DP Horsepower

Engines make horsepower via torque. This is from the article linked above -

HP = (torque x rpm)/5,252

Horsepower is a function of Torque !! There have been some great past threads on how much Torque or HP one "should" have based on the weight of the coach !!

I have a Jeep with a straight 6, and I swear that my RV pulling that Jeep is faster than the Jeep !! lol

My Torque is between 1250 & 1350 foot pounds and the HP is around 425. The coach weighs 33,250 and the toad (jeep) 4,500 lbs. for a total of around 37,750 lbs.

You may have to do some math, but look at the weight of the coach you're interested in and the torque or horsepower. And ALWAYS take a test drive !!!!

I once read or heard a guide of 1 HP for each 100 lbs. Gross Wt. of MH.

Well, he doesn't want to talk about torque, but as a point of comparison I have a 32K pound rig with a 330hp and 950 ft lbs of torque pulling a 4500# toad, and while I can outrun some loaded 18-wheelers on the hills I definitely wish I had more torque. For example, the 400 HP Cummins they put in similar rigs the next couple of years had 1200 ft lbs of torque. Wish I had that.

But in reality, I don't do a whole lot of mountain driving so for the small percentage of the time I labor up the hills it is not a big deal. I takes a pretty steep hill to slow me down below 45mph.

Some folks are not satisfied with the Cummins ISX, 600 hp! But if you don't know how to handle it, the horsepower and torque can get you into all kinds of trouble, and even cost you lots of money.

I am very happy with my mechanical Cummins 6bt 5.9 (230 hp), but then a Cummins mechanical 6C 8.3 (300 hp) sounds real nice. Both are very easy on fuel and much easier to work on than todays computerized engines.

And I haven't had any turtles pass me on any hills lately. But as someone who has pulled over 130,000 pounds of steel coils on two trailers, with a Detroit 318, and 80,000 pounds (8700 gallons of gasoline) with a Detroit 238, I'm quite comfortable with folks passing me. Just smile and wave as they go by. I usually got to pass them further on down the road.

I don't believe you would be happy with the torque output of that small motor. It will get you to the top of the hill just understand that patience truly is a virtue and don't ever back off the throttle going up the hill because you will be creeping. I love my 525hp CAT with 1650 ft lbs of torque.....

I knew the subject of torque would come up. I guess the question is whether older (early 2000's) with a 260 HP Cummins have enough "OOMPH" to avoid being passed by turtles going uphill?

I am sure lots of folks on here are more knowledgeable than me, but I think torque might be more important than horsepower. Some engines that came out a couple of years after mine have a much greater level of torque relative to the horsepower and from what I understand keeping the RPMs at a higher level under load will help power up the hills.

I did a quick search, and this looks like a good article that explains what I am trying to say...

http://www.dieselhub.com/tech/horsepower-vs-torque.html

I believe you can think of torque as being similar to leverage - how much force does it take to move a certain weight? The more torque/leverage, the less force it takes to move something of a certain weight.