Heavy Duty truck diesel wars are in full swing. GM will be making announcements related to the 2017 Chevy Silverado HD (and 2017 GMC Sierra HD) at the 2016 State Fair of Texas. The big news is the updated 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel V8. The next iteration of the V8 is codenamed L5P and it will displacement as before. However, the engine is getting a new air intake system that is routed to a center hood scoop. Presumably, this is to get more cooler air and make more power.
Competition from Ford and Ram are pushing the boundaries with 925 lb-ft and 900 lb-ft of torque respectively from their big diesels. They are also pushing the max tow rating numbers beyond 30,000 lbs. We do not know the official power rating for the new V8 Duramax. It will surely receive a bump up from the current 397 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque. Will the truck be rated to tow more than the current 23,200 lbs? We will have to wait and see.
The other area of development is greater range for the latest HD trucks. This has to do with all aspects: better powertrain efficiency, greater fuel tank capacity, and greater Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) tank capacity. Ford increased the size of their fuel tank to 48 gallons for some models, and the size of the DEF tank to 7.5 gallons for the 6.7L Power Stroke V8.
GM currently uses 5.3 gallon DEF tank. TFLtruck recently spied more Chevy HD trucks testing at high altitude. Take a look at the DEF tank in the picture above, which is located under the front passenger area. The tank shroud has a slightly different design and appears longer than on the current Duramax trucks. Could it be a larger tank? Will GM increase the size of its fuel tanks as an option?
Check out the 2016 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax take on the Super Ike Gauntlet!
