What you really have to look at is how much of that flywheel power is each of these trucks putting to the ground. I would almost bet that the ford is putting more of its hp and torque to the ground than the chevy. The chevy might still be higher, but given the percent losses in each, I know the ford will be the better truck. Comparing the 4.6 or the 5.4 to the 4.8 or the 5.3.

 

faster46
1) you didnt answer my question about the difference between car and truck motor. since it seem that mlaugh knows his stuff and you bow to him, maybe he can tell you the difference. compare a 4.6 in a mustang gt to the 4.6 in a truck.
2) excuse me for not turning my cap lock off didnt relize it upset people.
3)It seems to me mlaugh does know his stuff, so let him answer for himself. He certainly does not need you with your great insight to answer for him.
4) please excuse any spelling, punctation or miss use of the cap lock. i really thought we were talking about trucks?

 

I'm the pround owner of a 4.6L and I have not driven a 4.8 but from everything I've heard, it will beat a 4.6 with no doubt. However, that may not be due to the engine. I'm pretty sure the Chevy's have a much higher axle ratio than the 3.55's in most of the 4.6 trucks (some are even less) which would account for alot of the difference.

If you put the two engines on the exact same platform (which is darn near impossible) I think the 4.6 would do quite well. Have the trucks line up with the same axle, options and whatnot and I'm not sure if the difference is as great.

The 4.6L has lots of torque from an idle to 3,000 rpm which is really nice for crawling through snow or mud, pulling a boat out of a lake or pulling someone out of a ditch. I'm not sure if the chevy would be as adept at those chores. I could be wrong, but it seems like the 4.6 is tuned for "truck" actvities while the 4.8 more for "car" and city type situations. All depends on what you use your truck for.

I'm sure they both perform well. If you really want to race your truck, grab a Lightning or talk to Neal the HP Freak . . . no 4.8 will touch any of those . . . or 5.3 for that matter.

 

I forgot,

my 4.6 will accelerate quite reasonably without a downshift (obviouslly not racing) from what I've heard of the 4.8 and 5.3 they will both downshift almost immediately when accelerating in order to get them into their powerband. Another benefit to having your power at lower RPM's.

 

Brother,

Bowing to mlaugh was a joke. You can if you want, but I was joking.

We can talk about trucks, but it does no good if I cant see what you typed

 

MAYBE IF IT WAS REALLY LOADED DOWN WE WOULD SEE THE DIFFERENCE
That was your quote. And this is where it all comes to play.

From the 4.6 stand point there is some different points between the car and the truck engine
1. the truck engines feature a tuned aluminum upper and composite lower intake manifold assembly. It also has an electronically controlled valve that opens and shuts the plenum wall, so at lower rpm, the valve shuts for low end torque and then for higher speeds the valve opens for increased engine breathing and more power output. The truck puts out 220hp and 290 lb.ft torque
2. the car engine is similar but not tuned like the truck engine. It puts out with dual exhaust 215hp and 280 lb ft torque.

3. to my knowledge the truck also has low fricton internals, high capicity water pump, 6qt oil capacity, and a nuber of other heavy duty items the car engine doesn't.

For information see this site; http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/fordtough.html

hope this helps

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97 F-150 4.6 auto, 4x2, 3.55 LS, WMS Velocity tube, Dynomax Super Turbo exhaust with Echo tube.
Oh yeah, it's Oxford White with crome wheels, Legacy shell & custom grill!



[This message has been edited by mlaugh (edited 08-26-2000).]

 

cougar guy, dont get am wrong i am very pleased with my 5.4. but I dont make excuses for it. I could fill up this page with things i like better with the ford than the chevy. Ihis is the 5TH truck i have owned and the gas milege is terrible (12 mpg, 3.73 rear end) so when a friends chevy will outrun it and get better milege with basically the same size engine and the same gears, I dont like it.
I currently own; a 97 f250, 97 chevy tahoe and a 89 fourmula 383 with n.o.s.(i will pass on the lightning).
faster46, since you called me brother, you asked the question, i gave my opinion. notice i didnt say answer. we can agree to disagree.

 

mlaugh , i looked at that sight. it looked like a sales add for ford but i didnt really see anything about the differnce between the 4.6 in the car or truck? i know the modular engines has not been out that long (maybe 6 years) but the information on them is not very available. i am not going to buy a manual since the truck has 86000 miles and i have never had to work on it.

