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[Wobblin-Goblin]

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re Cummins sucking the hind tit... I don't know what your metric is, but mine doesn't involve drag racing and making smoke. When I buy a $45,000 truck, I want an engine that will pull for 250,000 miles without any problems. That is priority #1. My truck can't be in the shop. I don't have time to deal with exhaust backpressure valves and twin turbos and crap like that. It might be fine for a "diesel enthusiast" to spend time on that sort of stuff, but I can't.

I really don't care if one engine is 10 HP less than another. All these engines will pull my loads at 65MPH, but which one is going to do it the easiest and last the longest doing it. From what I can tell of the 2005 engines, that engine is the Cummins.

I think that Ford is kind of getting caught up in the performance diesel market niche. All you have to do is look on these boards and see how many people are interested in drag racing their diesels to see what I mean. Ford is catering to that. But that kind of power doesn't work well for the RVers and the work truck guys like me.

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Bravo! Well said! I agree on all counts!

For a while now I've been saying that it'd be nice if the manufacturers would sell diesels with 275hp and 550tq for us working, towing guys. My 7.3L is rated for 250/525 and my dad's Duramax is rated for 300/520. Based on how both trucks run and tow, I arrived at the 275/550 rating. The 300 horsepower of the Duramax can be too much at times, while the 250hp of my 7.3L is plenty adequate for most towing I do, every now and then I tow a heavier trailer and something in between my truck and the Duramax would be sufficient. The 550 lb/ft of torque rating would be a little more than either of our trucks, but still less than all three small diesels available right now.

Perhaps the Big Three could offer two different ratings? One for people who want reliability and/or economy and one for people who want to detonate their trucks by racing and beating the living crap out of the drivetrains?

Personally, I love my Super Duty and am sad that the magnificent '05-'06 trucks are still burdened with an engine so many people either hate or distrust.