Pentastar Hauling MPG

Based on a discussion in another forum regarding the Pentastar vs EcoDiesel and MPG/Cost, I am rethinking my strategy on my next truck. It will be a RAM, for sure. The ride is too good to give up. My truck is used primarily for around town use and travel with a motorcycle in the bed. I rarely tow, but if I did I wouldn't need more than 5000 lbs of capacity. At best. My bikes are pretty heavy (Victory Cross Country 780lbs. BMW R1200RT 580lbs) and are fine in the bed of the truck. As such, I don't need a Hemi and am much more interested in fuel mileage than brute horsepower. I was considering the ED simply for the added efficiency. But, when I put pen to paper I came to realize that over 100,000 miles, based on the additional purchase price of the ED engine, and taking into account the increased fuel mileage achieved with the diesel, the ED still costs about $3500 more than the Pentastar over that 100k miles. $3500 is a lot of fuel and would pay for several trips over that 100k miles.

All that being said, based on the research I've done here, and on a couple of other forums, it appears the Pentastar fuel mileage takes a pretty good hit when towing. I've read some instances of folks pulling 2000 lbs and getting in the low teens for fuel mileage. Would like to hear from Pentastar owners that routinely haul up to 1000 lbs and if they're seeing much of a drop off in fuel mileage with a good sized load in the bed? My truck would likely have the 3.55 gears. From what I gathered from the RAM website just by going to the 3.55 gearset towing capacity jumps from 4500 to 7200 lbs. Or something similar to that, while fuel mileage remains the same. Thanks!

Pentastar will be cheaper for sure. Factor in def and the cost of oil changes/maintenance and you'll be way higher with the Eco. Higher initial cost of truck and higher resale of the diesel will be a wash, as some will say the diesel has a higher resale. Yes it does, but higher initial cost too!! Less rebates on the diesel as well, so it will be a higher payment as well. If you want the diesel, get it just cause you want it, not because it will be cheaper.

With the way pricing is working lately, the higher the msrp the more you can get off msrp. Meaning you'd get better deals on the Eco. Plus the resale on the Eco will be higher, and easier to sell private party IMO. I'd go Eco hands down


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Thanks guys. Not so much interested in which engine to choose as much as what mpg looks like while hauling 1000lbs. If mpg drops much below 20 with a load, either the Hemi or ED become possible options as Hemi highway mileage would be close or the added cost of the ED becomes less of a concern.

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The question is, what are you towing?

A flat bed trailer with a motorcycle will tow much, much easier than a 6x12 enclosed with the same load.

If you are looking for MPG over everything else, the ED is the only choice.

Csanders1992 said:

With the way pricing is working lately, the higher the msrp the more you can get off msrp. Meaning you'd get better deals on the Eco.

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Not sure how it is now, but when I shopped back in 2014 the ED was hard to find and hardly discounted. It was barely cheaper than my 2500 with CTD.

My buddy has a pentastar Ram and towing a four wheeler on a trailer mostly highway he reports high teens.

One last thing to compare with the ecodiesel is payload. The 1500 is low as it is but if you plan on hauling a travel trailer it is something to take in to account. I found a nice 2014 ecodiesel but after looking at the payload and comparing to my hemi crew cab it was a couple hundred pounds less. When hauling a travel trailer a couple hundred pounds means a lot.

I'd go ecodiesel. Higher resale value, better mileage towing and not towing, easier to sell than a full size truck with a 3.6l 6 banger, and its a diesel! Sure oil changes will cost more, but you can also drive further with a diesel before changing the oil. DPF fluid is needed, but that doesn't cost much when compared to how much the truck burns.

for what it's worth, an 8spd Hemi mileage won't be much different in mileage and you'll be "future proof" if you ever decide to tow. I see 21 on the highway if I drive normal, and if I'm pegged 75-80 on a distance trip it drops to about 18 at the most. towing my TT it dips to like 11 mpg but mine is 28ft. just food for thought.


the Eco diesel is a great motor, despite being so new a lot of people have packed miles on them and tuned them and done the deletes for them and seem to be really happy with the platform.

the pentastar is a strong motor, but I think it belongs in a truck that is purely a shuttle. it has plenty of power to tow, I've seen people towing travel trailers with them, but the mileage suffers. my uncle has a pentastar that he bought for mileage and my Hemi gets better numbers.


