I was reading a post on another forum about a guy who test drove a 2015 Newmar gasser with a 5 speed tranny. His test drive took him up some North Carolina mountains and was not happy with the experience. He then test drove a 2016 Newmar gasser with the Ford 6 speed and according to him it changed everything.He had driven a Thor Palazzo some time earlier and said the Newmar 6 speed got him up the mountain as well as the Palazzo diesel with very little noise.One of the posters pointed out that Ford also changed the horse power from 342 to 320 from 2015 to 2016. Can a 6 speed tranny really make that kind of difference?

But, were the HP ratings at the same RPM???It may be (I have not researched it) that at "reasonable" RPM, the HP has not dropped.

The trick is was everything else the same about the unit. Probably not.What did the torque curve look like between the engines. They may have sacrificed peak HP for lower end torque on the new engine, which will make a bigger difference climbing hills.Then there is the big question: What did he find better about it that was measurably different?

That the 2015 was slower and louder going up the hill was what he said.

The hp rating is not at the same rpm level, from what I've read. I have the new 6 speed and in my 20.5k chassis it works quite well. I can't compare it to the 5 speed. I find the noise level quite quiet at road speeds, and bit loud when it has to pull up a hill. There is a great deal of discussion on the new engine/tranny on the irv2 forum. Depending on what chassis you get some say the automatic downshifting function of the tow/haul feature doesn't work as advertised. It works very well on mine.

Horsepower and torque at the rear wheels is really what matters. As long as the transmission is matched to the right rear end gear ratio for the weight of the RV, it should be just fine and the two overdrives, and the fact that the transmission locks up at a lower RPM, should give you better mileage on the flat land.

Is the new Ford 6 speed really that BIG a deal?

wildtoad
Explorer II
Jun 29, 2016
The hp rating is not at the same rpm level, from what I've read. I have the new 6 speed and in my 20.5k chassis it works quite well. I can't compare it to the 5 speed. I find the noise level quite quiet at road speeds, and bit loud when it has to pull up a hill. There is a great deal of discussion on the new engine/tranny on the irv2 forum. Depending on what chassis you get some say the automatic downshifting function of the tow/haul feature doesn't work as advertised. It works very well on mine.
Mondooker
Explorer
Jun 29, 2016
That the 2015 was slower and louder going up the hill was what he said.
valhalla360
Navigator
Jun 29, 2016
The trick is was everything else the same about the unit. Probably not.

What did the torque curve look like between the engines. They may have sacrificed peak HP for lower end torque on the new engine, which will make a bigger difference climbing hills.

Then there is the big question: What did he find better about it that was measurably different?
wolfe10
Explorer
Jun 29, 2016
But, were the HP ratings at the same RPM???

It may be (I have not researched it) that at "reasonable" RPM, the HP has not dropped.

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Is the new Ford 6 speed really that BIG a deal?

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