My Mechanic friend was telling me that the V-block, is probably the worst design for a diesel. Most people don't know that the ideal Diesel is a Straight-6, and think that just like a gas engine that a V-8 is an awesome setup for diesels, when really it's horrible. Or so he says... I know that the I-6 is the prefered but I dont know that much about the 6.4

 

mmmm......i really think it depends on the application.

what does he mean by "ideal"? what specifically makes an inline 6 better than a v series? how about an inline 7? or 8? or 4? or a v 10 diesel? can he answer that?

 

an in-line motor allows for a longer stroke than a v.. a v that fits in a pick up truck that is..

 

True, I had a 98 dodge with the cummins engine, it didn't feel very smooth and the truck rattled a lot. I had it for a few years and then bought my current truck an 02 f350 with the 7.3. Engine feels much smoother. I personally am happy we have a V configuration in our engines.

 

well I`m not a mech engineer,but I can tell you I`ve got 202,000 on my V design and it`s not stoppin.Wrap a strait 6 inline around a dodge and we`ll see who is on the road longer

Hanklin

 

Your friend aint too sharp, far and away the most cutting edge diesel engine in the world right now is a V block, made by audi, won le mans and set the racing world on it's ear.
That same motor is finding it's way into their SUV the Q7 next year, even heavily detuned it will make over 500hp in showroom stock trim.
A better way to put it is that an I6 is a better heavy truck and work platform for durability, less moving parts and making all of it's torque right above idle, but if the goal is more horsepower the V wins due to rpms.

 

Yeah the dodges i've driven never felt like they had the top end the powerstrokes had.

 

Well, if we are talking trucks here the goal is not more horsepower, it is torque. HP means nothing but for the marketing department. IMO Fewer moving parts is good thing.

 

Well the inline doesn't wear out as fast, and your getting lower RPMs. The cummins will effectivly run for 500,000 miles before it a needs a rebuilt. The "V" configuration will wear the cylender walls faster, and piston rings faster.

As for the Cummins being rough, thats the torque. You have to think about it. The "V" configuration gets less power then the inline. Like someone here said, HP means jack, its the torque that matters. The Cummins can (ive seen it done) 900 HP and 1000 ft trq. They use Dodge trucks in the tractor pulls.. and very little Fords for that reason.

Inline egines are very well balanced naturally, thats why Proshe uses the inline in some of ther cars. But, I might be wrong on some or all of what I just said. So take it for whats its worth. Thanks for takin the time to read my rambblings.

Brandon

 

One other thing. Cummins engine is effectivly the same displacement as the Power Stroke, but with 6 cylenders. Could the size of the pistons make a rougher ideal?

Brandon

 

I'm almost positive that tq has nothing to do with the configuration of the engine, v, I, H.. its in the bore and stroke of the pistons. Longer stroke= more tq. It just so happens that most of the inline 6 engines have a longer stroke and make more tq at a lower rpm and rev less.

configuration also has little to do with longevity, but with rpms and overall design of the engine.

 

I thought I saw somewhere that the powerstroke has a longer stroke than a duramax, but the duramax makes its torque at 1600 rpm vs the powerstrokes at 2000. I think the duramax has a bigger bore though, so that could be why. I have never driven a dmax, so I can't comment on how much low end torque they have.

 

So if configuration doesnt mean anything to longevitiy and to torque, then why do; trains, and tractor trailors (except for the detroit powered tractors) use inlines? In fact the worlds largest deisle generator is an inline. So why then?

Brandon

 

Probably because inline engines take less room. I thought some trains used V engines though?

Personaly I think V engines are superior to inlines, they do have amazing low end torque but like i've said before, my dodge I had back in the day liked towing in the lower rpm's but lacked higher up at highway speeds. I don't know how the new ones are so I have no idea how they are. the powerstrokes seemed to have a much more usable powerband, especially the 6.0. I say it's all because of the V config and thats why I like it.

 

Given comparable displacement, a 6 will usually give greater torque than an 8, regardless of it being an inline or V, as the 6 will generally have a longer stroke. Inline 6's are naturally balanced, so it takes more engineering work to make a V8 as smooth. And obviously, the 6 should have fewer parts. That being said, it really depends on the engineering of a particular motor as to its durability, smoothness and power output.