For 2013, Ram brought out a new line of gasoline powertrains, coupling the efficient if expensive eight-speed automatic to the Hemi and Pentastar, while keeping the 4.7 V8 going for another year. The move leapfrogged Ford's vaunted gas-mileage figures, but they are just the first step in going for the "low running costs" crown.
A Ram 1500 diesel has been rumored for years, along with an F-150 diesel and Silverado 1500 diesel; our contacts told us a new Cummins V-engine had already been fitted into the Ram, tuned, and packaged. It was, in short, ready to go years ago, just awaiting Chrysler's command, but money suddenly disappeared, then the economy crashed at the end of 2008; at that point truck sales fell, and gas prices plummeted, making a light-duty diesel pickup a much less worthy risk. All the Big Three put entry-level diesel trucks onto the back burner.
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