My motorhome has a V10. Started thinking about it and realized that 6.8L is really not very big. If you subtracted two cylinders to make it a V8 it would only be around a 340 cubic inch engine.
What is the advantage of it over a bigger V8? I dont see the advantage of more moving parts if you arent going to make it bigger.

 

Well unless you sup it up who cares? the v10 is 415 c.i. that to me just sounds better then v10 lol. if ford offered a v16 or a v20 we would all buy one cuz it's the truck we want not so much the motor. just my 1 cent.

 

You propose an interesting question. I bought the v10 for the torque value. I'm don't know how it's made, is it the crank journals at 72*? Maybe someone with more smarts can clue us in.

 

LOL... funny difference, I always thought V10 sounded cooler. Hell, it has 6 more cylinders than my other vehicle.

 

bigger is better ??????????

 

It is all about Ford's Modular Motor theme. Since the bore and stroke are the same for the 5.4L and the 6.8L, it is easier to produce. There are many common parts between the two also.

Believe it or not, sometimes manufacturers manufacturer things due to cost before anything else. Think about it, it is easier to graft on two cylinder to an existing enigne since most of the tooling is already in place rather than have a seperate line to produce a low volume large displacement V8.

 

very old drag racer here, cubic inchs rule,esp. low end. at least to me any way.
what i do know. its the smoothest motor i have driven in a long time, the low end grunt is great. with a rig your size you need the grunt to get going. good luck with it.

 

Engineers have a lot of goals when challenged with engine design.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Highway Safety Adminestration (FHSA), consumer demands, share holder profitabilty concerns, and manufacturing capabiltites all have varing degrees of influence over ultimate motor design.

In the case of the V10, Ford concepts many years ago set the goals to achieve a "new" modularization to powerplant production. This was driven by a need to reduce overhead in production and reduce cross engine parts inventory. The family of engines that these motors belong to must meet many of the restrictions each of the above mentioned entities require. A fairly daunting task and I personally think Ford did a very good job at it.

The V10 seems to fill a small "nitch" segment in Fords line up. The projected production figures for every model year are provided to the dealers so they can adjust their "ordering" to reflect Marketing strategys and prevent excess inventory of hard to selll vehicles. So there is some amount of scientific marketing research going on.

Also there is a pretty large segment that folks forget about in the equasion; Thousands of Ford chassis are used for First responders, rail road, delivery van trucks, people haulers, and Class C motor coaches. Many times there are serious limitations of Gross Axle Weight Ratings (GAWR) based on type of body and weight distribution by design. That is why you will not see the diesel motor as an option in many designs. The V10 can provide 80-85% of the torque of a PSD in a package about 400lbs lighter. Gearing and tire selections can make up much of the reduced raw HP and torque of the V10 so it can be effectivly used to move a 14,000lb airport people hauler fairly effeciently and not require extrordinary axle, rim, and tire costs.

Some other things to think about:
Steam, electric, and diesel designs typically have low power to weight ratios, while internal combustion gasoline 2 stroke, 4 stroke, rotery (wankle), and turbine engines have higher power to weight ratios.

The very small 105lb turbine engine in our little OH58 Bell helicopters at 850+ shaft Horse Power seems to be pretty impressive from a power to weight ratio. But, we must understand that, rpm, heat, noise, and FUEL effeciency prevent it from being a candidate as a automobile power source.

tbante asks, what is the advantage over the small 415 cubic inch V10 versus a larger displacement V8. Answer: Weight, power pulses per revolution, and fuel effeciency are all factors but the biggest advantage is Marketing

Owning a V10 powered SuperDuty Ford truck is much more impressive that a puny 8.1L Chevrolet!

Not to mention the Ford V10 design produces more calories of work per liter fuel burned than the 496cubic inch powerplant does.

Do not discount the COOL factor, or the BSEG potential of "10 burning and 4 turning!"

 

HEY my 03' super duty sc V10 kick the crap out of my dad's 03' F-150 with the 5.4L V8. Seeing my truck out weighs his buy a bunch........V10's ALL THE WAY BABY.......the need for speed.

 

sweet this is my new catch phrase from now on, good one dude!

 

Fredvon4: Very well said, I agree 100%.

 

Fredvon, excellent explanation. My motorhome is a class A with a max wt of 22 grand and 4 grand more on the hitch. I havent nearly maxed it out, tops for me so far has been about 20 thousand. Others that I have talked to about the V10 have routinely maxed weightwise at 26 thousand and none of them have complaints. They do concede that you will only maintain 40-45 up steep hills.
The more I hear about it, the more I am impressed.
Thanks for your response.

 

see? bigger is better

 

[QUOTE=tbante] They do concede that you will only maintain 40-45 up steep hills.

I weigh 22K when my truck and 5ver is loaded, I also pull out west, a lot of long steep grades, and we all slow down. Unless you are one of the crazy ones that run with their right foot to the floor and then complain that I only get 5mpg and the motor and trany won't hold up. Me personally I have to much money invested to drive that way so I just let it shift down and enjoy the scenery. I also don't see oil burners passing me PULLING THE SAME LOAD on steep grades or on the flats. The V10 is a great motor with power to spare, but its like all things mechanical good treatment will give a long life, beat the crape out of it and it will be a short life.

Denny

 

we definitely need some fte sponsored gear with Fredvon4's saying on it!!