I'll still always have a special place in my heart for diesel cars.
Trucks, like all vehicles, run on math. But Truck Math is special math.
How’s that? Some possible examples:
Payload vs. economy over MSRP.
Towing capacity divided by selling price multiplied by seating capacity.
Purchase price minus expected selling price divided by both number of USB plugs and gross vehicle weight–then factor in recharge times.
Please, don’t take these examples too seriously–I can already hear some of you firing up your keyboards–but truck ownership does seem to involve some extra math. They’re trucks. You need them to do truck-like things. Passion and emotion can take a back seat–assuming you’re shopping king or extended cabs, of course.
A popular bit of Truck Math: gas or diesel? Diesel, as we all know, generally promises better economy and increased torque but comes with a price premium. Does service life and resale help further justify that math? Let’s see what your Truck Math has to say.
In this case, the diesel option adds $12,595 to the 2025 Ram 2500 Laramie Sport Crew Cab 4x4 and replaces the 6.4-liter Hemi V8–405 horsepower, 429 lb.-ft. of torque–with a 6.7-liter Cummins Turbo Diesel inline-six: 430 horsepower and 1075 lb.-ft. of torque.
Towing capacities for the Ram 2500? That can vary depending on options, but Ram shows the gas engine maxing out at 17,750 pounds.
And the diesel? The Ram 2500 can tow up to 20,000 pounds. (Need to tow more? The Ram 3500 diesel shows a max towing capacity of 36,610 pounds.)
In addition to the diesel option, our truck had the Sport Appearance Package ($2495), a Laramie Level 1 Plus Equipment Group ($1795) and a few other small extras, putting total price at $84,545.
Behind the wheel? Even in its unladen, unhitched form, I loved it. Remarkably civil. Comfortable, relaxed ride. No crashing, no making excuses because it wasn’t doing hardcore truck stuff at the moment. Little wind, tire and drivetrain noise.
Supportive seats. Soft touch point throughout the interior. Knobs and buttons that made sense.
The TorqueFlite HD eight-speed auto delivered firm, predictable shifts. Call the column shifter a throw-back, but it works–perfectly. No knobs, no buttons.
The Ram 2500 tracked straight and true on the highway. No wandering, no white knuckles. Passing semis didn’t upset it. Easy but communicative steering both in town and on the interstate–and say the same for the brakes. Obviously, all the torque. After a mix of city and highway, I saw mpg in the high-16s.
Wishes? Our tester didn’t have the 360-degree camera setup, just the rear and bed cams. That hood looms large. When pulling up to other cars in traffic, I wouldn’t mind a view from the grille.
I’m not a truck owner–there’s a Miata in my garage–but I’d like to hear about your own Truck Math.
I'll still always have a special place in my heart for diesel cars.
The diesel surcharge when I bought my 2010 Dodge 2500 was closer to $6500. I don't regret it at all. Something like 85% of my mileage is spent with a 13,000 lb race trailer on the hitch, climbing over 10,000' passes on multi-day trips. It just does the job without feeling stressed or needing to shuffle gears. It's a perfect diesel application.
The integrated engine brake makes descending passes easy as well, it's almost like regenerative braking on an EV.
Around town, unladen, it feels big and clumsy. You can tell it weighs nearly 4 tons. The stick doesn't help, I'm always the last across the intersection. But that is in part because I know it weighs nearly 4 tons and it's not going to stop or turn like a Miata.
The improved resale is nice too, but I'd have to sell the truck to see that :)
I drove a rental Ram 1500 up to Carlisle, PA last month (with a motorcycle in the bed) and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it. That trip made me really miss having a truck, so I bought back my old truck last week!
I don't know that the math fully justified the diesel option when I bought my current truck.
When I bought my first diesel pickup in the mid '90s the math was more convincing. Fuel cost was about the same as premium gas, fuel mileage was roughly double that of a gas engine and diesel engines (with some notable exceptions) had a reputation for being anvil reliable. Add those things to the low end torque of a diesel and the much higher resale value and it was a pretty simple decision.
The math still worked when I bought my Super Duty in '01 the math still worked.
When I bought my 2015 RAM 3500 fuel costs were higher than gasoline, emissions controls reduced fuel economy and overall reliability and gas engines had gotten more powerful. My current trailer weighs about 8k with the race car in it so I could pull it with a half ton gas truck.
