Hybridhunter wrote:
Truth be told, the lack of power was the bigger issue in that test, 50mph towing a boat? Imagine what a small "house on wheels" behind would feel like. I have towed that section before, and my last truck with the 3.7 (315hp / 295ft/lbs)/ F150 /10'4" tall 8'wide trailer running at full GCVW never had an issue maintaining 60 the whole way. Revving hard, but it was able.
Torque feels great, but horsepower does the work...
You either had an absolute one of a kind 3.7, or this is a bald faced lie to continue your bashing on this engine. I live in Colorado, and tow and drive up and down I70 probably a dozen times a year, and have done it for the last 20 years. I have a 21' boat that scales 5060 pounds. I have pulled it with many different vehicles, and have watched others towing a similar load. An SUV or 1500 truck, with very few exceptions, would be at that same 50 MPH speed. I have pulled with a Hemi Grand Cherokee and a Hemi Durango, that is about the speed I saw.
I am interested to see the normal operating oil temperature of that engine. 270* does sound high to me as well, but I would like to see what the VM engineers think. Any engine (my Cummins included) is going to have an elevated temp towing a max payload/tow capacity on that stretch. That is why they test there.
Stated air temp was 54*, and when you start at 9000' elevation and end at 11,000', you are not going to see 100* temps. 80*, not 100*.
