Thread: Car and Driver
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Old 02-02-2004, 11:57 PM
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AG4.0
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I've said it before, but I think a lot of the reason the 5.4 doesn't feel like 300HP, besides being almost 400 lbs heavier than Ram, the next heaviest of the bunch, and over 800 lbs heavier than Tundra, is the gearing and a low redline. I think it is not good to redline at the same RPM you peak in HP, 5000 RPM for the 5.4. If it were allowed to rev to 5400 or even just 5200 RPM, it would help a ton. The other is the poor gear ratios in comparison with the competition. The Titan and Ram tested both have 5-speed autos which allows their motors to stay right in their powerband and also have lower 1st gears, along with Silverado. The Tundra in that competition is using 4.11's and has similar transmission gearing as F-150 with 3.73's, but to get 4.11's in F-150 you have to get the Heavy Payload Package. All the other 4 trucks had lower effective first gears, but due to their ability to rev higher, can stay in first gear until a higher speed, getting the most out of each gear. I'm not saying trucks should be high revving motors, but 5000 RPM's is not very high, especially for an OHC motor. If they would just let her wind up a little more and give it a more effective tranny, or make 4.10's an option for non payload packages, I would be willing to bet it could be at least half a second faster, maybe more. What do you think.