Same Horsepower, Two and a Half Times the Torque
Ram's 2027 Heavy Duty engines land 25 hp apart. On torque they land 646 lb-ft apart. Here is why only one of those numbers decides a work truck.
Ram published the 2027 Heavy Duty engine numbers, and the interesting part is not which engine wins. It is how close they are on the spec everybody quotes and how far apart they are on the one that actually moves a loaded truck.
The two numbers, side by side
- 6.4-liter HEMI V8: 405 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque, with the TorqueFlite 8HP75-LCV eight-speed automatic.
- 6.7-liter Cummins High Output Turbo Diesel I-6: 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque, with the TorqueFlite HD eight-speed automatic.
On horsepower the gap is 25, about six percent. On torque the gap is 646 lb-ft — the Cummins makes two and a half times what the V8 makes.
Why that gap is the whole decision
Horsepower is what a truck can do at speed. Torque is what it can do from a stop, on a grade, with weight behind it. A work truck spends its life in exactly the second situation: pulling away loaded, climbing with a trailer, holding a gear where a gas engine would be hunting for one.
That is why two engines within six percent of each other on the sheet do not feel remotely alike at a ramp with 20,000 pounds on the back.
What 646 lb-ft looks like on a hill
Torque is the twisting force at the crank; horsepower is that force multiplied by how fast it is spinning. A gas V8 makes its best numbers high in the rev range, which is fine on an empty highway and useless the moment a loaded truck falls below that range on a grade.
A turbo diesel makes most of its torque low and holds it across a wide band. That is why the diesel truck climbs without downshifting three times and why the driver feels it as effortless rather than as fast. Same job, different way of getting there.
It also shows up where you do not expect it: backing a loaded trailer up an incline, pulling out of a soft yard, holding speed into a headwind with a full deck. None of those are horsepower situations.
The transmissions are not the same either
Notice they are not the same eight-speed. The HEMI runs the 8HP75-LCV; the Cummins runs the TorqueFlite HD. That is not a trim detail — 1,075 lb-ft has to go through something built to take it, and that hardware difference is part of what you are buying with the diesel.
What this does not tell you
These are the Heavy Duty figures — the 2500 and 3500 pickups. Chassis cab models are rated differently, and the Cummins comes in more than one output. If you are shopping a 4500 or 5500, do not carry these numbers over; ask for the rating on the exact configuration you are ordering.
Ram also widened availability of the Night Edition package: it now goes on trucks with Level 1 and Level 2 equipment groups, where before it needed Level 1 Plus or Level 2 Plus. Certain trims get satin black fender badges with it. That is appearance, not capability.
What to do with it
- Decide on torque, not horsepower, if the truck works loaded. The headline number is the one that matters least to you.
- Ask for the rating of your exact configuration in writing. Same engine family, different applications, different numbers.
- Price the transmission too. The heavier box behind the diesel is part of the cost and part of the durability.
- Do not pay for capability you will not load. If the truck runs empty most of the week, the V8 stops being the compromise choice.
Whichever one ends up under the hood, what wears is the same: suspension, alignment, tires. That part is work you can schedule: The Truck Savers.