Earlier this year, we had an up-close-and-personal encounter with the highly-anticipated 2019 Silverado Diesel. Then, earlier this week, we received an anonymous tip with various performance figures for GM’s upcoming 3.0L Duramax Diesel engine for Chevy’s diesel-powered truck. Since GM has not officially announced details on the engine, we tried to do the responsible thing and confirm the figures. Luckily, it seems that someone has independently corroborated that information by sending pictures of a Canadian-market GMC product brochure to the folks over at TFL Truck.
So now we can report with more confidence that Chevy’s light-duty 2019 Silverado Diesel (as well as the 2019 Sierra Diesel) will make 282 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque.
Now, TFL also reports that trucks equipped with the engine will be getting 28 MPG on the highway and be capable of towing up to 7,800 pounds. However, we have reason to doubt both of those figures.
According to the tip we received, the new six-cylinder Duramax mill will be available in the LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ and High Country, meaning that all those models could be referred to as 2019 Silverado Diesel.
We leave you with this: take these figures (especially the towing the fuel economy numbers) with a few grains of salt. At the time of this writing, GM has not released any official numbers about the 2019 Silverado Diesel.
Confirmed Details
What we currently know for sure – since it was announced by GM – is the following:
- The 3.0L Duramax I6 is assigned RPO code LM2; it is an all-new engine design that’s part of GM’s ESS (Engine Set Strategy)
- According to GM’s product chief, Mark Reuss, the new Duramax will be the best-performing diesel engine in its segment
- The new motor will be mated exclusively to the GM 10-speed automatic transmission in the 2019 Silverado (and Sierra) and go on sale in the first half of 2019.
Unconfirmed Details
GM 3.0L Duramax Diesel Engine Overview
- 282 horsepower
- 450 lb-ft of torque at 1,200 RPM
- 28 MPG highway in 2019 Silverado 1500
2019 Silverado Diesel Availability
- LT
- RST
- LT Trail Boss
- LTZ
- High Country
2019 Sierra Diesel Availability
- SLE
- Elevation
- SLT
- AT4
- Denali
Competitive Comparison
If true, the figures compare quite favorably to the competition – Ford’s 3.0L PowerStroke in the F-150 and FCA’s EcoDiesel in the Ram 1500.
| Engine | Power | Torque | Highway Fuel Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM 3.0L Duramax I-6 Turbo Diesel: | 282 | 450 | 28 MPG? | |
| Ford 3.0L PowerStroke V-6 Turbo Diesel: | 250 | 440 | 30 MPG | |
| FCA 3.0L EcoDiesel V-6 Turbo Diesel: | 240 | 420 | 29 MPG |
Comments
if these numbers are in any way accurate, it should be capable of better than 7800 lbs towing. A full size with this much torque should be able to out pull a Dodge Durango.
That’s noticeably more powerful than the new F-150 V6 turbodiesel. Those are very good numbers, and a hell of a lot of twist at only 1200 rpm. Probably post even better MPG when they make it available on lighter trim levels and body styles.
I love that this is an I-6 configuration too.
Can’t wait to drive one, and I agree that the max towing numbers are low considering the engine’s output. Probably due to limited availability in some variants.
For those of you looking, the max torque of this engine comes at about 350 RPM less than where the (lower) max torque of the Ford V6 is reached. The Chevy will feel much more powerful even on short drives.
Finally some nice power and torque numbers vs the competition. Would’ve been nice to see 30mpg, but can’t win em all
Good thing they are spreading the availability to almost all trims. The 6.2 should have been available on a rst and trail boss also.
My Duramax Canyon is rated at 7700lbs towing. TFL is just being conservative…very conservative.
interesting how times have changed, these hp and torque numbers are very close where the V8 Duramax was when it came out in 2001 (230hp/500ftlb), later increased to 300/520 in 2004. The V8 diesel used in the 1990’s (and continued in the 2000’s in the Hummer H1) was about half of both of those numbers. That new engine won’t even notice a 7800# trailer behind it!
I agree.
4×4 ltz crew cab! The f150 makes 25mpg in 4×4 diesel. Gm might make this the new towing engine. In the Colorado the 2.8 tows more than the more powerful 3.6. The 3.0 might be capable of 13900lbs towing when properly equipped. Gm might be keeping the 6.2 safeguarded for luxury rather than towing as the beefier back end is more rough on the road in a max tow package.
While a diesel makes perfect sense, one has to wonder how long will it be until General Motors makes ‘sports control AWD’ electric motor assist something that every truck AWD truck will feature; a 200 horsepower electric motor from the Chevy Bolt kicks in on acceleration and when the vehicle is put into AWD, the driver gets access to 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque in addition to the power of it’s gas powered engine.
why would they leave 200hp, and more importantly 266lb-ft sitting unused and just for AWD? I like your thinking, but back to the drawing board
That same leaked document had incorrect specs for the 2.7T so I wouldn’t necessarily believe all of these specs.
