28,500 lbs Ford vs Ram 1 ton DRW
VIDEO $80,115 MSRP Ram 3500 385hp/930tq, 4.10 rear, 5690# payload as configured, 11 brake applications on the way down. 2.7 mpg and 11 min 41 sec on the uphill portion. $83,015 MSRP Ford F350...
Forum Discussion
4x4ord wrote:IdaD wrote:
I don't know why people care 10 pages worth (to date) about a Cummins being 2 seconds faster than a Powerstroke up an 8 mile climb pulling more than most of us will ever pull. I'm sure the Duramax would be right there with them if it was rated a little higher too. From a towing performance standpoint you really can't fault any of the diesels and that's been the case for quite a few years.
If Ford advertised 385 hp there wouldn't be anything to discuss.
The Cummins advertises 385 peak Hp and 930 ft lbs of torque. Based on what Cummins claims you'd expect it to average around 340 hp at the range of rpm it ran on a test like this.
In order to accomplish the work it did, in the time measured, it had to put 274 hp to the pavement. That is 81% of 340.
Ford advertises 450 hp and 935 lb ft. You'd expect it to average about 420 HP over the rpm range It would use on a pull like this. If it put 80% of 420 hp to the pavement it would have reached the top of the hill in 10 minutes....It should have beat the Ram by a minute 40 seconds. So something doesn't add up.
One possibility that I haven't seen discussed yet is cooling. The testers mentioned that the Ford's cooling fan kicked on several times and was rather noisy. It takes a few hp to run a fan, IIRC I've read somewhere as much as 50 hp. If the engine was heating up it may have defueled a little also. The Ram's fan may have been running as well but wasn't mentioned. I suppose it's possible that the Ram has a more robust cooling system. Would have been interesting to run the test in hot weather, if cooling was a factor it may have been more obvious.
