Cummins vs. Bottled Hemi in Ram Duel: Track Time Tuesday

Ram Heavy Duty showcases the big torque advantage, walking away from the smaller truck.

While the Ram brand hasn’t offered up the Hellcat-powered half-ton or a reasonable replacement for the old Viper-power pickups, the brand formerly known as Dodge Trucks has offered the R/T package off and on for those looking for a modern sport truck. If you want a stock go-fast truck, the modern 1500 R/T is the best option, but with some key upgrades, a Heavy Duty model with a Cummins Turbo Diesel can offer comparable performance.

In fact, this week’s Track Time Tuesday video shows us that with these key upgrades, a heavier Cummins Ram will comfortably out-spring the smaller Ram R/T. This clip comes from the Frostbite Ram YouTube channel, which is the home of this modified R/T, yet in this clip, the host doesn’t come away victorious.

Ram 1500 and Heavy Duty

The competitors in the video above are a fourth generation Ram 1500 R/T and a third generation Ram Heavy Duty. The R/T is powered by the 5.7-liter Hemi and it rear-wheel-drive while the HD in the near lane has the 5.9-liter Cummins Turbo Diesel. In stock form, the smaller, newer truck with gas power would have an advantage, but neither truck is stock.

The Ram R/T has long mod list which includes a Jay Greene camshaft, cat delete, a Nitrous Express nitrous oxide system with 100-horsepower jets and a Jay Greene tune. In this video, the R/T has the stock 22-inch wheels.

The Heavy Duty truck in the near lane has a custom twin turbo setup, a tune and a smaller wheel-and-tire combo. It also has four-wheel-drive, but while it is considerably heavier than the R/T, it is sure to have loads more torque than the bottled Hemi.

A Short Fight

The video begins with these two Ram trucks creeping up to the starting line without doing burnouts. This makes sense for the Cummins truck with four-wheel-drive, but it does not make sense for the R/T.

After a slow staging process, the diesel truck prepares for launch with big RPM and a bit of soot from the exhaust. When the green lights drop, the Heavy Duty truck immediately jumps out to a big lead. It is hard to tell whether the R/T is struggling for traction or if the driver is coming out easy to avoid traction issues, but in any case, this race is pretty much over at the starting line.

It doesn’t take long for the bigger Ram to pull out of view of the camera until both trucks are nearing the end of the run. The Heavy Duty wins by a comfortable margin, getting out of the hole quicker and turning a better speed on the big end. The diesel truck runs a 12.22 at 114 miles per hour while the R/T runs a 13.44 at 105 miles per hour.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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