Purchasing a HP Rating
- Z-factor Consultation
- Jun 8, 2020
- 1 min read
As a relic of days past, customers frequently will request an engine with a specific HP. As of 2017… be careful. Engine OEs have designed their products for specific operations and sometimes this does not mean offering the exact same horsepower for the intended application.

Example. In 2017 Cummins branched their 15-liter engine into two different platforms (now its three). Some customers were set to ask for a 500 HP engine in their vocational truck. Unbeknownst to many customers, 500 HP was the Efficiency engine and 505 HP was the Performance version. These are 2 different engines, not just software.
The torque curves between offerings are setup to deliver power at different rates. This means that a vocational customer may not be happy with an Efficiency rating due to the term Downspeeding. Downsped engines are designed to provide low RPM power, for maximum fuel efficiency. Operating further in the RPM band not only increases fuel consumption but can soot the after-treatment system more quickly.
New torque curves must be paired with a change in axle ratio for evaluation. It is important to understand what the OEs have developed for this generation of engines. Everything today is about carbon footprint neutralization. In our industry this amounts to trade-offs. Customers who insist on matching a pre-2017 spec should be counseled into matching the attributes, not the inputs.
And now......
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