One for the true Diesel Nerds.

[CRSmith]

There was a post in the competition forum having to do w/ reliability and power. I was wondering if we could quantify and predict the life expectancy of the cummins in scientific units. Maybe the Joule or Watt. For example, consider 2 engines. Engine 1 is stock. Engine 2 is twinned, comp box, big injectors, propane, nitrous, etc. Engine 1 lasts for 400,000 miles at an output of 240hp. Engine 2 lasts for 100,000 miles at an output of 800hp. Based on mileage, engine 1 clearly has more longevity. Based on energy output over its lifetime, however, the comparison is less clear. Maybe both have ouput roughly the same amount of energy over their respecive mileages. For example, engine 1 may power a generator that lights a lightbulb for 20 years before blowing up. Engine 2 may power a generator that powers a town for 1 day before blowing up. Lets say the 20 year energy requirement for the lightbulb is the same as the 1 day requirement for the town. They will both have provided the same energy over their lifetime. If we could determine the energy ouput of a cummins before blowup, we could (very, very, very roughly) approximate the lifetime of our motors with respect to hp output. A rhetorical question to chew on.