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GM 6.2 V8 vs Dyramax 3.0 diesel


gregtay

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Anyone have experience towing with both motors in the GM SUVs? Looking to order an Yukon or Escalade and planning to go with the Duramax.... but would love to hear from someone who has had some significant mules towing with one vs. The 6.2. Sounds like you really can't go wrong with either. Thx

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5 hours ago, gregtay said:

Anyone have experience towing with both motors in the GM SUVs? Looking to order an Yukon or Escalade and planning to go with the Duramax.... but would love to hear from someone who has had some significant mules towing with one vs. The 6.2. Sounds like you really can't go wrong with either. Thx

Here’s my 6.2 Yukon Denali today. The day after dumping $2000 into it.
D8D76147-B68D-4FF7-8FD7-508DA50E86CA.thumb.jpeg.394cb55c40d1e6f5aab8c065449e6e73.jpeg

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2 hours ago, dlb said:

What year and what issue?

2016 - where do I start for issue(s). Had a scheduled oil change and new front brakes. The morning I was to take it in, my check engine light came on. The code was showing bad fuel injectors, I think 3. Also had a bad engine cooler seal. Dropped it off on Tuesday and got it back Friday.
I was scheduled to pick my boat up on Saturday morning from dealer. They called me Friday evening and said they had to look further into a bad code for 2 cylinders misfiring so the boat wouldn’t be ready. Got up Saturday morning to run an errand and got back to the house and noticed the smell of oil burning. Looked at the drive and there was oil from where I left it parked overnight. Called the GMC dealer and they said they could look at it if I could bring it in. I checked the oil and it barely registered on the dipstick. Called them back and the service manager and another mechanic came to my house. It wasn’t a loose oil filter or drain plug but something to do with the seal they put in. Got towed back to the dealer to get fixed Monday morning. 
I was originally upset that my boat dealer called and said my boat was ready on time as scheduled. That ended up saving me because I would have got into my car and drove 2 hours to get my boat and would have really been SOL. Blessing in disguise. BTW, check engine or low oil dummy lights never came on from the low oil.

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We have a 2008 with a 6.2 and have not had these issues.  Part of it sounds like poor workmanship/QC by the dealer not the engine itself.

Ours has over 175K miles on it and still going strong.  Our plan is to keep it and maintain it until the electrics come out.  Then we will be in the market.

These vehicles and properly maintained engines can for for a few 100K miles more than mine has.  I intend on having ours be one of those as well.

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My sister has a Silverado with a baby duramax and she loves it.  She tows a small fiver (near max tow capacity on her rig) and it tows great (I have towed her fiver with it on one occasion).  She gets 30+ mpg running down the highway unloaded and it does very nicely with the 10 speed both loaded and unloaded.  It drives very smooth and is very quiet and has a lot of grunt down low.  It is a very nice engine/tranny combo, IMO.

The 6.2L has a lot more HP but the diesel has similar torque numbers and tows nicely in the lower diesel RPM range.  I have the 6.2L in my ski boat and love that engine, but I still think I would pick the diesel for a 1/2 ton-based tow rig even assuming the cost of the engine options and fuel milage were the same.  But if you want more of a hot rod engine and want quicker acceleration the 6.2l would be the better choice.  

No bad choice either way.  

Edited by jjackkrash
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23 minutes ago, jjackkrash said:

My sister has a Silverado with a baby duramax and she loves it.  She tows a small fiver (near max tow capacity on her rig) and it tows great (I have towed her fiver with it on one occasion).  She gets 30+ mpg running down the highway unloaded and it does very nicely with the 10 speed both loaded and unloaded.  It drives very smooth and is very quiet and has a lot of grunt down low.  It is a very nice engine/tranny combo, IMO.

The 6.2L has a lot more HP but the diesel has similar torque numbers and tows nicely in the lower diesel RPM range.  I have the 6.2L in my ski boat and love that engine, but I still think I would pick the diesel for a 1/2 ton-based tow rig even assuming the cost of the engine options and fuel milage were the same.  But if you want more of a hot rod engine and want quicker acceleration the 6.2l would be the better choice.  

No bad choice either way.  

Thanks.  It might simply come down to the ability to get a vehicle with the 6.2 in two week... or  order and wait 7-8 months for one with the Duramax :-S.  I think i'd pick the Duramax if all things were equal, but not sure if it is work that long of a wait.

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12 minutes ago, gregtay said:

Thanks.  It might simply come down to the ability to get a vehicle with the 6.2 in two week... or  order and wait 7-8 months for one with the Duramax :-S.  I think i'd pick the Duramax if all things were equal, but not sure if it is work that long of a wait.

Ugg.  Ya, hard to pass up a 6.2L for a 7-8 month wait.  Both great engines, just with different strengths.  

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9 hours ago, dlb said:

We have a 2008 with a 6.2 and have not had these issues.  Part of it sounds like poor workmanship/QC by the dealer not the engine itself.

