Detroit 8V92 vs. Cummins NTC-400

Okay, which do you prefer in a large truck and why? I am researching options for a future project...

I don't have a ton of time with the detroits but have been around cummins since I was a kid. Grandpa had them and drove the beggebeess out of them, LOL . I Really like the cummins and there rather easy to work on and dead reliable. And parts seem reasonable. I have 3 cummins myself .

The commercial trucking industry abandoned the 2 stroke Detroits back in the mid 70's for the Cummins. Now, the table has turned and the preferred engine is the Detroit again, but the 4 stroke 11 and 12 liter engines. It's all about mpg.

I've owned and driven both, I prefer the Cummins but I'm not changing out the engine in my HEMTT, as they both have advantages. The Cummins has less or no disadvantages.

If you were asking whether I would take a 400 Big Cam Cummins over a 8V92 Detroit,Cummins all the way,no question.

Having had to sit next sit next to,behind or directly over many 2 stroke Detroits while working at the quarry,and work on an equal number of them,I have learned to avoid them like the plague.

If I ever owned a 2 stroke Detroit,it would be just long enough to give it to someone else.

Having said that,my "new" crane at work is powered by a 11.1L 60 series Detroit,not really a big fan of it either.

just my 2 cents.

I much prefer 2-cycle Detroits, but the 8V-92 is "The engine that lost Detroit it's share of the OTR truck engine market" ......and then, rather than improve the design, Roger Penske (Detroit's owner at the time) decided to give up on the 2-stroke concept and purchase the manufacturing rights to the 4-stroke engines that they branded the Series 50 and 60. I would still prefer the 8V92 but that is due to nostalgia and bias.

There is no question that the 2-cycle uniflow diesel engine design is more efficient than a 4-stroke and has a higher power to weight ratio.... the biggest, most efficient engines in the world are all 2-cycle. (EMD, Wartsila-Sulzer, etc) But unfortunately Detroit did little to improve the design of these engines over the years. Computer modeling to fine tune cam and port timing, electronic common-rail injection, modern materials and tolerances, etc. and the 2-cycle Detroit could have kept up rather than fall by the wayside.

Jon

Jon,

Where is the engine (Wartsila-Sulzer) in your picture from? At first glance it looked like a regular size engine being pulled by a scale model truck.

Jared

I have driven OTR and I always hated a "double breasted Detriot".

They have to be driven wide azz open to get anything out of them.

I especially hated the 318......if it was not tuned right you could say "hill" on the CB radio and the truck would drop 20 MPH.

On the other hand the fastest truck I ever saw was a long nosed Mack with a V-12 Detriot.
I got my doors blown off by it while I was running 105 in a long hood Western Star with a 3406 B Model Cat and 15 speed double overdrive. He was hauling a bull wagon and passed me like I was backing up heading west just out of El Paso, TX.

The other bull haulers said he had killed more cows than Hormel.

i've always been a detroit man. back then, the 2 cycle was the engine. i still like them. the series 60 is the engine of choice of today!! Especially the DD15. DETROITER ALWAYS!!

Dirty Detriot !!

We have an 8v92 in our Newell pusher motor home. It will climb the Rockies in a hurry. Old technology though. Newer, smaller. 4 cycles can produce as much power and with a little better efficiency. Still, we have not found a motor home that can climb Floyd Hill as fast as we can. It's the 325 gallon fill ups that take your breath away.

A Cummins will never sound as cool as the 2 cycle Detroits spooled up.

My vote is the 8v92.

If it were already installed, I would have the Detroit. I own two of them, a two cycle, and a four cycle. If I were going to buy one to go into something, I would go with the Cummins, I own one of them also. Just a lot less problematic, IMO.

Jared said:

Jon,

Where is the engine (Wartsila-Sulzer) in your picture from? At first glance it looked like a regular size engine being pulled by a scale model truck.

Jared

Click to expand...

worlds largest diesel engine

Most powerful diesel engine in the world

​

YouTube - ‪MEGA BUILDERS - Building the world's largest container ship, Eugen Maersk (part 1 of 5)‬‏

FWIW - the 8V92 can't be too outdated, the M1070 HET and the HEMTT trucks still use 8V92TA's, and I heard they were pretty good engines...

Problem with the Detroit Engines are they are very noise and the 2 cycle leak oil like a bastard . I had a 671 detroit for years and it had a hard time pulling out of its own shadow !! I have driven the Series 60m Detroits and still they do not compare to a Good CAT or Cummins for pulling power and reilablilty !! problem with the 2 stroke diesel it will never be within emmission standards . A 4 stroke will always have a better more efficient engine with better heat transfer and power to weight !! !!

Without a doubt I would take 400 big cam. I have worked on 8v and 6v in bus and like wreckermen said they smell a hill 2 miles away even when you had the rack set up all the way and rolling the smoke. If you turn a 400 up you can walk the dog with ease. A friend of mine drove one of the 400 big cams turned up came up fancy gap at 65 or 70 and had to hit the jake at the top to make the bend fully load with green beans(I mean fully load DOT would of loved to caught him that night.) That's a running son of a -----. Besides if you draw a picture of a detroit on a piece of paper and leave it on your dinner table the next morning there would be drops of oil under it. If they weren't leaking oil something was wrong or you were two gallons low on oil.

if i was making a living with it i'd have a cummins.... if its in a fun truck then the detroit wins hands down...nothing sounds as bad ass as a wide open detroit

M813A1 said:

Problem with the Detroit Engines are they are very noisy and the 2 cycle leak oil like a bastard

Click to expand...

Yes! I know I will get stoned for saying it...but that loud whine hurts my ears after while.
I drove a M-577 when I served (command post carrier of the M-113 APC) and hated to go on long road trips.
I would have a headache and my ears would ring for a long time afterwards.

I've ridden in a Gama Goat and that noise...Ughhh...I could NEVER own a Gama Goat.

I also very mush disliked the leaking oil in the bottom of the engine bay of my M-577.
I would spend hours on the wash rack trying to keep the engine bay free of oil.

I even created a posting here about repowering a M-911 from the 8V92 to anything else...but the consensus was to leave it Detroit Diesel powered.

I strongly dislike 2stroke Diesel engines