Ram1500 EcoDiesel V6 revealed!

[94BULLITT]

There are numerous reports of this. The lady who cleaned our office's had the same issue with her Liberty Diesel. She got treated fair and got a Durango.

Chris

I think the same thing will happen to the new Cruze diesel.

 

[Renze]

Shaking out new technology in the field is always important. The tough (but very important) things to figure out on these motors are:

1) How long have these motors been in use in Europe ?

VM has a long history of building engines, mostly light duty industrial engines (for water pumps, one and two cylinder engines) they have allways played a marginal role, they were outsold in the dozen by other 10-50hp engines like the also italian Lombardini, the german Hatz, and at slightly higher power classes, Deutz.

2) What platforms have they seen use in, across the pond ? (GVWR, extra points for commercial duty, police vehicles, etc.) What history do they have as a result in Europe.

NONE. Their automotive engines are only used in American made Jeeps. Iveco (Fiat industrial) uses their own 3 liter four cylinder engine for their light commercial vehicles. Diesel Jeeps are known in Europe for not being able to compete with other European diesels, in European cars at all levels. sophistication, durability, reliability and performance... Perhaps Fiat put some more money into the VM branch to get things right for the new market ?? lets hope so...

If Chrysler wanted to get a share of a smaller tow truck (like all occasional haulers on TBN are wishing for) they would have gone with the Cummins ISB 4.5 inline four... but because they assume most people wont buy a half ton diesel as a workhorse, they didnt take the reliable inline 4 Iveco 3.0 engine either, but went with the V6 because an inline 4 isnt appealing to the commuter.

With the track record of VM engines, i'd rather wait for the Ford with the 3.2 liter inline 5 which i'd have more confidence in, even though most Transits are sold here with the Puma 2.2 inline 4 PSA diesel.

 

[94BULLITT]

I don't think we will ever see a diesel in a Ford 1/2 ton but I could be wrong.

 

[3930dave]

Thanks Renze ! I was hoping we'd hear from you on this.

I've heard good initial reports of the Ford Ranger diesels in Asia; I'd love to see them here.

Rgds, D.

 

[Renze]

Hey i have something to add: they seem to have more automotive spread than i thought: Just not in everyday cars i've been around..

VM Motori - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They sold them to Landrover too... Landies are rare here, cant say if those were any good...

 

[3930dave]

Good to see Penske's involvement - I don't think that man has made a bad move, ever.

Landies are a bit rare here too, the diesel ones I can think of from days past (never owned one) likely pre-dated VM getting into the auto market.

Rgds, D.

 

[Renze]

These VM engines never had the chance to prove their longevity in an Italian built car, as the Alfa Romeo and Lancia bodywork never lasted long enough to prove what the engine itself was worth. As far as the Landies go, the Wikipedia page on Landies doesnt mention a VM engined Landie, only Rover engined ones, and later Ford engined ones.

 

[lilranch2001]

deleted

 

[crazyal]

I'm looking forward to some real world numbers. I expect this will go head to head with Fords next gen 3.5 ecoboost engine. If Ford can up it's EPA numbers to around 20 city and 25 combined with strong cargo and towing numbers then Dodge will need this diesel to get 30 combined to offset the extra costs of owning a diesel. Our government is really doing it's best to discourage it as an option.

 

[3930dave]

A buddy of mine stopped into a dealer here (Ontario, Canada). The story at the moment is that we will be able to order this diesel even in a regular cab, base truck :thumbsup: w. vinyl floor, crank windows.

Let's hope the story holds.

Rgds, D.