How much power/torque can the 5.6 reliably make?

[andy_george]

Within the next year or so our family business will probably be retiring our oldest pickup, a 1997 Powerstroke Ford. It's always been awesome, but it's just getting a little old, with little issues from rust and corrosion finally causing enough issue and concern that towing regularly with it makes me a little worried.

 

I'd take another pickup, but probably a used one to save some money, and I'd also shy away from a diesel.... Love them for pulling, but the price premium just can't be justified when we use it 5 months a year for pulling relatively light loads. A nice setup would be a supercab Ford with the 6.2l, but many times the bed of a pickup fills up with supplies really fast. So I was thinkin a cargo NV may work quite well, as it would work as a great stock truck, while pulling one of the trailers that range from 5000-7500 pounds.

 

The chassis, horsepower, and torque would be comparable to our old Ford, but the torque curve would be less impressive, for sure. Does anyone know what mods (no turbos or superchargers) can be done the to 5.6 in a used NV to increase its output without straining reliability or the rest of the drivetrain too badly?

 

Again, this is a ways off, and may never come to fruition, but I'm open to anyone's knowledge and ideas. Thanks!

[ASD Dad]

Short answer - there is nothing that will come close to the power curve of a diesel.  

 

Your best bet is to visit one of the big Titan forums and ask there or just browse the engine mods section.  There are many that mod these motors and drag race their trucks on those forums.  Most bolt on mods - exhaust (including headers), intakes, cams, throttle bodies, ECU flashing, etc. will increase HP and TQ but mainly higher up the powerband where you want lower.  Each of those could have drawbacks as well with driveablility, noise, increased gas use, etc.

 

You have only one choice and it's not a good one and something you dont want in the first place.  The Stillen supercharger for the 5.6 can be made to work on the NV.  It requires a good tune shop and a custom UpRev tune done on a dyno.  It would not be cheap and there are still issues.  There is a member here that did it and broke his transmission the first tune they tried.  I think it is running now but still has error codes to clear all the time.  But it is the only true mod that would give you the fat torque curve you want.

 

All that said - there are many here including me that haul a heavy trailer with the van full of people and gear.  I'm pretty happy with overall performance.  It's not as good as my old Tundra and nowhere close to a diesel pickup but I really cant complain.

[andy_george]

Thanks for the input. Good points!

[chphilo]

You could always purchase 2017 NV van with the new 5.6 engine. It's evolutionarily better than the older 5.6 and looking at your needs, it just might work for you without any expensive mods.

 

I am looking forward to seeing how electric truck technology will be implemented. On paper, everything looks great. . . . but . . .

[ASD Dad]

You just cant change engine physics.  Diesels will always have low end torque and it will be pretty flat across the powerband.  Gas motors need RPM's to make HP/TQ.  Little stuff can help bring that down the RPM band but unless it's got some sort of forced induction on it it just cant do it well.  

 

Newer factory turbo motors do a fantastic job of having a nice fat and flat torque curve.  Be very hard to do that with a bolt on setup.

[chphilo]

You just cant change engine physics.  Diesels will always have low end torque and it will be pretty flat across the powerband.  Gas motors need RPM's to make HP/TQ.  Little stuff can help bring that down the RPM band but unless it's got some sort of forced induction on it it just cant do it well.  

 

Newer factory turbo motors do a fantastic job of having a nice fat and flat torque curve.  Be very hard to do that with a bolt on setup.

 

 

Agreed. But the OP's towing need is very modest (actually within the towing specs of Nissan van ). In that case, a little improvement of the new engine might be sufficiently comfortable for him go that route.

 

I like Diesel, but I am afraid that its days may be numbered. I suspect that in my lifetime, I will see majority of workhorse vehicles replaced by non-Diesel. The monster torque machine a gas engine cannot be. But electric motor seems promising, at least at this point. Apparent, its torque numbers are impressive.

Edited September 20, 2017 by chphilo

[radin2son]

This isn’t torque in the true sense or electric as described above, but FCA’s eTorque looks promising especially in the area of mpg. No need to modify truck toughness or engine which would work great for NVs. Also available for all engines. $1400+ option over the life of a truck is a bargain.