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honestly you're never really going to get good mpg working(even a little) any gas engine. with the hemi simply hooking up to my empty 2200lb trailer will drop mpg to about 18 then throw a load on the trailer and it quickly drops from there. the V6 would be pretty much the same but with the V6 you have to remember it's going to be working that much harder. a smaller engine doesn't necessarily mean better mpg because even without a load it's going to work that much more to get the truck moving


diesels are great for not gulping fuel under load which is one reason why most tractors are diesel but the upkeep is going to be a bit more as is the initial cost. you also have to look at fuel prices in your area, around me diesel is generally slightly cheaper then gas but i know many areas it's the other way around. all the new emissions crap has been hurting diesels quite a bit too and i've heard those systems can be quite expensive to fix if they ever fail

kltk1 said:

Would like to hear from Pentastar owners that routinely haul up to 1000 lbs and if they're seeing much of a drop off in fuel mileage with a good sized load in the bed? Thanks!

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To touch on your question.. Typically when people are talking about reduced mileage when hauling, it's because of pulling a trailer or something. I don't think you'd see that big a difference with a motorcycle in the back. Consider if you had 3 buddies riding with you, would it make that big a dent? I read on one page that says it impacts gas mileage by 2% for every 100lbs of carried weight... not sure how accurate that is. Granted, I don't have experience with the engine you're talking about, but I've never noticed a big change in mileage whether I have passengers or not.

Thanks for all the responses folks.

As noted in my OP, I don't intend to TOW much, but, will be hauling with between 600 and 800 lbs in the bed. I don't expect fuel mileage to be effected all that much with that kind of weight in the bed, but, having read about mileage dropping dramatically to the low to mid teens while towing as little as 2000 lbs with a truck capable of towing 7200 lbs had me a bit concerned about what happens when the truck has any kind of weight on it's back. Hoping some Pentastar owners will chime in soon. Thanks again everyone...

Raist11 said:

To touch on your question.. Typically when people are talking about reduced mileage when hauling, it's because of pulling a trailer or something. I don't think you'd see that big a difference with a motorcycle in the back. Consider if you had 3 buddies riding with you, would it make that big a dent? I read on one page that says it impacts gas mileage by 2% for every 100lbs of carried weight... not sure how accurate that is. Granted, I don't have experience with the engine you're talking about, but I've never noticed a big change in mileage whether I have passengers or not.

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i don't know i get a pretty good drop with a 750lb ATV in the bed. you have to remember putting weight on the rear is going to be more noticeable then weight in the cab where it's between the wheels spreading that weight out more. also with how soft these coils are putting much of a load on the rear is going to lift the front a bit and mess with the aerodynamics

If it matters to you, most Eco-Diesels have a payload of 1470lbs and less while a Pentastar should put you near 1900 lbs. So one of your bikes is already near or past half the available payload of an Eco-diesel.

What percentage of the time will you be hauling those? If it's not too much, a Pentastar makes great sense, especially if diesel already costs more in your area. I recently got 24 mpg on a 400 mile drive in my crew cab Pentastar. I've seen as high as 25-26 before on drives where the speed was kept down. Around town it's easy for me to get 18-19+ as well.

And don't forget, the Pentastar isn't some weak V6 of old. 305 horses and a very broad torque curve mated to the 8 speed is a potent combo. It's no Hemi for sure, but it should be good enough for most scenarios.


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Excellent points satxwy. I would expect that I would have a bike in the back 25-35% of the time.

