Yes, you should get more mpg when your V10 breaks in. Keep in mind...as others have said, winter does reduce the mpg's anyway. Should shoot up to the 12-14mpg by summer.

YES! I would certainly buy another V10. With only the 5.4L to compare in the gas engines...I would pick again. Since fuel mileage is almost the same as the 5.4L and the hp / torque in the V10 is there when needed. Lower operation costs over the PSD 6.0...is another deciding factor. I like the 6.0L...but just not for my needs.

biz

_______________
2003 F250 SD SC SWB XLT V10 Auto 3.73s

 

as my username suggests...I swithced from a 5.7L hemi 1/2 ton durango to my current V10 Excursion. Still towing the same trailer as I TRIED to do with the hemi. Like night and day...this engine ROCKS and pulls like a champ for my application. Diesel wasn 't needed in my application but sure do love everything on this rig.

Planning a 4K+ mile trip with the camper out to the rockies and yellowstone this coming summer...would have NEVER tried that with the hemi.

THis is a great group of folks and VERY educated on this engine!

Perhaps in the future if and when I go to a REALLY large 5'r, I'll look at an oil burner dually...but for now the V10 pulls like a champ...granted my TT is only 7500#'s and others pull WAY more than me...but the Ex loaded weights 8K alone! So it's like I'm pulling a 3K# camper all the time over what the Durango weighed! :-)

 

AtoZ
The 5R110W is a computer controlled trany with a tow haul mode and an ADAPTIVE learning capability.

Once she has a few thousand miles you can experiment with re-teaching the trans. Basically you must dump the current program by disconnecting the battery overnight (it can be done quicker but nobody knows the exact time with power removed to fully dump the core program) On reconnect you must execute 5 driving cycles to set the new behavior program. A driving cycle is one that starts at cold water temp and once up to full operating temp and over 30 mph has several cycles from 0mph up to or over 30mph. You can force the 5 cycles in about a 30-45 min drive. If during this time you are aggressive then it Will behave that way with firm to hard shifts until the core memory is dumped. You can do this training in either Drive or Tow/haul but not both as one of the limitations is just one behavior program. I accepted the docile Drive base program and set my Tow haul program to be very hard and strong. Daily drive to work is easy and uninspiring. But when the kid in a Hemi steps next to me and blips his throttle, I just push a button and an read to rock n roll and smoke his candy *** with my 7800LB tall long very heavy thunder machine. Make me feel 21 all over again!

Of course you can train the tow haul OR Drive modes with a load on and get some gains that way also. There is no rule book and I have been experimenting with different methods for 5 years now since the 4R100 had this capability also.

 

FINALLY! A true Hemi story

 

I won't bash the hemi...it just was in way over its head YET well under the "advertised" rating that Dodge put on it. The Durango "claimed" max tow rating of 8900#'s on that 1/2 ton chassis with 5.7L engine. The hemi is a VERY capable engine if you attempt to keep the weight in the 5500# range for a travel trailer due to the extra wind resistance that the TT puts on the TV. However in my application, I was REALLY working the hemi to the point I almost overheated it on a 40 mile maiden voyage in FLAT Indiana! I kept that Durango only 2.5 months and traded out of it for the Ex...now THIS is a TV!!! While the gasser V10 still likes to rev, it has a much deeper reserve of torque to draw on. Plus the torque curve is much more towing friendly on the V10. It isn't really fair to compare the MAN in the Ex to the boy in the durango...but Dodge sure tries to promote the hemi as a super puller...i've been there and done that and in the right application (i.e. about 60% of the "advertised" number), it will do just fine in a TT application. Now with an open trailer or a boat that presents a much LOWER wind profile...the hemi could have done just fine. In my application it darn near died and nearly stranded my family on the side of the road.

So I guess you can say this is a real hemi story...not one that the hemi folks like me to tell I might add...they claim I got a "lemon"...but same load, same trailer, same hitch, same family, same roads...V10...NO PROBLEM!...nuff said?!?!