2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel: A Queen-Size Bed Almost Fits by John Calderwood, Video Producer on January 27, 2016 I'll start off by saying that I'm pretty impressed with myself for downsizing all of my earthly possessions to the point that they don't send pangs of anxiety down my chest every time I think about my impending relocation. Aside from my motorcycle and a few guitars that merit their own transportation, set aside from decade-old pots, pans, and band t-shirts I can't seem to part with, I felt like (hoped?) a pickup truck could get the job done. Getting self-congratulations out of the way, I realized I still have to lug what's left from my buddy's house in San Pedro to my new apartment in Los Angeles's beautiful Koreatown. I put in a request for our Ford F-150 with the vehicle testing team well in advance since I know our trucks are in high demand, but no luck. It was signed out, but I did get the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. With the help of strong coffee, pizza, one extremely strong 5-foot-2 girlfriend and the desire not to give any more money to U-Haul, we fit six medium- to large-size boxes, four medium-size paintings, one motorcycle helmet, and a bag containing a handmade quilt by Grandma Merle all in the cab.
Then came the really surprising part: My queen-size bed and box frame fit in the bed — almost. The end stuck out about the length of the tailgate and the side of the mattress rested on the sidewall of the bed. It was nothing some tie downs couldn't fix. It was only when I prepared to strap the bed down that I realized there were actually only two tie-downs located on the front of the bed. Time to get creative and drive slow. I used the available tie-downs to secure the bed in place. As an extra precaution, I attached a ratchet strap from the front of the bed, across the length of the mattress, over the tailgate, and onto the tow hitch. It was locked in tight. We took side roads for most of the way, turning a normal half-hour ride on a weekend into a 90-minute journey, parked the truck in the middle of a busy city street and, as the security crew for a Seth Rogen/James Franco movie being filmed at my new building (ahh, Hollywood) stopped traffic for us, easily unloaded my belongings into my new home.
After the comfort and relative ease of this experience, I really dig this truck. John Calderwood, Video Producer @ 49662 miles Current Long-Term Road Tests 2016 BMW 340i xDrive 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV 2016 Nissan Titan XD 2016 Tesla Model X ebeaudoin's 2001 Toyota Camry Graham Peters' 2013 Mercedes-Benz B250 michaell's 2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R PF_Flyer's 2014 Nissan Versa Note Roadburners's 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Sandman's 2015 VW Golf SE TSI TX_Traveler's 2010 Toyota Prius Share your own long-term updates.Here's how to participate. Past Long-Term Road Tests 2014 Acura MDX AWD 2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon 2009 Audi A4 Avant 2015 BMW M235i Convertible 2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo 2008 Buick Enclave CX 1987 Buick Regal Grand National 2011 Buick Regal CXL Turbo 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
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1994 Mazda MX-5 Miata 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster 2011 Mini Cooper Countryman All4 2007 Mini Cooper S 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander GT 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport SE 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet 2015 Porsche Macan S 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 2014 SLP Panther Camaro 2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS 2013 Tesla Model S 2012 Toyota Prius C 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI 2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI 2012 Volvo S60 T5 2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWDIt’s been a couple of banner years for advancements in the commercial-van market, and just when you thought the helter-skelter, shoot-first-ask-questions-later world of cargo-hauling work vehicles was ready to take a breather, Mercedes-Benz drops a hat trick of van news on already shellshocked fleet buyers. First came Mercedes-Benz’s 2015 announcement that it is spilling $500 million to build a new factory in Charleston, South Carolina, where it will assemble Sprinter and Metris vans from scratch here on U.S. soil.
(Currently, to beat the 25 percent “chicken tax,” all Sprinters are built outside the United States, broken down into subassemblies, shipped stateside, and put back together here.) Then, in July of this year, M-B unveiled the Metris Worker van in Passenger ($30,990) and Cargo ($26,990) variants, which are bare-bones, lower-cost models of the Metris mid-size van. Like its big brother, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Worker, the Metris Worker is aimed at buyers who value utility over creature comforts. Finally, Mercedes reported that the Metris cargo just posted a blistering sub-eight-minute lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Okay, we made up that last part. But cargo vans are a big and suddenly competitive business. Ford’s E-series vans basically owned the segment for eons, but the past decade has seen more van innovations and choices than the previous four combined. Ford now offers the Transit and the junior-size Transit Connect, Ram brings us the Fiat-derived ProMaster and ProMaster City, and Nissan touts the NV and the compact NV200 (the latter of which also is sold by Chevrolet as the City Express).
