OK, diehard engine buffs! This Truck Thursday has your name all over it! And even if you don’t happen to be totally ‘nuts’ about engines, this is really cool!
We’re going behind the horsepower, behind the torque, behind the fuel-savings and proven durability that constitute the ‘heart and soul’ of the all-new 2019 Ram 1500. We’re going up close and personal with some of the most extreme engine testing equipment in action.
The “Dyno” lab, as it’s known, is located in FCA’s Auburn Hills Chrysler Tech Center. It’s here the legendary durability of the 5.7-liter HEMI® V-8 and the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 with eTorque was “proofed” for maximum on-road performance and capability in the 2019 Ram 1500.
The process, says Andrew Simmons, FCA Powertrain Durability Test Management Engineer, is nothing short of brutal. Two hundred continuous running hours, often at wide-open throttle, during which each engine is subjected to extremes above and beyond what a customer might put it through. That includes sub-zero cold and heat that takes the exhaust manifold to the point of actually glowing.
Simmons takes us into the Dyno lab to see some of the extremes the 5.7-liter HEMI engine underwent to reach the Ram 1500’s promise of ‘no compromise’ durability.
