Eco Diesel Vs Hemi

Looking for some positive feed back on the benefits of one to another regarding Eco diesel vs Hemi. With some recent news of having my first little minion on the way, the little 2 seat R/T isn't enough room. I plan on keeping the R/T but shortly after junior is born and the R/T is paid off I will go finance a 4x4 crew cab short bed or maybe mega cab, just not sure on the diesel yet.
It will get a small lift 35's, bumpers etc etc. and really only be used to tow a boat and car trailer, and haul the family around if the GF doesn't buy a charger and keeps her econobox corolla (I hate that car)
So what are the pro and cons from guys that have both these set ups?

Thanks

Well the biggest difference will be MPG. That is where the ED shines! My lifted Ram with 35's doesn't exactly sip the fuel like it's a fine scotch..haha

With an Ecodiesel you can put 35's on and still get 20+ mpg (According to everything I've read). The ecodiesel will also get better mileage towing, a lot better.

NOW, the Hemi, as you well know, is the HEMI! Lol. It's fast, sounds great, and for a full size truck can get some decent mpg numbers, especially with an 8 speed. If you go Hemi definitely get the 3.92 gears to help get those 35's rolling!

Honestly it's a question of what kind of MPG do you want to get and do you want a fast truck. Not saying the ED is slow because it'll get moving pretty good, but I've driven a couple, and it definitely can't keep up to my Hemi.

For what it's worth coming from a guy with a lifted hemi, my next truck will be the ecodiesel for sure.

Congrats BTW!

Diesel has higher maintenance costs.Towing capacity is less with the Eco. Although, as previous poster said, the fuel mileage is incredible for a full size truck.

Also the Hemi has been around a while, so its fairly established. The Eco is new, so it's not as proven as the Hemi..... yet.
I would have no problems choosing either. If I ever buy a new truck again, I will probably get the Eco just to try it out.

The only thing I don't like about these trucks is the 8 speed (purely from a maintenance standpoint). The drain refill procedure looks to be a major pita. The filter/pan combo is ridiculously expensive. As well, the fluid is even more ridiculously expensive, approaching $50 a quart. Say whaaaaaaaat! Although, a lot of people seem to really like the 8 speed.

My manual says the 8 speed has lifetime fill, doesn't even have a dipstick to check the level. That being said I suspect in 4/5 years their will be alternative lubricants vs. buying mopar for this.. Nissanmatic J was a problem for a while.. $10+ a quart but now Castrol has fluid for fairly cheap.

I think the choice is really one of personal preference. If you want to try out a small diesel.. or really like diesels.. buy the ED. I thought about it and decided on a 5.7 mostly because they've been around a long time and most of the kinks are worked out.. also I like horsepower to go with my torque ;-)

Well I'm used to high cost of diesels, my ram before this was a juiced up 2007 QCSB 2500 with a "slightly" modified 5.9L Cummins. I got rid of it after I melted the 3rd set of injectors at 3k as set and then the whole fuel system after getting water in my fuel from a filling station. truck was never the same after that. I love diesels!!!!!

I'm also thinking about getting another 07 cummins but not to sure. I really like the styling of the new rams. but LOVE the cummins and the beast my 07 was. close to 500 hp/1080lbs tq on 35's and it was a tow monster. it was my truck I used while farming Rice.

I'm not too worried about fuel mileage too much, more drivability, fun (not fast like the R/T) but still get up and go. I wont be towing much, mostly things just here and there like a crawler to the shop or mustang to the shop for this or that kinda thing. and a boat if the GF lets me buy one once Jr is a little older. The more I think about it the more I lean towards the ED. Ive got 9 months to a year to decide though.

Sorta on topic..sorta not.. will these ED engines burn filtered veggie oil? My dad has a F250 with 7.2 (I think.. It's a 7.something).. he gets mega gallons of free veggie oil from a neighbor.. filters it.. and has a tank dedicated to veggie oil. Just wondering if that's possible with the ED...

I don't believe they will, but why would you want to run that anyway?? its just my opinion but that stuff reeks havoc on newer diesels

R/T_Fire said:

I don't believe they will, but why would you want to run that anyway?? its just my opinion but that stuff reeks havoc on newer diesels

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Other than it's free? I was just curious, I had a feeling that newer/more modern diesels would be less forgiving than that monster engine...

i was on the same boat,

bought a hemi saved myself like $7k in the process

do realize you pay a huge premium for that diesel motor that for me:

