Acceleration 0 to 60 in 30 Seconds

Hey,sometimes I figger I'm lucky if it starts,whats more rolls out onto the street. Actually,I'm not too worried about getting it to the street as we have a 250' 6% downgrade,but the turn onto the street can be scary if the brakes aren't working right.
I do kinda baby my rig though and see no need to do tests like that where I'm putting undue stress on it. Now when it comes to my part-time jobs,I'll tell you that my favorite school bus will really haul serious A**,as does the MCI9 that I get to use when the owner lets me drive a charter run once in awhile. He's jsacked it upa bit.
The school bus that I drove before I retired,and back subbing now,was a 40' Thomas with a Cummins and I don't know who adjusted the fuel,but when you put your foot in it,there was some serious smoke and that bus would roll.Drove 20 HS band members,their gear and 5 adults across the mountains once in it and went over Snoqualamie Pass at the speed limit all the way.

I'm at ~30 lbs per HP. if this thread is still around for another couple of weeks, I'll to a 40 to 60 test, as that should give some good comparison numbers.

Yes, I do think that should be a spec on all motorhomes. It would really put things into perspective. Marketing does like stuff like that because it is too difficult to spin that kind of data. Its either has it or it doesn't.

Delighted that I am not alone in paying attention to over all get up & go, my setup is 60 lb per hp and 18.8 lb per ftlb torque. Yes it does run very fine & no need for more, of course never enough but am fine being 72. ex A Gas drag racer, so you get picture.:)
Dave M

BigRabbitMan wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I was surprised at the number of DP's that I tested that were greater than 20 secs to go from 40-60 mph.

That shouldn't suprise you. While many DP have high horsepower ratings, they also are very heavy. It is due to the weight that they have the diesel engines as a gas engine would simply be inadequate.

Acceleration/hill climbing is simply a function of the power to weight relationship with gearing thrown in as a modifiying factor. Good power to weight ratios exist in all types and sized of vehicles. The opposite is also true!

Yes your right. Even with shorter lighter DPs these times were much higher. Test drove a 34 ft Bounder 40 - 60 was 22 secs. They seem to put smaller engs in the shorter, lighter DP chassis, where as the gas chassis have the same eng. A 32 foot workhorse chassis motor home has the same 340 hp eng as a 38 ft MH. The conclusion that I have come to is that if you want a 30- 34 ft MH and want the good performance for hill climbing a gas chassis is better.

Today I was able to do my speed test without the toad. Same conditions...level and no wind.

Shaved 5 seconds off to 25 seconds. Also I went over the Grapevine today with no toad...nice.

Hear is a link to a truck you other gear heads might like Mike Ryan worked with Banks to make this neat truck and run it at Pikes Peak. Tell me what you think. Would it pull a 5th wheel trailer?

http://www.bankspower.com/pikespeak2013
Bill

If I was worried about my 0-60 time, I would have bought a Bugatti Veyron. But wait, it doesn't have a bed, toilet or kitchen!

I had to pick my big beast up from the shop today and decided to give the 0-60 thing a whirl (not sure why I remembered this thread).

So, my time was about 26 seconds. That's not too bad for a nearly 50K lb motorhome! I probably could shave a second or 2 off of that time. I had to start with a left turn to get on the interstate on-ramp and that probably cost me some time!! LOL

Gjac wrote:
I was surprised at the number of DP's that I tested that were greater than 20 secs to go from 40-60 mph.

That shouldn't suprise you. While many DP have high horsepower ratings, they also are very heavy. It is due to the weight that they have the diesel engines as a gas engine would simply be inadequate.

Acceleration/hill climbing is simply a function of the power to weight relationship with gearing thrown in as a modifiying factor. Good power to weight ratios exist in all types and sized of vehicles. The opposite is also true!

My smart car does it in about 17 seconds. A third of that seems like the clutch engaging in first gear. 44 screaming horsepower from the little diesel. Torquey though. :)