Jalopnik: Cummins

2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Likely To Get Five-Liter Cummins Diesel Option

Mark Arnold — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Rumors have been swirling of a new smaller-displacement Cummins diesel for the 2010 Dodge Ram 1500. But until now, nobody had any idea exactly what size the new oilburner would be. According to a sticker spotted under the hood of a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500, the new diesel will displace five liters. What we find particularly funny is that the sticker specifies the air-conditioning refrigerant charge for each of the Ram's available engines, but all the engines have the same charge specification, so the sticker doesn't really need to specify engine displacement in the first place.

The heavy-duty Ram 2500 and 3500 are currently available (and evidently will continue to be) with a 6.7-liter straight-six Cummins diesel; the new five-liter mill should be for light-duty Rams, to go up against GM's 4.5-liter Duramax diesel, Ford's 4.4-liter diesel, and maybe even a diesel V8 from Toyota. Whether or not Chrysler will be sharing this engine with Nissan as they are with the Hemi remains to be seen. Let the diesel muscle truck wars begin!
[PickupTrucks.com]

Diesel Truck Pulling Laughs in Face of Fuel Economy

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:15:00 EST

You know, getting 72 mpg in our nice 2007 Honda Civic diesel was fun and all, but somehow this appeals to us a lot more. There's at least one of us that grew up with this sport of kings as regular Friday night entertainment. Modified trucks with solid suspensions, fat tires, oversized injectors, bus turbos, eight or nine hundred pound feet of torque. Sometimes we wish there was a word for Tim Allen's little man bark, but there just isn't. There's nothing quite so American as hearing a turbo spool up in the distance and then that screaming Cummins shakes your chest as it passes by on its way to a full pull. We need a cold Pabst and a long mullet.

Banks Sets the Record Straight

Mike Bumbeck — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:00:00 EDT

As the last chunks of salt are chipped off the race cars there is a post speed week battle forming. The SPAL Ford Powerstroke Rocket Ranger team is claiming the title of World's Fastest Diesel Pickup Truck. Gale Banks says this simply isn't true, stating that the Banks Engineering Cummins-powered Dodge Dakota Sidewinder still holds the official FIA World Record - set in 2002.

They have the national record, finally, at 215.091 but, the SCTA-BNI International and FIA (the acknowledged World record sanctioning body for motorsports, the Federation International d'Automobile) World's record are still held by our 'Banks Sidewinder Dakota' at 217.301. And know this, setting a World's record is more than one-way speed. To claim such a record, you must make runs in two directions over the surveyed mile within 60 minutes and do so under close FIA supervision and scrutiny.

Banks adds that the same record setting Dodge Dakota is not a trailer queen, having towed a loaded trailer and averaged over 23 miles per gallon on the 2005 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour. Talk of broken records and bragging rights has Banks thinking it may be time to revisit the long black line for more record runs.

The Spal guys have made it interesting, sounds like I might need to dust off the Sidewinder and get salty. The bragging rights over 'fastest' might sometimes be a blur at 200+ miles per hour, but the truth is not. That's why FIA World Records are so important, and that's why they're so important to keep straight.

The velocity battle, has evidently begun. [Banks Sidewinder via Bankspower.com]