Hemi,penstar,Cummings or eco diesel daily driver

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Wareagle32

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Hemi 5.7
I’m looking for opinions. I’m looking for a daily driver crew cab 4x4. Looking for the best fuel mileage ,power and longevity. I currently have a 2015 cc Hemi. Opinions greatly appreciated. I drive around 70 miles round trip. Don’t tow hardly anything.
 
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JPT

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I would provide your daily mileage of your commute.

Also, why no Eco Diesel? I would guess it would be a much better option than the cummins, unless you are towing heavy loads regulatory (if you were the penstar wouldn't have been an option).
 
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corneileous

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2018 Ram 1500 Limited 4X4
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Hemi 5.7
I’m looking for opinions. I’m looking for a daily driver crew cab 4x4. Looking for the best fuel mileage ,power and longevity. I currently have a 2015 cc Hemi. Opinions greatly appreciated.

Well, what do you want in a truck? Which one of those “best” things is more important? Do you want a “truck”, something that’s gonna ride more like a truck, like a 3/4 ton? Cuz if so, the Cummins is a hard contender for all three of those. If you want something that’s not near as much truck, something that’s going to ride much better, can’t go wrong with the Hemi or the Eco diesel. However, the Eco will give you the best mileage- even when towing but the Hemi is the powerhouse. The Hemi with the 3:92 gears will still get you high 18’s, high 19’s if you drive it conservatively but I’ve regularly heard well over 22mpg outta the 3:21-geared Hemi’s.


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MoparBrent

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More information would be great, do you plan to tow? how much weight if you do? Or is your truck strictly a grocery getter.

In my experiences and talking with multiple friends that own rams. The ones with the 3.6 pentastar have regretted their decision the first week. Even though you may want the best fuel economy, having the power available from the hemi is almost always worth it.

I have a 2016 1500 sport, 4x4 CC, 3.92 gears and I average 12.9-13.1L/100km going to/from work with a bit of city driving. And 10.1-10.8L/100km highway driving.
 

Random_Walk

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I do a 1-2x weekly commute of 100 miles round-trip to the office (I work from home the rest of the week), and the nearest grocery store to my house is a 20-mile drive. I live on a small hobby farm in the Oregon Coastal Range, and the heaviest things I'll likely ever tow would be a 24' camper or a 2-horse trailer (both around 3500 lbs or so gross-weight). The bed often has a full load of firewood in it. I have a v6, and it works just fine for what I need. Most days I drive it empty though, hauling or towing about once a week (-ish).

Truck specs are in my profile - 2017 QC 4x4 SLT, 3.6 engine w/ 3.21 gear ratio. About as low-end as you can possibly go, powertrain-wise, but it does everything I want it to do w/o complaint. :)

I average 24-25mpg unladen, since nearly all of my driving is at highway speeds. Towing drops it to maybe 18-20mpg, depending.

I bought the truck in mid-June, and have put around 5,000 miles on it since then. I figure I'll average 10-11k miles per year on it. The whole time I've had it, I think I drove my wife's Kia Soul exactly once for a quick nip into town to pick up a few things.

HTH a little.
 

PoMansRam

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^ Similarly, my work commute is ~80mi/day. I've put about 14K miles on my pentastar Ram in 8 months. I purchased it used this year with 12K miles on it. In warmer weather, I consistently average 23-24mpg tank to tank with just me in it. In the winter, it has dropped to 20-21 mpg tank/tank. I know Hemi powered 1500s will do 20-22mpg on some trips, but they won't average that over a whole tank of fuel. What it boils down to is you will get about 20% better fuel economy with the Pentastar over the 5.7L hemi. Maybe a tad bit more. For your standard 12-15K miles/year of driving, this does not break the bank IMO.
 
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Wareagle32

Wareagle32

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Hemi 5.7
I would provide your daily mileage of your commute.

Also, why no Eco Diesel? I would guess it would be a much better option than the cummins, unless you are towing heavy loads regulatory (if you were the penstar wouldn't have been an option).
I drive around 70 miles round trip
 

JPT

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I drive around 70 miles round trip

I would do Eco Diesel or Hemi. Are you keeping your current truck, or getting rid of it for the new to you truck?

Keeping - Get the Eco Diesel
Getting rid - Get Hemi (you will miss it)
 

turkeybird56

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DITTO: JPT
 

Rado

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I’m looking for opinions. I’m looking for a daily driver crew cab 4x4. Looking for the best fuel mileage ,power and longevity. I currently have a 2015 cc Hemi. Opinions greatly appreciated. I drive around 70 miles round trip. Don’t tow hardly anything.
Sounds like you drive like I do ! My RAM is a Street Queen and maybe tow a small boat if I get one :O My Pentastar is perfect for me and I DO NOT regret getting it ! My Avg is 20/21 MPG. On mostly highway on a trip I may hit 23 + Works for me in a full size 4x4 :) More power if fun but can give you heavy foot issues lol . How far can you drive if you save 60k$ by not getting a new truck ?
 

kltk1

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If you’re towing less than 5000lbs a Pentastar with 3.21 gear ratio is going to be the best value. Less to purchase, better fuel mileage and less to maintain.


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bchap05

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If you drive 11k miles per year and lets just figure gas at $3 per gallon. Say with Hemi you average 17 combined and Pentastar you average 20 combined.

Hemi would be $1941 per year and Pentastar would be $1650. So is $291 per year or $24.25 per month worth it to you to have less power? If yes get pentastar, if no get Hemi
 

kltk1

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As well as the higher charge at time of purchase and higher maintenance costs. If you’re a short term owner, less than 7 years and 100k, then maintenance costs aren’t as big a factor. If you’re a long term owner the upfront, fuel and maintenance costs add up.

If you’re towing less than 5k the Pentastar with 3.21 gearing is the unreported bargain in the truck world.


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Wareagle32

Wareagle32

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I’ve drove an eco diesel and it wasn’t bad. I heard they’ve had alot of trouble with that motor.
 
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MADDOG

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They had some problems with the original VM Motori 3.0L diesel engine in the 2014 - 2016 trucks.

FCA stopped production over some issues with meeting emissions and went after the problems. The new trucks have the updates which addressed the early engine issues.
 
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