Most FE Pickups 2018

[gregsfc]

Side Notes: For whatever reason, there is no 2018 Ram Ecodiesel listed on fueleconomy.gov for 2018 MY at this time. However, the 2017 Ram Ecodiesel was recently relisted back on fueleconomy.gov as a 2017 MY, as their sales had been banned all year due to suspected emission compliance cheating. Now that they are back, they once again reign as the full-size pickup truck mpg champ. However, and this is significant, while Ford was able to edge up just a touch in the city rating with their top earner and their re worked 2.7L Ecoboost now mated with a 10-speed auto transmission, which moves them in a virtual tie for all gas-powered pickups sold in the U.S. not just full-size, the Ecodiesel saw a drop in both city and highway after emissions re certification. At the time of this writing, the 2.7L Ecoboost in std duty and 2WD equals the best Ram Ecodiesel for the city rating and falls only one in the highway and combined rating. This means as of now, the only power train that clearly stands above Ford's full-size truck with the 2.7L Ecoboost is GM's 4 cylinder diesel in the smaller mid-size truck, which best all F150s with both it's 2WD and 4WD entries, but with 144 less horsepower peak and 31 fewer peak ft-lbs than Ford's Ecoboost. Also interesting, F150 curb weight with the 2.7 starts only modestly higher than the smallest configuration one can obtain in one of GM's mid-size trucks with the 2.8 Duramax due to the fact that GM requires that one purchase at least a $36K crew cab with lots of option packages just to drive their diesel; whereas Ford requires nothing more than a $995 engine upgrade charge to their most basic work truck to drive their most economical truck.

I've adjusted the ranking system used at fueleconomy.gov and I've combined GMC and Chevrolet entries due to the fact that those power trains and trucks are always equal and therefore, assumed identical.

MY2018
1. Chevrolet/GMC Colorado/Canyon 2WD 6-spd auto 2.8 4 cyl diesel 22/30-25
181 hp / 369 ft-lb torque @ 2000 RPM
2. Chevrolet/GMC Colorado/Canyon 4WD 6-sped auto 2.8 4 cyl diesel 20/28-23
181 hp / 369 ft-lb torque @ 2000 RPM
3. (tie) Ford F150 2WD 10-spd auto 2.7 6 cyl turbo 20/26-22
325 hp @ 5000 RPM / 400 ft-lb torque @ 2750 RPM
3. (tie) Chevrolet/GMC Colorado/Canyon 6-spd auto 2.5 4 cyl Regular 20/26-22
200 hp @ 6300 RPM / 191 ft-lb torque @ 4400 RPM
3. (tie) Chevrolet/GMC Colorado/Canyon 6-spd manual 2.5 4 cyl Regular 20/26-22
4. Ford F150 2WD 10-spd auto 2.7 6 cyl turbo (LT tire) 20/25-22
325 hp @ 5000 RPM / 400 ft-lb torque @ 2750 RPM
5. (tie) Ford F150 6-spd 3.3 6 cyl Regular 20/25-22
290 hp @ 6500 RPM / 265 ft-lb torque @ 4000 RPM
6. Honda Ridgeline 6-sped 3.5 6 cyl Regular 19/25-22
who cares; unibody midsize, aerodynamic design that comes in 6th place for
U.S. pickups for FE is pretty impressive; but not favorably impressive.

Taking Ram Ecodiesel out of the 2017 ranking and putting that same rating in the 2018 rankings would move the 3.0 V6 Ecodiesel to 3rd place all alone and first place among full-size trucks, and then the next three entries would be tied for 4th place. We don't know, however, if FCA is going to try and rework and resubmit the Ram Ecodiesel for a possibly higher rating or leave it alone. I would think that would be very costly in an already very costly endeavor of this entire debacle.

3. (bumps above entries to #4) 2017 Ram 1500 2WD 8-spd 3.0 6 cyl diesel 20/27-23
240 hp @ 3600 RPM / 420 ft-lb @ 2000 RPM

Rumor has it that FCA is working in house and will have a new diesel in the 3.5-4.5 range in an inline configuration. It is suspected that this new design could and most-likely would replace the 3.0 4 cylinder diesel in the Pro Ram commercial van, and the 3.0 V6 in the Ram 1500.

I know that there are many naysayers out there when it comes to the worth of downsizing gas-powered engines and adding turbo charging and direct injection regarding real world mpg. I was skeptical and worried myself when I chose one back in 2015 (hoped to achieve at least 21 but have realized almost 24 commuting year around). After two years with this vehicle, I can say with certainty that my standard cab 2WD short bed with the 2.7 can absolutely achieve the highway rating of 26 and slightly exceed the city rating of 19. I'm not hypermiler. I average at least 5.5 more mpg than any full-size truck I've owned or driven regularly driving the same conservative style.

Moreover, GMs big push has been and likely will be cylinder deactivation of larger engines instead of Ford's strategy of downsizing and turbo charging. This strategy, will soon be enhanced with a new generation called dynamic skip fire, and while I feel this strategy is definitely worthy versus downsizing and turbo charging, it should be noted that it has the same pitfall as turbo charging. Delphi is claiming up to 15% improvement to a non cylinder deactivation system (it will be less for GMs trucks since they already employ a cylinder deactivation system); however, when one needs the power and torque, just like with a turbo that spools and gushes in fuel to the cylinders, the skip fire will stop skipping and they'll be the full displacement and firing going on rendering no mpg increase in those scenarios. The keys to better mpg all the time in all cycles for trucks is better aero and either diesel or electrification (either hybrid or full); but still these low-load techniques for fuel savings have value to most of us who drive or own pickups or SUV for a low cost add on, because most of us aren't working them hard a great percentage of the time, but still need/want a pickup for the times when we need it. Delphi says skip fire will add at or about $350 per unit of cost and even adding a 48 volt mild hybrid combined with DSF will be less costly than a diesel with similar fuel savings. In the future, we'll just have to pick which method we like or spend thousands more for a diesel or hybrid or just drive a gas guzzler if we drive trucks or big SUVs or vans. But that latter choice may soon not be a choice as CAFE limits ramp up.