2020 Ram EcoDiesel packs 480 lb-ft of torque
by
Patrick Rall on June 10, 2019 at 10:00 am EDT
FCA announced this morning that the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 will return to the
Ram 1500 later this year and when it arrives, it will offer 260 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque. That is more torque than any other small diesel truck engine offered in the US market, but more importantly, with the ability to tow 12,560 pounds, the third generation EcoDiesel is the most capable diesel-powered pickup in the half-ton segment.
“The new Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is America’s most powerful half-ton diesel pickup, following up on Ram’s Heavy Duty torque leadership and achieving what no other manufacturer has, with up to 480 lb.-ft. of torque in a 3.0-liter engine,” said Reid Bigland, Head of Ram Brand. “
The all-new EcoDiesel engine and our eTorque mild-hybrid powertrain technologies deliver the highest available fuel efficiency for our Ram 1500 customers.”
Third Generation EcoDiesel
The 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 that will power the 2020 Ram 1500 is heavily revised and as a result, the company is calling it the third generation of the young engine. The early EcoDiesel stacked up awards as one of the best options in the US truck market before the all of the diesel controversies swept across the industry, forcing FCA to stop offering it. Since then, engineers worked to make sure that it meets all of the pointless EPA requirements and in the process, they created a much stronger engine.
Compared to the second generation EcoDiesel, the engine coming for the 2020 Ram 1500 includes a new water-cooled turbocharger with a variable geometry turbine, redesigned cylinder head intake ports, a revised
exhaust gas recirculating system, a higher compression ratio (now 16.5 to 1), redesigned direct injection fuel nozzles, new lightweight aluminum pistons, a new two-piece oil sump system and a new dual vacuum pump system. These changes reduce NVH levels and improve efficiency, leading to a cleaner-running engine that just-so-happens to produce quite a bit more power than the previous iteration of the EcoDiesel.