Apples to oranges bro- that engine is meant for a REAL truck, a work truck. A truck that may idle for 2 hrs straight, that’ll get an oil change when the light starts blinking, that’ll be asked to tow @ it’s max rating in traffic w/ the AC cranked then I the winter have a plow strapped to it the entire time - while I didn’t read the fine print most likely this is an iron block motor & while the article kinda touches on this I’m sure the engineers tuned it more for lower revs, flat torque curve- REPEATABLE power over the course of work day & over the course of its lifetime. The HO 3.5 is a great engine for what it is, but it isn’t an ideal platform for a HDwork truck by any means.
Different issue- You mention size, first off I can’t remember the last time I really was impressed all around by a Ford V8 other than the terminator cobra motors from early 2000s w/ all the upgraded internals. In comparison to GM fords always produced either engines that are architecturally way bigger than they need to be (the raptors 3.5 included) have you ever looked @ their 5.0 compared to GMs 7.0 lol?!??? Displacement wise- again, it’s underpowered in terms of hp per liter relative to a TWIN TURBO 3.5, but not terribly so in the overall scheme of things.
Reminder- repeatable power that doesn’t drop off as drastically in poor conditions, high mileage, heavy workload etc. if you put a 3.5 EB Into an HD truck that’s already lugging around extra 1000 lbs body weight & idles all day ya gonna be cooking the intercooler chewing through plugs & changing oil frequently. The engine will have to work much harder all the time while recvving higher to do its job vs.this 7.3
If HP per displacement was so important over repeatable durable power then riddle me this, why didn’t GM replace their vortec 6.0 that dates back to the 90s w/ the 6.2 ecotec debuted in 2014 that makes more power, weighs less, gets better fuel mileage? Both V8 truck engines right? The answer is because they know when it comes down to it 1 is a lighter duty engine more geared toward performance & power that Holds in the upper revs the other is a more work duty specific truck only engine they KNOW will hold up to the abuse it will most likely see. Same goes w/ this new 7.3 from ford.
GM did finally replace the ancient 6.0 vortec w/ a new 6.6- gonna make similar HP to the 7.3 Ford. Again - they didn’t use their 6.2, which would save them $$$ too, there’s a reason why.