However, when it's effortlessly climbing a hill, in quiet comfort while pulling the trailer with the cruise set at 82 MPH the extra cash seems worth it. Plus, I like trucks...
From the AAA.com website
Average California Diesel $5.06 , regular gas $4.65 , premium gas $5.04
Not sure how that changes the math where you live .
californiamilleghia said:Average California Diesel $5.06 , regular gas $4.65 , premium gas $5.04
Yeah, California fuel prices are high enough that the gap between the most and least expensive versions is barely 10%.
And +1 on Keith's assessment. Turbos are the right choice for power demands at altitude. Mine's a 2021 F-250, but it sees its fair share of mountain passes just going around California, and the two trips to Utah Motorsport Campus last year were made much, much easier by having the turbodiesel. 8000' passes with the cruise control set at 80, AC on, pulling a 10K pound trailer.
I lease a 2024 Ram 1500 for just over $500/month. With the 5.7L gas engine and tow package, it's rated for 12k pounds.
Last weekend I towed my (new!) racecar in a rented 24" enclosed trailer for the first time. The car is 2900 lbs and the trailer itself was 4100 lbs. Throw in 3 extra sets of wheels and assorted spares and I was probably approaching 8500 lbs.
The truck did fine up and down the Adirondacks at a steady 70 mph ... but fuel economy was about 6.5 mpg. That was pretty frustrating with the standard 26 gallon tank.
Considering 87 octane is $3/gal around here and my truck is probably $30k cheaper than a diesel 2500 it's not too big of a deal.
Keith Tanner said:The diesel surcharge when I bought my 2010 Dodge 2500 was closer to $6500. I don't regret it at all. Something like 85% of my mileage is spent with a 13,000 lb race trailer on the hitch, climbing over 10,000' passes on multi-day trips. It just does the job without feeling stressed or needing to shuffle gears. It's a perfect diesel application.
The integrated engine brake makes descending passes easy as well, it's almost like regenerative braking on an EV.
+1 Towing with a modern diesel is just effortless, even in the mountains out here in the West.
I recently downsized from a '17 3500 Ram dually I bought new to a '16 2500 and it tows nearly as well, and is a very nice place to be... it's now our road tripper of choice and returns 19-20mpg running 75-80mph unladen. While it's no Miata, I find it to be no more cumbersome around town than a typical SUV, but I've always had a truck and enjoyed driving them.
The diesel 'upcharge' generally gets returned on trade/resale, where a gasser will depreciate a little harder.
With a solid 11-12 mpg towing our Miata in a 24' enclosed, and a 52gal tank, I don't know that I could be much happier...
To be clear, a big part of the reason my truck is unwieldy around town is that manual transmission. It doesn't exactly snap off quick shifts, it's more like a school bus. So I drive very deliberately instead of trying to drive like a car. I find it a good reminder of the fact that it's so big and potentially destructive. Hey, if someone wants to race, I've got something for that in the trailer :) I do frustrate people occasionally at traffic lights because I don't sprint across the intersection.
I've had trucks for something like 18 years, so trucks are not a new thing to me. It is, however, the first one that is a piece of heavy duty machinery and not a big car. My 2000 V8 Tundra was a much more normal vehicle to drive.
It's worth noting that the big diesel also comes with fairly significant maintenance costs. Oil changes involve a LOT of oil. It inhales a lot of air so air filters have a relatively short life. I keep a spare fuel filter in the truck just in case. There's a bunch of stuff underneath that needs to be lubricated. I don't know how this all compares to a gasser. It's been almost perfectly reliable over 100k of hard work. I've had to replace one PS hose after the internal liner came adrift, but it didn't prevent me from driving.
I honestly don't know what sort of mileage it gets empty. Towing, it's in the 11 mpg range with a total combined weight of around 20k and cruising speeds around 75.
I would generally recommend a gas truck for just about any "single car" towing configuration unless it's purely a tow vehicle. But once you go much bigger than that the diesel truck is worth it simply for not having to try to navigate standard gas stations. The added bonus is that it tows comically effortlessly, but realistically gas trucks do just fine for anything up to probably ~8k lbs as long as you're not trying to cross the rocky mountains on every trip.
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