Ram’s exterior look: Everyone knows it’s the best looking truck out there… next.

Ram interior: I have NO IDEA where you got the idea that this interior is mediokre. This is the nicest truck interior (followed closely by the F-150) on the market today. You complain about storage areas inside and poor control locations etc. I found that this truck’s layout inside is both tough (required for a Ram) yet elegant and luxurious. Everything is located incredibly well and is easy to operate. It looks incredible inside and everything feels wonderful. I also admire Dodge’s attention to customer needs, which is storage. What do you want them to say? “Sorry for being convenient?” Storage options do not bother any functionalities of the truck and are wonderful.

Hemi: Ward’s 10 best engine award winner for many consecutive years… it is an incredible piece of machinery, at least you recongnize that.

LOL

The ‘09 Ram is great truck, and Chrysler will survive and thrive!!

I’ve only seen one of those ‘66 T-birds with a 428. Sadly, it had been turned into a rappermobile…lowered suspension, huge low profile tires the whole works. Ugh.

I couldn’t agree more; domestic automakers produced some (key word: “some”) beautiful designs in the Sixties.

Unfortunately, you don’t see this kind of distinction in Detroit’s vehicles today – you see (mostly) copycat styling with the occasional retro-themed design.

Dynamically, though, too many of today’s domestic offerings are more similar to their 1960’s counterparts than they are to the best vehicles built today: drive a ‘68 and ‘08 Mustang back-to-back – they have WAY too much in common in the ride and handling department.

This is very frustrating for guys like me who truly want to see Detroit succeed. I’d love to see today’s equivalent of the “speed-stopped-in-steel” design of Ford’s 1960’s Thunderbirds (which the 2002-2005 “Retro-Bird” was absolutely not), but I know the driving dynamics would never live up to the styling. If it looks as fast as an F-22 Raptor, it damn sure ought to corner like a Bimmer, not like a mass-market rental car.

It’s also incredibly depressing to compare a car like that with what passes for today’s automotive styling.

No idea where I exactly came up with it. People saying stuff I guess. I’ve heard some negative things about the Northstar and L47 with oil issues, while not much but glowing praise for Vortecs and LSx engines. I never said that it was a well-educated impression, just what I’ve always thought.

I brought up the 3800 just because I owned a L27 version in a Pontiac Bonneville that stayed in very good condition (no major oil leaks I noticed) up to 178000 when I sold it. I probably just got lucky with it since I was bad at maintaining it.

No, I didn’t have access to any diesels, 2008 or 2009 (but honestly, just off idle, the Hemi felt every bit as torquey as the 2009 Ford F-250 Power Stroke I recently reviewed – mega torque, even under 1,000 RPM).

dougw:

“Ramboxxx.” That’s great!

You’re right, I shouldn’t explain myself so much as I know I’ll never please everyone (nor am I trying). But it is interesting to find out I was at least partially right about what I thought looked a little out of place. (I guess it’s kind of like a joke…if you have to explain it…). Thanks for the good advice (I’ll take it) and the encouragement.

“Ramboxxx”

By the way, the criticism about the use of the German word was over the top. I don’t think you should waste the time explaining yourself over something so petty. If you didn’t try to make a review a bit different there would be complaints about it being B O R I N G. Shake it off and keep exploring your creative side. And keep writing. Nobody knows how hard it is to write a TTAC submission of any type (the Big Red Letters of Robert hurt, man!) until they have tried it themselves. Then after publication comes the attack of the BABs (best and brightest). Keeping in the spirit…isn’t it “Sturm and Drang?!” (So sue me…achtunnggg!!!)

Anyway, keep on keeping on. We all suffer together.

Anyway, I wanted to know if you drove a diesel version?

That’s an excellent question, Mirko!

I did it for exactly three reasons:

#1) I’ve noticed the same thing (how TTAC writers tend to use the occasional German word in German vehicle reviews) and I just thought it would be kind of funny/satirical to slip one in a review of a domestic pickup. (And Robert left it in.)

