The new 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel becomes the most fuel-efficient full-size, half-ton pickup truck in the market as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirms its highway fuel economy rating of 28 mpg. This is a new benchmark in this class of vehicles.
It is not the first efficiency accolade for Ram though. Last year they launched a Ram 1500 equipped with a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 gasoline engine, which did 25 mpg – brilliant for a big petrol-powered truck.
This record achieved by the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is crucial because it emphasizes the importance of diesel fuel in America’s quest to lower their dependency on the inefficient and expensive gasoline. The truck’s diesel engine with MultiJet 2 common-rail fuel-injection system is not very powerful, but it generates an enormous torque of 420 lb.-ft. (569 Nm), which means you wil always have enough pulling power no to miss the petrol engine.
The engine is also quite clean in its operations, what with the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), high-pressure cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), variable swirl intake ports and a variable-geometry turbocharger. Even the TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic transmission is tuned for better fuel efficiency.
That is not all. Ram took the job of making the new Ram EcoDiesel a role model of efficiency so seriously that they also fitted it with active grille shutter, Electric Power Steering (EPS), and lightweight body components; impressive stuff for a truck that starts from $24,000.
