Interesting Towing Test

[Peacock]

Volvo B230FT (especially a post 1993 variant). 4 cyl, 2.3L turbocharged engine. Stock was ~160HP. Many have pushed over 400 for long periods of time. How to make b230ft push 400hp to the wheels? - Turbobricks Forums
Volvo 850, S70 or V70 in the T5 or R package. 5 cyl 2.3L turbocharged engine putting out 243HP stock - Volvo 850 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dad had the non-R version of the S70 (222HP) and it made it to 220k miles without any major issues (that weren't caused by a human).

Aaron Z

Are either of these in trucks? That are rated to tow heavy?

Lots of big power FI gassers out there. None that I can think of that are expected to hold up to heavy towing in a truck where they are at high load and cylinder temps for prolonged periods.

Again....I'm not saying that the EcoBoost won't hold up, but there's a reason why medium duty trucks and semis use big displacement low revving engines. They hold up!

 

[jejeosborne]

I'd say its built pretty lightly compared to most any V8 with similar power. It's got 1 less main bearing and 2 less rod bearings to handle the load. On top of that its got much higher cylinder pressure.

Not saying it won't hold up. But can anyone name a single small displacement FI gasser that is proven to hold up for long periods under high stress?

Of course it does. It is only a 6 cylinder vs 8. So with this logic, you don't like 6 cylinder diesels? They are experiencing much higher cylinder pressures and put down more power. Please give details on what you find is "pretty light". How many V8 stock engines have a forged Crankshaft?

 

[case245]

jejeosborne my 6.0l in my 1 ton has a forged crank

 

[jejeosborne]

Are either of these in trucks? That are rated to tow heavy?

Lots of big power FI gassers out there. None that I can think of that are expected to hold up to heavy towing in a truck where they are at high load and cylinder temps for prolonged periods.

Again....I'm not saying that the EcoBoost won't hold up, but there's a reason why medium duty trucks and semis use big displacement low revving engines. They hold up!

You bring up rpms, the ecoboost operates at much lower rpms than the V8 engines with similar power output it competes against. Should last longer then right?

What medium duty truck are you speaking of? Diesel? We are discussing light duty trucks in this thread. Hard to compare the two since they have different purposes.

As far as comparing it to other high output small displacement truck engines, I don't think there is one to compare it against. I don't know of any recent engine to go against the V8's other than the ecoboost. Do you know of any examples?

 

[jejeosborne]

jejeosborne my 6.0l in my 1 ton has a forged crank

Do they put that same engine in a half ton? I know the 5.3 liter gm and the 5.7 liter hemi are cast. Not sure about others. Looks like your 6.0 is not lightly built either.

 

[Peacock]

Of course it does. It is only a 6 cylinder vs 8. So with this logic, you don't like 6 cylinder diesels? They are experiencing much higher cylinder pressures and put down more power. Please give details on what you find is "pretty light". How many V8 stock engines have a forged Crankshaft?

My diesels are inline. 3, 4 and 6 cylinder.

I don't like V6 or V8 diesels. Equal stress shared by less parts. More parts. More to go wrong.

Forged cranks are quite common these days. Nodular iron has proven to be up to the task as well. It's the pistons, lighter aluminum block, and rods that need to really be strengthened. I'm sure they have been.

I don't have anything against this engine at all. I like technology. But I greatly prefer a simpler mechanical solution that is built to last while meeting the same goals.

 

[compact]

I have an F-150 eco screw 4x4 with 3:31 rear and 18 inch tires. It will pull our family of 5 with a weeks gear and 7K tractor / trailer combo up a 15% grade at 52MPH, and tows at 1500rpm, usually never above 2700 even on pretty good hills, gets 11MPG. 20-21MPG average the rest of the time. It will break the rear end loose towing if I give it a little too much gas at a stop so I can't see going to a higher rear end ratio. it's a low speed engine - closer to driving a '250 powerstroke than a 5.0 gas.

 

[Peacock]

You bring up rpms, the ecoboost operates at much lower rpms than the V8 engines with similar power output it competes against. Should last longer then right?

What medium duty truck are you speaking of? Diesel? We are discussing light duty trucks in this thread. Hard to compare the two since they have different purposes.

As far as comparing it to other high output small displacement truck engines, I don't think there is one to compare it against. I don't know of any recent engine to go against the V8's other than the ecoboost. Do you know of any examples?

It does operate at lower rpms for sure. That's a wonderful benefit of turbocharging and VVT. But I can guarantee you that low rpm and high cylinder pressures is harder on bearings than the same pressures at high rpm. Again, more bearings to spread the load over is better.

I'm speaking of medium duty trucks as a whole. Sure they could produce similar power in a small cube gasser or diesel, but it's easier and more reliable to do it with a 9L or bigger diesel. Older medium duty trucks used big gassers. But these engines had hardly lasted 100k or less before they were shot. Obviously times have changed and engines today will easily lasting longer, but physics remain. You gotta be able to shed the heat and spread the load.

 

[Peacock]

Do they put that same engine in a half ton? I know the 5.3 liter gm and the 5.7 liter hemi are cast. Not sure about others. Looks like your 6.0 is not lightly built either.

The 4.8, 5.3 and 6.0 are of identical design. Deep skirt block and six bolt mains. This includes the car engines in the 'Vette and others.

 

[jejeosborne]

My diesels are inline. 3, 4 and 6 cylinder.

I don't like V6 or V8 diesels. Equal stress shared by less parts. More parts. More to go wrong.

Forged cranks are quite common these days. Nodular iron has proven to be up to the task as well. It's the pistons, lighter aluminum block, and rods that need to really be strengthened. I'm sure they have been.

I don't have anything against this engine at all. I like technology. But I greatly prefer a simpler mechanical solution that is built to last while meeting the same goals.

What light duty truck engines have forged cranks? I know they are common with performance/HO engines but really didn't find them all that common in light trucks.

I agree with you that I prefer simpler solutions but I needed the towing capacity and the 6.2 liter was going to be too expensive to feed when not towing. If gas were still $2.00/gallon I would have bought the 6.2 liter.