Hey, just for kicks I went to the dodge dealer here in Longview, TX, killing time before I work in Henderson tomorrow and then blast down to Miami.

2012 cummins longhorn edition 2500. Nice truck. Interior and dash were very comfy, I could live with that. I'd say better than my 11 lariat.

Motor was nice. As much as I like our V8's, there's nothing like an I6.

However, it's a dog. Wait, I love dogs, it was very sluggish and non responsive.

Power is there but it comes on very gently, power not really impressive but it would be there for you.

My dislike was the transmission shift points and super sensitive downshifts if you slightly ask for more speed.

My other dislike, which is big for me with the way I drive, is their version of a manual shift mode. Just dumb. You don't shift to M. You just double tap the +\- button and then the gear number shows on the screen. One tap goes to M, second tap to shift. It's vague and cumbersome in my opinion.

One more issue, price. Their top of the line Longhorn edition is beautiful for sure. Sticker was north of $67,000. I managed to get the sales guy to show me the dealer invoice. It was $54,000. Wow. What do the 2013 Super Duty trucks sticker at?

 

It is a good thing to check out the other manufactures products to appreciate what you have or have not.

 

I think that about sums it up. Very slow...but always there.
2013 should be much more competitve.

I also have found it to be too loud for me as well.

 

Nice feedback, Joel.

Two years ago, before I bought my truck, I drove all three brands in the exact same chasiss setup. 1 ton four door, long-bed duallies. I drove the Ford first and was pretty impressed. I drove the Chevy next and was pleased as well. I knew how the Duramax performed cuz I had owned one for four years. The Dodge was the last one I drove. That was also the only brand that the salesman said he had to go with me on the test drive.
I was ok with the interior, not impressed. I was ok with the exterior, not impressed. I was embarrassed for the salesman for the Cummins, not impressed.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I wasn't impressed at all with the Dodge/Cummins.

 

I'm impressed they still sell them with Lego front ends on em! After all these years of people complaining they still make them with crappy parts that can only take it for 30,000km where I am anyway...wtf?
My Ex went 290,000 on the first set of front end parts... then it got killed before I ever got to change anything!
Ford rocks!

 

Before I bought my 2011 6.7 F350 dually I test drove a 2010 Dodge Cummins dually. Like Ruschejj the first thing I noticed was how doggish the truck was from a stand still. The interior was nice but I don't think it is as nice as my Ford. The dealer was going to put me in the truck for $47K. My Ford cost me right at $50K since I got x-plan pricing and three separate rebates. The big problem I had with it was that the GVWR was 12,200 vs the 13,300 for my Ford. Since I carry a truck camper that's a big deal for me. I guess to be fair I am comparing a 2011 to a 2010

 

to about 50 mph just about anything is going to feel sluggish compared to the 6.7 fords. I can break the tires loose rolling in the throttle at 30mph for crying out loud. no question dodge is behind right now, however the 2013 dodge looks pretty interesting. the 2012 and older trucks don't have SCR so you are going to be spending over 20% extra on fuel in addition to that sluggishness. with SCR it should be a game changer for dodge I predict they will take the top fuel economy honors with it, that is if they are able to get the turbo and motor to put out power in the low rpms which is also going to take some good transmission management. thats how ford has got the mileage so good on these truck is they put out alot of power even at 1500 or less rpm. in the past this meant non spooling turbos and smoke.

the real problem with dodges is the terrible ball joints and u joints. if somehow they upgraded the ball joints on these new trucks they could be a contender. they brought back center axle disconnect which should add back about 1mpg and will save the front drive shaft u joints. look for dodge to level the playing field in 2013, but it still remains to be seen. I do have to admit as far as looks dodge has the best looking truck right now. ford really needs to update the superduty heck I would be happy with an enlarged f150 look myself, the other makes have had 2 restyles ford's went 14 years without one.

 

That's always been my issue with Dodge/Ram. They gear their transmissions very tall. First gear in a Ram diesel with the 68RFE is 3.23:1, second gear is 1.83:1.

Ford and GM are both geared lower. For Ford, it's a 3.97:1 first and 2.32:2 second.

If you do the math, that means a Ford equipped with 3.73's is geared similar to a Ram equipped with 4.56's. At least in the first two gears, which is what you use for accelerating from a dig.

