we are looking for a good excursion. we do mostly intown driving so i am leaning towards the v10. the diesel is great and like the power but with mostly intown driving it kills the life of diesels. we have driven a few v10 and have not been impressed at all. they don't seam to have the power that my 460s have or had. i had a 96 f250 efi, and it can't compete with the 466 that is built in my old crew cab. are there fairly inexpensive things that can be done to liven up the v10. i know with my 96 460 i went thru and put good plugs, wires, kn air filter and what not and was getting 13.5 mpg when i sold it with 146,000 miles on it. thanks for input

 

Try the search function.... this is prob one of the most talked about topics. I totally agree though about the 460 vs the v10.. I had a 94 crew cab and always felt it ran circles around the v10 s I have driven..... in town driving wont kill a diesel. unless u leadfoot all the time and dont give the turbo time to cool down when u stop. U can get a timer to run the engine for a couple minutes and shutdown automatically

 

Does the Excursion weigh more than the 460s?

 

I agree to do a search and you'll get lots of reading...

Short answer IMO the single BEST performance enhancement on a V10 is PROPER GEARING.

With stock 265/75/R16 tires that means 4.30 gearing in the axles. Go larger tires...you should seek to keep the 'final' drive at that 4.30 mark. The 4.30's place the V10 in her sweet spot more of the time. I primarily tow with my V10...I've towed my 9000# TT all over the country thru some very challenging grades and pretty high altitudes with some pretty stout head winds...I have never wanted more power...I have stock tires and 4.30 gearing.

The V10 is a different kind of animal...she has a pretty flat power band and is not peaky in her power meaning she don't continually make MORE power...but she makes good power across the band...which seems uneventful or lackluster until you hitch up a good load and she just pulls and pulls strongly and evenly...

The V10 is not a race motor but a great tow motor...

So if you are looking for blistering 0-60 times...look elsewhere...

If you are looking for a great tow motor for pulling up to 10,000#'s anyplace in the country...the V10 with 4.30's is a great option.

If you are looking for pulling much more than 10,000#'s...I'd look PSD honestly...

Good luck,
Joe.

 

Don't buy a diesel for that type of driving.It will be a PITA and expensive to maintain and get the same milage in the winter as the V10 around town. This is coming from a guy with 2 diesels.I think the V10 will fit you to a T.I think you are on the right track with moding a V10.

 

I agree with X_Hemi_Guy and brickie, I too only drive around town and minimal highway. I debated V10 for 6 months before I seriously started looking for one.

I only drive 1/2 mile round trip to work and I felt I would kill the diesel, plus I only tow a 4000# boat during the summer under 10 miles with steep hills.

I think IMO you'd be happy with the V10.

 

When I first got my V10 Ex I was unimpressed, however, now I love it! The funny thing is I have done nothing to increase power. What has happened is I have learned that the characteristics of this engine are way different than a 460 or a 454. Those engines seem to produce a lot of power at the lower RPMs, the V10 needs to be running fast. Once you put your foot in it a little and let it rev, it really is fairly impressive.Ryan

 

C'mon man - ALL Excursions ( diesel OR gas ) are GOOD...DAMN GOOD.It is a simple choice - so long as you understand your own priorities. On short trips, well - have you gone over other recent "threads" about the "diesel - vs - gas" discussion ? 1) Gas Excursions warm up and produce good cabin heat MUCH MUCH faster than diesels. Diesels may NEVER warm up hot enough to produce good cabin heat if the day is cold enough and the "load" light enough.Now, the above discussion about "warm up" is only relevant if we are talking about PROPERLY maintained machinery. We have one "poster" in here who wasnt getting enough heat from a V-10 (this guykeeps repeating a "post" i once made, pertaining to my...well...er...ah..."size". Had he put as much energy into understanding the BASICS of his EX, he might have fixed it earlier).2) Since you dont seem to have much need for the vastly superior "pulling power" of a diesel, as others have noted in this and other "threads", why pay extra for a diesel ? - diesels are worth much more than gas EX's, and you get what you pay for.In my own case, I have a V-10 -because I have a peculiar psychological "quirk". For some reason, when pulling my 11,000 lb. motor yacht up long steep grades in the mountain west, I dont get upset when some OTHER guy in a diesel Excursion is able to go up the grades faster than me.There is a tremendous big difference between the diesel and gasoline EX that you should consider, that is - if this "problem" of the gas/V-10 EX is relevant to your needs. NOISE ! It is VERY important to some people to have a nice noisy diesel, so that when they pull up to a fast food place or mini-market, they can make a thorough pest of themselves leaving it idling. If you only have a gas V-10 EX, leaving it idling wont annoy anyone, because you cant hear the damn things.

 

Little John,

Based on your use the V10 would definitely be the way for you to go.

 

Pete, if nothing else you're sure good for a little entertainment!

My diesel truck warms up as quickly and has a good of a heater output as my previous 2500 454 Suburban. We've had some sub-zero and single digit weather here and my heater works great. If you're having problems with heat output, it's usually due to a bad thermostat or, in more rare occurance, a stopped up heater core or other problem with the air dampering system regardless of the type of engine.

I'll bet you really get off on the "thumper" stereo systems!

 

I'm in the same boat as Littlejohn. I have been looking for an Excursion that I can pull my 6500 lb. TT. I only take 2-3 trips a summer so trying to decide which way to go. I live a long way from the nearest big town ( 1 hour to Wal-Mart ) so do put a lot of longer trips on our Suburban. So far I have been looking for an 01-02 7.3 PSD. Just haven't found one close enough with lower miles to go look at.

Regards,

Mitch

 

Mitch,

A V10 would have no problems with a 6500# TT. I love towing with my diesel, but in today's marked with a diesel costing several thousand dollars more and with diesel fuel at .50 to $1 higher per gallon, it's hard to justify the cost.

 

If you live in an area with severe winter temps like we have in Wi. you wont be happy with a diesel's performance. just check out all the threads for :gelling fuel, plug in wont work , hard starting, water in the fuel etc. my next rig will be a gasser until i move to an area with decent winter temps.

 

Just to add to that;

Diesel Vs. V10

$100 oil changes (services) vs. $30 oil changes.

Post warranty repair costs are much higher for the diesel.

Another thing to look at is gearing on the V10. 6500#TT is going to be a little hard with a 3.73 gear. The trans will "hunt" in and out of OD. You should consider one with a 4.30 gear ratio or consider ring and pinion replacement if you do this type of towing.

 

As many know the 4R100 is far from perfect. A good performance oriented accumulator and/or some tuning and it feels much better. If you gor for the V10 she likes steeper gears. The tach goes to 6k rpm and the V10 could hit it if the limiter wasn't there. They are different from the old school big blocks of the past.