When I was in the market for a 4th Gen Ram 1500 Classic, I was pretty torn about whether to go with the Pentastar V6, or the Hemi.
It can be difficult to make the right decision with just a short test drive from the dealer. Now that I’ve owned both, I wanted to give a detailed account of the differences, and things to watch out for. Yes, the topic has been beat to death but I think there’s quite a bit of generalization and points not mentioned.
Bear in mind, this perspective comes from someone who could easily do without a truck, I don’t tow, don’t need to haul, but the idea of driving a pickup truck was in the back of my mind for many years. I had owned mostly sporty cars, some of my favourites being a fox body Mustang 5.0 LX trunk with a manual, a c4 Corvette, an e90 328i, e92 335i, and an f30 335i. The biggest reason I looked at RAMs was because of the ZF 8 speed. It was awesome in the f30. I’ve never felt an auto transmission work so well before.
The very first truck I ever owned ended up being a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Crew Cab 4x4 with a 3.55 gear and 20” wheels. I put on 67,000km on it, or 41,631miles. I loved this truck! Fantastic on gas, quiet, smooth, cavernous space inside, great visibility on the road. Finally I could stop paying for premium gas, and run plain old regular.
It’s funny how once you own a truck, a million reasons come up for owning one. It just made life so much easier. Carrying house materials, dirt bikes, bicycles, Christmas trees, snow blowers, dishwashers, firewood, furniture, all sorts of stuff I could have never done with a car.
Ok, the good about the V6 RAM.
It’s fantastic on gas for how big and heavy this truck is.
The 3.55 gear ratio allows it to get out of its own way.
The Pentastar is very quiet and very smooth.
It’s easy to change the oil, and doesn’t require any special oil type.
This drivetrain is very car like. It shifts smooth, the engine is quiet, idles super smooth, very low NVH. I can’t say enough good things about this engine.
If you rev it out, it’s surprisingly powerful.
The transmission is quick to downshift giving your the revs you need to accelerate.
The bad about the V6 RAM.
It’s very low on torque for a truck this heavy, especially below 3000rpm. If you want power, you need to rev it and put your foot in it.
I test drove it with the 3.21 gear, and I honestly wouldn’t recommend it. The 3.55 should be the longest gear RAM offers, and leave the 3.21 option for the Hemi.
Even with the 3.55 gear, the motor cannot hold 8th gear on even the slightest of inclines on the highway. It downshifts a lot, simply because the motor lacks torque at lower RPM’s.
When you rev it beyond 3500rpm, it doesn’t sound great. It sounds like you’re pushing it hard, and it’s not particularly enjoyable.
I now own the exact same truck except it’s a 2021 classic, with a Hemi and 3.21gear and ZF 8speed. I’ve only put about 3,000km on it, but I’ve got a pretty good feel on most aspects of this setup.
The good about a Hemi powered RAM.
Wow, the difference in power is nothing short of shocking, even though I went down to a 3.21 gear. If you look at a HP/torque dyno chart of a stock 5.7 Hemi, you’ll see this motor makes far more torque at even 1200rpm than the Pentastar can make at any RPM!
The grunt this burly V8 provides makes it feel like a different truck, and you end up driving it different. For example, on ramps to the highway are now fun. Getting up to speed and well beyond are no issue. Is your lane ending? In a V6 you need to brake and go behind whoever is next to you. In the Hemi, you can be a hooligan, step on it and blow the doors off the guy next to you.
This motor does everything effortlessly, while the V6 works hard in this truck.
You can go about your day taking it easy, and the engine will never go over 2000rpm. And it takes a lot more than a small incline to get this motor to require a downshift. It rarely needs to downshift, and the transmission generally shifts much less often.
Even if you tow or haul nothing, you will definitely use the power this engine offers just in regular driving situations. The fact that it tows more is just a bonus.
It gets surprisingly good highway mileage.
It has very good engine braking.
This engine sounds great, is happy to rev if you want it to, and it never sounds strained. It’s a testament how good the old school pushrod V8 design is. It still competes with much more modern engines.
The bad about the Hemi powered RAM.
It’s definitely thirstier, by about 10% from what I can tell. It’s particularly worse in the city, and just idling it a red light seems to consume more fuel than the v6.
Because the engine is a lot heavier, you feel it in the truck. The truck is less nimble, especially noticeable on more spirited right hand turns.
I understand oil changes are not easy or as clean as the V6. Not looking forward to that.
MDS…. While it saves gas and that’s great, you definitely feel it when it’s active. It’s vibrates a fair amount and the V6 is much smoother when cruising for this reason. I don’t dislike it enough to disable it since I enjoy the fuel savings, but I’m surprised the price you pay in NVH.
Other differences I noticed.
The V6 exhaust has a drone when it’s below 0c outside.
The V8 dual exhaust is louder than the V6, but not annoyingly so. If you want the quietest truck overall, the V6 is your choice.
The V8 is slower to get into gear when you put it in D. It’s slower than I’d like.
The V6 doesn’t have much engine braking. You’d think the lighter truck would be easier on the brakes, but it’s definitely the opposite, the V8 is easier on the brakes.
When MDS deactivates on the Hemi, the torque converter briefly unlocks to smooth out the transition to 8 cylinders. This is noticeable, and another reason why I don’t like MDS too much. It makes for a busier drivetrain.
The V6 engine takes longer to warm up than the V8. However, the V6 has a transmission warmer as well as a cooler, and in cold Canadian climates, the trans warmer is welcome. The V8 only has a trans cooler, and takes about 4 times as long to warm up. The V6 trans can be at full operating temperature in 15mins, and the V8 can take upwards of an hour in cold climates. That can’t be good for fuel economy, and the Hemi can use all the help it can get.
The V6 cabin heater is just adequate, the V8 will melt the skin off your face. Crazy hot.
No idea if the V6 vs V8 air conditioning is any different, perhaps someone can chime in on that.
The V6 makes the truck feel more “car like”, the V8 feels more like you’re driving a truck, whatever that means to you.
The V8 front end dives more on braking, probably due to the extra weight up front.
My overall opinion
While I don’t need to tow or haul, I still prefer the Hemi. The extra fuel consumption is worth it. To put the 10% difference in fuel costs into perspective: I spent about $3k in gas last year with the V6, and with the Hemi I’ll spend $3300, all things being equal. The V6 burns 90% of the gas the Hemi does. But it only gives you 77% of the horsepower, and only 66% of the torque. This shows just how efficient the Hemi really is. Now I realize peak output is rarely used, but it’s the extra power everywhere across the RPM range that really changes the the driving experience.
In all fairness, if you own a V6 with a 3.55 gear, I do believe it’s also a fantastic choice, albeit less fun and capable in most ways than the V8.
If you have a V6 with the 3.21, well…. You’re a better man than I.
