Which engine to get?

[smurfs_of_war]

When I buy trucks I always skip by the smaller mills. Never even give them a glance, and here's why:

At some point you will be doing as trucks do and you will be cussing yourself for not having the grunt to do it. I am maybe a bit old school in my thinking; a truck with the big V8 is the only way. If the 1500s had a larger displacement V8, I would have it.

The mileage I am seeing with the hemi is none too shabby. Nothing like the ecodiesel or the pentastar, but low 20s highway is excellent to me.

I guess given your criteria for good mileage, forget the 3.6 and shell out for the ED so you can have your cake and eat it too.

You'll have a truck. All your friends and family will know you have a truck. She's gonna get put to work

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[csuder99]

I could have gotten a Hemi 1500 for about the same money but still picked the V6. I had Hemis before and knew it's close to impossible to get decent gas mileage out of them. 4x4 with 3.55 gets 20+ MPG in mixed driving without any efforts to save fuel when using it as a glorified SUV (a.k.a. not carrying heavy loads or towing).

The EcoDiesel is a weird contraption, it has decent torque but 240HP is 65 less than the V6. Unless you need to tow a lot it doesn't make sense IMHO.

 

[toofart]

Ive got about 5k on my hemi in the month I have owned it. I have averaged 19 mpg in mixed driving. 8 spd with 3.92s in a 4x4 crew. Im sure if I drove more conservatively I would get 21. The 8 spd in leaps ahead of my 11 with the 6. I would personally opt for the hemi due to the fact that it has room for expansion. Sure you wont need all the power and towing capacity right off the back. But who knows what you need 10 years down the road?

x2 on every word. Great gas mileage with the Hemi is not only possible, but easy. Just don't dive like a drag racer.

Anything you ever decide to tow or haul will be easier with the Hemi.

 

[loveracing1988]

x2 on every word. Great gas mileage with the Hemi is not only possible, but easy. Just don't dive like a drag racer.

Anything you ever decide to tow or haul will be easier with the Hemi.

You have a different definition of easy than I do. To me setting the cruise at 65 is pretty easy. That returned about 20 on the evic, which is a little better than 18 hand calculated. Still nowhere near 21 or 22 like people are reporting.

 

[toofart]

20 is nowhere near 21? lol okay.

 

[loveracing1988]

20 is nowhere near 21? lol okay.

Ok, if everyone goes by their evic and skips in ice cream land eating lollipops then my mileage was good. Yes 20 is close to 21 but I prefer to use real life to report my mileage. Hence the 20 miles per gallon on the evic becomes 18 in real life. If that 21 miles per gallon highway rating my truck had was going by the evic though I can see why it was on the sticker.

 

[TWILLIAMS9]

I could have gotten a Hemi 1500 for about the same money but still picked the V6. I had Hemis before and knew it's close to impossible to get decent gas mileage out of them. 4x4 with 3.55 gets 20+ MPG in mixed driving without any efforts to save fuel when using it as a glorified SUV (a.k.a. not carrying heavy loads or towing).

The EcoDiesel is a weird contraption, it has decent torque but 240HP is 65 less than the V6. Unless you need to tow a lot it doesn't make sense IMHO.

A diesel motor is completely different from a gas. That 420 torque is there at 2000 rpm. And the horsepower isn't a very big deal for diesels. But getting 28 mpg real world highway is amazing for a full size truck. I test drove one while my truck was In the shop and it's a sweet ride. Very quite and comfortable, and definitely isn't a slouch.

 

[lonewolf2873]

I get 24 mpg in my crew 4x4 with hemi on freeway trips. Set cruise at 71 on 70 zone and 66 in 65 zone. Was up and down 55-70 from Michigan to Indiana. A/C was on more than half of the trips. Made 3 round trips in 5 weeks with same result. City I'm light to light in mostly 45 zones and get 14-15.
I love my Hemi and got it knowing I was going to mod.
In your instance, I would opt for V6 or ecodiesal to mod. Just my opinion but I'm not ok with the DEF and other emission crap. The ecodiesal I hear really wakes up with the few delete kits and great mileage.
Just my .02 for what it's worth. If I trade in my 2014 for a 2015 I'm going ecodiesal all the way.

