Upcoming small diesel from Dodge and Cummins to be a 5.0L V8?
It appears as if they small-bore diesel wars are set to swing into full motion come next year. We already know about the 4.4-liter Ford diesel V8, which comes from Ford's Euro side, and the 4.5-liter Duramax V8 from the General. Now, we find that the upcoming 2010 Dodge Ram - rumored to get a small-bore oil-burner of its own - may very well come with an optional 5.0-liter V8 from Cummins. This revelation comes courtesy of Mike Levine and his minions over at PickupTrucks.com who noticed an underhood sticker for the proper refilling of refrigerant on the air-conditioning unit. It takes real dedication to notice such a thing, but it has definitely paid dividends this time. Along with what is sure to be a fairly sizable increase in cost, the smaller-displacement diesel engines should each offer well over 500 lb.-ft. of torque along with a 25-percent improvement in fuel consumption. That's what we like to hear.
[Source: PickupTrucks.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Graylion 5:48AM (9/12/2008)
*rubs eyes* 5 l = small bore? I'd apply that to a 1.3 L Diesel engine but then I'm European ....
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GoRealSlow 6:10AM (9/12/2008)
I don't see why they're assuming a V-8. The 6.7L I-6 is an old engine which has a kid brother in an I-4 version. While it's currently a 4.5L it wouldn't be hard to bump up the displacement a bit.
Back when Dodge introduced their Cummins diesel pickups I was working in agriculture. The International tractors we had at the time used the same 6.7L I-6 - tuned a bit differently, but the block/castings/accessory brackets were the same. The I-4 version used in smaller equipment also shared the same castings and accessory brackets. This came in handy one day when we needed a water pump and just robbed one off the six cylinder to keep operating that day.
Being able to share parts between two motors would be good for costs and dealer parts inventories. So since going with the I-4 in a half ton seems the way to go to me I'm sure they'll go with a V-8 instead.
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Dark 9:20AM (9/12/2008)
I was really laughing when I saw this: Small engine of 5L.You people must be kidding. A 3L BMW engine has 284HP, and most of the small tracks do with 2Lit engines WITHOUT any problem. When you people from US Auto industry going to wake-up: 5L is too big. Everything bigger is just ridiculous. PLease dear friends from US,surf on European car manufacturers sites and check the engines they offer here. The only thing I love in US regarding cars are your prices: Sometimes 3 times less than what we pay. Cheers, electric is coming anyway.
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JamesWB 9:59AM (9/13/2008)
Have fun towing a heavy trailer with that engine.
mroverlord 10:46AM (9/12/2008)
Actually, I recently had a conversation with a Cummins corporate program mananger. The 5.xL Diesel is intended to replace the 6.7L in the 2500/3500 trucks (not sure about the 4500/5500). There IS a V6 version of this same engine also in development that is in the 4.xL range, and that is intended for the 1500s as I understand it.
Dark - understand your perception deficiet, but our diesels are used to tow things like backhoes, small dozers, and used as multi-car haulers...things that would just kill a 2L powered truck.
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GoodCheer 1:29PM (9/12/2008)
"our diesels are used to tow things like backhoes, small dozers, and used as multi-car haulers...things that would just kill a 2L powered truck."
I guess they don't have any of those things in Europe. I wonder how they build roads and buildings?
Dark 7:13PM (9/12/2008)
Hi,please don't trust me anything,but please surf on European carmakers sites and read around. Could be eye opener(mind too probably). And yes, we do tow things around. I don't believe US car makers weren't capable doing efficient engine.Its more that they didn't had to scratch their heads that much as marketing sells could sell anything.Plus the petrol was dirty cheap not like here.I pay 7.4USD per US gallon. And thinking going electric as soon as possible. I understand that there are the people who needs big cars(trucks) for their EVERYDAY life,but everybody else: Be responsable !
AlexStelling 12:17AM (10/02/2008)
They tow things in Europe, just not near the size trailers that we have in the US. No 40-50 foot large fifth wheel trailers, he is talking small trailers. Of course, if it's a 5L twin turbo V10 diesel Volkswagen Touareg or a 6L biTurbo V12 Mercedes, it's ok for these Europeans, but if it's a large utility pickup truck with the same size engine, and used to haul stuff for small businesses and farming, then it's "too big". But as long as your gas guzzler is used for racing down the autobahn, it seems to be acceptable.
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Greg 7:01AM (12/28/2008)
"A 3L BMW engine has 284HP, and most of the small tracks do with 2Lit engines WITHOUT any problem."
-Dark
I read this same type response every time there is an article about a new power plant for a full-size pickup. Although I too feel that many of our pickups and worthless SUVs are over powered, it is incorrect to assume that you can take an engine designed for a car, apply it to a pickup, tune it up to get maximum horsepower, and expect that engine to last.
A 3.0 I6 from BMW would last about two days tuned up to 286 hp on a full-size American truck, towing trailers for hundreds of miles at a time.
Case in point... The 3.0 V-6 BlueTec engine from MB gets 215 hp in one car and three, regular-duty SUVs, but when that engine is applied to the 3/4-1 ton Sprinter, it is tuned down to only 154 hp. This is done so that the engine can last for hundreds of thousands of miles working hard.
When you're comparing the performance per liter in cars, please don't compare that vehicles that are designed for work. If we could do this, then all our pickup would have 800 hp with these 5-liter-plus V-8s under the hoods.
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Greg 6:59AM (12/28/2008)
Things must have really changed over the last two years. It was originally reported that Cummins was working on two diesels for the 1/2-ton pickup and below market. These engines were said to be a 4.2 V-6 and a 5.6 V-8. Even Cummins themselves acknowledged that they were designing two smaller diesels for 8500 GVWR and below and that their main customer would be Chrysler. The current Dodge Ram, 24-valve, Cummins diesel, with the 6.7 I6, is in only the 8501 GVWR and above. Putting diesels in less than 8501 trucks will be a game changer.
Of course, many speculate that these smaller V-8s coming out from all three domestics may be used as a base diesel for their 3/4 and 1-ton platforms. It's not that they'll replace the larger diesels (6.7 I6, 6.4 V8, and 6.6 V8, respectively), but that they will complement them.
Personally, I would like to see some more moderate choices for those of us who want a full-size pu but need only 1/2-ton duty with great fuel economy. For this, an engine in the 3.5-4.2, six cylinder range would be perfect. We could expect an acceptable, 250 hp and 430 foot lbs of torque, which is really all one needs if he or she wants a true, 1/2-ton pickup.
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