The rest were not even close. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Feb. 21, 2016 2016 RAM 1500 - $31,610 to start in Tradesman work truck trim including the 3.0L EcoDiesel while offering owners a 21/29 mpgUS city/highway rating. The 2016 RAM 1500 with 3.0L EcoDiesel has been named winner of PickupTrucks.com’s Texas Truck Showdown Max MPG fuel economy challenge. The 2016 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel beat out three other competitors, including the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with the 5.3L V8, 2015 Ford F-150 with the 2.7L EcoBoost V6, and the Toyota Tundra with the 4.6L V8 thanks to its segment leading efficiency. The 21/29 mpgUS rated 2016 Ram 1500 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 handily buried Ford’s most fuel efficient pickup in the form of the 19/26 mpg rated 2015 F-150 2.7L EcoBoost V6. Another interesting component is the 16/22 mpgUS rated 2016 Chevrolet Silverado bested the Ford by taking second! The Test PickupTrucks.com put the four trucks through - both an unloaded and 1,500 pounds of cargo - twice on a 120-mile drive loop in and around the Houston area. They rotated drivers so that each person drove each truck one time on each loop. All four trucks stayed together as much as possible, adhering to all posted speed limits. When filling the test trucks, they used the same fuel station, the same pump and the same double-click-filling method. They f'ed up pretty badly on this one as we all know how FUBAR that method is. Each truck was filled at the beginning and end of the loop. All the pickups were driven with all the windows up, A/C on while Cruise control, Eco modes and stop-start were off. Most of the drive loop was completed on open highways with the results heavily biased toward EPA highway fuel-economy figures. They ran the second loop with each truck going in the opposite direction of the first loop, using the same roads and highways to avoid Houston's morning and evening rush-hour congestion. The Trucks The Results A hit with customers, sales of the RAM 1500 with 3.0L EcoDiesel are 15 percent of the nameplate’s retail performance. We took the 2016 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel to over 11,000’ and LA to Denver without refueling immediately following the PUTs.com test. Here was the first of hundreds of peaks in Utah and Colorado. When equipped with the 3.0L EcoDiesel or 3.6L V6 Pentastar with standard Auto Start-Stop, the RAM 1500 4x2 has best-in-class EPA estimated fuel economy ratings of 21/29 mpgUS city/highway (EcoDiesel) and 17/25 mpgUS city/highway (Pentastar) respectively. These two easily best the Ford 2.7L EcoBoost and Chevrolet 4.3L V6 in real world driving. The 3.0L EcoDiesel produces 240 hp and 420 lb.-ft. of torque with a maximum payload rating of 1,510 pounds and maximum tow rating of 8,240 or 9,210 pounds with the std. 3.55 or optional 3.92 rear differential respectively. In the case of driving an EcoDeisel around Central Utah, which truck would you rather drive? As an addition, most here have already followed our drive in this exact same truck that won the mpg challenge between Los Angles and Denver without refueling. This 1,012 mile trek was completed in mid-Winter with temps ranging from 80 degrees F in LA to 8 degrees F at the Vail Pass in Colorado. This drive included the climb from a few hundred feet to over 11,000 at the Eisenhower tunnel with a finish at 5,400 when I filled up just outside the Denver airport. Again, which truck would you rather drive?
The tundra was decimated with just a 1500lb load. But the f-150 did a little better vs the Silverado.
Hi Mike: Yes it did. The point being is the F-150 was equipped with the 2.7L and a 3.31 ratio, the most efficient offering in the test and even the lower rated Silverado 5.3L V8 beat it in the unloaded test and nearly did in the loaded one. PUTC never did really explain with happened with the higher loaded tests. Only the Tundra showed its true colors when loaded. Wayne
This is where diesel shows its true colors in a truck that is meant to work. It is just simply better in all aspects except for possibly maintenance due to how much oil, etc. that they carry.
I have repeated this many times Pups has made it clear he is a mopar Pups- I can tell from his expression! Our/your 60 mph fuel economy test here gave us a hint that the 2.7 Turbo Ford was going to be "a disappointment"-it was beaten by the RAM TD then 20 mpg to 24mpg And that was the HUMONGOUS 6.7 TD CUMMINS in a 7800 lb 1 ton 4wd truck Once again-just like 1980's-turbo spark motors-don't deliver FE-
