rpm when towing
When towing with my ram diesel how do I tell when I should downshift. it seems to tow so easy, but slows when going uphill at 60 what should my rpm show.
Forum Discussion
ShinerBock wrote:
If you want to compare a diesel and gas engines with similar displacement, bore/stroke, duty cycle, and technology then you can compare the Audi 3.0L turbocharged diesel and gas engine.
Audi 3.0L Diesel
240 hp
428 lb-ft
Audi 3.0L Gas DI
354 hp
369 lb-ft
That is a good comparison.
I believe the potential is there for making higher torque with a gasoline engine but it becomes kind of futile. For instance say Ford decides they want to make a gasoline engine to put in a F350. They will consider how fast it needs to be able to pull a 20,000 lb trailer up the Ike and determine the truck needs to make say 450 HP. The operating rpm range of a gasoline engine easily allows for that HP to be made at 5000 rpm. Therefore the size of the engine and level of boost is determined to be much smaller than a turbo charged diesel designed for the same use. If they were to decide to make a 6.7 liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a peak torque of 900 lbft of torque at 1700 rpm they would have a 900 HP monster that would require a radiator larger than the one on our Kenworth to keep things cool. So in other words because the nature of gasoline engines so easily allows for them to make HP at a higher rpm it is unlikely that the manufacturers will ever build the gasoline engines to produce the same gobs of torque they design into the diesel.
