We're off topic, but anyway sulfur is not an additive it is present in crude oil stocks. It takes more refining to get the levels down to ULSD levels. The removal of the sulfur lowers the lubricity of the fuel and must be replaced by additives at the refineries, thus the higher cost of producing it over LSD. The fact that it cost more than gas now is probably because of taxes and higher demand in the winter on stocks for heating oil etc.

 

16.7mpg with a V10<smile>, only with a strong tail wind. They tell me the turbo lag is a thing of the past with the new 6.4 twin turbo. Would be nice.

 

I live in northern North Dakota. Previously I owned a 7.3L PSD, yes I know you asked about the 6.0L, but bear with me. We have EXTREME cold weather here, yesterday was I think the first day in about 10 that we hit positive Farenheit temperatures. With the diesel I had continual problems with the extreme cold as I do not have a garage to keep my pickup in. Even with it plugged in, the starts were hard, and the fuel economy was 6-8mpg with all of the warmup time. The couple of times that I needed to be towed in, I was towed in by Ford tow trucks running, you guessed it, V10's!

After living here for a winter I really started to notice what engines the Super Duty drivers had. Most of the construction companies, tow trucks, and personal drivers had the V10. Now, you can chalk me up to another owning a 2005 F-350 V10. This is my second winter with this pickup and cannot be happier...no fuel conditioner, carrying spare fuel filters, etc.

Now, if I still lived in Montana where the weather got cold, but not extreme cold, I would have the 6.0L PSD....Nothing beats the torque of a diesel when towing, but the V10 certainly gets the job done! FYI, yesterday was the first day in 12 days that I started my pickup (don't use it as a daily driver) and it started without so much as a hiccup. With my PSD, I would have HAD to start it every day, maybe multiple times per day, when the temps were -40 to -50F.

My $0.02

Goose_Hunter

 

I'm supprised how civil this has stayed, lol! All but a few that have posted have put there own bias aside and looked at the original posters delema. Theres a couple of arragant ones on both sides but as of right now I'm begining to see the worse of the diesel croud begining to show there faces.

Facts are the diesel will get beter mileage loaded and unloaded. It will tow better and more weight faster up the hills and will out perfrom the V10 hands down at any significant elevation! But.........the fact is the original poster is doing nothing more than recreational towing. He doesn't have any mamath loads and even if he tows both mustangs at the same time he isn't gonna exceed what the V10 is capable of. The V10 will be cheaper to buy and maintain hands down and will have no problem running the speed limit with the loads mentioned.

It's a personal preference in this case and you should buy what you want no matter which one; otherwise you'll always be second guessing your decision. Can the V10 do the job your asking?? Absulutly! Will the diesel get the job done and get better fuel mileage?? Absulutly! does the V10 cost less to drive and maintain up to about 20k per year?? Survey say it sure is! Will the diesel have better resale! If history continues to hold true yes sir (and commen sense says it should)! Will you be let abunch of internet posters make your decision, I sure hope not. Take advise with a grain of salt, but only you really know what you want. We can only tell you our own biasness based off of our own personal experience....

I would place the most respect on those that have OWNED both, not driven both and own one or the other. I've driven hundreds of different vehicles, would I still lean towards what I own, of course, thats why I bought it! Do my buddies tell me everything bad about there trucks, of course not, they don't want me thinking they made a bad decision! Do I tell them everytime I have a problem, well yeh but I've only had a couple. would I if I had a bunch or if I thought my beloved V10 was underpower for my uses, of course not! I think you get the idea. Good Luck

 

Goose hunter where are you at. I live south of max but work in minot. Wasn't yesterday great, it seemed like a heat wave and think it almost broke 20*F. Amen for the V10 last week when it was -20 to -30 without the windchill!

