V-6 Eco Diesel

[w6pea]

Has anyone had any experience with the New 3.0L Eco-diesel V-6? I saw an add for it on the TV sounds interesting.

 

[Mpgrimm2]

I recall someone posted a thread after buying one in the last 8 months or so. They updated the thread multiple times every thousand miles or so (may have came down form Canada to get it and buy a large equipment trailer to haul back) and seemed very pleased with it.
Seems like a solid engine with great MPG and torque with the 8 speed. If i had to haul anything significant it would have been a consideration but i got a great deal on my V6/8spd SLT CC and have zero regrets.
If I find the link I will post it.

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[w6pea]

I recall someone posted a thread after buying one in the last 8 months or so. They updated the thread multiple times every thousand miles or so (may have came down form Canada to get it and buy a large equipment trailer to haul back) and seemed very pleased with it.
Seems like a solid engine with great MPG and torque with the 8 speed. If i had to haul anything significant it would have been a consideration but i got a great deal on my V6/8spd SLT CC and have zero regrets.
If I find the link I will post it.

Sent from my "Up All Night Sleep All Day" Nexus 5!

Thank you maybe I can search for it.
Thanks again.

 

[Mpgrimm2]

I just spent an hour digging and can't find it. Ughh. Maybe I read it over at the 'other' Ram site.
I did come across a lot of threads by searching for "ecodiesel".

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[Esgordon123]

Name of the thread is Eco-diesel, a maiden voyage.


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[xrsman]

Not to pull you away from this site at all, but there is a forum completely dedicated to the new Ram 1500 Ecodiesel. You'll find a lot of different tests those guys have done on there, as well as issues they've had and vendors who sell upgrades for the engine.

I almost traded mine a month ago on an ecodiesel and that's the site I got all my info from.

 

[myoung84]

There's a ton of info on the Ram 1500 Diesel site. I was considering the EcoD when I bought my 14 but after doing the math, it didn't make sense for me. I made this spreadsheet to compare both models and if you're buying it thinking you'll save money, you might be surprised.

The spreadsheet shows the cost for fuel (using $2 for gas and $2.50 for diesel), then you have DEF to worry about as well as $100 oil changes. Using these numbers and assuming the only price difference is the engine adder itself, it takes over 5 years to break even at 20k miles per year. What they also don't mention is that you lose a lot of the incentives with the EcoD, bringing the real price difference over $5k. When I was spec'ing my truck out to order, my net price difference was about $6k because of lost incentives.

Using today's fuel prices in Tulsa ($1.70 for gas and $2.49 for diesel), driving 15k per year, and assuming a $5120 adder over the Hemi, my payback would be 40 years! Now if you tow a lot, it might make more sense for the EcoD. Also, when fuel prices jump back up to where they were a few months ago, it will help a lot with the payback time line. There's also the coolness factor of the EcoD, might be enough to offset some of the extra money.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpd5soqbi6bdsum/Hemi-vs-EcoDiesel.xls?dl=0

 

[xrsman]

There's a ton of info on the Ram 1500 Diesel site. I was considering the EcoD when I bought my 14 but after doing the math, it didn't make sense for me. I made this spreadsheet to compare both models and if you're buying it thinking you'll save money, you might be surprised.

The spreadsheet shows the cost for fuel (using $2 for gas and $2.50 for diesel), then you have DEF to worry about as well as $100 oil changes. Using these numbers and assuming the only price difference is the engine adder itself, it takes over 5 years to break even at 20k miles per year. What they also don't mention is that you lose a lot of the incentives with the EcoD, bringing the real price difference over $5k. When I was spec'ing my truck out to order, my net price difference was about $6k because of lost incentives.

Using today's fuel prices in Tulsa ($1.70 for gas and $2.49 for diesel), driving 15k per year, and assuming a $5120 adder over the Hemi, my payback would be 40 years! Now if you tow a lot, it might make more sense for the EcoD. Also, when fuel prices jump back up to where they were a few months ago, it will help a lot with the payback time line. There's also the coolness factor of the EcoD, might be enough to offset some of the extra money.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpd5soqbi6bdsum/Hemi-vs-EcoDiesel.xls?dl=0

This ^^^

Great comparison between the two!