It was Mercedes that essentially forced everyone else’s hand with these European-style vans when it began importing its Sprinter to the United States under the Freightliner and, later, the Mercedes-Benz and Dodge brands around the turn of the millennium. Now it adds the Metris. We performed an instrumented test on a 2016 Metris passenger van about a year ago and came away fairly impressed. To complete the circle, we recently snagged some seat time in a cargo version to see how the driving experience differs, if at all. Measuring just 1.6 inches shy of 17 feet long, the Metris is longer than either the Transit Connect SWB or LWB (14.5 and 15.8 feet) or the Ram ProMaster City (15.6 feet) and dwarfs them all in payload capacity. The Metris is the only rear-wheel-drive model in the segment, designed first and foremost as a hardy work vehicle. Rated for a maximum payload of 2502 pounds, the Metris can handle 619 more pounds of tools, equipment, or raw materials than the Ram ProMaster City, the runner-up in that category.
The disparity grows when it comes to towing. Rated to pull an even 5000 pounds, the Metris more than doubles the capability of the 2000-pound rating that applies to the front-drive Ford Transit Connect and Ram ProMaster City. Nissan says towing with its NV200 is not recommended, and that goes for the badge-engineered Chevrolet, too. Rated at 21 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway, the Metris yields a little highway efficiency to the long-wheelbase Transit Connect and Ram ProMaster City (27 and 29 mpg). The Metris cargo van we drove was equipped with a sturdy plastic dividing wall directly behind the front seats and a very Tetris-like shelving and storage system from M-B–preferred upfitter Sortimo. The upside to a cargo wall, besides keeping equipment out of sight to provide a layer of security from would-be thieves, is that any object that gets loose—“Did you tie down the generator?”—will, in theory, be kept at bay by the divider rather than by the back of the driver’s head.
The downside is that it restricts those last few notches of rearward seat travel, making larger drivers assume a slightly cramped driving position. Aside from that, the driving compartment is a doppelgänger of the passenger version we drove last year: The infotainment system still looks like a set piece from the movie War Games; the seats are comfortable, but the bottom cushions are a little short; and the steering wheel, which is cribbed from the C-class, is perfectly sized but offers only tilt adjustment, no telescoping. A delivery driver’s vital devices find a welcome USB port on the dash, with handy phone-holding cubbies situated on either side of the infotainment head unit. Special mention goes to the A/C system, which effortlessly put us in danger of frostbite despite high humidity and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees during our drive in South Carolina. Underway, we were immediately impressed by the lack of boominess and extraneous noise that is typical of cargo vehicles.
Some credit no doubt goes to the cargo divider, but it’s still an achievement to quell sonic vibrations in what’s essentially an echo chamber on wheels. The turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine—no diesel is available—shuttles its 208 horsepower through a seven-speed automatic transmission. With all 258 lb-ft of torque available from 1250 to 4000 rpm, the powertrain makes short work of getting to highway speed. The passenger model we tested previously got to 60 mph in 8.4 seconds; this may be yawnsville for a family sedan, but it’s decently quick for a van. Just for grins, we put the cargo model’s transmission in its Manual mode—Economy and Comfort are the other settings—and pulled some runs to redline with the standard paddle shifters. It was kind of fun, but we felt like dorks; suffice it to say that the Metris will get you to a plumbing emergency or back to the work site after a three-beer lunch at Hooters as quickly as any other work van on the market. Mercedes-Benz knows that the majority of these vans will be purchased for work, so it has teamed up with suppliers such as Sortimo, Knapheide, and Ranger Design (to name just three) to outfit turnkey vehicles for sale to commercial buyers.