Huge game changer for the small business type use of a pickup. The fuel savings would be impressive in a year or two of heavy use. It would also have tremendous range between fuel stops. The 420 ft lbs of torque more than adequate for almost any towing task.

This offering long overdue in the US market. Let's hope Ford, Toyota and GM follow suit.

What a contrast this vehicle is to the Audi cars presented in the previous article. I can imagine that most of the Ram trucks are used for normal commuting (not commercial use) with only the driver sitting in the car, as for the Audis. However, in this comparison, 60 mpg vs. 28 mpg (not to mention the 5.7-liter gasoline hemi engine) illustrates how much potential there would be if US customers would choose a somewhat more sensible option. Let´s hope that other car manufacturers will choose to compete with Audi instead of with this type of truck.

In Australia dual cab pickups have grown a lot in popularity and are used more and more as family cars. But nearly all are no bigger than the Chevy Colorado in size and most are powered by 4 cylinder turbo diesels. If someone has a business and they require something with more load carrying capacity then most opt for something like the Japanese cab over style trucks which without looking at numbers are likely to be more efficient than the big GM HD and Ford super duty trucks you have over there which would be comparable in load capacity.

Our cities and geographic distances are similar over here. I do wonder what would happen if the US were to bring down its 25% import tariffs on trucks. Would these types of pickups and trucks that we have here in Aus gain in popularity and eat into the sizeable market share of the big 3 or do the big 3 have too much of a loyal following with their pickups for that to happen?

To put this out in the open diesel engines sacrifice a fair amount of reliability and economy in city conditions. I the most wear and tear on the engine come from starting it stop and go driving is horrid on oil and transmissions especially the torque converter, first-third gear and cooling capability. People also have to remember the three F's fuel, fluids and filters auto parts stores are not correct unless they have corresponding patent numbers from the factory replacement. With restrictions from the EPA trucks are time to only idle for eight minutes before shutting down which is improper for adequate warming of the block and fluids a block heater is only to assist with starting. The current systems for emissions are overkill in my opinion with current technology and fuel quality capabilities the scr and dpf are too much too soon. The current design for the systems are meant for 10ppm sulfur content diesel the oil companies can reach 15ppm with +/- 8ppm accuracy with current technology.

I am a avid outdoors man and in strong support of clean air and water the big problem I have is the feasibility of the technology used I personally do not support clean diesel. The cost to consumer is outrageous I ended up selling my last truck to buy a older one because of the constant downtime and issues from the emissions system it was my third 08+ dpf,egr and scr equipped headache. I ended up making money versus losing money like many do this current truck I purchased in March '13 sold it January '14 ended up with three turbos and two engines in 20,359 miles. this was a 62k crew cab short bed loaded 3:55 electronic lock gears I did not expect to get stellar millage but better than 10-12 highway empty city was pitiful and 6-8 loaded highway. I pray that Ram did there homework to achieve reliability and efficiency while not having the issues the people in the three quarter ton/one ton market have on a daily basis.

People need to remember this is a half ton diesel not a HD version load ratings are very important to the safe travel. Tires are crucial 10 ply E load correct sizing for towing brakes better handles better under load lasts longer. Just because the person at the trailer store said it can tow it does not mean it can the trucks towing capacity is 9,200 subtract the vehicle(accessories, stuff inside the cab/bed) along with occupants. The next step is to add the trailers gross weight and its tongue weight lets say it has tongue weight percent of 10%-15% then add the tongue weight granted it has a class 5 hitch(1,000 vehicle tongue weight) to safely handle said tow. It would be a safe and very smart idea to ad a set of load assisting air bags to improve the ride and level the vehicle out to save the suspension.

I know that my personal truck it has a GVWR of 11,500 and can tow 23,500 with my goose neck trailer(19,000LB) with it fully loaded it safely handles the load. I have trailer brakes, air bags, traction blocks and front four link set up. I am very anal about maintenance and safety it boils down to what is designed for and maintenance.