GM's ancient 6.0L Vortec whoops up on the 6.4L HEMI.

galliher_nc · October 13, 2014

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It’s not every day that TFLtruck gets an opportunity to compare similarly configured trucks, with the same load, and under conditions. The 2014 Ram 2500 HD Crew Cab 4×4 Big Horn you see here is $210 more expensive than the 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD we recently tested.

We had the same load behind both trucks. We adjusted the bed weight to compensate for the absence of Emme Hall, and the final weigh-in showed that the Ram and Chevy were within 100 pounds of each other for the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW).

The weather was about the same. It was 72F during the Ram test, which was three degrees cooler than during the Chevy test."

"Even the rear-axle ratio was the same on both truck at 4.10. The big 6.4L HEMI V8 is the most powerful gasoline engine you can get in the Ram HD. It produces 410 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque. It’s backed up by the 6-speed automatic transmission.

The stage was set for the closest, most apples-to-apples HD truck comparison. However, the result was surprising. Check the data and the video below."

http://www.tfltruck.com/2014/10/2014-ram-2500-hd-6-4l-hemi-vs-6-0l-chevy-ike-gauntlet-hd/

MikeNH · October 13, 2014

Interesting. I couldn't sit through another 30 minute video to see if the Chevy slowed down as much but despite their claims the engine shifted to too-low an RPM the Chevy clearly does better.

kstruckcountry · October 13, 2014

Must be the mirrors.

Carder09 · October 14, 2014

They needed to stack and triple flip the mirrors to activate the extra 100hp/tq tow mirror mode. If TFL actually knew what they were doing once in a while, jeez!

Jon A · October 14, 2014

That was sad. I haven't seen any actual power curves from this engine, but if it's anywhere near where it's rated it should have done better than that. If there was something wrong with it putting it into power saving mode for some reason, you'd think a check engine light would have illuminated. That said, the 6.0 wasn't very impressive either.

I really want to know how this truck passed the tests of SAE J2807 with that load. After seeing the GM test I doubted it would pass, but the Ram was so pathetic there's no way in hell it could pass with that load.

While the Davis Dam portion of that test is at lower elevation, it's at 100+ degrees so it's not much easier. I don't think either truck could keep that load above 40 MPH in such a test. They'd fail. The GM doesn't claim to be rated for it but the Ram does. What gives?