 

[B-g-K]

Ecodiesel gets my vote, love mine.

 

[FlyinHaYn]

Get that ecodiesel.

 

[14hemiexpress]

I disagree with the eco diesel. If your trying to be cost efficient your best bet is the 3.6. For the cost difference between the 3.6 and the 3.0 eco you can buy a lot of fuel. Minus the potential repair cost for a diesel vs a gas it will take you between 100 and 120k miles to pay for that engine as long as you don't have to make repairs. Now if the eco diesel has good rebates and it's only 1000 more that's a different story but 3-4000 just for engine upgrade I don't fell it's worth the 3-5mpg difference in real world application. 3.6 is plenty of engine for light towing and daily driving if you want room to expand get the 5.7 8 speed 3.21. I Do agree get the 8 speed. The 2 things I wish I would of gotten is the crew cab and the 8 speed. I got the quad cab 6 speed.

 

[Matty Moo]

I have a 4x4 crew cab v6.

I towed a 29' travel trailer last weekend with it. It did just fine. If you don't tow enough or large enough to get the v8 then don't. If I towed that trailer every weekend it would be a different story...It's a 5000lb trailer.

I do tow my smaller enclosed trailer and I can't tell it's even there.

For a v6 it scoots and I get decent mileage. I just got rid of my 300c, the Hemi is fun but I didn't feel like another one.

 

[HemiRoar]

I don't know how you guys get 20 mpg with your hemis. Best I've seen is 14.5 - 15..but I agree, I would not get a gas V6.

I drove one and..if I were a soccer mom with a thing for trucks, a V6 Ram would be the way to go. Personal opinion after a couple of romps down the highway and a few streets.

(I also drove a 2500 ctd that day, GIGG-I-TTY!!! that's irrelevant though, sorry)

 

[flmx81]

I love my ecodiesel, traded in my 2012 1500 hemi and so glad I did it. Also look at usaa's car buying service before you commit to buying just to ensure your getting a good deal.

 

[14hemiexpress]

This pic was take at the end of our trip to Minnesota from TX hand calculated was high 19s cruise was set on 78 for 90% of the trip all highway 3.55 6 speed 4wd. On the way back we had bad head wind and made bunch of stops through little towns and averaged 17.5. If you had 2wd 8 speed 3.21 and ran under 70 how you couldn't get 22-23. the hemi does just fine on the hwy it's the city stop and go that really drinks up the fuel.

 

[regularcab2500]

all i can say is do not skimp! i went with a 4.7 1500 in 2012 and was very dissappointed in the power vs gas mileage ratio compared to a 5.7..to me its better to have and not need plus the amount of gas youd save really wont make that big of a difference especially since a 5.7 has 85 more hp than the 3.6. i now have a 6.4 hemi in a 2500 and my mileage is identical to when i had my 4.7..isnt that sad lol?

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[WarrenRam]

For all I know, the small engine would have suited my needs just fine, but I am still very much glad I got the 5.7. Just never know what the future holds, either in payload needs or any mod fever you may develop, or as mentioned resale desirability.

 

[UMDRanger]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions and comments. It has certainly prompted me to more strongly consider the 5.7

I found the 5.7 MPG thread and noted the feedback. I thought I had seen a similar thread for the 3.6 pentastar, but I can't seem to find it either by manually looking through pages til May, using the site's search, or google. Anyone recall that thread and able to post the link? Or did I imagine it?

 

[B-g-K]

all i can say is do not skimp! i went with a 4.7 1500 in 2012 and was very dissappointed in the power vs gas mileage ratio compared to a 5.7..to me its better to have and not need plus the amount of gas youd save really wont make that big of a difference especially since a 5.7 has 85 more hp than the 3.6. i now have a 6.4 hemi in a 2500 and my mileage is identical to when i had my 4.7..isnt that sad lol?

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The 4.7 was essentially made obsolete with the 3.6 introduction. The 4.7 gets essentially the same mileage as the hemi, with less power... And the 3.6 has comparable power to the 4.7 with superior mileage.

 

[Brody57]

I recently bought a 2014 with a 5.7 and Im extremely GLAD I bought the 5.7 instead of the V6. Its not even comparable. Im getting around 21 mpg highway right now. Thats hand figured. Im very happy with it.