenger side foam at another time.

Prior to adding the tint, did your truck have darker factory tint on the rear passenger side windows than the front side windows (like mine)? If they add a film to the rear windows, they will be really dark.

 

[mikeru82]

I just bought a 2022 Laramie on New Years Day and had a few rookie questions.

• At night, the dash in front of the steering wheel reflects on the side window somewhat obstructing the view of the side mirrors. Would a window tint dampen the reflection a bit? I really hate to darken the windows because I struggled with seeing at night with my previous vehicle with an added dark tint on the side windows. I like a bright dash but, maybe just lowering the brightness will help.
• There is a nice foam cup holder on the driver's side door. I didn't see it at first because it is obstructed from view by the bucket seat. You can't grab a beverage from there because you need to open the door to get access. Any thoughts on why they even put it there? My only thought is to hide a couple of cold ones for later.
• The vehicle came with a 5.7L Hemi eTorque. The city mileage is 18mpg on the sticker, while a 5.7L without the eTorque option shows 15 mpg. Do you really get a 3 mpg mileage improvement with just the stop and starts at a stop light or does the eTorque help out while driving. I could perhaps see a lot of fuel savings if you live in Manhattan with a stop light at every corner. Is there a good description of what the eTorque does somewhere on the Internet?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Tint probably won't help. It's still going to be a reflective surface. Maybe try getting some polarized night driving glasses. You could also just turn down the brightness. My front windows are tinted to 20%. I really don't know if it made a difference because glare isn't an issue for me unless the gauge cluster brightness is turned all the way up.

The foam cup holder is for things like drink bottles, not open beverage containers. In fact, they are called "foam bottle insert" in the build sheet. I don't have any problems using it for closed drink bottles, but any open beverages are stored in the normal cup holders in the center console.

No, etorque will not save the average driver 3 mpg. But it's entirely dependent on where you're driving. If you only drive in the city, with lots of long stop lights and stop signs, then it may save a decent amount of fuel. But for my commute, which has two or three "stops" which last less than 5 seconds, I see virtually no fuel savings. The longer and more stop lights you have, the longer the engine will be shut off. If you rarely or never have to stop, your engine is running just as much as it would if you didn't have etorque. Any fuel savings that occur other than during stop/start operation haven't really been seen.

 

[ToolJunkie]

Tint probably won't help. It's still going to be a reflective surface. Maybe try getting some polarized night driving glasses. You could also just turn down the brightness. My front windows are tinted to 20%. I really don't know if it made a difference because glare isn't an issue for me unless the gauge cluster brightness is turned all the way up.

The foam cup holder is for things like drink bottles, not open beverage containers. In fact, they are called "foam bottle insert" in the build sheet. I don't have any problems using it for closed drink bottles, but any open beverages are stored in the normal cup holders in the center console.

No, etorque will not save the average driver 3 mpg. But it's entirely dependent on where you're driving. If you only drive in the city, with lots of long stop lights and stop signs, then it may save a decent amount of fuel. But for my commute, which has two or three "stops" which last less than 5 seconds, I see virtually no fuel savings. The longer and more stop lights you have, the longer the engine will be shut off. If you rarely or never have to stop, your engine is running just as much as it would if you didn't have etorque. Any fuel savings that occur other than during stop/start operation haven't really been seen.

Everything you say makes a lot of sense. I appreciate the feedback. This is a great forum, especially for rookies. I only wish I had seen this forum earlier.

 

[Malodave]

Turn the Dial down on the Dash Lighting. You have it at the Brightest setting.

Malodave

 

[WilburNJ]

• The vehicle came with a 5.7L Hemi eTorque. The city mileage is 18mpg on the sticker, while a 5.7L without the eTorque option shows 15 mpg. Do you really get a 3 mpg mileage improvement with just the stop and starts at a stop light or does the eTorque help out while driving. I could perhaps see a lot of fuel savings if you live in Manhattan with a stop light at every corner. Is there a good description of what the eTorque does somewhere on the Internet?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I found this video about the eTorque system to be helpful:

Welcome to the group!

 

[Goatmann]

Prior to adding the tint, did your truck have darker factory tint on the rear passenger side windows than the front side windows (like mine)? If they add a film to the rear windows, they will be really dark.

Only need to tint the fronts. I added a visor limo tint to the front top of the windshield. believe I paid $130 for the two fronts and visor.

 

[OldMarine]

welcome buddy! Tell you what I did with the foam insert. I put one of those 16oz can style fire-extinguishers in it. Great peace of mind. Never know when you need it, or someone on the road needs help. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.

 

[eye exaggerate]

What would be really nice is if the dial acted like a proper rheostat and didn’t jump from dim to interrogation.

 

[JoeCo]

welcome buddy! Tell you what I did with the foam insert. I put one of those 16oz can style fire-extinguishers in it. Great peace of mind. Never know when you need it, or someone on the road needs help. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.

That's a good idea, I may put one of those on my passenger side. I've always used my drivers side for a pair of binoculars that fit in there perfectly.

 

[ToolJunkie]

welcome buddy! Tell you what I did with the foam insert. I put one of those 16oz can style fire-extinguishers in it. Great peace of mind. Never know when you need it, or someone on the road needs help. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.

Good idea. Hope you never have to use it.