Ram1500 EcoDiesel V6 revealed!

[Renze]

So.... you're towing 5,000# plus with a solid built intermediate (here) sedan, and still getting way better mileage than a gasoline mini-van hauling empty/no trailer.

Yes thats when towing 5500lbs, which is load plus the empty weight of the trailer. I can pull through tunnels in 5th gear at 2200rpm with minor speed loss, 140hp and 295 Nm at 1900rpm. We dont have hills here so that may make it another game. Next to that i wouldnt exceed 4000lbs if i had to drive downhill at highway speed...

mileage i mentioned is real world mileage (or kilometrage actually)

 

[3930dave]

Yes thats when towing 5500lbs, which is load plus the empty weight of the trailer. I can pull through tunnels in 5th gear at 2200rpm with minor speed loss, 140hp and 295 Nm at 1900rpm. We dont have hills here so that may make it another game. Next to that i wouldnt exceed 4000lbs if i had to drive downhill at highway speed...

mileage i mentioned is real world mileage (or kilometrage actually)

Thanks for the confirmation on the hand calculation.

Even someone who hadn't read many of your postings could see from the last one that you have a good understanding of mechanical systems.

Your Volvo is brake limited for the higher end load you mention, not torque limited. That said, I'd sooner have you behind me on the highway with 5500#, than some of the yoyos I see over here with supposedly more towing capable trucks.

The nut behind the wheel is the most critical part of the mechanical system ! :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[RobertN]

Maybe US emissions, as well as extra weight from various US safety equipment requirements? Also, when comparing reports, do they show what speeds they were going to get the fuel economy numbers?

It would be nice to see the comparisons all in the same scales ie km/hr, km/litres etc

I wonder if differences in fuel??

 

[tcartwri]

The EU has a different testing cycle than the US or Canada, in addition to the larger imperial gallon. Don't ask me what the specifics are though.

I can tell you from my own experience with the VW diesels, that they tend to exceed the government testing numbers. I have found the opposite to be true of any gasser that I have driven. And we drive our tdi's with little regard to fuel economy.

 

[tcartwri]

The EU has a different testing cycle than the US or Canada, in addition to the larger imperial gallon. Don't ask me what the specifics are though.

I can tell you from my own experience with the VW diesels, that they tend to exceed the government testing numbers. I have found the opposite to be true of any gasser that I have driven. And we drive our tdi's with little regard to fuel economy.

 

[Renze]

Your Volvo is brake limited for the higher end load you mention, not torque limited.

the Volvo has enough brake capacity, it slows down REAL fast from 160kmh to 80 when i see an officer with a laser speedo on the roadside...
The thing i'm afraid of is, the surge brakes cant keep up and start pushing my rear end in a jack knife. Volvo trucks has hill a descent program on their trucks, it brakes the trailer, not the truck, so when going downhill with a flatbed truck and a haywagon style trailer behind it, it stretches the combination, virtually eliminating the chance of jackknifing.

I know people that trade in used cars, often import 2 year old Mercedeses from Germany, who bought an ML to pull the trailer because of its 3500kg tow rating. In real world, the short wheelbase ML will sway on German highways, were a long E300 diesel sedan with half the tow rating, wont...

 

[3930dave]

the Volvo has enough brake capacity, it slows down REAL fast from 160kmh to 80 when i see an officer with a laser speedo on the roadside...
The thing i'm afraid of is, the surge brakes cant keep up and start pushing my rear end in a jack knife. Volvo trucks has hill a descent program on their trucks, it brakes the trailer, not the truck, so when going downhill with a flatbed truck and a haywagon style trailer behind it, it stretches the combination, virtually eliminating the chance of jackknifing.

I know people that trade in used cars, often import 2 year old Mercedeses from Germany, who bought an ML to pull the trailer because of its 3500kg tow rating. In real world, the short wheelbase ML will sway on German highways, were a long E300 diesel sedan with half the tow rating, wont...

I've seen a Smart car here, towing a trailer on a high speed (for us, not Euro hi-speed fortunately) expressway. Still shaking my head over that one.

Are most of your brakes on light trailers surge in Holland ? I'm just wondering if you use electric brakes on light trailers much ?

Rgds, D.

 

[Renze]

Are most of your brakes on light trailers surge in Holland ? I'm just wondering if you use electric brakes on light trailers much ?

Yes surge is standard. The surge force is 10% of the actual brake force by design, anything over 750kg needs brakes on all axles. Some have hydraulic surge brakes but that doesnt reduce maintenance issues associated with bowden cable operated surge brakes. electric brakes are tried on 5th wheel trailers with more than 3500kg axle load, with the mandatory ABS system integrated. But the 5th wheel market for small drivers license is still dominated by air brakes with ABS/EBS (stability program, works a charm)

so electric trailer brakes are scarce, and a guy importing luxury horse trailers asked my previous employer to put them on European air braked axles because the Dexter axles it came on, didnt have ABS nor a European brake approval.

 

[3930dave]

ABS/EBS on light trailers - done properly, I can see that working well.

Dexter light electric brakes are common here (we have hyd surge as well, just less comon - often on boat trailers). The nice thing with electric is that you can manually adjust the braking force with a slide pot on your in-cab brake controller. Presumes an operator that knows what to do, but I thought of it when you mentioned the tail-wagging-the-dog situation.

Rgds, D.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Why isn't that powertrain offered here?

Because most States are bigger than their entire countries...