2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel First Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Diesel engines are a stalwart of the heavy-duty pickup truck segment. But the light-duty segment? Not so much. In fact, the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is the only diesel light-duty truck sold in the United States. Responding to what Ram chief engineer Mike Cairnes describes as big demand, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel uses the same 3.0-liter, turbocharged V-6 diesel engine and eight-speed TorqueFlite transmission found as optional equipment in the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The engine was designed by the Italian firm VM Motori and produces the same power in the Ram as it does the Jeep: 240 hp at 3600 rpm and 420 lb-ft at just 2000 rpm. Ram is quick to remind us that's more torque than the original heavy-duty Cummins diesel Ram produced in the late 1980s. Compared to the standard Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 engine, the EcoDiesel is down 65 hp but up 151 lb-ft, and while even further down on horsepower to the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, the EcoDiesel even beats that brutish engine's torque rating by 10 lb-ft. Furthermore, the Pentastar and Hemi both require roughly 4000 rpm to hit their torque peak -- more than double the engine speed needed in the EcoDiesel. View the original article here