Have our trucks got too much power yet?
I've often thought about all the energy being wasted with braking applications and exhaust braking on down grades. It's only a matter of time before our rvs will have electric drive axles to help hold...
Forum Discussion
wilber1 wrote:
A small engine at a higher power setting is more thermally efficient than a larger engine at a lower power setting. That's why the Rutan Voyager shut down its larger engine when it got to altitude and just used its smaller engine in cruise during its round the world flight.
For automotive engines...within reasonable power output ranges, once you get up above 25-30% of rated HP, there isn't a lot of efficiency gains bumping up to 70-80% of rated HP.
This is why, you see 350-400hp gas V8s that match or exceed older 250-300hp V8s...most of the time the HP generated is roughly the same, so fuel burn is pretty close to the same.
