So some jerk with state minimum insurance ran a light and totaled my 2017 3500 with only 10k miles. I went to local dealer today to test drive the 2020 3500 Mega HO Aisin with 4.10. My truck was a SRW SO with the 68RFE and 3.42. I was really unimpressed. It felt like torque management was off the chart and definitely dead pedal. The last time I drove the Aisin was when in 2017 when I bought my truck. At that time the two different trucks felt equal in power just the typical slower Aisin shifting. The way my 2017 and the 2020 drove was opposite, my truck felt like it had the extra 200 ft lbs of torque. Stock is limited so I didn’t drive a 2020 SO with the 68RFE. Really liked the truck otherwise. Anybody notice this on 2020’s? I did a long test drive including city and freeway.
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2020 HO Unimpressed Test Drive
- Thread starter The1adman
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TQ Mgt definitely is at play. I can usually drive around it, but have got caught out from time to time. It is annoying, but the grunt is there when it counts, i.e. when dragging my toy hauler up a grade. I hope their next transmission choice allows them to tune for more "normal" performance characteristics, like the other guys.
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I didn't get to drive a HO because back in February when I bought mine there were no HO's around but I wanted to mention that torque isn't really going to make the truck feel faster, HP will. There isn't a huge difference in HP between the two trucks and the Aisin being a medium duty transmission isn't really made for empty acceleration. If you hooked up 10k, 15k, or 20k pounds up and pulled you'd probably feel the HO was able to accelerate and maintain speed easier.
BTW I highly recommend going to test drive a powerstroke. Even if you have 0 interest in buying one if acceleration is important to you, you'll probably like it. If not, all it cost you was an hour of your time. I almost bought one because the thing felt like a race car compared to the Ram but for the whole package I prefer the Ram.
BTW I highly recommend going to test drive a powerstroke. Even if you have 0 interest in buying one if acceleration is important to you, you'll probably like it. If not, all it cost you was an hour of your time. I almost bought one because the thing felt like a race car compared to the Ram but for the whole package I prefer the Ram.
BULLSANDBUCKSHUNTER
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When i bought mine i drove the srw with a HO, unimpressed! Seemed to be a terrible ride quality and always hunting for a gear. As a 1 ton i expected it somewhat without a load but for my use ride quality was more important than highend towing so i got a 2500 and love the suspension and shifts seem way less dramatic. Ram needs to fix the trans issues with these aisins before i would buy 1....
Yes I agree if my 15K pound toy hauler was on the back the 2020 HO would show its power advantage.
Thanks we have the Powerstrokes at work and they are way quicker. When you hook even 8K pounds to them that disapears and they feel anemic. Acceleration is not important to me, I have owned every generation of Cummins and understand they are not a V8. I was just really surprised at how the truck drove. Im sure with 15K pounds in tow it would show its power advantage. The dead pedal was really annoying as I have never experienced that with my 2017.
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I think the OP made it perfectly clear he understands the difference between a truck engine and a play engine. That doesn't take away from the fact that the HO/Aisin combination operates with all the grace of a Foster Brooks & Dean Martin routine. Ram/Cummins needs to step up their game. The big torque, and MPG advantages we have historically had are gone.
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Kind of glad to hear that! At least that I might have been disappointed with the powerstroke once the toy hauler is hooked on. It's pretty hard to test the towing capability on a test drive which really sucks. Aside from the 68rfe being a bit wonky at times(but far from bad, I was a little worried from reviews/forums) I do love towing with my Cummins
With my 2020 3500 I get great MPG 19-21 empty no trailer. when I am pulling 14,000 Ib trailer I am getting anywhere from 13 to 14 MPG. With all the government mandated bull S--- add-ons I feel Cummins is doing a fantastic job. I do feel Cummins should have the last word on what Ram places on their engines like the CP4 pump.
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I have seen more than one video where Cummins seems to take ownership of the CP4. This coincides with conversations with Cummins reps who I spoke with at a trade show, some of whom were VERY concerned about that decision, wherever it originated. The engines come complete, fully dressed from Cummins, and bear in mind the Ram version is the only version of the 6.7 to have the timing case at the front, so it is unique from all other B engine applications.
@3:28 mark
@3:28 mark
I never implied I wanted a Cummins to accelerate like a Vet. I am very familiar with the Cummins engine and have put hundreds of thousands of miles on each generation. I was asking if anyone else had the same observation or insight on what I observed during the test drive. I was really impressed with the truck itself, the HO-Aisin not so much.
Thanks for the video. I had always thought Ram decided on the CP4.
I don't have any issues with the shifting in my HO/AISIN. It shifts better than I expected given all the bad mouthing it gets.
I watched a guy who has a company with 3 different RAM Cummins engines. He stated that if you compare and unloaded SO vs HO you'll pick the SO. Put a 10k trailer behind it and you'll pick the HO. So when my truck had the HO/Aisin, I bought it.
That makes sense and is kind of what I figured.
I am wondering if the low first and second gear of the Aisin combined with the 4.10 gears and small tires on the dually requires more torque management. The 68RFE has a higher first gear, SRW trucks have higher differential gears and larger tires increasing the power needed to move from a stop. I will try to find a couple other truck configurations to drive.
Getting used to the torque management v/ dead pedal takes a little experience. It will wake up and move along pretty well. There are times the shifts make me wonder what the heck. The shifting certainly seems much improved when towing. When not hauling or towing it is not as comfortable as the 1500, but it is more comfortable than many other vehicles I have owned. Mileage is often better than my F150...and has no issue pulling or stopping #16k pounds.
My neighbor has the old body style dually 4x4 w/ Cummins and 68RFE. Compared to my SRW 4x4 Cummins w/ Aisin there is a difference in how they are driven. While it responds quicker while shifting smoother it does not tow near as much and gets much worse fuel economy.