 

[Echo42987]

There's a ton of info on the Ram 1500 Diesel site. I was considering the EcoD when I bought my 14 but after doing the math, it didn't make sense for me. I made this spreadsheet to compare both models and if you're buying it thinking you'll save money, you might be surprised.

The spreadsheet shows the cost for fuel (using $2 for gas and $2.50 for diesel), then you have DEF to worry about as well as $100 oil changes. Using these numbers and assuming the only price difference is the engine adder itself, it takes over 5 years to break even at 20k miles per year. What they also don't mention is that you lose a lot of the incentives with the EcoD, bringing the real price difference over $5k. When I was spec'ing my truck out to order, my net price difference was about $6k because of lost incentives.

Using today's fuel prices in Tulsa ($1.70 for gas and $2.49 for diesel), driving 15k per year, and assuming a $5120 adder over the Hemi, my payback would be 40 years! Now if you tow a lot, it might make more sense for the EcoD. Also, when fuel prices jump back up to where they were a few months ago, it will help a lot with the payback time line. There's also the coolness factor of the EcoD, might be enough to offset some of the extra money.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpd5soqbi6bdsum/Hemi-vs-EcoDiesel.xls?dl=0

Nice comparison but it seems that you are about $200 high on the ecodiesel side. Granted we all know these low gas prices aren't going to last for long. Though, I wouldn't mind if they do.

So it would roughly take about 3-1/2 years before paying yourself back for the upgrade to ecodiesel. I was using your numbers on this. Where did you get the $5800 number from? Maybe I miss read something?

It made sense for me to purchase this vehicle as drive roughly 30-40,000 miles a year. I can confirm that I can get up to 26mpg with this vehicle. The winter blend is hurting me a bit right now. But this engine and vehicle has been great so far. I'm coming from a 2013 Ford F150 Platinum which was a nightmare. Currently have the Laramie Limited w/ the ecoD.

 

[RLJ10X]

I drove one for about 20 minutes, about a year ago. I'm sure it's a fine engine. Compare to my then, bone stock Hemi with the miserable 3.55 rear end, the Eco Diesel was a let down.

The EPA has taken most of the fun out of diesels.

If I was looking for the best value, I think I'd go 3.6 Pentastar.

 

[Gymkata]

I drove an ecodiesel and it felt pretty nice. Sure it has much less top end than the Hemi, but the low end torque is nicer for everyday driving. It is all what each particular buyer is looking for. My wife has a Porsche Cayenne diesel. It has a 3.0l turbo diesel V6 with an 8 spd and similar HP/torque stats to the ecodiesel. It weighs only a few hundred pounds less than a ram ecodiesel and has a little better aerodynamics.

I can get 32-33 mpg all day long driving 85 mph on the freeway, probably 35 mpg if I go the speed limit. What I'm trying to say is it is easy to get better than EPA fuel economy with a diesel and almost impossible to get EPA fuel economy with the Hemi (in my experience). My wife also pays less for diesel with our local supermarket gas points program. Because the diesel has such a massive driving range, she only has to fill up every 2 weeks or so. By that time we usually have 50 cents or more discount per gallon. It's not a lot, but with the diesel range she probably gets about double the gas discount she would with a gas engine.

If you got a ecodiesel ram with a 32 gallon tank, I'm pretty sure you would realistically be able to drive 900 highway miles on a tank if you were gentle. There is something very satisfying about having a powerful engine and being able to take a long road trip without touching a gas station before you get home.

 

[Oilbelcher]

Like any detailed analysis, so great start above. Continue to build on that. I did a very extensive breakeven analysis. There is one MAJOR piece missing from the analysis above, and that is higher retained value, less depreciation, in other words better residuals.

In fact, residuals alone can help one achieve breakeven (how long to recover higher up front engine price) in less than a year! In fact, in my analysis that I'll share below, I built a "stack the deck in favor of the Hemi" version of my business case, and this pushed the breakeven in years from 0-2 to 2.9. Granted the diesel to gas price ratio changed over last couple months I did the analysis, but this has less impact the omitting residuals.