 

SLE all very good points, hense why I thought about it so long before getting a diesel this time. I sit right on that line for mileage etc. Do I like my new PSD? Hell ya! Do I miss my 05 with the V10. Your dang right I do, probably the best truck I ever owned. It just came down to what I felt in my heart was the right thing for me to do. Like you said it comes down to looking at the numbers and doing what feels right for you. And yes I am very surprised how civil this thread has stayed. When I first seen it I thought "Oh boy here we go again". Gotta give cudos to everyone for keeping it that way.

edit:

SLE, small world, I was through Minot a couple years back on our way down and back from Disney in Fla. Nice area, reminds me of the badlands in Alberta.

 

Diesel used to be cheaper here in the summer and more expensive in the winter (competing with fuel oil), but it's been about $.50 or more difference for as long as I can remember.

My diesel used to get 17 mpg back and forthe to work, and my V10 get about 14 mpg.

Figure a 10,000 miles comparison, the diesel uses 588 gallons at $2.49 (today) = $1464, the V10 uses 714 gallons at $2.02 (today) $1442...just about dead even. Sure gas will go back up, but so will diesel. Point is, it will be a wash overall. The maintenance is higher for the diesel, but day-to-day stuff is not too awful.

My Cummins took 12 quarts of oil, and the V10 takes 7 quarts....@ $2.50 a quart, that's $12.50, and the diesel filter cost $10 versus $4 for the V10...$18.50 difference.

I know some folks swear they will ONLY own a diesel, and others say they will NEVER own a diesel...each to their own, and enjoy driving what you have!!

 

Great discussion so far - let's keep it that way

As to the mileage comments, 16.2MPG, hand calculated, on a 500 mile round-trip just this past Labor Day. And the one before that, and the one before that, and the 1000 mile trip I did 2 years ago, etc. etc. etc. etc. 4x4 Supercab Shortbed, weighs just under 7000lbs empty, was carrying about 1500lbs of camping equipment and supplies.

Anyway...

I've recommended diesels to people in the past, but in your situation? The cold should definiitely effect your decision. When you're up there using the truck, will it be short trips? Or long enough to get all the way up to temp, and run for an hour or more?

Do you have an electrical source to run the block heater on the PSD? Or a shelter/garage for the truck of some sort? And, think of what the electricity to run the block heater would cost. If you have to run your own generator, or the community has one, that can be costly.

--

As to whoever said the only reason these debates get so heated is that both sides are almost equal in capabilities, I can't agree more with that statement.

Now let's play nice

 

I agree with almost eveyone here. Buy what is better for you based on usage.
The V-10 is a much better choice for a local daily driver and will tow the same amount as any diesel if you only tow once and a while. I have a 2002 f-250 superduty V-10
six speed 4.30 gears and tow up to 12000lbs, but the truck only has less than 21,000
miles on her so if I had a diesel I would never recover the additional cost to buy and
maintain.

 

I agree (almost) completely. Diesel is always more than gas where I live (well, for a significant period of time), summer or winter, and in fact it's closer in price now than it was in the summer. I did the math once and you're right, it's a wash. Someone posted they are getting 25 - 30% better mileage with the diesel, and for some time, near me, gas was 25% less than diesel, so the fuel was the same. Initial cost, maintenance, etc meant the diesel would never pay for itself in mileage, ever when fuel prices were that different. Now fuel is closer to 10 - 15% different, near me, so it would take just shy of forever

I love the V10 power. I looked pretty hard for what I wanted, V10 with 4.30 gearing and am very glad that's what I found. The combination of that engine and that gearing puts rear wheel torque higher for the V10 than any other stock SRW SuperDuty (at least for the model year of my truck), except the 6.0, and even they are close. Instant throttle response and more horsepower and torque than is needed to pull at maximum towing/payload capacity. There just isn't a significant difference between the two in my opinion.

I'm a gas guy and my friend is a diesel guy. He can't understand why anyone would buy a gas truck, he just never will understand it. In driving his 7.3L, his 6.0, and my V10 there just isn't any job one does that the other can't. To say you "need" one over the other just isn't factual, it's an opinion.

