General Motors demos diesel, gearing against heavy truck rivals
General Motors recently hosted a drag strip race against its Ford and Dodge rivals to demonstrate a new diesel
and transmission powertrain. In an old airstrip up in Beiseker, Alberta, Canada, the world’s largest automaker
showed off its new 6.6 litre turbodiesel V8 Duramax engine with 360 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque contained in a Chevrolet
Silverado. The Ford truck was an F-250 with a 6.0-litre V8 pumping 325 hp and 570 lb-ft of torque, while the Dodge Ram
had a 5.9 litre turbodiesel engine that produced 325 hp and 610 ft-lbs. of torque. All vehicles were automatics and
each hooked to an equipment float holding a 3,200-kg (over three tons) tractor.The Silverado won the race, followed by the F-250 and the Dodge Ram. While the Chevy's extra oomph no doubt played a part in its victory, the writer rightly attributes the win to the Silverado’s new six-speed Allison transmission that kept the pickup in its powerband's sweet spot more often that its rivals with traditional four-speed autos.
More details can be found at the link.
[Source: Toronto Star with picture by Howard J. Elmer]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Philip Dunlop 6:58PM (3/25/2006)
Perhaps the fact that it was also a General Motors-hosted demonstration that helped them out to the win? I don't know. Clutching at straws here.
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goat 7:02PM (3/25/2006)
Is winning a drag race really the point? I don't think so.
To me, the most important things they will need to demonstrate are reliability and longevity. That's where the Cummins excels.
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Montgomery 7:17PM (3/25/2006)
That's bullpoop!
Me very mad! Mom!
They should have put the Ridgeline in that competition!!! NOT FAIR!!!
MOM!!!
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Robert Hearne 7:33PM (3/25/2006)
I am a prejudiced first time Dodge owner , My truck will be towing the Chevy to the boneyard.
If you want to drag race , go gas !
Maybe Dodge will counter with gas equivalents , H'mmm , what an ad that would be !!!
RH
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Proud Japanese 7:47PM (3/25/2006)
6 Liters to make around 300hp? I know they make lot or torque but even by diesel standards that's pathetic.
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whofan 7:54PM (3/25/2006)
Theres only one diesel truck I`d buy and that`s a Dodge. The Cummins engine is built strong and it`s an inline 6, great for torque.
I believe Chevy has a good diesel.
Ford I don`t know? I`d stay away from Ford.
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Corey W. 8:04PM (3/25/2006)
Doesn't matter who hosts the competition, if all variables (what's being pulled) were even and this was each automakers top of the line diesel for the heavy duty, pickup truck model, then the victory is justified...
The author seems to want to separate the transmission from the truck... Yes, the Allison assisted in the GM in winning, so what, it's the transmission offered with the truck. Again, unless this was not the best offerings from Ford and DCX in the 2500 series, then GM one it fair and square....
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mike 8:52PM (3/25/2006)
just too bad you can't have the Cummins with the allison....that would be sweet
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Robert Hearne 9:42PM (3/25/2006)
Consumers appears to be well versed (on the surface), common sense says that if a competition is put on as an advertisement ,studies have been done to assure the outcome . Let's not be presumptious enough to assume this was not rigged to be in Chevy's favor . Again I will Take My USA produced Cummins diesel (Not A Rice Burner,ig:ASIA) and be proud to tow the foreign offerings to recycler . The recycler "one" (Won)the rights to melt the remains.
RH
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EC 9:49PM (3/25/2006)
#4 Quote, "I know they make lot of torque but even by diesel standards that's pathetic."
What standards are you using? Diesel engines do not rely on HP. Specific to which trans/eng combination is in the truck, the torque is 500-600 ft-lbs, of which most is available at 1000 rpm. HP has little meaning in truck diesel engines, as their job is pulling loads.
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whofan 10:07PM (3/25/2006)
Proud Japanese is a troll.
300 horse is a lot for a Diesel.
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me 10:16PM (3/25/2006)
It would be nice if the guy writing the article would at least check his facts. The Ford has a Torqueshift 5 speed Automatic, not a "traditional 4 speed auto" as is stated in the article.
As for power, I think 650 ft-lbs of torque is exceptional, and having been wowed by the the performance of the powerstroke Ford, I guess the Chevy must be quite impressive.
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Hitachi Nakamichi Moshi Moshi 10:22PM (3/25/2006)
Proud Tojo --
Please go do some research on Diesel engines. Horsepower isn't what pulls big loads. I'm still trying to figure out what you're so proud of. I hope it's not your consistant ignorance as indicated by your posts. Damn troll.
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mooseman 11:10PM (3/25/2006)
Longevity and efficiency also play a role in choosing a diesel. We had 6.9L Nav Fords last 500k miles without major work. Same rear ends, same granny four manual trannies.
Ford dropped the ball a bit with the 6.0. It had some serious teething issues due to their supplier cutting corners. Damn shame, as they owned over 2/3 of the light duty diesel market (all these trucks are light duty, regardless of the "heavy duty" names).
Ford does have a new 6.4L diesel due out late this year (of course Chevy wants to compare the present versions) and also a 6 spd auto, IIRC.
Competiton makes them all better. Unfortunately they have gotten into a power war at the expense of FE. Our old 6.9 used to get 20mpg on the highway. You'd be lucky to get 14 out of the new ones.
The 3/4 and 1 ton market is all fine and dandy, but I'm chomping at the bit for Ford's new 3.6L V8 diesel for the F150. My Ram Hemi will get traded in the day that thing hits the street.
Are you listening, Ford? We want diesels.
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bernie 11:53PM (3/25/2006)
And this competition is important because?
How many of you tow 7,000 lbs. AND drag race with it? The fact is, they'll all be falling apart and rattling at 120,000 miles. That's what's important to buyers.
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sprott 6:42AM (3/26/2006)
I am a prejudiced first time Dodge owner , My truck will be towing the Chevy to the boneyard.
If you want to drag race , go gas
Maybe Dodge will counter with gas equivalents , what an ad that would be
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aaron 8:39AM (3/26/2006)
OK this test was not a fair one. "Silverados new six-speed Allison transmission that kept the pickup in its powerband's sweet spot more often that its rivals with traditional four-speed autos." I know at least the dodge is offered with a 5 speed automatic so therefore chevrolet did not do this fairly & i thought the dodge is lighter than the ford so why would the dodge come in last?
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Jeff 10:25AM (3/26/2006)
Torque is what's most important when dealing with heavy loads. Remember, the formula for horsepower is
Torque * RPM / 5252
So horsepower is a function of torque AND rpm. With a lower engine speed, typical in diesels, you get less horsepower. But torque is what really helps.
Right now, the most powerful big rig diesel engine puts out 2150 ft*lb of torque, but "only" 600 hp.
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Glenn Laycock 11:54AM (3/26/2006)
Actually 300Hp for a TORQUE biasted TRUCK DIESEL is really high. Those are not high rpm engines. Exact opposite of race cars that have high horsepower and low torque -- which is why you see race cars being PUSHED out after a pit stop, and why they have poor control at low speed, often going from a crawl to spinning as the driver tries to find the sweet spot (usually trying to use as many gears as possible).
It comes down to very similiar engines and trucks, but the GM engines is a fair bit larger in size.
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Henry 12:32PM (3/26/2006)
5 spd automatic is offered on the PowerStroke Ford.
4 spd automatic is the only automatic offered with the Cummins.
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