Dodge has a new full-size Ram pickup on the streets. Well, at the dealership. Anyway, the fact that it’s a gas hog– albeit a slightly more efficient gas hog– won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone familiar with the breed. Of course, a Washington Post staffer is hardly likely to be a member of the genre’s core clientele– or at least admit as much to his chardonnay swilling compatriots. And yet the WaPo’s nominal car critic Warren Brown feels compelled– compelled I tell you– to devote virtually his entire Ram review to the behemoth’s fuel economy, or lack thereof. “Our 2009-model test truck came with the short cargo bed — five feet and seven inches long. Had we gotten one with the long cargo bed, eight feet, we could have distributed our cargo over a longer surface, thereby reducing its height. We would have gotten better mileage that way… It usually takes more energy to drive four wheels than it does to drive two, especially if much of that driving will be uphill, which was the case on the New York end of our trip. The upshot is that we burned regular gasoline at the disappointing rate of 15 miles per gallon on the highway, an egregious consumption accompanied by a total $225 fuel bill for a round trip of nearly 700 miles.” On the positive side, “Chrysler is whacking as much as 40 percent off Rams’ list price.” Uh, that’s LAST YEAR’S Ram, Warren. Well, for now.
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Saw an ad for 08 Silverados for 13900.
Schnikes. Can’t wait for the NADA value of trucks to be updated to reflect that.
Had we gotten one with the long cargo bed, eight feet, we could have distributed our cargo over a longer surface, thereby reducing its height. We would have gotten better mileage that way…
This is probably the most anal-retentive comment on fuel economy I have ever read (outside of a hypermiling thread). Does he mean the cargo was stacked above the cab height, or that he wishes the vehicle’s ride height were lower?
When do we get a TTAC review?
No diesel Ram? You are joking.
Unfortunately, those ad cars are just bait and switch. You go to the dealer and they tell you it already sold but they have another model exactly like that for 2-3k more. :/
Romanjetfighter>
The last time I looked at a pickup, there were SO MANY available, that they actually bought an out-of-business for dealers lot to handle the overflow.
They had the exact truck in stock about a week after advertising it at $12.5k + taxes, a 14k discount. It was the V6 dodge ram with a manual tranny but had some options like cruise controler, ac, and a few other items not really worth mentioning.
The recently advertised F-150 here for $9920 has a little star by it “111 available!”
I’d be surprised if they sell out here in Chicagoland.
I would guess that since he was getting 15 MPG highway that he was driving over 75 mph. Slow it down some and get 17-18.
I thought we had decided we weren’t going to give Warren Brown any more attention. He’s silly.
They have a diesel halfton in addition to 3/4 and 1-tons ready for the next generation. Fuel economy in vehicles tends to be best between 55mph and 60mph, but who really drives that slow?
we opted for modest Ram muscle, choosing the pickup with the 4.7-liter, 310-horsepower V-8
A more reasonable complaint would have been that there isn’t a “modest muscle” version available. How about a 3 liter six with a stick shift. Given a low/high gear range select, the high could be truly for on-road non-towing use.
So is the fuel consumption “egregious” compared to similar vehicles from other manufacturers? If a heavy-duty suspension, platform and a load of “high stacked” cargo were added to, say, a Toyota Corolla, how would the car’s gas mileage fare when driven just like the Ram?
Next up: Warren Brown evaluates the Aveo as a tow vehicle for mobile homes.
Jeez. Is there no adult supervision at the WaPo to edit the stuff their reporters turn in?
No diesels for the 1500s yet.
There’s a 3.7L V6 auto only but it doesn’t get any better mileage than either the 4.7L or 5.7L.
2wd gets 2 mpg better than 4wd
Can I impune the reputation of auto writers who don’t contribute to TTAC? I’d like to posit that Warren needs an addition to his Bethesda cape cod, or else needs to send one of his many daughters to graduate/medical school again. Maybe his assistant, Ria, needs to send her kid private school. Yes, I’m suggesting Detroit payola.
Why do we have such a Warren Brown jones? It’s really unbecoming. Pick on somebody your own size–Csaba, Sherman, Bedard, Jean who’s-she-married-now, that Jensen woman…
Which reminds me of the time on a Saab junket when they had brought a bunch of historic Saabs out of their charmingly simple “museum.” One was a 93 in which Eric Carlssen had won the Monte, and it had a big swiveling spotlight on the roof, controllable through a handle that simply extended down into the cabin. Also race numbers, sponsor decals, the lot.
Cheryl asked me what the deal was with “the Saab police car.”
“Chrysler is whacking as much as 40 percent off Rams’ list price.” Uh, that’s LAST YEAR’S Ram, Warren.
