Quote:
Originally Posted by merrick4
How is the lower HP? I was told by one person to stay away from it, but I don't know much about this. How will this affect my MPG? What exactly should I be looking at?
|
I just bought a used truck with a 435 hp Cat C15. It has 1,650 lbs of torque, and if I could give advice, I'd say - go for a truck with higher torque rating and direct drive transmission. Torque is what moves the truck up the mountains and with direct drive transmission you have all the torque "at the wheels".
My truck has an overdrive transmission (13 speed), and in the top gear I have 0.73 ratio which means I can only get 1,650 times 0.73 of torque at the wheels
Direct drive tranny would have the ratio of "1" meaning I'd get the entire 1,650 lbs of torque...
I tried to uprate the engine to 475 hp, 1650/1850 multitorque, but the previous owner had put in a 1,650 lbs rated tranny, so the dealer said, "No dice; you'll damage the transmission if you increase the torque."
On the positive side even with 435 hp I am doing okay. I run around and under 60 mph and my trips are between the North-East USA and Canada.
PS: If you have problems in the mountains with a lower HP engine, you can always save some money and: 1) switch to low profile tires; 2) change the axle ratio; 3) re-rate your engine if such an opportunity exists.