A: i do not tow
B: i wanted to lift my truck and still get good mpg
C: i really wanted a diesel due to my area having diesel cheaper then gas, is not a big surprise
D: I wanted to brag and say my ram gets 28+ mpg yada yada yada

then i crunched the #'s

the ecodiesel premium required me to drive the truck for over 125k miles just to break even on the extra costs up front

the ecodiesel has higher maintenance costs

the ecodiesel has a longer warmup time

the ecodiesel drinks DEF 150% more then the manual says (more costs again)

i dont plan on owning a vehicle for over 100k, basically a 3-5 year turn around and ill trade it in towards my next truck

if you test drove either one, the hemi wins in pure grin factor

in the end i felt like i saved myself big $ by going hemi instead of ecodiesel after thinking it out and looking at it, instead of just falling for the salespitch hype of "best mpg in class"

but if you tow a lot, id get a 2500, there was a long time and a good reason why a diesel was dropped from a 1/2 ton lineup......

oh and fyi the hemi does have a higher tow rating then the ecodiesel LOL

braindead0 said:

Sorta on topic..sorta not.. will these ED engines burn filtered veggie oil? My dad has a F250 with 7.2 (I think.. It's a 7.something).. he gets mega gallons of free veggie oil from a neighbor.. filters it.. and has a tank dedicated to veggie oil. Just wondering if that's possible with the ED...

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Not to get off topic but that's the 7.3l powerstroke.

FXCLM5 said:

i was on the same boat,

bought a hemi saved myself like $7k in the process

do realize you pay a huge premium for that diesel motor that for me:

A: i do not tow
B: i wanted to lift my truck and still get good mpg
C: i really wanted a diesel due to my area having diesel cheaper then gas, is not a big surprise
D: I wanted to brag and say my ram gets 28+ mpg yada yada yada

then i crunched the #'s

the ecodiesel premium required me to drive the truck for over 125k miles just to break even on the extra costs up front

the ecodiesel has higher maintenance costs

the ecodiesel has a longer warmup time

the ecodiesel drinks DEF 150% more then the manual says (more costs again)

i dont plan on owning a vehicle for over 100k, basically a 3-5 year turn around and ill trade it in towards my next truck

if you test drove either one, the hemi wins in pure grin factor

in the end i felt like i saved myself big $ by going hemi instead of ecodiesel after thinking it out and looking at it, instead of just falling for the salespitch hype of "best mpg in class"

but if you tow a lot, id get a 2500, there was a long time and a good reason why a diesel was dropped from a 1/2 ton lineup......

oh and fyi the hemi does have a higher tow rating then the ecodiesel LOL

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This the cost doesn't really justify the Eco diesel or any diesel for that matter unless your putting some serious miles on it and having trailer behind it all the time.

By the way congrats on the little one! I have one coming in June it's exciting.

You are going to have what I want, I would love to have a reg cab R/T in the garage and a 4wd crew cab in the driveway!

I was in the same boat. Looked at both. But Hemi man. I couldnt leave it. It is redonkulous now coupled with the 8speed.

You should drive them back to back, with the same gearset and options (i.e., final drive ratio and truck configuration/options)

If you're coming from an R/T, my sense is the ED is going to feel more like "erectile dysfunction" rather than "eco diesel"

Yeah, ED torquey off the line and is good for towing but try merging onto a freeway (loaded or otherwise) with it compared to the Hemi.

Plus, if you do the math, you have to drive a *TON* for the $4,000 price premium of ED to be lower NPC (net present cost) than the difference in gas money. Even at a 10% discount rate, you're not going to break even on ED unless the price differential between diesel and gasoline widens tremendously *AND* you drive a lot.

TL;DR: drive 'em back to back, apples to apples on configurations and options, before deciding.

My money's on you taking the Hemi.

AzRamLover said:

You should drive them back to back, with the same gearset and options (i.e., final drive ratio and truck configuration/options)

If you're coming from an R/T, my sense is the ED is going to feel more like "erectile dysfunction" rather than "eco diesel"

Yeah, ED torquey off the line and is good for towing but try merging onto a freeway (loaded or otherwise) with it compared to the Hemi.

My money's on you taking the Hemi.

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Thanks for the laugh.... Is that what the ED in EcoDiesel stands for....erectile dysfunction?

I'm still kicking around the idea of a 07 for all the best of both worlds... My lil blue ox I had 07 qcsb was a beast. I bet it is just as fast on the straights at ,y R/T but cost a lot of $$$ to get there. But I do plan on getting back into rice farming and have my 400-500 acre rice operation back up and going again. I just can't afford or want to afford a brand new HD and don't like the 6.7l. Got a lot to think about and I'm picky too

14hemiexpress said:

Not to get off topic but that's the 7.3l powerstroke.



This the cost doesn't really justify the Eco diesel or any diesel for that matter unless your putting some serious miles on it and having trailer behind it all the time.

By the way congrats on the little one! I have one coming in June it's exciting.

You are going to have what I want, I would love to have a reg cab R/T in the garage and a 4wd crew cab in the driveway!

