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Win at what? For driving of all kinds, especially heavy towing, nothing beats the PSD, and that even includes the old and underpowered '99 7.3. This is particularly true if you're towing at higher elevations, where the turbo'd PSD maintain their sea level power, whereas the 454 can lose nearly half its power over a mountain pass. The 350 doesn't even merit discussion.
Really, I wouldn't bother with any of the listed engines. Get yourself a good, low mileage Iron Duke engine. It'll wipe the floor with any of those other choices.
None of the TBI engines you listed will hold a candle to a 7.3. It's just no comparing. I had all three. TBI 350 and 454 and currently have two 7.3 diesels. The diesels will flat out without even breaking a sweat out tow both the 350 and 454. And get better mpg to boot
The 350/454 TBI were great for their time for reliability and they did a satisfactory job. Even with the 350/454 went true MPFI they still IMO couldn't out tow the 7.3
Last edited by Electrician4you; 07-18-2016 at 09:50 PM..
The 6.0 powerstroke has plenty of power and torque. While it had issues, it is far better than the 350/454. The 7.3 was/is a great runner. Most of the 7.3s have more than 200,000 miles. Many have 300,000 or more miles.
Now, the 6.0 with its issues can be bought at a reasonable price. Plan on having work done, head studs, better oil cooler and EGR and stay out of the tunes and have a great runner. The 5r110 transmission behind a 6.0 impresses me.
between the three engines you listed, i would go with the 7.3 every time. it will out pull, outlast, and beat the other two up fuel economy wise as well. many years ago i took a normally aspirated 6.9 over teton pass(ten thousand ft above sea level) and i topped out at 45mph in high gear, neither the 350 or the 454 would do that.
Win at what? For driving of all kinds, especially heavy towing, nothing beats the PSD, and that even includes the old and underpowered '99 7.3. This is particularly true if you're towing at higher elevations, where the turbo'd PSD maintain their sea level power, whereas the 454 can lose nearly half its power over a mountain pass. The 350 doesn't even merit discussion.
You would be extremely hard pressed to be at an altitude in which any N/A engine looses half its power. You might get close to 50% if you drove up to pikes peak(14k + feet) but even then I doubt it. Coming upon a random hill and going up 1000 feet would be a 3% loss of power so the average joe isnt going to have an issue.
But yeah turbos rule all day long, especially if you are towing at high altitude.
You would be extremely hard pressed to be at an altitude in which any N/A engine looses half its power. You might get close to 50% if you drove up to pikes peak(14k + feet) but even then I doubt it. Coming upon a random hill and going up 1000 feet would be a 3% loss of power so the average joe isnt going to have an issue.
But yeah turbos rule all day long, especially if you are towing at high altitude.
You are correct, and thanks for pointing this out. Power loss at 10,000 feet (common Rocky Mountain pass) is 30%. That's far from 50% but can still be a major reduction in pulling power, especially when the OP includes the 350 ci engine, which has no power to spare when hauling.
I had an '88 Chevy 2500 with a 350. I remember a west bound trip across Iowa's I-80 hauling only a 9.5' pickup camper against a good wind. I couldn't maintain 50 mph! AND, I ran out of gas, as I was expecting the tank to last for another couple hundred miles! (Luckily I had a gallon can of Coleman fuel in the camper that got me to the next gas station.)
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