Quote:
Originally Posted by gentilebrian
Its not about the HP with heavy loads and towing. Diesels never have all the much horsepower. Its about the Torque and that has 325ftlbs of torque which should be plenty.
You are rated for 15k GCWR so I'm sure you drive train is built and geared for that much weight. ....cut.....
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I agree it should be enough torque, but don't agree that it's not about HP.
Torque numbers at the crankshaft in themselves (by themselves) are next to useless information when calculating performance. What matters is how much torque reaches the driven wheels, and given a certain set of road conditions (like vehicle speed), that's HORSEPOWER.
Objective testing shows over and over again that HP is what is important to accelerate or climb faster, but for some reason "torque" is sensed by drivers as being more important. Drivers swear that torque pulls harder but stopwatches say otherwise. Like MotorTrend stated after a gasoline versus diesel comparison, "diesels feel fast, gas is fast".
Also note that during uphill towing tests of heavy duty diesel pickups that engines run at or close to maximum horsepower RPMs, not at maximum "torque" RPMs. It just shows that more engine power is more productive than more engine torque.
Anyway, sorry to get so technical, it's just that it's one of the first topics covered when studying internal combustion engines.
In real world driving, the reality is that most of us do not want to use the higher RPMs required from a naturally aspirated (non turbo) gasoline engine to develop the needed HP, so we end up settling for less performance than what's available. As long as we drive that way, then I'd agree with you that diesel low-end torque will often outperform a NA gasoline engine.
It's no surprise we are seeing so many turbo gasoline engines lately. Drivers really like the feel of low-end torque whether from gasoline or diesel.
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