Cummins M11-C225

When Dodge put the Cummins Turbodiesel into its Ram in 1989, a legend was born. GM and Ford couldn’t compete with their relatively gutless diesel offerings; the Cummins blew them out of the water. Even though the Cummins 12-valve only cranked out 160 horsepower, with its long-stroke and undersquare design (4.02-inch bore, 4.72-inch stroke), the engine made 400 lb-ft of pavement-destroying grunt. Chevy’s 6.2-liter and Ford’s 7.3, by comparison, weren’t even making 250 and 350 lb-ft, respectively.

But perhaps even more impressive than its factory torque numbers is the engine’s reputation for longevity. Once you start looking at the mechanical bits, you begin to see just how overbuilt the B-Series engine really is. The block and head are cast iron, the crankshaft and connecting rods are forged, the seven main bearings are massive, and like many heavy-duty diesel trucks, the crank and cam are connected by a steel timing gear—not a chain or belt like you’d find in normal cars and trucks. The Holset turbos are also know to last until the end of time.