 

BROTHERDAVE, I hear you. If I was buying my truck all over again I'm sure the Chevy would be an impressive truck especially with their new engines. Like you said there is so much more that goes into a truck besides the hp/torque figures. I think we are all happy with our Ford's or we would not be posting here.

Bottomline, I'm sure both trucks do 99% of what we ask them to. That's good enough in my books. More power would be nice but I'm not sure if that's so I could tell people I can outrace the next guy of if it is because I would actually need it.

 

i didnt realize all those differences: wow a 5 h.p. and ten lbs. of torque! i wonder how much ford spent to make such a difference. i wounder if the oil pan is different to fit in the mustang chasis. i wonder if the water pump is different for the same reason. and you dont think the low hood line had anything to do with that intake do you. i didnt say they where the same , but they are very similar.
chevy does not put the 5.3 in a car. it was designed just for the truck. fords 4.6 goes in everything with different cams and intake mods for different cars.
we are really just taking shots at each other here.
from driving both i know this. the chevy is faster, gets better milege. i have not towed anything with a new chevy so that i don't.
know. 95% of my driving is city regular driving with some light (1000 lbs or less)hauling. If you have driven both with a trailer or a heavy load and you have experienced the difference i will take your word for it that the ford is better. If you are basing this on just the fact that on paper it should be better well then i question it.
by the way if you can some how get me a corvette engine (350 h.p. , 375 lbs of torque)in a truck, i would be greatful and never ever question a ford truck again. not quite a lightning but i bet it would run.

 

Since when do you buy a vehicle only based on the engine that's available? If you buy vehicles only on that basis, then you're doint it all wrong.

The Cummins diesel that's in the Dodge is a fine diesel engine. Cummins makes terrific light weight inline diesels. The problem with the Cummins is it's in a lousy truck. That's why people will rather buy the F Series with the Navistar Powerstroke. They want the Cummins but don't want such a lousy package.

You can buy a silky smooth all aluminum gas engine that puts out over 300 horsepower and moves the vehicle 0-60 in under 6 seconds, but how many of you would buy a Mercedes SL500 to tow a horse trailer? It's not all horsepower, BDave.

If you just want a fast truck on the track, why don't you go buy yourself that Chevy with the 5.3? The rest of us will stick with our Fords, especially those who actually use our trucks to haul and tow stuff around.

I had the 4.6L in my '97. I liked it a lot. It towed 5,000 lbs without any problems. It had more than enough low end torque to get that load moving. I had no complaints except when going uphill at 55 mph. Had to kick the tranny down to second to maintain 55.

If there was ever a bullet proof engine, it's the 4.6L.

 

Brotherdave you said you would like a vette engine in a truck. Well trust me you don't, my friend had a '87 chevy truck with an 93 LT1 vette engine in it(300hp) and after a little while it was in the shop every other day. He spent $600 a month just fixing it, so he sold it and spend around $300 a month on a new brand new truck. Vette engins are just not made for a truck.

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92'4X4 Flareside F-150,33" tires, 4" procomp lift, flows, K&N filter, etc.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1073118&a=7924824&p=26818345

 

I drove a 5.3 liter and did not think it had the low end grunt my 4.6 liter has. I could tell the 5.3 would dust my doors to 60, but still didn't think it had as much power right off idle.

I dont believe the 4.8 produces as much power below 3000 rpm as the 4.6. Once you get above 3000 rpm the advantage switches to the 4.8 and that is why the chevy will edge out a ford to 60 and most likley in the quarter mile as well. However, if you are buying a truck to tow and haul with, I can't see any advantage a chevy would give you except for personal preference.

As for the question of torque vs hp, my vote goes to torque. Look at the Lightning. How do you think a 4700 lb truck can run with a 3500 lb sports car? The answer is a huge advantage in torque. If you look at a z28 it has 305 horse power. A lightning has 360. A 55 hp difference. Do you really think that 55 hp difference is going to make a lightning keep up with a z28? What about a corvett? Lightnings can run with corvetts too and the horsepower difference is much closer. The only advantage a lightning engine has over a vette engine is torque.

Of course one might argue that a powerstroke diesel can't run with a vette or a z28 and it has 500 lb/ft of torque. The difference between the lightnings torque and the powerstrokes torque is that the lightnings torque is spread throughout the the rpm band, whereas the powerstrokes torque peaks at 1500 rpm and falls off from there. Peak horsepower for the powerstroke is only 230 hp, so the torque is falling way down from that 500 lb/ft. Otherwise the hp would be much higher since horsepower is a function of torque.

Oh well, enough rambling.