The battle lines have been redrawn. Ford and Dodge (now Ram) have been duking it out with each other in the heavy-duty (3/4- and one-ton) pickup market for what seems like forever, but in recent times Ford has been winning the biggest percentage of market share while the Ram HD has the highest all-important diesel take rate in the segment, almost 85 percent. These trucks are made for hard work and hard play. And even though sales for full-size pickups have dropped as much as 40 percent in some segments, OEs understand there will always be buyers for work trucks. And here we've decided to pit two of the latest -- the all-new 2011 Ford Super Duty and the Ram 2500 HD -- head to head, equipped with the all-important oil-burner.
Diesel connoisseurs have been waiting for this confrontation for ages. The 2010.5 federal emissions regulations essentially forced all three of the 3/4- and one-ton work-truck makers to dig deep and come up with clever ways to provide the most pulling power possible with a much cleaner NOx and particulate emissions rating. The 350-horsepower, 650-pound-foot 6.7-liter Cummins I-6 was updated three years ago and was the first of the HD diesel engines to meet the stricter 2010.5 regulations. Unlike the Cummins, Ford's all-new 6.7-liter, 390-horse, 735-pound-foot V-8 Power Stroke (now built in-house) uses a urea-based aftertreatment emissions system.
Diesel connoisseurs have been waiting for this confrontation for ages. The 2010.5 federal emissions regulations essentially forced all three of the 3/4- and one-ton work-truck makers to dig deep and come up with clever ways to provide the most pulling power possible with a much cleaner NOx and particulate emissions rating. The 350-horsepower, 650-pound-foot 6.7-liter Cummins I-6 was updated three years ago and was the first of the HD diesel engines to meet the stricter 2010.5 regulations. Unlike the Cummins, Ford's all-new 6.7-liter, 390-horse, 735-pound-foot V-8 Power Stroke (now built in-house) uses a urea-based aftertreatment emissions system.