Horsepower is horsepower?

transamz9 wrote:

wilber1 wrote:

transamz9 wrote:

wilber1 wrote:

transamz9 wrote:

wilber1 wrote:

transamz9 wrote:
They could have at least put it at 300 hp so it could have a chance at keeping up. It would not have hurt the fuel mileage much at all. That motor will turn 5,000 rpm easily.

Wait a minute. You are towing a 14K GVWR 5er with a 4 speed truck rated for 13.6K, 325 HP 600 LB FT and you are saying a 8 speed 240 HP 420 LB FT truck with a 9.2K rating towing 6K is not enough?

For me? No, not enough for a high profile camper. It will do fine with a regular trailer behind it but with something that is going to have a lot of wind resistance it is going to be a dog at interstate speeds. The main reason I have a diesel is the ease of low rpm towing. I'f I'm going to have to run at 4,000 rpm then I will just get a gasser that has 400 hp and pay less money. I will not pay more money for less performance. My truck is rated at 325 hp stock but I'm not running that.;)

Depends on your idea of performance I guess. For me, an engine transmission combination that can put more of the engines power to the ground over a wider range of engine and vehicle speeds while giving superior fuel economy is offering more performance, not less. If that doesn't meet your needs, so be it but it will for many others.

No, I agree with you on that but that engine with 300 hp would still return very good fuel mileage. You have to remember also that even though a 4 speed has only 4 gears the torque converter also acts as extra gearing in a way also. When my truck needs a little extra it will unlock the TC and allow it to get higher rpm which in turn is extra power. It will do this in OD and also third with the TH activated. That is one advantage of an auto trans. It builds a lot of heat that way but it does work. A properly mated TC to an engine will do wonders with only 4 gears. It will keep it in it's power range but if it don't have the power range to pull it then you slow down as you gear down.

As far as pulling weight the motor will do fine but we are talking about pulling moving billboards and the wind loads is what's really going to be hard on 240hp. Again 240 hp is 240 hp no matter how you look at it and all the competition is way beyond that. I will be curious to see what kind of fuel mileage numbers they are going to get out of the 300 hp Cummins in the Nissan. I bet it will be close to the 3 liter in the Ram.

That heat generated in the unlocked torque converter is lost power and if you insist on putting maximum power through an unlocked torque converter for an extended period, you will fry the transmission. Torque converters are great for getting things moving but not for extended use transmitting large amounts of power.

My chief complaint with my 2001 Dodge wasn't the 235 HP Cummins but the lack of gears in the mountains. I might still have that truck if it had the six speed that is in my new one.

You only have 300 HP if you can get it to the ground. If you take away overdrive ratios, 4 speeds become 3 speeds, 5 and 6 speeds become 4 speeds and the 8 speed becomes a six speed. The 8 speed has double the chance of finding a ratio to get max power to the ground than the 4 speed and a 50% better chance than the 5 or 6 speed. There are times when that 240 hp engine with an 8 speed could be getting more power to the ground than the 300 hp with a 5 or 6 speed. And that isn't just at the 4000 rpm you keep going on about but anywhere in the engines power curve.

I think the 5L Cummins is real overkill for the present Titan. Unless they really beef the truck up, all they will have is a very powerful half ton with less payload capacity than the gas model. Better to put it in a new 3/4 ton, then they would have a real bridge between todays 1/2 tons and SRW 1 tons, instead of the present crop of diesel 3/4 tons which are just SRW 1 tons with less payload capacity.

So what you are saying is that that 8 speed is going to run with the TC locked in 5th and 6th gear? If not then the trans is probably not going to last long because that's where that 240 hp is going to be running towing a high profile tt on the hills.