Gas or Diesel

Vulcaneer wrote:
Having previously owned a 2006 V10 6.8 30V F350, I know where you're coming from. But I cannot agree with your preference. Spent too much time at 4000 RPMs pulling long hills in 3rd, or even second gear. Try pulling 13,000 pounds up over Donner pass sometime. You won't be able to hear your radio. Or much of anything else after you get over the top. Been there, done that, got the T shirt and the hat. My diesel does it so much better.

Well .... our ton-and-a-half E450 V10 with a 4:56 differential pulls our 11,800 lb. motorhome and our boat just fine over Donner ... not getting passed by diesels, either. I don't mind 4000 RPM if I know the engine is desinged for it and we don't care to listen to the radio when traveling. The V10 makes no noise when cruising along at 2100 RPM. What I do not care for is the thumping/grunting tailpipe sounds and tappet-dancing underhood sounds of a diesel on the highway or late at night in a campground. FWIW, I can also idle my V10 for hours in a campground or out in the middle of nowhere without needing to set a high-idle knob - for emergency battery charging, emergency motorhome A/C, and emergency motorhome heating - with nary a sound outside or inside and with no vibration in the floors ... smooth as silk.

As for ultra low end power (crankshaft torque) from a gasser: My 1965 Ford 3/4 ton heavy duty pickup (15 leaf springs in each rear stack and 3 gas tanks) with it's long-throw-crank 390 V8 had and needed only 4 gears. The first gear was what they called in the old days a Granny Gear, so it could climb a mountain idling. The engine probably wouldn't spin faster than 2500 RPM on a good day going downhill. We have a 500 foot long driveway with a very steep first 150 feet - probably a 15% grade or more - and that good old Ford gasser would pull it in 3rd gear. So I'm convinced ... the old Detroit crowd could build a gasser that acted like a diesel if they wanted to ... probably the EPA is preventing it nowadays.