GM’s Mega 8.3L Duramax Diesel Is Actually Cheaper Than the Competition
The Drive ·
At 555 hp and 1,230 lb-ft of torque, GM's new diesel is the segment's top performer. It's also a cheaper upgrade over the gas engine than Ford and Ram's diesels. The post GM’s Mega 8.3L Duramax Diesel Is Actually Cheaper Than the Competition appeared first on The Drive .
Anyone in the market for a new pickup truck knows you have to pay to play. For some folks, that’s the reason they shop for high-end diesels—to let others know that they can afford the biggest and the baddest. You could argue that General Motors made the new 8.3-liter Duramax just for them, as it’s the top dog in pretty much every way. But interestingly, while that statement applies to horsepower and torque, it doesn’t apply to pricing. GM’s new diesel option is actually the most affordable of Detroit’s Big Three.
GM announced this week that the 8.3-liter will be an $11,400 option over the standard gas V8. That’s $1,410 more than the outgoing 6.6-liter diesel, for your reference, and with 555 horsepower and 1,230 lb-ft of torque, the new engine has an 85 hp and 255 lb-ft advantage compared to the old L5P Duramax. When you pit it against the gasser, it makes an extra 143 hp and 758 lb-ft.
What’s most intriguing to me, though, is how Chevy and GMC’s new power plant compares to Ford and Ram . The former’s 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 is the closest competitor, performance-wise, at 500 hp and 1,200 lb-ft of torque; the latter’s 6.7-liter Cummins I6 pumps out 430 hp and 1,075 lb-ft. But despite both being down on power compared to the 8.3-liter, they cost $12,495—a whole $1,095 more.
Now, no one is pretending that a heavy-duty GM pickup with the 8.3-liter is a bargain. You’ll still spend $102,000 on a GMC Sierra HD AT4X if you spec it with the diesel. But it’s the fact that you can upgrade from the gas engine to the industry’s top-spec diesel for less money that stands out.
I’m eager to test GM’s new “Mongoose” diesel for myself, given all the big promises it makes. It’s a real hot-rod engine in a segment that was already packed with high-performers. Knowing that GM put all of its engineering power behind this engine while still pricing it below its rivals is genuinely impressive, not to mention unexpected. Maybe I’m just used to corporations squeezing customers for everything they can.
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The post GM’s Mega 8.3L Duramax Diesel Is Actually Cheaper Than the Competition appeared first on The Drive .