Ours has over 175K miles on it and still going strong.  Our plan is to keep it and maintain it until the electrics come out.  Then we will be in the market.

These vehicles and properly maintained engines can for for a few 100K miles more than mine has.  I intend on having ours be one of those as well.

This particular incident was definitely the dealers fault. I like the engine itself and the vehicle. Unfortunately, I have just had bad luck with various parts of it.  I was surprised I had to replace 3 fuel injectors. In all the cars I have owned, I had never had any fuel injector issues.  AC went out on it summer of 2019. Right now I am at 85k miles. I do like the power of the engine, but too many things around it have prematurely failed on it.

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On 4/27/2021 at 5:20 PM, jjackkrash said:

Did you decide?  

6.2 Escalade on order.  I am sure the 3.0 Duramax would be great out cruising down the highway but I did manage to get a few minute behind a GMC Denali truck with the baby Duramax and I decided I would likely just drive "mad" at it all day long in the city.  Didn't have quite the boost that I am used to from the Audi 3.0 TDI motor.  I found I had the pedal to the floor a lot :-/.  It doesn't help that all three of my current cars have ~500HP V8's.  So I went with the 6.2 (which I think will still feel underpowered at times.)  Cancelled my Grand Wagoneer order, no question it is a better vehicle, better and more powerful motor, 2000+ pounds more towing capacity.... built from the ground up to be the perfect luxury family SUV, but it is sort of ugly and just huge. (4" longer and 2" wider than an Escalade.)

So now I sit and wait for GM to get their production issues figured out.  Had to order from a dealer in Indian to get a decent deal, they will ship it to me in Seattle when it comes in. 

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31 minutes ago, jjackkrash said:

A coworker just picked up a 2021 Escalade.  Its is freekin' sweet. 

 

31 minutes ago, jjackkrash said:

A coworker just picked up a 2021 Escalade.  Its is freekin' sweet. 

The tech is pretty amazing. I never thought I'd own a GM product... but we are going to give it a try.

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3 hours ago, gregtay said:

Cancelled my Grand Wagoneer order, no question it is a better vehicle, better and more powerful motor, 2000+ pounds more towing capacity.... built from the ground up to be the perfect luxury family SUV, but it is sort of ugly and just huge. (4" longer and 2" wider than an Escalade.)

 

Funny you say that.  My hold up on the GW is that it isn't big enough - compared to the Ex MAX and Yukon XL/Burb.

I know the Escalade is nice.  Just doesn't do it for me.

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11 hours ago, gregtay said:

Had to order from a dealer in Indian to get a decent deal, they will ship it to me in Seattle when it comes in. 

Congrats!  Why did you have to order from a dealer in Indiana?  Which dealer?

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Just to add to the thread, i have a 2020 silverado with the 3.0/10spd and a 17 yukon denali with 6.2/8spd. The 6.2 is definitely more fun to drive has more muscle car power.  But i love my 3.0 duramax, it tows better, and gets great mpg. I dont think you can go wrong with either. 

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4 hours ago, Hemmy said:

Congrats!  Why did you have to order from a dealer in Indiana?  Which dealer?

Because all the dealers in the Seattle area want.... wait for it... $30k over MSRP (and won't budge off that number.) Other dealers I talked (from WA, OR, ID, CA, AZ, TX) all want $10k ish over MSRP.  Dealer in Indiana does high vol orders and shipping and honored my GM Supplier discount (which was about $7k off MSRP.)  Plus... I have high confidence the dealer in Indiana will put my order through as fast as possible. So I figured it was well worth it to order from them and have it shipped.

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1 hour ago, Ullose272 said:

Just to add to the thread, i have a 2020 silverado with the 3.0/10spd and a 17 yukon denali with 6.2/8spd. The 6.2 is definitely more fun to drive has more muscle car power.  But i love my 3.0 duramax, it tows better, and gets great mpg. I dont think you can go wrong with either. 

I can still chance my order but I have read so many reviews on both sides of the argument.  People say the 3.0 tows better but some reviews talk about it not towing great with 8k pounds.  The towing capacity on the 3.0 is less than the 6.2 (significantly less if we look at the numbers on a silverado!)  I love diesels... I want the diesel.... I am just not seeing evidence that the 3.0 in a heavy Escalade is going to be awesome towing my 7500 boat up mountains.  Today I tow with the Mopar 6.4 hemi and I can set the cruise at 75 on the freeway and pull my boat up and over the Cascade mountains.  I know the GM6.2 will not deliver the same level of power, but it still sounds like a strong performer.  The truth is... I don't really love either motor option. The 6.2 is old and dated and the 3.0 feels just a tad underpowered for the task at hand.  But, it is good to hear about your 3.0 experience... I need to hear more of those.

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13 hours ago, RyanB said:

Funny you say that.  My hold up on the GW is that it isn't big enough - compared to the Ex MAX and Yukon XL/Burb.

