Is a half-ton diesel going to be reality soon?
Sourced from allpar.com
text:
A reliable source has told Allpar that diesel Ram 1500s are being assembled for testing, but that production is likely some ways off. The vehicles are not being built on the regular assembly line, indicating that the company is in the initial stages of testing for fit, clearance, initial tuning, and temperature control.
The diesel chosen was not the Cummins V6 or V8 models, which are used by Nissan and the U.S. military and were originally to go into various Rams; instead, it appears that Chrysler is choosing to use the VM 3.0 V6 diesel, which counts as an internal Fiat unit. Chrysler has used VM diesels for many years in its European cars, and the 3-liter V6 is a modern unit that can pass both American and European emissions standards.
Both rear wheel drive and 4×4 versions are being built for testing.
It is likely that the VM was chosen not because it is a Fiat engine, but because it is to be used in other domestic vehicles, likely including future Grand Cherokees and Wranglers, as well as European Chryslers such as the Lancia Thema and Voyager. Using a common engine reduces the number of parts dealers must stock, reduces mechanics’ increasingly high training load, and helps to keep service mechanics and engineers familiar with the design.
The Fiat sourced 3.0 V6 VM motori diesel that they are discussing as going in the Ram 1500 produce 241hp and 400ft-lbs of torque in other current applications and meets both european and us emission standards without urea injection...
If they are testing now, it's likely that the earliest we'd see a diesel half-ton offering (from ram at least) would be 2014 MY...