Torque and MPG sell diesels. GM has the best torque, but Ford will get the headlines on MPG. I hope this is wrong, otherwise this is another big miss by GM with these new trucks.
I have a hard time believing that towing number, especially since it’s coming from TFL. With those types of numbers for power (which I hope are true) I’d think the rating would be atleast 10,000 lbs, unless the engine is lacking proper cooling.
I’m confused. Every F-150 diesel I have looked at for 2018 is rated 20/25. Have never seen one rated 30 highway. What could they magically have done to get another 5 MPG on certain models?
4×4 mileage. 2×4 gets 30, 4×4 gets 25. Ford’s are awful at this. Just like the 2.7 ecoboost drops from 26 to 24 by going 4×4.
Holy smokes. So going with 4X4 subtracts 5 MPG. Or is the EPA nuts on the 4X2 rating. Has anybody ever recorded 30 highway with a 4X2 F-150?
Idk with the epa. They test everything with a dyno instead of actually driving it. The new silverado 6.2 z71 4×4 gets 21mpg per epa, yet motortrend during their test drive got 24.7mpg on the 2019 6.2, and they drive everything like a bmw m3 sports car.
Now the real question is “When will the “Build & Price” for the new 2019 Silverado 1500 be posted on the Chevrolet website?”
Its the gearing. 3.0 Duramax is A10 with 3.23 only. If they offered 3.42 gears it would tow more.
I disagree. The 5.3 with the 3.23 rear axle will tow around 9500 lbs and that’s with the A8. So the duramax with the same rear axle but 2 extra speeds should have no issue matching the tow rating of the 5.3. I feel like the tow rating that TFL came up with is false information. If the hp and torque ratings are correct and suspension and brakes are all the same as on the 5.3 and 6.2, the only thing that could be limiting the max to rating to 7800 lbs would be engine cooling. And I just have a hard time believing GM would make such a big oversight.
If those numbers are correct fo HP and TQ that is great. If the numbers fo MPG and tow rating is correct I am a bit disappointed. Would be great to see GM vehicles beat the competition across the board.
It should be able to tow more than that. I have a 2006 Chevy Express 3500 6.0l V8 and it tows 9,600 pounds. That was 12 years ago. Chevy should be able to squeeze 13,000 pounds out of that diesel
I am going to put a supercharger on it!
You’re comparing a half ton truck to a one ton van. If you want a fair comparison, compare your van to a 2019 6.6 duramax. I’m sure you will see improvement in towing.
Can’t wait to buy one.
Compared to the 2.8L in the Colorado/Canyon these numbers are amazing. At 181 hp and 369 ft/lb the new 3.0L is 101 hp and 81 ft/lb more despite being only 7% larger in displacement. It would seem power delivery has improved as well. I suspect this engine will be in the Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon too. Very interested.
Don’t forget tow ratings include stopping ability. It’s not all about getting it going and rolling along. Stopping is often the biggest consideration in their formula. Often the one that keeps numbers low.
Alex,
When can you get the 3l Diesel with the LT Trail Boss? It was said that the Trail boss only came with the 2.7L or the 5.3L.
As per your own list of optional engines per trim level.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/05/comparing-the-2019-silverado-engine-lineup-power-torque-engine-design-more/
Why would they bother building an entirely new engine to put into a half ton pickup to compete with Ford and Fiat, and leave it woefully inadequate in towing in comparison to the competition? The Ford 3.0 liter diesel can tow 10k-11k. This tow rating is just 100 lbs more than the Colorado with a 2.8 liter diesel. Doesn’t make any sense.
I have 2016 ecodiesel Ram, best truck ever owned! Get close to 28mpg on hwy, there is more to a truck then just a diesel engine, what sold me on it was the luxury trim, hydrolic lift and most important storage on the side of the bed
How come no one is talking about the new Achates 2.7l – 3 cylinder opposed piston, (6 pistons) engine, which cranks out 270 HP and 470 lbs/ft torque? And well over 30 mpg. According to company details, 10 manufacturers have signed on to build this motor with one actually re-tooling. This is the diesel version, but the gas variant is just as interesting. Claiming to cost $1000 less per vehicle to install, (in any vehicle), even featured at Detroit auto show, installed in a Ford F150. To me this is a no brainer, why develop a new motor when someone else has done it for you? It also emits 25% less emissions than any current engine, and meets 2025 emissions goals. Has this motor not been fully tested? Anyone got any new info on this interesting motor?
Why no news on the 3.0 diesel? With the competition having small diesels for some time you have would think GM would be anxious to put out specs and get this engine to market ASAP.
Hopefully they are not delayed because of dissapointing numbers. If this is the case GM is in more trouble than I through. Dissapointing number in the new trucks capability’s and interior,dissapointing numbers in the new I4 fuel mileage and possible dissapointing numbers in the new diesel rating does not bode well for GM’s capability’s. Hopefully things turn out for the best but GM has not been batting a thousand lately.