I even factored in rebates that a Hemi might get that he diesel doesn't. Although if one plans ahead, and ordered a truck, one can get well below Invoice price like I did. If you buy off the lot, yes, you will get screwed because it's in high demand.

There is a smaller population where residuals don't matter, those who drive the truck 300,000 miles and never sell, but most do trade out after a number of years.

For me, the breakeven doesn't matter, I don't care what gas prices are, I only buy Diesel engines period. The inly gas engine I would buy in the future is a corvette or porche; everyday cars I get diesel because the technology is so good right now.

Here is the business case thread. Be sure to read through to my later postings where I try different versions. And, you will be surprised that under certain years of ownership, the Pentastar is more expensive to own and operate than the Hemi. The sole reason.... worse residuals (depreciates faster).

 

[Oilbelcher]

And to strengthen my analysis, you will see I compared residual values of diesel/gas combos for the big three brands in 3/4 ton. Even with those trucks, where the Diesel engine costs $8000 to $9000 more, they achieved breakeven in about 3 years because the used market just eats up good used diesels with a hungry appetite.

 

[Echo42987]

I drove an ecodiesel and it felt pretty nice. Sure it has much less top end than the Hemi, but the low end torque is nicer for everyday driving. It is all what each particular buyer is looking for. My wife has a Porsche Cayenne diesel. It has a 3.0l turbo diesel V6 with an 8 spd and similar HP/torque stats to the ecodiesel. It weighs only a few hundred pounds less than a ram ecodiesel and has a little better aerodynamics.

I can get 32-33 mpg all day long driving 85 mph on the freeway, probably 35 mpg if I go the speed limit. What I'm trying to say is it is easy to get better than EPA fuel economy with a diesel and almost impossible to get EPA fuel economy with the Hemi (in my experience). My wife also pays less for diesel with our local supermarket gas points program. Because the diesel has such a massive driving range, she only has to fill up every 2 weeks or so. By that time we usually have 50 cents or more discount per gallon. It's not a lot, but with the diesel range she probably gets about double the gas discount she would with a gas engine.

If you got a ecodiesel ram with a 32 gallon tank, I'm pretty sure you would realistically be able to drive 900 highway miles on a tank if you were gentle. There is something very satisfying about having a powerful engine and being able to take a long road trip without touching a gas station before you get home.

My tank is only 24 gallons but I do enjoy being about to drive about 650-700 miles without a fill up. So far the ecoDiesel has been an absolute beast and joy to drive. I like it 10x's better then my 2013 Ford F150 Platinum and plan to keep this truck for years to come.

 

[Oilbelcher]

Here is another view. To actually use all the HP in a gas engine, and have fun with it, you need to rev it and will then get a huge hit in MPG (generalization). A diesel has less HP in total, but you can push it all the time to use most of its HP, then benefit from that kick in the pants torque, and see less of a hit in MPG. Diesels are great at being pushed, and just shrug off the pain with minimal fuss and fuel consumed. Gas engine are more sporty, but are gas hogs if pushed. So *IF* one cares about MPG to save money, you have to drive a Hemi like an old person to get reasonable MPG, or you can drive the diesel hard and get awesome MPG. I want my cake and to eat it too.

 

[Oilbelcher]

My breakeven analysis link above was deleted because it points to another forum. Search "diesel breakeven analysis". It has too many details including a spreadsheet pic to repost here.

 

[richwoodrocket]

I haven't seen a single Eco diesel in person yet. I find that quite odd...


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[rammanriley20]

I haven't seen a single Eco diesel in person yet. I find that quite odd...


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ive only seen one, old farmer driving it

 

[regularcab2500]

Ive seen a couple around my area including a single cab long box that i was drooling on lol...i just came across a forum with this guy driving from chicago to beverly hills with about 1000# in the bed and averaged 40mpg doing so!

 

[Stangshcky12]

My breakeven analysis link above was deleted because it points to another forum. Search "diesel breakeven analysis". It has too many details including a spreadsheet pic to repost here.

Or instead of breaking the rules again and sending people on a goose chase you could create a similar thread here