Thinking about getting a truck.

[uflnuceng]

no one giving any cred to the 345hp 5.7 Hemi?

Meh... hemi is a cool concept but its mostly "mystique" as my local mechanic aquantance puts it. We have bi-annual family drag days where we rent the local drag strip for 4 hrs and invite our friends and family. Today was actually suppose to be our fall event but it is rained out. I have a video of a dodge ram srt-10 (~8.2L) being being beat by my brother-in-laws 2003 540iA (4.4L), my 335i beating a Pontiac GTO (I know... not a dodge... I just like bragging... it was one of the newer ones with like 400hp too!), and a regular older 2500 Dodge Ram running just as fast as a Dodge 5.7L Hemi. When it comes to "power under the curve" engine performance I really don't think there is any better street test than a 1/4 mile drag. It really shows off the "power under the curve" battle. So hemis can and do put down more peak hp, but from so many of the drag races that I have seen they must not put down any more power "under the curve" as a conventional wedge shaped cylinder head.

If hemispherical shaped heads were really all that you would seem them a lot more in performance vehicles, but some top fuel dragsters run wedge heads (true, most are hemi's, but not all of them), and F1 doesn't run hemispherical heads because hemi's limit you to one intake and one exhaust valve, so now dual+ valve will ever have a hemi.

If I can snag the DVD we made from my brother-in-law I'll try and post some of them online.

[Rob]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=105526

1 man's opinion, but a convincing one.

[asubimmer]

Just whatever you do don't get a ford... their trannys suck. And i do speak from experience. before i got my 318is i drove a 93' explorer or now i call it the exploder. It went through like 2 trannys in 1-1/2yrs. FORD SUCKS!!!!

and GM owns the world so i would go w/ the titan.

[Rob]

the Big three make fine stuff that should be replaced as soon as it hits 100k.

If was getting a pickup, used or new, I'd get a Toyota. They are finally making them with decent (ie relatively powerful) engines.

[Digitalwave]

the cummins has 600lb ft of torque, more than any other diesel, not comp for the hemi uphill, but how about a comparo in the 1/4

Wow, your logic is great. He wants to buy a truck for work and TOWING but you don't care, you'd rather compare 1/4 mile times.

[turnofftheradio]

I'm a huge Honda fan, but I would not buy the ridgeline. I think the f-series is the way to go. Ford makes a better truck imo, but not for preformance off road. I would get the deisel if it will be a hauler/expressway truck. The titan sounds good on paper, but I just don't know...

[E30_pilot]

I went to the toyota dealer. I checked out the tacoma. I kinda like it. I'll put it on my "list of interested". As for Ford, i'm gonna say no. I know that some guy that had a ford truck. About 2000 miles later, the tranny started to have problems. He went to the dealership and they said that was a "common" problem. He now drives a lexus.

Going to the Chevy dealership on Sat. Hopefully I won't get some annoying salesmen.

[parkerbink]

My Brother in Law has a new (2005) F150 King Ranch four door fully (and I mean FULLY) loaded beautiful truck with less than 2k & tranny issues. I had a 96 F150 4X4 with a 460 that I sold with 260k on it and never had a problem. I like Ford but it seems they have a tranny issue.

The Ridgeline looks cool but is based on the Pilot I don't see how a truck can be a unibody & be a real truck.

I said it before and I'll say it again I LOVE MY TUNDRA!

[mrsleeve]

I went to the toyota dealer. I checked out the tacoma. I kinda like it. I'll put it on my "list of interested".

Oh you want a mini truck! Colorado\Canyon is the way to go. That is what I have good on fuel rides good can pull alot more than the rateing of 4000lbs (ask me how I know) I got rid of my 3\4 ton for this truck.

[James Crivellone]

Toyota or GM if you want a good quality truck


I would lean more toward GM if you want towing and more toward Toyota if you want overall quality.

[Operator62]

Meh... hemi is a cool concept but its mostly "mystique" as my local mechanic aquantance puts it. We have bi-annual family drag days where we rent the local drag strip for 4 hrs and invite our friends and family. Today was actually suppose to be our fall event but it is rained out. I have a video of a dodge ram srt-10 (~8.2L) being being beat by my brother-in-laws 2003 540iA (4.4L), my 335i beating a Pontiac GTO (I know... not a dodge... I just like bragging... it was one of the newer ones with like 400hp too!), and a regular older 2500 Dodge Ram running just as fast as a Dodge 5.7L Hemi. When it comes to "power under the curve" engine performance I really don't think there is any better street test than a 1/4 mile drag. It really shows off the "power under the curve" battle. So hemis can and do put down more peak hp, but from so many of the drag races that I have seen they must not put down any more power "under the curve" as a conventional wedge shaped cylinder head.

If hemispherical shaped heads were really all that you would seem them a lot more in performance vehicles, but some top fuel dragsters run wedge heads (true, most are hemi's, but not all of them), and F1 doesn't run hemispherical heads because hemi's limit you to one intake and one exhaust valve, so now dual+ valve will ever have a hemi.

If I can snag the DVD we made from my brother-in-law I'll try and post some of them online.

Now being a guy that did an M30 swap you should know that it has a "hemi" head.

"Road and Track magazine called the engine "without a doubt the most sophisticated inline six in the world."
That 6-cylinder engine was designed by Baron Alexander von Falkenhausen, a racing legend and the architect of the New Class and New Six engines. It was a Hemi-head engine -- a triple hemispheric, swirl-action combustion chamber cylinder head -- to be precise. With an overhead camshaft, and a crankshaft that has 7 main bearings and 12 balance weights."

Referenced here: http://www.bmwworld.com/engines/m30.htm

Back on topic. I say Cummins all the way. Can't beat the straight sixes.

[c0rnfl4k3]

If you want an affordable rig to haul some decent (engines, etc.) to heavy loads (multiple cars) I would go with a mid-'90's Dodge 2500 Cummins turbo diesel. They are not that expensive for a nice one $4,500 - $7,500 and they run forever. And if you find one that had a manual Allison tranny in it, your never gonna break it (they put those in tanks I think).

[uflnuceng]

Now being a guy that did an M30 swap you should know that it has a "hemi" head.

A true hemi has the spark plug dead in the center top of the dome. M30's spark plugs are on the side right above the exhaust manifold. The spark plug at the top of the dome helps to better propogate the combustion front (don't know what the technical term is for it so I made up my own), which is the whole principle of the "hemi" design.

So the M30 may have a hemisperical property to it, but it is not a "hemi".

Sorry for the OT

[hamann318is]

Oh you want a mini truck! Colorado\Canyon is the way to go. That is what I have good on fuel rides good can pull alot more than the rateing of 4000lbs (ask me how I know) I got rid of my 3\4 ton for this truck.

Colorado seats feel like brick. Yum.

The M42 is a quasi Hemi as well. ;)

[mrsleeve]

they aren't supper soft pillow seats but they aren't bricks either. Maybe a little stiff for some peolple not bad, I like em