Diesel trucks are becoming more popular, and trying to decide which is the best for you is no easy task. There’s a lot of factors to take into consideration like how much the insurance payments will be, the gas mileage, and horsepower vs. torque. For trucks, the vehicle with the most torque is usually the most desirable, and Ram claims the EcoDiesel is the best in its class.

Does torque actually matter, though? And what do those numbers even mean? Here’s what we found out.

The 2021 Ram EcoDiesel is a beast

Trucks were on their way out, but have made a major comeback in recent years. Now drivers are looking for vehicles that can tow heavy loads, even if they don’t haul much. The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is using that hype to draw in new buyers.

It comes equipped with a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 engine that gets 260 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. It can also tow up to 12,560 lbs. The max payload is 2,040 lbs. 

Ram is very proud of the engine, and stated, “The innovative available 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 engine began with a block of compacted graphite iron and aluminum twin-cam heads. Then we added B20 biodiesel capability and Active Air® Grille Shutters. The result is a remarkably quiet, incredibly capable and efficient workhorse.”

The gas mileage is actually pretty great for such a large vehicle. It gets 22 mpg city and 32 highway. While there are tons of new vehicles that get much better mileage, anyone looking for a truck probably won’t care.

Is the 2021 Ram EcoDiesel really the best?

Ram reports that the 2021 Ram 1500 has the best-in-class available diesel torque. Is that really true, though? Automakers are sometimes known to inflate the facts in order to draw consumers in. 

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is no exception. In fact, the FCA recently settled out of court after being sued for lying about its emissions. It was suspected that the FCA changed the onboard emission software on the 2014-2016 Ram 1500 and Jeep Cherokee models. So is Ram being truthful about the EcoDiesel?

According to Ram, the 1500 EcoDiesel gets 480 lb-ft of torque. That’s pretty impressive. It’s also true.

The 2021 Ford F-150 gets 440 lb-ft of torque. The GMC Sierra 1500 and the Chevy Sierra both get 460 lb-ft of torque. So there’s no doubt that the EcoDiesel is the King of Torque in its class. The real question is: does it matter?

Do performance metrics actually matter?

For some people, knowing what horsepower, torque, and all those other car terms just make sense because they work around vehicles. For others, they’re just numbers, and it’s sometimes hard to know if those numbers actually matter. In the case of performance metrics, they matter a lot.

Torque is especially useful when it comes to trucks because it affects how much you can tow. According to How Stuff Works, “Horsepower provides highway passing power when your engine is revving hard, allowing you to accelerate at high speeds, while torque gives you low-end power and the ability to move quickly after stopping. In other words, torque lets you do the work, but horsepower lets you do the work quickly.”

So yes, the performance metrics definitely matter. That’s also why the Ram EcoDiesel is a really great buy. With a starting price of $36,890, it might be expensive, but you get what you pay for.