Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
Forum Discussion
Just one question. My truck and trailer have a GCW of 25,000#. I can drive down the interstate with the cruise control on,in overdrive, and not worry about it downshifting. It only has 250hp. about 100hp less than the GM 8.1 gas and the ford V-10 gas. Why?
Because it's not really that big a deal.
A loaded 80,000 lb. tractor/trailer rig takes only about 200 hp to run 55-60 mph. Of course, with that much wieght, the grade penalty can be substantial, but, depending on how fast you run, the rest of the system, and the shape of the power curve, 25K should be do-able with 250 horse.
Of course if you had more system data- power curve (or torque curve, it's easy to get one from the other), gearing, effective tire diameter, maximum rig height and width, cruising speed, rpm at cruise, automatic/manual- I could diagram it for you. I could also diagram it for any other powertrain that you'd like to compare it to.
In fact, I've given the calculations to other forum members, maybe they've got the time to share them.
