The new techs of the 2013 Ram 1500

In the United States there is a widespread cult that is the pick up truck. It is, in sysntesis, the love for the utility, combined with the capability of carrying people around in a good looking and strong vehicle. It is a vehicle that could take your kids to the school and mall as well as tow the boat or move tons of dirt around. 
Those vehicle are renown to have not-so-good fuel economy. And, if you compare them with subcompact cars, the pick up is usually a third as efficient as a small 4 cylinder car. 
Gas prices are raising, and this took a toll on half ton truck sales. The manufactures now are having a "war" between them to see who gets the best COMBINED fuel economy.
Last year Ford f150 ecoboost had it with 17 city and 23 highway. Now Chrysler had picked up (pick up... picked up... eheheh) the slack and released the new 2013 Ram 1500 V6 Pentastar. 

I will not describe the whole car, but for now I will try to just summarize the changes that have been done to achieve the impressive 17 City and 25 Highway (3.6 pentastar with the 8 speed transmission). 

How did the engineers manage to get a 20% bump of fuel economy on the truck? They improved aero, engines, transmission. In detail they have a new V6 Pentastar (same as the Charger V6 engine) mated with a 8 speed transmission (first in class) and adopted clever aerodynamic features.

Engine and Transmission
The engine is the new 3.6L 6 Cylinder from the Chrysler group. It delivers 305 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. It also has start/stop function. When the car stops for long period of time, the engine will turn off by itself, and will turn on again when the brake pedal is not depressed anymore.

3.6L V6 Pentastar

Aerodynamic Features

The Ram has been modified aerstetically to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. The first subdule detail is the foot rail below the doors. It has been extended to guide the air towards the back wheels and have less turbolence, hence less drag, more fuel economy.

Wind tunnel work

In the front of the radiator, behind the grille, the truck has been fitted with active shutters.

Active Shutters open

The active shutters will automatically open or close to increase fuel economy. They close at high speed, so the air will not create drag inside the engine bay. They will open in case more cooling is necessary. Clever.

Chassis wise is basically the same as the 2012 model, but there is one crucial addition: Air suspensions. This new technology have different advantages: it can lower the truck when loading the bed, it will be able to raise it in case of need (off road) and for highway purposes it will lower so the whole truck can have a better drag coefficient for highway travelling.

Right side is the front of the truck.
The air tanks are right under the bed on the back.

All these new techs allow the truck achieve a best in class of 25 highway, 17 city and 21 combined mpg. 

Ford, Chrysler is taking it to the next level. Let this type of war, rage in the industry. GM with the 2014 Silverado/Sierra didn't announce the fuel economy yet. I hope for a big surprise, but I think it will be in between Ford and Ram. 

Thank you for reading and if you have questions/comments, leave them down here