Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
For the past few months I've been posting about a 2012 2500 that I had picked up. To date the truck has been a good friend. Yes I had two bad Injectors and they were replaced under warranty. This post is not about that truck.
This afternoon I had the chance to drive a 2013 Quad cab SLT. first thing you notice when you start the truck is the noise from the engine, well what little there is. Right away you notice that the engine sounds like the timing is no longer retarded. Nor is it being held back, it runs smooth with just a bit of clatter the way Mr. Diesel designed it to. The EGR valve does not fludder like it does on my 12. In fact I never saw it move at all. Put it in Drive and give it a nuge and the next thing you notice is throttle response not the delay my 12 has. The throttle is quite snappy but not annoyingly so. Next thing you notice is how fast things come up to operating Temp. The 13's have a twin Radatior system and it seems to work quite well as this truck in my test drive was up to full temp in only a mile and a half. Very much unlike the 6 to 10 miles that my 05 use to require. While I haven't driven an automatic truck in a long time a lot has changed since the 727 tourqueflight my 89 had. At no time did this truck/ transmission have that disconnected feeling my 89 had. It was almost like the G56 manual when you let off the throttle and the "E" break came on the truck slowed right down. Shifting was smooth but firm.
The suspension was also firm but not un-plesant. Fit and finish overall is as my 12 is very good, doors close solid. Rattles seem to have been dealt with. I like the choice of a darker color more a charcoal color so there is much less glair in the windshield even in bright sun. THe new soft touch buttons on the controls, well, time will tell how they hold up but seem to be of good quality. I like the fact that there is a gauage on the DEF tank. I couldn't find how big the fuel tank was, I'm guessing it's smaller than the 34 gal my 2005 had.
The 2500's use the same front end as the 12's used. there is no central axel disconnect. And the use of the 5 link system is still there. My dealer seemed to think that the 3 link suspension and the central axel disconnect is only available on the 3500 and larger trucks. So a free wheeling hub kit would be in order for better fuel economy.
While my afternoon with the 2013 wasn't nearly long enough to really dissect the new Ram, I would need a month or two with it to do that. It was enough to be able to say it looks like Ram has hit a home run with the new trucks. Take everything that is good about the 12 give it an engine that runs well and is not choked to death buy emissions systems and that what you've got with a 13.
This afternoon I had the chance to drive a 2013 Quad cab SLT. first thing you notice when you start the truck is the noise from the engine, well what little there is. Right away you notice that the engine sounds like the timing is no longer retarded. Nor is it being held back, it runs smooth with just a bit of clatter the way Mr. Diesel designed it to. The EGR valve does not fludder like it does on my 12. In fact I never saw it move at all. Put it in Drive and give it a nuge and the next thing you notice is throttle response not the delay my 12 has. The throttle is quite snappy but not annoyingly so. Next thing you notice is how fast things come up to operating Temp. The 13's have a twin Radatior system and it seems to work quite well as this truck in my test drive was up to full temp in only a mile and a half. Very much unlike the 6 to 10 miles that my 05 use to require. While I haven't driven an automatic truck in a long time a lot has changed since the 727 tourqueflight my 89 had. At no time did this truck/ transmission have that disconnected feeling my 89 had. It was almost like the G56 manual when you let off the throttle and the "E" break came on the truck slowed right down. Shifting was smooth but firm.
The suspension was also firm but not un-plesant. Fit and finish overall is as my 12 is very good, doors close solid. Rattles seem to have been dealt with. I like the choice of a darker color more a charcoal color so there is much less glair in the windshield even in bright sun. THe new soft touch buttons on the controls, well, time will tell how they hold up but seem to be of good quality. I like the fact that there is a gauage on the DEF tank. I couldn't find how big the fuel tank was, I'm guessing it's smaller than the 34 gal my 2005 had.
The 2500's use the same front end as the 12's used. there is no central axel disconnect. And the use of the 5 link system is still there. My dealer seemed to think that the 3 link suspension and the central axel disconnect is only available on the 3500 and larger trucks. So a free wheeling hub kit would be in order for better fuel economy.
While my afternoon with the 2013 wasn't nearly long enough to really dissect the new Ram, I would need a month or two with it to do that. It was enough to be able to say it looks like Ram has hit a home run with the new trucks. Take everything that is good about the 12 give it an engine that runs well and is not choked to death buy emissions systems and that what you've got with a 13.
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