6.2 v.s. 5.4

[04SolidSnake]

Yeah I don't disagree that the extra HP wouldn't be helpful offroad, but it's getting on my nerves with the people who are asking "Why didn't you get the 6.2?"..

Well, I've been driving my Raptor since November, and I already have two other vehicles that get close to single digit fuel economy.. Sometimes you gotta pay the price to be one of the first Raptor owners . It's getting to the point now, that I want to build the bejeebus out of my 54 just to stick it to the nay sayers

 

[trolls56]

My opinion on it is that you pay a little more now for the 6.2 but in the end it will have a much better resale value. Also the 5.4 with a mild supercharger kit is pretty much tapped out on the stock short block. The 6.2 has much more potential. I kinda laugh that every 5.4 owner's answer is just to supercharge it. How will that compete with a supercharged/turbo 6.2? I hope to see a Hellion Kit made for my 6.2 down the road.

 

[04SolidSnake]

My opinion on it is that you pay a little more now for the 6.2 but in the end it will have a much better resale value. Also the 5.4 with a mild supercharger kit is pretty much tapped out on the stock short block. The 6.2 has much more potential. I kinda laugh that every 5.4 owner's answer is just to supercharge it. How will that compete with a supercharged/turbo 6.2? I hope to see a Hellion Kit made for my 6.2 down the road.

You're going to put a 67mm turbo on an offroader? Sounds like a strange idea.

 

[AZ Rocky]

You aren't right here my friend. I think you are mistaking heat soaking the engine, with heat soaking the blower. Heak soak will definately be an issue. No heat exchanger is 100% efficient. It are those ineffciencies that lead to heat soak. Running balls out in the desert is going to heat soak just as badly as a dyno pull.. Since you heat exchanger is not 100% efficient, it cannot pull all of the heat out of the water flowing through the heat exchanger.. This cycle over and over again will cause IAT2 to climb, and it will rob you of power. Further to this, ambient temperature will also affect not only IAT, but also IAT2s since your heat exchanger is only going to cool the intercooler fluid to ambient at best.

The only way heat soak can be taken out of the equation would be to have a heat exchange system which can pull the IC fluid temperatures down to below ambient temperature like the Killer Chiller systems which use the vehicles air conditioning system to super cool the intercooler system coolant. This allows water temperatures to fall below ambient temperature, and thus will prevent heat soaking the blower.

If the truck is moving forward, air is passing through the cooling system and intercooler or heat exchanger. The engine doesn’t know or care if you are on the highway or a dirt trail. 100 degree ambient air is cold compared the un-cooled air charge exiting the SC. The inter-cooler will not be as efficient as it would be at 50F, however the miracle of MAF computer controlled FI will make the best of the situation. Now if you tell me a SC can't take the bouncing and shock of Raptor-style off-road driving, maybe you would be saying something that I would have to look into. However, as far as engine operation goes, it’s all about air density, and more specifically the amount of O2 you can get into the engine. Forced induction engines suffer much less from lower ambient air density than NA motors (just ask someone who lives in Colorado Springs). I know this, not because I read it on the Internet, but because I have experienced it on the street and at the track. Dyno’s are for tuning, nothing more. So you have 400HP @ 5000 RPM, who cares? What I need is torque and power in the RPM range I’m going to operating in, more like 2800 to 3800 RPM, because in the real world, we can’t drive a Raptor 90MPH off-road for very long (in fact most people will probably break the truck and/or kill themselves). But, hey, if you do, the SC heat exchanger will be working better anyway at high speeds.

I agree, a modified 6.2L potentially can make far more power than the 5.4L, however, IMHO, the 5.4L is a proven engine and there are plenty of tuners out there that can make it produce more than I will ever need at a reasonable price.

Just for the record, the extreme high temps you are so worried about (110F+) only occur a few weeks of the year, the rest of the time it’s pretty darn nice here. Personally, during the heat of the AZ summer, the odds of me going out in the desert just to goof-off are close to zero. It would be like you going out to play when it’s 40 or 50 blow zero; it’s just better to stay home and bench-race on SVTP!

Anyway, I think this horse is beat down enough so I’m going to change the subject: When is the best time to visit your area? The fishing is legendary up there and I need to try it out!

 

[04SolidSnake]

If the truck is moving forward, air is passing through the cooling system and intercooler or heat exchanger. The engine doesn’t know or care if you are on the highway or a dirt trail. 100 degree ambient air is cold compared the un-cooled air charge exiting the SC. The inter-cooler will not be as efficient as it would be at 50F, however the miracle of MAF computer controlled FI will make the best of the situation. Now if you tell me a SC can't take the bouncing and shock of Raptor-style off-road driving, maybe you would be saying something that I would have to look into. However, as far as engine operation goes, it’s all about air density, and more specifically the amount of O2 you can get into the engine. Forced induction engines suffer much less from lower ambient air density than NA motors (just ask someone who lives in Colorado Springs). I know this, not because I read it on the Internet, but because I have experienced it on the street and at the track. Dyno’s are for tuning, nothing more. So you have 400HP @ 5000 RPM, who cares? What I need is torque and power in the RPM range I’m going to operating in, more like 2800 to 3800 RPM, because in the real world, we can’t drive a Raptor 90MPH off-road for very long (in fact most people will probably break the truck and/or kill themselves). But, hey, if you do, the SC heat exchanger will be working better anyway at high speeds.

I agree, a modified 6.2L potentially can make far more power than the 5.4L, however, IMHO, the 5.4L is a proven engine and there are plenty of tuners out there that can make it produce more than I will ever need at a reasonable price.

Just for the record, the extreme high temps you are so worried about (110F+) only occur a few weeks of the year, the rest of the time it’s pretty darn nice here. Personally, during the heat of the AZ summer, the odds of me going out in the desert just to goof-off are close to zero. It would be like you going out to play when it’s 40 or 50 blow zero; it’s just better to stay home and bench-race on SVTP!

Anyway, I think this horse is beat down enough so I’m going to change the subject: When is the best time to visit your area? The fishing is legendary up there and I need to try it out!

Are you referring to me? I'll answer anyhow

Best time of year is probably late May - July. August gets pretty dry and hot and by then the mosquitoes can be pretty rough depending on how much rain we've had (although if you're in AZ you won't mind the hot and dry).. Sept - Oct is good as well.

Fishing around here is very good all summer long.. If you come up around these parts let me know.

 

[ON D BIT]

If the truck is moving forward, air is passing through the cooling system and intercooler or heat exchanger. The engine doesn’t know or care if you are on the highway or a dirt trail. 100 degree ambient air is cold compared the un-cooled air charge exiting the SC. The inter-cooler will not be as efficient as it would be at 50F, however the miracle of MAF computer controlled FI will make the best of the situation.

Those who track there blown sports cars see a big drop off in lap times after only a few minutes in 80+ heat. Based on heat soak 500hp blown race cars have been known to lose 50+ hp on hot track days running lap after lap.

Now why would desert racing be any different with a blown v8 at 80 degrees? Yes you could build a special cooling system for the blower to help defeat some of the heat soak but then again that will cost another couple grand plus!