2014 V6 1500 shootout
Ram EcoDiesel Chevy/GMC 4.3L Toyota Tacoma Honda Ridgeline Nissan Frontier CLICKY "The vehicles in this category that are missing from our 2014 Annual Physical are the 3.7-liter V-6 Ford F-1...
Forum Discussion
parkersdad,
QUOTE:
"My trailer weighs close to 10,000 lbs and I tow in the mountains a lot. I had a gas 2500 and it did ok but it did not like the mountains. My diesel however runs up it at 1800 rpm's. Just my opinion."
Why does your diesel truck do so much better than your gas engined truck pulling the same load in the mountains? Because the diesel engine is at it's max torque force (what turns the drive wheel) at about 1800 RPM's. Your gas engine has to rev to at least double the 1800 RPM's to even get near it's max torque force. Efficiency of fuel burn is reduced as RPM's increase and then you have to tack on the additional losses from going thru gear reductions to turn the drive wheel at the same RPM as your diesel engine did climbing the mountain grade. The biggie is that gasoline has an 11%-12% lower btu content per measure than diesel fuel so your gas engine starts out with a big disadvantage and it increases from there as the RPM's increase.
QUOTE:
"My trailer weighs close to 10,000 lbs and I tow in the mountains a lot. I had a gas 2500 and it did ok but it did not like the mountains. My diesel however runs up it at 1800 rpm's. Just my opinion."
Why does your diesel truck do so much better than your gas engined truck pulling the same load in the mountains? Because the diesel engine is at it's max torque force (what turns the drive wheel) at about 1800 RPM's. Your gas engine has to rev to at least double the 1800 RPM's to even get near it's max torque force. Efficiency of fuel burn is reduced as RPM's increase and then you have to tack on the additional losses from going thru gear reductions to turn the drive wheel at the same RPM as your diesel engine did climbing the mountain grade. The biggie is that gasoline has an 11%-12% lower btu content per measure than diesel fuel so your gas engine starts out with a big disadvantage and it increases from there as the RPM's increase.