I know the Escalade is nice.  Just doesn't do it for me.

They are apparently working on a longer version of the GW.  So you might just get your wish.  I am REALLY impressed with the work they put into the GW and that motor is going to be magic for that beast.  

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5 hours ago, Hemmy said:

Congrats!  Why did you have to order from a dealer in Indiana?  Which dealer?

Lockhart Cadillac.  If you want to see what they can do for you, reach out to Matt Mustafa ([email protected]) Super-duper easy deal. You can have something ordered from him with a solid price in about 5 mins.  Almost too easy.  All he does all day is take orders and ship cars to people.  Class act.

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1 hour ago, gregtay said:

I can still chance my order but I have read so many reviews on both sides of the argument.  People say the 3.0 tows better but some reviews talk about it not towing great with 8k pounds.  The towing capacity on the 3.0 is less than the 6.2 (significantly less if we look at the numbers on a silverado!)  I love diesels... I want the diesel.... I am just not seeing evidence that the 3.0 in a heavy Escalade is going to be awesome towing my 7500 boat up mountains.  Today I tow with the Mopar 6.4 hemi and I can set the cruise at 75 on the freeway and pull my boat up and over the Cascade mountains.  I know the GM6.2 will not deliver the same level of power, but it still sounds like a strong performer.  The truth is... I don't really love either motor option. The 6.2 is old and dated and the 3.0 feels just a tad underpowered for the task at hand.  But, it is good to hear about your 3.0 experience... I need to hear more of those.

6.2 is only a higher tow rating if you get the max trailering package, otherwise both are in the 9000-9500 ballpark on the silverados.

 Ill be the first to admit the 3.0 lacks higher rpm power, it can be disapointing sometimes when passing.

The 6.2 isnt really all that dated, it recieved pretty major updates in 2014 when it went go the LT based engine and then recieved DFM in 2019, although some dont feel that is a good thing. 

The 10 speed that either will come with will really may either engine shine. I havent driven it with the 6.2 but its really nice with the 3.0. 

Side note on my 3.0, i have the diesel off road package with 3.73 gears and it give the truck more around town response. 

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Also something to consider since you want to pull through the mountains, is a gas N/A engine loses about 4% power per 1000ft elevation, a turbo diesel will lose very little power because when the air gets thinner, the turbo just spins faster to get the same desired boost pressure

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On 4/30/2021 at 9:12 AM, gregtay said:

I can still chance my order but I have read so many reviews on both sides of the argument.  People say the 3.0 tows better but some reviews talk about it not towing great with 8k pounds.  The towing capacity on the 3.0 is less than the 6.2 (significantly less if we look at the numbers on a silverado!)  I love diesels... I want the diesel.... I am just not seeing evidence that the 3.0 in a heavy Escalade is going to be awesome towing my 7500 boat up mountains.  Today I tow with the Mopar 6.4 hemi and I can set the cruise at 75 on the freeway and pull my boat up and over the Cascade mountains.  I know the GM6.2 will not deliver the same level of power, but it still sounds like a strong performer.  The truth is... I don't really love either motor option. The 6.2 is old and dated and the 3.0 feels just a tad underpowered for the task at hand.  But, it is good to hear about your 3.0 experience... I need to hear more of those.

More research over the weekend and I actually had a chance to drive a new Tahoe with the 3.0 Duramax (drove much better than the truck I drove even though it is heavier.)  Made the decision to switch my order from the 6.2 to the 3.0 Diesel. Maybe a bit of an experiment (an expensive one at that!) but I wanted to give it a try.  I loved my V10TDI Touareg and our Q7 TDI, both towed great (although that was my much lighter 2008 23LSV.)  I have no doubt the 6.2 v8 is the no drama choice for just about everything (towing, maintenance, etc) but it would still be a disappointment performance wise after my Durango with the 6.4L hemi motor.  So i'd be paying the MPG penalty but not getting much in the way of performance.  I figure I will give the minimax a try, maybe I will love it, maybe I won't.  Worst case... if I really don't feel it meets my needs, then in a few years I can pick up a Grand Wagoneer with the 6.4l or (if I really love the GM platform), the Escalade V with the supercharged motor should be out.  Figured the resale on the diesel might be a little better than the 6.2.  The goal here is the best SUV for towing the boat (without having to buy a truck... so options are somewhat limited.)  Maybe the coming updates to the Ford/Lincoln's will help make them a bit more competitive.  The Yukon is actually my  choice at the moment.. but I can't get over the analog dash with a million buttons and dials for everything.  Even my Durango (a vehicle designed forever ago) has a more updated looking dash.

I will keep everyone updated once I get this thing and get a few boat pulling road trips on the clock.  Until then... it is just "sit and wait"... GM has all kinds of backlogs of production.  My order could get accepted as early as tonight.... or it could be months before it is accepted.  :-O.

 

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