Duramax Diesel

It may not be as torquey as the engine found in Ford's Super Duty line, but Chevy's new Duramax engine is still impressive.

Max and Al see eye-to-eye – Click above to watch the videos after the break

Until recently, the only market segment in the United States that had embraced diesel engines was heavy duty pickup trucks. While we were in Maryland this week to drive the 2011 General Motors HD pickup trucks powered by the revised 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8, we took the opportunity to ask about the now-shelved Sam Abuelsamid

2011 Ford Super Duty – Click above for high-res image gallery

We're not entirely sure what to make of reports regarding Isuzu's tie-up with General Motors for diesel engines that seem to conflict with one another, but here we go anyway. According to Bloomberg, Isuzu is considering whether it should end its joint venture with The General for the production of large-displacement Du

We're not entirely sure what to make of reports regarding Isuzu's tie-up with General Motors for diesel engines that seem to conflict with one another, but here we go anyway. According to Bloomberg, Isuzu is considering whether it should end its joint venture with The General for the production of large-displacement Duramax diesel engines.

The revamped 6.6-liter Duramax V8 engine will go into production in April 2010 and the current Duramax, which doesn't meet emissions requirements that go into effect January 1, 2010, will cease production the day before the new year begins. In the interim, GM will be retooling the factory and won't be producing any of the engines to go in the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra.

Earlier this year, as General Motors was slashing spending on programs in a desperate and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stave off bankruptcy, one of the victims was the new new 4.5-liter Duramax diesel V8. The engine, which was intended to start production in early 2010 for use in GM's full-size light duty trucks, was shelved as gasoline prices dropped and sales were plummeting acro

Just when it looked like all hope was lost for us diesel fans when it comes to light duty vehicles in the US market, our buddy Mike Levine at Pickuptrucks.com has the scoop on a plan to revive GM's 4.5-liter DuraMax. Several months back, Ford shelved plans to build a 4.4-liter diesel of its own design for the F-150 and more recently General Motors canceled its engine. The beleaguered Detroit automakers have now decided that there is still a market for such an engine even if it didn't make sense

We've written here several times about the brilliant packaging job that General Motors has done with its new upcoming 4.5L Duramax diesel V8. Beyond the basic packaging, the engineers have done a lot of fascinating work on the internals to reduce weight and improve efficiency as well. The main bearing journals that are cast into the bottom of the block are manufactured with a fracture splitting process that makes them stronger and lighter. The block itself also uses less compacted graphite iron,