Which Chassis Year is better?

[BBQ]

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Which Chassis Year is better than the others?

Which year the manufacturers had the most technology breakthrough?

Which engine has less problem than the others?


I remember the fuel injection made most of the engines more efficient,
and the pollution control killed most the power.

[Roxy4x4]

You don’t want to narrow down the manufacturers, year range, etc?

[mkguitar]

I'd say 2000 is kinda where I see the advantages.

tuned port injection and head design were far better than previous throttle body type injection ( carbs were about done after 1986...)- TPI was first introduced in pass cars, and later in the trucks and vans

and controlled fuel delivery and burn allowed for less EGR to control nitrates of oxygen, cats were better, the entire exhaust system is better for power...

my 2005 6.0l chev gets 15+ mpg, makes 305 hpat the wheels and doesn;t pollute

my 72 eldo has an 8.2 which makes 400 hp at the crank...less at the wheels maybe 9 mpg and spews hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide etc everywhere it goes..
72 was the big year for the caddy 502 and lacks most pollution controls- it has only a PCV
this model is allowed 500ppm of HC, the chev tests at 5ppm on the rollers

no contest

Mike

[booster]

With the later model Chevies post redesign in about 2002, all were much better than the older small block 5.7L engines. In 2008 they got variable valve timing and drive by wire, and in about 2010 they got the 6 speed which was a very big improvement.

[BBQ]

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What about the Triton V10, are they any good?

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by BBQ

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What about the Triton V10, are they any good?

Well, they're certainly real good for Exxon Mobile stockholders.

Sturdy and reliable, but with the Chinooks that were equipped with the V10 you were pretty much looking at 8 mpg. The Chevy V8 6.0 will get you double that, around 16.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Well, they're certainly real good for Exxon Mobile stockholders.

Sturdy and reliable, but with the Chinooks that were equipped with the V10 you were pretty much looking at 8 mpg. The Chevy V8 6.0 will get you double that, around 16.

Wow... that big a difference in MPG !

[booster]

Of course that V10 could pull the 6.0 backwards up a mountain, too, though as they were serious pulling engines. You really don't see anything else much in the bigger gassers as nothing can really compete with them.

The 6.0 Chevy is a very good engine, and will get 16mpg in a class b van, but I think you would be lower than that in an RV the size of a Chinook. Still a lot better than a V10, but not 16mpg, and probably closer to 12-13mpg.

[mkguitar]

the V10 was used primarily in commercial chassis...not part of cafe standards, so...

I experience with these is rental vans for work, the mpg was always lacking...typical mixed use might see sub 10.
based on this, I really didn;t look to hard at any ford based vans.
famously we have a PW on a chev...but the other contender was a fantastic chinook on E450.
the v10 mpg & the extra 4 feet parking complication ( I had 6 or 7 cars at the time we were shopping...down to 4 now + van) factored.

mike

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by booster

The 6.0 Chevy is a very good engine, and will get 16mpg in a class b van, but I think you would be lower than that in an RV the size of a Chinook. Still a lot better than a V10, but not 16mpg, and probably closer to 12-13mpg.

Good point. I was comparing the V10 with the 6.0 in the Chevy Roadtrek 210 which has a much lower profile than the Chinook which undoubtedly helps its mpg. But even so, the mpg difference is remarkable.

[wincrasher]

Well this argument is kinda dumb. There is NO V10 in a Class B currently in production. Lots in a Class C and Class A.

The newer, 3 valve V10 with the 6 speed (introduced in 2016 models?) gets much better economy and better emissions. I just had a tank in my Tiffin where I got 8.3 mpg towing my Jeep. All in that is around 26,000 lbs.

Just to compare efficiency, my Travato K weighs around 8,000 lbs loaded for travel and gets around 19 mpg. To compare, you have to equalize the two cases. Since the Tiffin weighs 3 times as much, an equivalent would be to divide the Travato's MPG by 3. So you would expect, with the same efficiency, the Tiffin with the V10 should get 6.33 mpg. By getting higher mpg, the package is essentially more efficient - most likely due to the characteristics of the engine, but also aerodynamics - although one could argue that a van has a much more efficient aerodynamic profile than a 13' tall flat front bus.

As to the OP's question, the absolute best chassis you can get is a new one - either the Chevy, the Sprinter, the Promaster or the Transit. They are each at the top of their game right now and none of them could be considered duds. Each is considered reliable and have fairly low operating costs compared to vans of say 15 to 20 years ago. Some are more suitable for towing if that is your need, and some have bigger service networks, and some get better mpg than others. The first criteria I'd establish is what do you want out of your Class B and then go from there - it should narrow your list by one or two at the start.