I apologize in advance for being skeptical of the numbers you quoted about the ED payload. So I looked it up and you're absolutely correct. Payload on an ED is 1241 lbs. That's incredibly low. Whereas the Big Horn 3.6 Pentastar Quad cab I'm interested in is good for 1707 lbs with the 3.55 gearset. I'm still scratching my head on how a small gear change from 3.21 to 3.55 gets you and additional 3000 lbs of towing capacity too. That's A LOT of weight.

kltk1 said:

Excellent points satxwy. I would expect that I would have a bike in the back 25-35% of the time.

I apologize in advance for being skeptical of the numbers you quoted about the ED payload. So I looked it up and you're absolutely correct. Payload on an ED is 1241 lbs. That's incredibly low. Whereas the Big Horn 3.6 Pentastar Quad cab I'm interested in is good for 1707 lbs with the 3.55 gearset. I'm still scratching my head on how a small gear change from 3.21 to 3.55 gets you and additional 3000 lbs of towing capacity too. That's A LOT of weight.

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the payload difference is due to engine weight. when it comes to tow ratings you have to remember they rate them for all conditions including steep hills so that's probably most of the difference there. the engine really isn't all that important when it comes to towing it's everything else you have to worry about

satxwy said:

What percentage of the time will you be hauling those? If it's not too much, a Pentastar makes great sense, especially if diesel already costs more in your area. I recently got 24 mpg on a 400 mile drive in my crew cab Pentastar. I've seen as high as 25-26 before on drives where the speed was kept down. Around town it's easy for me to get 18-19+ as well.

And don't forget, the Pentastar isn't some weak V6 of old. 305 horses and a very broad torque curve mated to the 8 speed is a potent combo. It's no Hemi for sure, but it should be good enough for most scenarios.

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I have a 2013 crew cab Pentastar/8spd/3.21 and agree with the above and get similar mpg (unloaded) if I'm not too heavy on the pedal.

When I moved from Va to Indiana 7mos ago, I went over the West Va/Appalachian mountains with a 1 bedroom apt worth of stuff in the cab, bed, and a fully packed 5x8 trailer out back averaging 65-70 mph without missing a beat (limited it at 6th gear for some sections). Didn't pay attention to gas mileage, probably in the low to mid teens.

The Pentastar is definitely worth a test drive at least (I also had a 2013 crew cab Express with hemi/6spd that I traded in after 4 mos on the Pentastar due to horrid mpg. I hear the hemi/8spd is better)

Things I wish I got up front with my SLT but added on later...
Remote start
Backup camera on the uc5.0 radio display (a must)
Steering wheel audio controls
Hitch
7" Evic instrument panel (my SLT came with it, but worth noting)
8.4AN /RA4 Nav Radio (about to install this one very soon I hope)


If you can pull off a good deal on a big horn 3.6/8spd with those features go for it! Took me almost 12 months to find my V6/8spd due to it being the first year and no one would negotiate until it sat on the lot that long.

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I drove two Pentastar quad cabs Tuesday. Both had 3.55 gears. Empty it was perfectly fine for what I need. Looking more likely that I'll end up in a Pentastar. And I doubt I'm going to be unhappy with that choice. Even sounds like if I had to settle for the 3.21 gearset I'd be happy.

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First, you can get good discounts on the ED. 10k off list is pretty normal, which is what I got plus a good trade in on my Ridgeline.

You dealer may also offer you a oil change package. I pre-paid for my oil changes, ten changes/rotations for $469. So that's 46 bucks a change.

As far as hauling 1000 lbs. When towing my 19' camper which weighed between 4500-5k I was constantly getting 17mpg up here in New England. My 28', 7k lb camper averages about 13.9mpg and I've gotten as much as 15mpg.

From what I've seen so far, you can get similar discounts on the 1500 with any engine in the lineup. As long as MPG stays near, or above, 20 mpg with 1000 lbs in the bed, over 100,000 miles, the Pentastar is still $3500 less to own/operate. Again, that's a lot of fuel for other trips. As has been noted, matching the tool to the job is the key to success. If I had the need to tow/haul 5000 lbs on a regular basis, the ED would be the easy choice.

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