That taller gearing really takes a lot of the low-end bite out of the truck. Which is a real shame, since the Cummins does make a lot of torque down low.

If I was going to buy a Ram, I would have to get it with the G56 6-spd manual. The stick has an awesome 5.94:1 stump puller first gear. It's unfortunate though, that the G56 isn't strong enough to handle the full 800ft-lbs of torque the High-Output Cummins puts out. Instead they have to use a detuned 650ft-lb engine, so you really can't win either way.

 

Ya, I forgot to add that I would definitely be interested in a true manual tranny.

Cowboy, I wanted to drive a 2013, guy didn't know when they would come out, I do plan on checking them out too for all points you outline.

 

My dad just got a 2012 Ram 2500 CC SB cummins auto w/3.42 gearing last month. I have not driven a 6.7L Ford diesel, however I think that the Ram is plenty responsive, I have smoked tires with it and it gets up and goes just fine. I do agree on the manual shift mode part, it could be better. As far as looks go I'd almost prefer anything over the Super Dutys front end, way to much chrome! The mileage overall with it so far has been 17.1 mpg, not as great as the Fords, but ok. The interior is just as good as the Fords. The dealership where he got the Ram at sold both Ford and Ram trucks and they could beat Fords prices by about $5,000. BTW I like Ford trucks, have always owned Fords in our family (this is the first truck that hasn't been a Ford) Just trying to give a non bias review.

 

Interesting read. I'm a cummins guy. Run a 06 megacab. I test drove
The new dodges and felt the same also. My 06 feels more responsive and way more with my smarty. I know their capable of more pep but think their are detuned for emissions. Mine rolls smoke pretty good until the boost comes on. I've always preferred the driving experience of the ford over the dodge but the motors usually hold me back from jumping ship. I really want a new one. Just waiting for ford to work out the bugs before I drop 60k

 

Before I purchased my 12 F250 CC SB FX4 6.7 I test drove a 12 Dodge with the Cummins, an F250 CC SB FX4 6.2 and several F250 CC SB FX4 6.7's. Never even considered test driving a Government Motors. The very worst vehicle I have ever owned was my 98 Suburban..... The one and only Chevy I will ever own.....

I thought that the Dodge was a nice truck, wasn't as responsive as the 6.7 and didn't shift as smoothly. I could only get about 15 mpg on the Dodge on a fairly long test drive on freeway and backroads while the 6.7 was getting over 18. I even tried to work a deal on the Dodge, but they way lowballed my 2002 7.3 Excursion. I am so thankful now that they were shortsighted because I love my truck! It tows my 10k Artic Fox travel trailer easily and is a joy to drive.

The thing that I disliked the most about the Dodge was the mirror setup. Not even close to being as good as the Ford tow mirrors. The coverage was not as good and I didn't like the way the blindspot mirror worked in the normal position. Picky, but it really bothered me after having the tow mirrors on my Excursion for 11 years and then on the new F250, which are an improvement from the X.

I know that Dodge will continue to improve the Cummins, it is a good engine, just a couple years behind Ford right now in technology.

 

that smarty works pretty darn good. I also had one on my '06. I am pretty sure that my 6.7 would probably dyno more than my 06 dodge with smarty, however at highway speeds the dodge with smarty would walk away from the 6.7 ford, I think ford detunes the motor at highway speeds you only get full grunt below about 40 mph. the biggest weakness of the 06 dodges and similar years was only having that 4 speed auto, what a joke of a tranny to put behind a diesel truck. the 6 speed ford is SO much better.

 

The guys with the 6.7 Cummins running a Smarty or other tuners are blowing head gaskets like crazy! The 6.7 cummins forum I visited when researching my new truck purchase had people reporting head gasket failures worse than the 6.0 psd forum. Can you believe that!

I test drove a '12 Cummins CC 4x4 Auto and the power by the seat of my pants, felt about like my 6.0 psd.

I didn't even look at the Chevy, but after test driving and comparing the RAM and the Super Duty, it was clear to me I preferred the Super Duty.

The '13 RAM with DEF and 850lb/ft backed up by the Aisin tranny could be a game changer, but we'll have to see.

 

That we will