Combined MPG poll for the 6.0 (with approx 125 responders), I don’t have the same for the V10
55.65% 15mpg or less
44.35% 16mpg or more
42.74% 15mpg to 16mpg
32.26% less than 15mpg
25.00% greater than 16

V10:
362 at 4,750 rpm
457 lb-ft torque 3,250 rpm
4.30 gears multiplied by 457 lb ft torque = 1965.1

PSD 6.0
325@3,300 hp
570@2,000 torque
3.73 gears multiplied by 570 lb ft torque = 2126.1

PSD 7.3 (1999 - 2003)
250 hp
500 lb-ft torque
3.73 gears multiplied by 500 lb ft torque = 1865

 

Are you using a synthetic motor oil in your psd? Mobil 1 makes em turn over lots nicer. I have little experiance with real cold like up your way, but am curious about the syn as I have used it since 1976.

 

The fact you need to plug in a PSD may be a moot point. Depending on how far north you go, you also need a block heater on gasoline engines.

 

To address some comments

1) I could afford a PSD when I got my truck, to say all V10 folks do not have enough money is BS. At worst I could have gotten a few less options and made the dollars within a few grand so the bank would have given me the money. I bought a 4 wheeler with the money I saved on not getting the PSD!

2) You can chip a PSD but what about the warranty? That is chance I would not take, plus if it runs so hard why do I need to add a chip?

3) I live just south of Milwaukee and gas has been about .50 less except for a brief period when gas went to about $3.00 a gallon since spring of 2005. Factor in fuel additive and oil changes and the cost per mile is not that different between the 2

4) I only tow a jeep once in a while on an 18 foot trailer, I could go 80+ all day long. mountains might be an issue but I do not drive in the mountains often. With the jeep and trailer if I floor it I move out quick enough.

If I were moving to the middle of nowhere I would get the gasser. One main reason is that if you do need something repaired their are allot more techs that can get a gasser going then the PSD.

If I towed heavy or in the mountains I would consider a PSD but for an everyday driver the added maintenance and tinkering of the PSD is not my cup of tea. I would rather be working on my jeep or walking the dogs.

I do have to admit that my wife did have some say in getting the gasser but she does ride in it and paid for half of it so she should have some say.

 

chuckle, love the last line of your post were the truth finally comes out............
But your right, Ford makes the best all around truck, all are great, but also none perfect, can't go wrong with any of them.

 

To those that say either decision is a no loose situation..I agree.

My choice for my '05 Excursion was the V10. I will not bash the diesel, but will write why I got the gasser.

A friend has a 7.3 CrewCab F350 that he insisted I drive to see how the 7.3 worked. He does keep it plugged in, but was quick to say that it simply will not run great until it is fully warmed up. We drove around a good while and then I took the wheel. Off the line, I was not impressed. The throttle response was not what I like and until that turbo spooled up it was sluggish.

I then drove an 05 6.0 Excursion. Again, fully warmed up and still the throttle response was not good, and the acceleration was not what I wanted.

I drove a V10 Excursion and at least for me, it was night and day. (My other daily vehicle is an 03 Cobra, so I will admit I am a horsepower junkie) Throttle response was much better, off the line acceleration was much better too. And, it's quiet.

I tow a 22' enclosed trailer and my V10 makes plenty of go for that. I know that a diesel would yield better MPG, but the higher upfront cost, etc negate that.

That said, it took me 10 years to put 90,000 miles on my former Bronco, and I also do alot of short trips as I work close to home, so it would take me forever to see the cost outweighed by MPG.

I have also driven a worked up 6.0 Excursion that ran like crazy. Holy cow did it run. But, the transmission has already needed service, and the warranty on the trans and engine is voided due to the mods.

For me, the choice was easy, I preferred the way the V10 drove over the diesel.