2014 Ram 2500 Laramie on 2040-cars

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Hero gets his truck back better than new thanks to community support [w/video]

You ever hear a story and start cringing before you hear the end because you know how it's going to turn out? That could very well have been the case with the story from a few weeks ago in West Valley City, Utah, where a 14-year-old kid stole his grandfather's Hyundai Veloster and took it for a joyride - through a park full of children. But instead it turned into a heart-warming tale of heroism and a community banding together to do what's right... and then some.
Bryson Rowley was that hero who identified the danger and, rather than sit idly by and watch the joyrider potentially run over a child, got into his truck and drove it into the menacing runaway hatchback. The collision caused some $7,500 to his 2008 Dodge Ram 2500, but instead of getting stuck with the bill - one which his insurance may very well have refused to pay since the crash was, technically speaking, intentional - his community pitched in a helping hand.
Bryan Ellison, who owns West Valley Carstar with his brother, saw the news on television and wanted to help. So he brought Rowley a rental car, picked up his truck and brought it back to his auto repair shop. People from around the community donated parts, and when all was said and done, some $15,000 of work and upgrades were performed on the Ram that was returned to an overwhelmed Bryson Rowley better than new. Watch the video below for the full story.

Ram boosts Heavy Duty truck claims for 2015 [w/video]

The heavy-duty truck segment boasts some of the tightest competition of any automotive niche in the US. Being able to tout just one best-in-class figure can be a marketing advantage over competitors, and Ram Trucks is adding one more accolade to its tally with a powertrain update for the 2015 Ram 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty pickups. Ram now claims best-in-class ratings for torque, towing and payload, depending on configuration.
The major change comes for the 3500 HD with a boost in torque for its Cummins 6.7-liter, inline-six diesel engine. It now produces a meaty 865 pound-feet of twist, a boost of 15 lb-ft, which is the best figure in its segment, according to the company. To eek out the extra power, the mill has more aggressive fuel delivery, and the turbo has been recalibrated. Of course, more grunt would be meaningless if drivers couldn't do anything with it, and the tweaks help allow payload to grow to 7,390 pounds, up from a rating of 7,320 pounds last year. The max towing rating remains unchanged at 30,000 pounds, though.
The rest of the powertrain lineup carries over from last year. The base HD mill is the gasoline-fed 5.7-liter V8 with 383 hp and 400 lb-ft and a six-speed automatic. The next step up is a 6.4-liter V8 with 410 hp and 429 lb-ft. There are also three trims of the 6.7-liter Cummins diesel starting with 350 hp and 660 lb-ft with a six-speed manual gearbox. If buyers opt for a the 68RFE six-speed auto, they get 370 hp and 800 lb-ft. Finally, there's the updated, top-rung version with 385 hp and 865 lb-ft with an Aisin six-speed automatic transmission.

FCA is setting a five-year strategy: Here's how the last one played out

We're slightly more than four years removed from Sergio Marchionne last five-year plan for FCA, a tell-all where the Italian-American automaker divulged its plans for the 2014 through 2018 model years. It was a grand affair, where Sergio told FCA investors that all was right in Auburn Hills, Alfa Romeo and Maserati were making comebacks, and the fifth-gen Dodge Viper received a mid-cycle refresh. You can read every last one of those past predictions right here. We're on our way to Europe to see Sergio's sequel, coming out Friday straight from FCA's Italian headquarters. (Bloomberg reports a plan to expand Jeep and Ram globally, combine Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a single division for an eventual spinoff, and downsizing Fiat and Chrysler. Also, EVs.) But before we arrive in Italy and find out exactly what Marchionne has planned for 2019 through 2023 as his last act as CEO, let's take a minute to tally up the results of his last term based on the same scoresheet we used in 2014. Now, we're only five months into 2018, so much of this — including vehicles like the Ram HD and Jeep Grand Wagoneer — could still debut this year. For those, we'll mark things TBD. We're not going to draw any conclusions or make any objectionable remarks. We're simply going to let the stats speak for themselves.