[johnj]

I like the technology. It's a lot like driving a turbo. Plenty of acceleration when you want it, lots of horsepower, and a bit of gas savings when you don't, with a very tiny bit of accelerator lag. I can turn it off when I need pretty easily -that gear selection override is very well known by the community.

I have no need for extra horsepower when I'm not using it. That's just piddling away extra gas so I can run to the pumps sooner. And I have no problem running a little longer between pumps. No desire to pay for gas, especially when Uncle Sam's taking a bit of that to waste on salaries of politicians, or other things I don't like. Here's just a few things your tax dollars have paid for:

$15k - one US Postal Service special dinner at a steakhouse
$30k - farmers' group created a tourist database of farms for "haycation" guests
$123k - Mothers' Day shrine in Grafton, WV, population 5,000
$137k - create a video game for the recession called "Layoff"
$175k - does cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior?
$200k - "tattoo removal program" test in California
$239k - studying how Americans find love on the Internet
$387k - mechanical contraption to give bunnies Swedish massages
$400k - why do gay Argentinians engage in risky sexual behavior when they're drunk?
$500k - paint a Chinook salmon on the side of an Alaskan Airlines B-737
$615k - digitizing pics of the Grateful Dead onto t-shirts
$700k - studying methane emissions of dairy cows in New Hampshire
$800k - what happens when men in South Africa wash their genitals?
$1.8M - Museam of Neon Signs in Vegas
$2.6M - training Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly
$3M - research on gamers and video games including World of Warcraft
$18M - social and environmental programs for China
$500M - research on getting 5-yr-old kids to sit still in classrooms
$4.6B - bailing out banks that were violating banking laws
unknown - 236 free luxury gymn memberships in D.C. for special DHS employees

The list goes on, this is just a tiny, tiny part.

 

[johnj]

That's not likely to happen as a FCA / Ram feature. In order to pass their fuel economy and CO2 emissions tests they incorporated MDS into the Hemi to get better mileage.

CAFE testing standards require that in order to pass fuel CAFE standard tests, makers can only use multi-mode technologies that are going to be used predominantly in the vehicle. MDS is a multi-mode technology, it can be enabled or disabled. If the EPA cannot determine that a "single mode" (such as MDS enabled) is the "predominant" mode which to them means nearly total use by the vehicle owner, then the tests must be done without it. If they do that, fuel economy test results averaged across the fleet will be lower, and Ram will have to produce fewer trucks with bigger engines.

Ram would be invalidating their test results and unable to sell the Hemi if they fixed it so the customer has an option that disables the MDS. The shifting mechanism for temporary bypass is reset every time the truck is restarted. That's probably the only reason that they can sell the Hemi now. Ram doesn't make smaller vehicles than the 1500 to help their fleet average. They offer the V-6 for better mileage. And the Eco-diesel, although who knows how much longer they'll offer diesels with the big diesel scandal?

This is going to get worse. The 1500 is classified as a "Large LT" or large light truck, by combination of footprint and weight. By 2017, their fleet average for light trucks is supposed to be 29.1 mpg while still meeting emissions regs. (If I'm understanding CAFE correctly.) The Hemi is nowhere near that, especially in the Rebel. It's only 17/21. So they'll have to reduce the number of Hemi's sold, which would kill a lot of their business.

It's possible that FCA includes Ram with all vehicles, and the introduction of the possible Jeep pickup and the new Dakota might help offset the Ram truck lineup's test averages. Someone in the know could answer that.

It's likely that the only way MDS will be disabled in the future will be through aftermarket tuners, and perhaps not even then.