I find I buy trucks first by what engine they have and then by brand. I will now have to at least look at the new Nissan even though I hated them in the past. I really want the 1500 with the 5.0 cummins. Of course I own a 30 year old 1/2 ton Toyota Diesel p/u (also own a Durango, Dakota, PT Cruiser, and Ford van.

 

Majority probably will not if prices are equal; however, if the price is significantly (which it probably will be), it could cause some to defect due to Cummins's strong reputation. If a Titan had the 5.0L Cummins for say $8K less than the Ram, you have to admit that it would be tempting for some.

 

I am on multiple Dodge forums with guys driving everything from 2013 crewcabs to Cummins 4bt converted 49 Power wagons and most all agree its a huge mistake to let Nissan stirke a deal for the 1/2 ton diesel segment. Cummins and dodge have a long realtionship that saved the truck division from extinction in the 90s. Why the Chrysler has no ability to look back and see what they are made of boggles my mind. hiring too many business school graduates with clean fingernails? anyone who is paying attention would have know that Fiat built things are just not repsected in the US> look at the predictable dismal sales of the fiat 500. When shopping for a 1/2 ton diesel many will say "votto motori? who the hell is that? I'll go buy the Cummins Nissan." I dont think there is enough loyalty to keep a whole seegment of buyers with an italian diesel. If it were up to me I would be onthe phone with cummins today looking into buying the commercially available version of the Cummins 5.0 and striking a deal so they could be put in the Ram 1500. this is as bad as dropping the Dodge name from the trucks. All that being said I believe the Ram trucks currently are the toughest thing onthe market.

 

oh i completely agree. if there is that much of a price gap then i can imagine its going to open up a whole new market for people who normally could not afford to go out and buy a cummins. and these days everyone and their cousin wants one just so they can go blow black smoke. however, i cant imagine that a titan with a cummins is going to be quite as beefy as the 2500/3500 ram truck series. that being said i think anyone actually buying the truck for their intended purposes (heavy towing,etc.) is going to spend the extra money on the bigger, beefier Ram. the cummins titan will definitely sell but i just dont see it being a heavy duty work horse as the cummins powered rams are. Not sure if its fair to compare them on the same levels

 

I don't think that Nissan is aiming this for the 2500/3500 market being that this engine does not produce anything close to what the current Diesels do. I think this is a way to add credibility to their truck in the 1500 market by offering diesel that produces more torque than any other truck in that category while getting potentially better fuel economy than the equivalent gas powered V8s.

 

very good point. should be interesting to say the least. ive never been a huge fan of the titans but i can only imagine that this new cummins powered titan is going to be better than dodges new eco diesel 1500s

 

We have a Titan at work as a company truck. Cheaply built and the performance is disappointing for a smaller truck with a V8 vs my 08 Hemi quadcab Ram. They a topper on it and the bed is so flimsy that the topper constantly bangs against the 3rd brake light. I was highly disappointed after driving it.

 

Will it be better for towing? I would be shocked if it wasn't considering that you are talking about 550ftlbs of tq and 300 hp vs. 420 ft-lbs of tq and 240 hp, but realize that these two reflect two very different strategies.

The VM Motori Diesel is intended to offer a compromise between fuel economy and tq. The advantage that this engine offers is it produces similar tq compared against the gas V8s while getting much better fuel economy than anything else in this class by a long shot. This will be sufficient for most customers whom want a 1500 truck as the towing if memory serves correctly is 9200 lbs (the same as the previous gen Hemi) and theoretically being that it is a small V6 would not be as expensive an upgrade as a V8 Cummins.

The V8 Cummins would be more a contender against the HD gas engines (Ford's 6.2L, GM 6.2L, Dodge's 6.4L V8) which will produce much more tq than any of those while in theory getting much better mileage than those, it has the reputation of Cummins (whether or not it will live up to that reputation time will tell). The theoretical, potential disadvantage of this powertrain is it will most likely cost much more than the VM Motori will, it probably won't get as good as the VM Motori while producing more tq than is truly needed in this class (though in truth most people get far more engine than they need in most cars, that is what is wonderful about America).

The way I see it is these engines both have their respective purpose in the market. The VM Motori is for people whom want a truck that gets good fuel mileage and has mid level V8 towing capacities. The Cummins is for people who want more tq than the biggest gas V8 and probably better fuel economy.

Truthfully, I don't have a problem with Dodge choosing the path they did, I just wish they would have stuck with a Cummins sourced engine due to their reputation and think that if this proves to be a success, I hope this will mean they will consider getting the V8 Cummins in addition to their EcoDiesel as well. I think there is room for both of these engines and look forward to seeing how this plays out.