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Thanks, I'm excited and hoping for a boy. Of course

well that's enough about the 1500"s-- I saw the word mega cab in that first post. I have 13 month old twins.. why I bought a mega cab. The room is rediculous.. I'm 6"4 and my seat sits all the way back.. as you will learn the rear facing car seats witch you will have for the first 12 months are ******* huge, but with a mega cab and that back seat slightly reclined they don't take up to much space. Best advice.. go drive em, I love my 6.4 hemi, it is such a improvement over previous big blocks in 3/4-1 ton range. plus if ur only gonna tow 5 k max.. then maybe it is a viable option. They can get good mileage.. the cab room on the 2500"s is awsome, plus u can find em for 10k back of Msrp. My brother has a 7.3 power stroke, and my truck feels like it pulls harder.. prolly due to the fact that the hp/tq is a little greater than his stock7.3. Sure if I could of got the diesel for 39k loaded the same I would of- but I couldn't and the 6.4 suits my needs. best of luck and happy test driving. sleep while u can... It's been 13 months since I have had a full night of sleep but I wouldn't change it if I could. congrats on the news.

edit- I too looked at 07- newer diesels.. but I wasn't gonna pay 30k plus for something with over 75k miles when for 9 grand and 1.9% apr I could have brand new. plus that "lifetime" warranty.

braindead0 said:

My manual says the 8 speed has lifetime fill, doesn't even have a dipstick to check the level. That being said I suspect in 4/5 years their will be alternative lubricants vs. buying mopar for this.. Nissanmatic J was a problem for a while.. $10+ a quart but now Castrol has fluid for fairly cheap.

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I wouldn't trust that lifetime fill mess. It's more likely the lifetime of your loan/factory warranty, lol. Watched a guy on YouTube, he dropped his pan at 40,000 and it definitely needed changed. All 4 pan magnets were full of metal, bottom of pan had a decent layer of non magnetic metal, filter was visibly used up, and the oil was starting to show its age. He refilled with Amsoil, so it seems there is an alternative oil at a reasonable price.

Ratket said:

well that's enough about the 1500"s-- I saw the word mega cab in that first post. I have 13 month old twins.. why I bought a mega cab. The room is rediculous.. I'm 6"4 and my seat sits all the way back.. as you will learn the rear facing car seats witch you will have for the first 12 months are ******* huge, but with a mega cab and that back seat slightly reclined they don't take up to much space.

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First 2 years you mean.

Can you slide the rear seat back with the mega cab? If so I was unaware of that, I though they just reclined which doesn't do any good for making more room for a car seat. I know the car seat in my truck now wouldn't fit in a quad cab even with the front seat all the way up, it fits behind the passenger seat with the seat moved about halfway up. I guess it pays to have a short wife! I will say I am 6'1 and even with my side steps it is a pain to get the baby in the seat in the back though, the truck it just too tall and that is on stock tires and suspension.

loveracing1988 said:

First 2 years you mean.

Can you slide the rear seat back with the mega cab? If so I was unaware of that, I though they just reclined which doesn't do any good for making more room for a car seat. I know the car seat in my truck now wouldn't fit in a quad cab even with the front seat all the way up, it fits behind the passenger seat with the seat moved about halfway up. I guess it pays to have a short wife! I will say I am 6'1 and even with my side steps it is a pain to get the baby in the seat in the back though, the truck it just too tall and that is on stock tires and suspension.

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I believe you can some. Although most of the extra space is for storage behind the back seat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ya it doesn't slide just reclines, but it helps to position the car seat and ya I'm 6"4 and my wife is all of 5"3 and she struggles with getting the kids in and out.. but she wouldn't have it any other way.. she loves our truck.. I offers to get us a smaller car and she " sure if you wanna drive it cause I sure as **** ain't going to" lol I do wish I had the in floor storage, but I just put emergency stuff in the storage behind the seat. the room u see the seat is pretty big to but I can only use it if I fold the seats down and not the full down where they sit on the floor.

I test drove the 6.4 Hemi in a Power wagon which is a 2500 chassis, and a regular 2500 with a Hemi at the Auto show in Dallas,Tx at the convention center. It wasn't my first time to drive both these heavy duty trucks. The 6.4 Hemi engine has some pick up and go, Test drove the half ton ECO diesel, very impressed with the 8 speed German transmission, and the 3.0 Italian made diesel engine. The engine was extremely quiet, like a gasser. I was impressed with the throttle response, even with the strict emissions intact that they have on these newer generation of diesel trucks. The EPA estimated for miles per gallon is 30, I believe. Talked to a gentleman who has owned an ECO diesel for a year now, he said he averages 34 to 35 miles per gallon on the highway, that's hand calculated. The 2016 Nissian Titan with the 5.0 Cummins was there, release date in a few months. The Toyota Tundra will be getting the 5.0 Cummins, same engine as the Nissian Titan sometime in 2016.