#2) It’s probably a safe bet that Daimler’s pre-Cerberus influence (i.e. the firm’s willingness to produce vehicles with lots of technology) probably found its way into Hemi powertrain development at some point during the process.

#3) Honestly, at the time I wrote it, I couldn’t think of anything better than “everything but the kitchen sink” for that part of the review, and in a vain attempt to avoid a cliche, I decided to work in a little German lingo as per reasons #1 and #2.

Even though I still think it’s a decent word choice, I’ll admit that it always looked and sounded funny when I read it.

My lesson: If I notice it, you guys will notice it.

Thanks for mentioning it…I’ll keep my eyes out in the future for things that just don’t quite fit.

I understand that TTAC writers like to spread random German words in reviews of German cars, but why here?

This impression of yours came from???

As someone who’s owned four Ford SOHC 4.6 2-valves (and one DOHC 4-valve), I can tell you that all of them leak oil like crazy around the oil filter adapter (where the adapter mates to the block) beginning at approximately 120,000 miles.

I’m less familiar with the GM 3800, but I know I’ve seen them leaking around the timing chain cover and the oil pan gaskets at not much more than 100,000 miles.

But honestly, virtually all engines will ultimately leak oil. I merely wanted to point out – using a highly-probable hypothetical situation – the likely irrelevance of Dodge’s “lifetime” warranty in extreme situations. Like I said, I just don’t see that warranty as a significant selling point given its limitations.

You’re destroying my worldview here. I’ve always lived with the impression that the DOHC domestic engines were the ones with oil problems, while the OHV and SOHC ones were relatively problem-free.

What about the GM 3800 or Ford 4.6 2-valve?

Well, you’ve piqued my interest. Now I’ve got to buy something with a pushrod V8 truck engine with over 180K miles to test this oil thing out.

Why is it that American Automakers can show consistent, competent improvements in their most banal vehicles, even mid-cycle, then bother to design and produce niche vehicles having great potential to win hearts and expand markets only to let them wither on the vine?

What’s going on with the Solstice, 300, and well… I can’t think of a Ford product that fits this criteria, so I guess they’re doing something right ;) Don’t get me started about Lincoln/Mercury though.

My example was hypothetical, but try to find any honest-to-God, non-rebuilt, domestic pushrod V8 truck engine that isn’t leaking terribly out of the rear main seal (or oil pan gasket, or valve cover gaskets, or oil filter adapter gasket, etc.) at 180,000 miles. When the amount of oil you have to add each week becomes proportional to how much gas you’re putting in the thing (which you’ll do because the problem’s ofen not worth fixing and oil is relatively cheap), it doesn’t take too much of an oversight to ruin the engine via oil starvation (I’ve seen people do this with older vehicles…a lot).

So, no actual research for this prophecy, just an expectation based on lots of personal experience with many high-mileage domestic V8’s.

Don Gammill’s words are prescient, assuming the current Ram is anything akin to the late models. At least the slushbox no longer explodes at 15000 miles (as our ‘98 model did).

“if your truck has 180,000 miles and oil is pouring out of the rear main seal (which it almost certainly will be).”

References? Is this a known defect or are you being prophetic?

I think I recall reading that Ford may have shelved the mid-sized “F-100″ concept due to the fact that they felt they could hit that truck’s fuel mileage targets with the current full-size pickups (by focusing on powertrain development, which would be cheaper than a whole new platform).

Personally, I think manufacturers should either make light-duty full-size trucks slightly smaller or re-invest in small trucks, making them slightly larger.

rudiger:

My Thunderbird appreciates your kind words. FYI, in the old T-Bird community (I still have mine, BTW), here are the commonly-accepted designations:

‘58-’60: Square Birds
‘61-’63: Bullett Birds
‘64-’66: Flair Birds (yes, the ‘66 is a little cooler because it was available with the big 428, but I’ll take my 390 any day of the week).

NickR:

I love my 600 CFM Autolite 4100 four-barrel, but words can’t describe how I’d like to choke the cheap SOB who ordered my car for not coughing up an extra $136 for the tri-power intake. On the other hand, two different people have told me that those cars averaged SIX MILES PER GALLON (40% less than my 4V).