KTA Cummins and transmission torque rating

From my understanding and I can't remember all the details, to comply with HD OBD it is much simpler to use common rail vs Unit injectors.

 

I think the common rail came about for the emissions. Higher injection pressure means better atomization of the fuel for a cleaner burn plus they have multiple injection events to reduce the emissions as well. Hard to do that with a mechanical injector.

 

I should of typed Electronic unit injector. Multiple injection is possible with dual solenoid EUI and EUI are capable of very high injection pressures. I wasn't trying compare electronic common rail to mechanical injection. Volvo just went to a Delphi hybrid unit injection/common rail setup. They did not want to put a high pressure rail on the outside of the engine and have to completely redesign the cylinder head and valvetrain.
What I was speaking to was updates to HD OBD updates in 2013 for misfire and fuel system monitoring. I was sitting in Paccar training class in 2012 and they showed the 2013 MY engine and it switched to common rail due to ease of meeting monitoring criteria for fuel system and misfire. Here is an page from OBD 2013 updates.

 

Word to the OP, I know KT's have the cool factor but Celect Plus N-14 rated @ 1850 torque would probably be a better choice. Here is a nice looking KT I saw @ ATHS this year.

 

This 3408 was sweet too. They extended the hood. Fife has video of it on YouTube.

 

I am still running a kta600 in one.of my heavy haul trucks

 

I currently run an 81 pete with a KTA600 and a 6x4. I can PROMISE you, the stock KTA600 produces WAY more than 1650 fl-lbs of torque. I can easily run with any 600-625 HP electronic engine. I haven't had mine on a dyno, but I would say it's putting down 2000 give or take. It is rumored that they bluffed the torque spec to keep the driveline warranty intact. The new QSK version is 650HP and 2300 ft-lb. Those numbers compared to 600/2000 for a mechanical version seems pretty reasonable to me.

As far as fuel economy is concerned, I consistently match the newer ISX powered trucks with all the emissions garbage. I give up 1/2 MPG US to the pre emission electronic engines and deleted ISXs. The fellas with the big power DD16s are getting about 1 MPG better than me and can keep up on short hills but I will eventually pull away on long pulls.

I've been running this truck 3 years now from coast to coast in Canada, down to PA, SC, MO, WY, CO, UT, OR and pretty much everywhere in between. I do a lot of work in the BC mountains at 102k lbs. The most noticeable benefit of the KTA is, compared to high hp small ci engines, they can keep up on short pulls, but in the big mountains, I will walk away from them when they run out of steam. Noting I've ever run or seen has the heart that a K does.