They will be knocking 45% of the 2009s soon.
4 wheel drive uses more fuel than 2 wheel drive. Gee, I didnt know that. He needed to shift the transfer case in september? Is it already snowing in NY where his daughter ( thanks dad, you made reference to me in the paper! Wait till I show my friends!) lives, or was the hill so steep the rear tires, even with a full load began to spin and smoke furiously up hill? Nerd.
Hmm….now that we’ve established that the new Dodge Ram isn’t a Toyota Prius, wonder if we can now have an intelligent discussion as to why a prospective buyer should consider the Ram on his/her shopping list. In terms of pithy insight, germane dialogue, critical evaluation, and worthiness of recommendation, I’m guessing that about 47 car reviews by Mr. Brown might be equivalent to one review by USA Today’s Jim Healey.
Beating up on Warren Brown is a bit like kicking a midget. It’s been pretty obvious for many years that Brown has modest potential — and always will. However, we’re not talking about the Bloom County Breeze here. The Washington Post is supposed to be one of the top newspapers in the country.
Well, at least in the good old days of Woodstein. Over the last decade that paper has gone downhill in its political coverage, and its editorial page can be strikingly lame. So why not equal opportunity in the automotive section?
A darkly amusing aspect of journalism is that kicking midgets could plausibly be viewed as a public service. Carry on, lads.
We got 15mpg trailering a 4000lb+ load one way on a 300 mile trip in my Dad’s 2007-ish GMC 2500HD shortbed with the Duramax at an average speed of 70mph. On the way there with just the trailer, we got 20mpg. We paid about 30 bucks both ways for fuel… but it was homebrew veggie with additives.
15mpg for a big V8 gasoline-powered Dodge isn’t that bad I guess.
My wife just reminded me not to call people names, so I had to erase what I initially wrote. I guess Warren Brown has little experience with trucks. This class of truck is going to get gas mileage in the mid-teens, plain and simple. If you drive it hard, you’ll get even less mileage. I am surprised he did not know this. Maybe he has never driven such a vehicle. With this size vehicle, its towing capacity and 4 wheel drive, mid to upper teens is pretty good. Chevy is to be praised for getting into the low 20s with its half ton v8 pickup. One of these manufacturers needs to produce an inexpensive diesel option. With the high price of diesel and the premium payed for the motor, the gas mileage improvement is neutralized. But if you need this type of vehicle, they are getting better and better mileage. That’s the price of bananas, Warren.
Well, 15 MPG out of Warren’s 2009 beats the hell out of the 11 MPG babied MPG outta the 2005 4.7 Ram quad rental I had a couple of years back.
They really should put a diesel plant in this beast. A friend of mine has a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 that gets more than 24 mpg off of a 6.1 liter! Thats pretty impressive.
So I think the 1500 should have the option of a diesel.
And it surprised me at first to learn that the truck had a 5 pot inline engine and not a V-8. That means each cylinder’s capacity is MORE than 1 liter!
Sacr’e bleau!
Let’s see: full size 4wd loaded pickup gets worse fuel mileage than an Aveo.
Clay Aiken is gay
Real estate prices don’t continue to go up forever
Wall Street execs think they should continue to receive mega salaries at the taxpayers’ expense
Water is wet
And the days are getting shorter
I can’t stand this constant barrage of surpising news
And it surprised me at first to learn that the truck had a 5 pot inline engine and not a V-8. That means each cylinder’s capacity is MORE than 1 liter!
So what did they have to do to make it run? Dual spark plugs? Does it ping like crazy? Am thinking of several 80s cars we had and of a Kia I listened to in traffic this morn.
That’s a big piston for a frame front to race across each time the piston gets to TDC. I am assuming that the piston is a large diameter and that the stroke is not greater than that of a Massey-Ferguson tractor.
Oh, and Lindsay Lohan is apparently gay too. I totally get that though. I mean I’ve been a lesbian trapped in a man’s body all my life. Look at what I drive…
Of course my wife hates that joke, especially when we’ve put the kids to bed, nothing good is on TV and we’re eying each other in that “special” way. :)
Yeah, yeah my jokes are getting worse. Back to work I go.
frame front = flame front
The Cummins is a 6 cylinder
Diesels have no spark plugs
Cat makes a 15 Liter inline 6
Engines for ocean going ships can be made up to 25000 liters.
Do a search for worlds largest engine
Yep I know all that except I missed the fact that it is a diesel. Thanks for setting me straight.
Yes, was in the Navy. We had six very large diesels on board our ship. Two for generating electricity (were “mine” as an electrician and four for racing submarines.