v10 torque vrs diesel

crappie_fisherman wrote:
...I've driven a 2 valve V10 pulling a 9000# TT (i.e. 17,000#'s combined) all over and I mean ALL over this beautiful country...didn't find any hill that I couldn't climb...did I slow down...sure...did I expect to...sure...

I now drive a 30,000#+++ 4000# toad Class-A with a diesel...in the few trips we've taken since getting it...the 6 speed Allison transmission sure is nice to have...if I had a 6 speed tranny behind my 2V V10...I'm sure that experience would have been easier on me as a driver...driving the 2V V10 loaded to 17,000#'s took driver control and attention to the road and the upcoming road/hills...

Thus far I've found I can simply set the cruise on the coach and the trans has yet to downshift out of 6th...on the SAME roads my V10 would downshift out of 4th...I KNOW that when we head to real hills...I'll use more gears on the coach...but comparing same roads to same roads...the Cat and Ally combo handles them much easier even though were more than twice the overall weight (coach and toad)...HP wise...my 2V V10 had 325HP...my Cat has 350HP...

Hehehe, and just to keep the 'fun' going, Joe:

..Your V10 in the Ex was putting about 220 of its 310 HP actually to the wheels most of the time (cruising down the highway, turning maybe 3000 RPM at 65-70mph). Same as mine was.

However, your Cat is putting about 300 horsepower to the wheels most of the time (cruising down the highway, turning maybe 2000 RPM or so).

Soooo, bottom line is the diesel is able to put more actual horsepower to the ground than the V10 during everyday driving, even though the peak torque rating of the gasser may in some cases be higher (like on the newer 362 HP V10s). Hence the reason it can stay in 6th gear and feels so much more powerful (and it ##$% sure ought to, for how much more $$ it costs compared to a gasser V10!!!)

Had your V10 been geared different so that it too was putting 300 horsepower to the ground like your Cat does, and you didn't mind it (V10) turning 4500 rpm or whatever all day to put out that much horsepower....The V10 too, would have stayed in one gear and rarely downshifted just like your Cat does now. But you wouldn't have liked hearing it turn that fast all the time, haha.

(Disclaimer: All numbers above are rough guesses, and are only used to illustrate the point on how gassers and diesels power/torque curve are different. )

Anyway, I think these discussions go on and on, due to the fact many just don't truly grasp the definition, etc. of torque and horsepower, and don't understand why a diesel thats rated for less peak horsepower than a gasser can feel so much more powerful. Add that to the fact that so many folks on internet forums insist on proving to everyone that they're right and the other guy is wrong...Wellll, you end up with a bunch of 13 page discusssions on this topic, hahaha. :)

It *IS* fun and entertaining to read, though, regardless. :)