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Suburban, Yukon Gas Mileage??

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Old 10-10-2001, 11:33 AM
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Suburban, Yukon Gas Mileage??

Question: After reading all that stuff below, why does a Suburban or Yukon and the like, with 5.3L engines get better gas mileage than most Expy's? I know they are turning a few less RPM's on the highway but most of people I know that have one get 22 on the highway. With our more powerful 5.4L you would think we would get something like that. We are mostly stuck at 19 and trying to keep it under 70 for that. They also apear heavier and seem less erodynamic than an expy. Just thinking...

http://www.wardsauto.com/default.asp?action=en

Engine type: 5.4L TRITON SOHC V-8
Displacement (cc): 5,408
Block/head material: cast iron/aluminum
Bore x stroke: 90.2 mm x 105.7 mm
Horsepower (SAE net): 260 @ 4,500 rpm
Torque: 350 lb.-ft. (475 Nm) @ 2,500 rpm
Specific output: 48 hp/L
Compression ratio: 9:1
Application tested: F-150 Harley-Davidson Ed.

Every year now, they come. Every year now, Ford Motor Co.’s 5.4L Triton V-8 slaps ’em down.

Who? Why, those pesky truck-engine competitors, Pollyanish in their belief that they’ll best the Triton’s blend of trailer-tugging torque and righteous refinement.

In ’99, the 5.4L Triton fought off General Motors Corp.’s neat-but-narrowly focused 5.3L Vortec OHV V-8. Last year, it was the upset-minded Toyota Motor Corp. 4.7L i-Force DOHC V-8.

With truck engines, it’s all about comparisons. The Triton and the Vortec are close enough in displacement to be considered dead even. The Toyota V-8, however, gives up more than half a liter.

Once you’re into the serious workaday numbers, though, the 5.4L Triton continues to shine — despite the fact that both competing engines mentioned above are newer by a large margin.

The Triton’s 260 hp beats the Toyota 4.7L V-8 by 15 hp and lags the GM 5.3L V-8 by 25 hp. Mainly, though, that’s marketing; there’s little to choose between them in the power department.

People "drive" torque, we’re always told, and in that arena the Triton remains king, or whatever the name Triton implies. The 5.4L unit develops a wholesome 350 lb.-ft. (475 Nm) of torque at just 2,500 rpm, while the GM job needs 4,000 rpm to muster its 325 lb.-ft. (440 Nm) and the Toyota has to hit 3,400 rpm to deliver its 315 lb.-ft. (427 Nm). For truck engines, that’s all you have to know: the most torque available at the lowest rpm.

Normally, that would be more than half of the story, but the numbers don’t describe how artfully Ford Powertrain engineers developed the Triton to be the just-right bowl of porridge: not too trucky, not too refined. The GM V-8 needs more refinement, the Toyota, more truckiness.

The 5.4L Triton’s fourth year on the 10 Best Engines list — which doesn’t exactly reward foot-dragging when it comes to refinement — is testimony to the inherent "rightness" of the original design. A design which, we never tire of reminding you, represented an enormous leap of faith from Ford powertrain developers.

Oh, and did we mention the SUPERCHARGED version (which shares the "base" Triton’s award)? We would have, but we’re still catching our breath from that experience. The Ford SVT F-150 Lightning, powered by the supercharged 5.4L Triton, is the best truck in the business. And wait until the ’02 model year, when that unit jumps from today’s 360 hp to 380 hp. Even for a truck, that’s a lot of juice, hombre.
 



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