Choosing Gasoline or Diesel Powered?
I realize that this is a long thread but if you are pondering the Gasoline versus a Diesel based on power consideration or are wondering about adding an after market performance enhancing kit to a Gas...
Forum Discussion
The discussion of pounds to move per increment of torque is misleading, as the relevant torque is the torque measured at the drive wheels, not torque at the engine flywheel.
The actual relevant measurement is power at the drive wheels, because we want to move this motorhome up the hill at some speed, or we want to accelerate it, or we want to move it at some speed against a resisting force (mechanically the same as accelerating it). The measurement of torque, or work, tells us nothing about rate. When you talk about rate of work, you have to know the power.
In hill climbing, for example, you need 2.67 HP for each 10,000 pounds, 10 MPH, 1% of grade. That comes directly from the definition of power, for the units used. It is in addition to whatever power is needed to push this 10,000 pounds of motorhome across level ground at 10 mph. Drive axle doesn't care whether that power came from a diesel turning 1600 rpm or a gasser turning 8,000 rpm.
The actual relevant measurement is power at the drive wheels, because we want to move this motorhome up the hill at some speed, or we want to accelerate it, or we want to move it at some speed against a resisting force (mechanically the same as accelerating it). The measurement of torque, or work, tells us nothing about rate. When you talk about rate of work, you have to know the power.
In hill climbing, for example, you need 2.67 HP for each 10,000 pounds, 10 MPH, 1% of grade. That comes directly from the definition of power, for the units used. It is in addition to whatever power is needed to push this 10,000 pounds of motorhome across level ground at 10 mph. Drive axle doesn't care whether that power came from a diesel turning 1600 rpm or a gasser turning 8,000 rpm.
