Which would you choose for a class A motorhome?  What are the hp/tq specs?

Both engines have their followers. I would base my decision on the over all condition of the home and the price.

This is a good forum for RVs.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm

I have a 99 Ford V-10 with a Banks exhaust on a 32' class A. My buddy has an '02(??) Chevy/Allison chassis on a 32' coach. Performance wise they are pretty close. He gets a little better mileage than I do though. If I were to buy one today I would probably opt for the Chevy/Allison. Workhorse also makes a lighter duty chassis Chevy 8.1 with a Chevy tranny (not Allison) which I would probably stay away from.

8.1L vs 6.8L, there's no replacement for displacement
Not sure what the class rating was but it was a 34' gulfstreem with the ford v10, I've never heard a motor work so hard to move a vehicle down the road. We borrowed one and we drove it from Rhode Island to Daytona twice getting a total of 5mpg, but what do you expect when you're 3/4 throttle doing 65mph on level road. Any incline it would downshift twice and the speed would drop to 45 with the pedal to the floor.
The owner traded it in for one on a GM chassis. The GM vortec was a world of difference to drive, though we never got a chance to take it down the Daytona, I think the GM one was 36' as well. I was able to drive it for a short distance (about 250 miles) and was pretty impressed how it just chugged along, it feels like a torque monster compared to the v10. It also got 8mpg and that was heading north into the hills unlike the flat roads heading to Florida.
I don't know what the ford makes for power, but the 8.1L is 340hp with 450 ftlbs of torque stock.
I've heard rumors of a GM 7.4L V-10 being built to replace the 8.1 for 2007?

Diesel...

ThumpItGood said:

Agreed, but If I had to pick between the 2, the V8 would be the obvious choice.  V10 has proven time and time again to be horribly efficient and not much more (if any at all) powerful than a well designed V8.  They've got 2 more cylinders guzzling gas with nothing to show for it.

Thanks for the info. I'll head out to rv.net.  I know the older v10 is down on power but the new 30 valve V10 puts down some good numbers.

Horsepower @ RPM
362@4750
Torque @ RPM
457@3250


GM 8.1
This Vortec 8100 V8 engine generates 330 hp at 4200 rpm and 450 lb.-ft. of torque at 3200 rpm.

So the new ford V10 has more of both with a smaller displacement.

get the Vortec. I had a Ford F250 with a V10. That thing got me a whopping 6 MPG around town and 10mpg on the highway. Horrible. It always sounded like it was laboring to tow my toyhauler. We also have a new "airport bus" style van at work with the new V10, same horrid milage, same laboring sound while driving.

A friend just recently came close to buying a GMC with the 8.1 and said they only got 10-12 mpg on the highway and 6-8 around town and he decided he couldn't handle that so is now looking at diesels. For a V10 Dodge is the only way I'd go they seem to get good gas milage.


Like others suggested I'd go diesel.

hometheaterman said:

No diesel or Dodge V-10 available in a class A chassis. The only way to get diesel is to go with a pusher and that's signficantly (+50%) more money than a class A. Ford V-10 and Vortec 8.1 are the only powerplants currently being offerred in class A chassis. I've got 44000 miles on my 32' class A with a V-10. So far no problems but if I were to buy one today I'd probably go for the Chevy/Allison package (wasn't available when I bought mine). Make sure whatever Vortec package your looking at has the Allison and not the lighter duty Chevy tranny.

The old V-10s werent very good, but I drove a new V-10 last summer and it ripped. They have really improved the motor, and it comes with the Torq shift auto now.

fastmike926 said:

Yeah that is what I think.  Just hope they don't have spark plugs flying out anymore.

I was just asking, no rush.  It could be a couple years or so till it comes time to buy.

I drive a 2001 20' something foot Winnebago with a Ford V-10 and it is a gas guzzling (lucky to get 7 mpg) underpowered pile. The slightest uphill grade sends it searching for a new gear.

the v10 is a great engine. reliable as a rock and the new head has really opened it up. it sounds like it is laboring because it like to rev.... i was looking at f250 v10s for a bit, the new head made a night and day difference in the truck...

clearedforlanding said:

High rev power is ok for a muscle car but not exactly ideal for a RV. That's why the v10 is much worse on fuel than the 8.1 GM. We never had any trouble with the v10 but the RV was sold with 35k miles on it. I can't see a motor working that hard all the time lasting much more than 75-100K miles

My grandpa has a 99' F250 with the V10, man does that thing rip!    We were driving it up to an RV dealer in michigan to put a Prodigy brake on it while we were camping and my grandpa kept accelerating so fast hes like, ooops I forgot I dont have the trailer behind me, plus they sound wicked awesome.  

I wouldn't call 362HP @4750 and 457Tq @3250 high rev power.  Sounds like a wide, flat powerband perfect for a "big block" gasser.  I know the older 20V V10 was weak on power.  I was asking about the newer 30V unit.