OT New Dodge Diesel

Dodge is owned by Fiat and Fiat owns the company that makes the engine. So Fiat built it for Fiat and uses the Dodge name that they own.
 
Did a little research, pulled up "2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Review." The others are correct, the company is 50% owned by Fiat. They call it a "compacted graphite" block and a structural oil pan, (say what?). Sells for approx. $4500. extra and is only available with the 8 speed automatic.
NOW, wanna know who owns the other half of VM Motori? None other than General Motors! (I think we're in trouble already!)
 
The compacted graphite is the same material that the Ford 6.7 is made out of. I would assume it is the new standard. I would assume that they are using this design in Europe.

Guess this kind of leaves the Cummins fans adrift.
 
Fiat could and will mess it up. They have done it to just about every other line they have bought.

It surprises me that Cummins is still tied to Dodge/Fiat. An alliance with either Chevy or Ford would sell far more units.

While Dodge was owned by Daimler the parts availability was still fairly good for the older Dodge trucks. As soon as Fiat bought Dodge the older parts where dropped. (I have four first Generation Cummins in Dodge trucks)

I don't think that they will capture enough unit sales for the half ton diesel to last long. The option just is too costly for the non work truck market.
 
Fiat is sole owner of VMotori as of 10/28/2013.Fiat purchased other half for47.1 million dollars.Totally theres.
 
VM Motori is not some low level cheap crap company, they know their diesels and have a big rep (I sure hope they maintain their past). I would expect that they should be a good partner with chrysler and they have been in the past. The engine paired in the 1500's is not a tow master or torque monster engine. It has decent HP and TQ but its more to fill a void in power vs economy in a small truck chassis.

Sure they could have put a gutless 4cyl diesel in their to get 30 plus MPG, or they could have used a muscle flexed 6 or 8 cyl diesel to be the baddest 1/2ton on the market. Instead they decided to build a respectfully powered diesel with decent fuel mileage. It will definitely have the power and economy most people would want out of a 1/2er.
 
The Cummins is built in-house as well. Fiat owns Case. The B series Came about through a partnership between Case and Cummins, when Case was looking for a new engine for their construction equipment. You can also buy it with Iveco badging, but it has the timing case at the rear of the block instead of the front. It"s also been sold with a "Komatsu" tag on it.
Parts availability for the first-gens wasn"t that great before FixItAgainTony took over. Ever visit the Diesel Truck Resource Forums? If there"s a fix for a problem, or a way to substitute someone else"s part on them, someone there"s probably found it.
 
The "American" Dodge tried it with a 1/2 ton in
1978 with a 6 cylinder Mitsubishi. A big flop. I
assume this "Italian" Dodge 1/2 ton will be much
better and also cost a lot more.

There have been many 1/2 ton a lighter diesel SUVs
and trucks in the USA an so far - hardly anyone
wanted to buy one. And that was when diesel fuel
was cheaper then gas. Can't imagine wanting one
now. International Harvester offered a Scout with
a Nissan diesel. Ford offered it in the Ranger.
Chevy offered it in the S10 and full size 1/2 ton.
Jeep sold CJs with Perkins diesels in the 60s.

Hey if the Italians can make a better job of
building their Mopars - all the more power to
them. They can be any worse then the Fiat Spyder I
owned in the late 60s.
 
While I agree with everything you posted, Fiat and VM Motors are still Italian companies with Italian quality and engineering. I checked out the VM diesel that was in the Jeep Liberty and was not impressed. Mileage was just a little better than the 3.7 V6 and reliability was actually less.

This engine is definately not a 1/2 ton version of the Cummins - it is more like a desiel version of the 3.6 base engine.

When are they actually going to make this engine an option? Its not available right now.

http://www.ramtrucks.com/model-compare/quick-chart/?modelYearCode=CUT201413&
 
It ain't no 5.9L, 24 valve ISB built as a V6.

The " new four cylinder Duramax" ain't half of a LBZ either.
The 2.8L diesel four is the runt of the litter when Fiat wouldn't sell the V6 to GM and kept the V6 for Fiat Ram trucks.

Not that there has been an advantage to run a diesel in a light highway vehicle since diesel prices have risen to 30% over gasoline.
 
(quoted from post at 11:48:02 06/23/14) It ain't no 5.9L, 24 valve ISB built as a V6.

The " new four cylinder Duramax" ain't half of a LBZ either.
The 2.8L diesel four is the runt of the litter when Fiat wouldn't sell the V6 to GM and kept the V6 for Fiat Ram trucks.

Not that there has been an advantage to run a diesel in a light highway vehicle since diesel prices have risen to 30% over gasoline.

I saw a 1/2 ton Dodge at the Bobcat dealers and 2 guys were looking under the hood so I looked too. 3.5 v6 diesel and the guy ordered it 14 months ago. I sounded fairly quiet.
 
The Fiat engine is a 3.0 L (same size as the old Ford Taurus engine) not a 3.5.

The diesel gets 3 MPG more than the 5.3 gas in a Chevy and about the same as a Ford Ecoboost with a lot less HP than both.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-ram-1500-ecodiesel-v-6-first-drive-review

The 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 comes to these shores courtesy of VM Motori, a longtime Italian marine-diesel-engine builder and former affiliate of Fiat. Ownership is now, interestingly enough, split 50/50 between Chrysler/Fiat and General Motors. Yes, GM. Industry sources tell us that a version of the EcoDiesel was originally being developed for use in the Cadillac CTS, which makes sense, as any company that wants its luxury sedans to be taken seriously in Europe needs to offer an oil burner. The Caddy version bit the dust in GM’s 2009 march to bankruptcy, but today you can buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the engine. The Ram version driven here will be on offer by the end of the year, at an estimated $4000 upcharge over the base 3.6-liter Pentastar gas V-6 (or $2850 more than the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 option).
 
No, Bob I didn't "forget" the iron in CGI, I merely quoted from the article that I was reading from AutoGuide.com of Sept. 20, 2013. I was a bit curious about it myself until I someone posted another comment that mentioned the iron content. Shucks, when I read "compacted graphite" I got a little excited. Since graphite has lubricating qualities I though for a minute that they had developed an engine that required little or no oil, which would help this country wean itself from petroleum dependency! LOL
 
(quoted from post at 19:33:19 06/22/14) The compacted graphite is the same material that the Ford 6.7 is made out of...............
Guess this kind of leaves the Cummins fans adrift.

I'll just have to wait until 'compacted graphite' proves to be as good as cast iron :roll: Meanwhile - keep your Ford blinders on! :wink:
 

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