For those who want the twist-happy torque of a diesel engine stuffed into a light-duty pickup truck, the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 diesel and 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 diesel are on deck with all the right fixin’s do the job. But the question is, how do GM’s diesel-powered half tons compare to rival diesel engines from the likes of Ford and Ram? To find out, we broke out the spec sheets for a little side-by-side comparison.
2020 GMC Sierra AT4
Let’s start by taking a closer look at the 2020 Silverado diesel and 2020 Sierra diesel. Under the hood, both trucks feature the 3.0L inline six-cylinder LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine. Offered on LT, RST, LTZ and High Country trim levels on the Silverado, and on the SLE, Elevation, SLT, AT4 and Denali, the all-new diesel engine is the first-ever inline six-cylinder turbodiesel available in GM’s full-size, light-duty pickup trucks. Peak output is rated at 277 horsepower at 3,750 rpm and 460 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm, with the GM 10L80 10-speed automatic transmission providing shifting duty.
2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
Over at the FCA camp, the 2020 Ram 1500’s 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 gains a few improvements for the 2020 model year. Peak output is rated at 260 horsepower at 3,600 rpm, less than GM’s 3.0L Duramax. However, peak torque bests that of the GM engine, with as much as 480 pound-feet on tap at 1,600 rpm.
That’s a full 20 pound-feet more than Duramax, albeit at 100 rpm higher in the rev range. Putting it all to the ground is a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission, which carries over from the previous generation Ram 1500 with new programming to make use of the updated engine’s extra torque.
Ford F-150 Power Stroke
Lastly, the Ford F-150 offers the 3.0L Power Stroke Diesel “Lion” V6. Found under the hood of the 2020 Ford F-150, this oil burner sits in last place in terms of peak output numbers, producing 250 horsepower at 3,250 rpm and 440 pound-feet of torque at 1,750. That’s 27 horsepower and 20 pound-feet under the peak figures posted by GM’s Duramax, though a 10-speed automatic transmission (co-developed with GM) makes the most of what’s there.
| Vehicle | Engine | Displacement | Configuration | Horsepower @ RPM | Torque @ RPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | Duramax Diesel LM2 | 3.0L | DOHC | 277 @ 3750 | 460 @ 1500 |
| 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 | Duramax Diesel LM2 | 3.0L | DOHC | 277 @ 3750 | 460 @ 1500 |
| 2020 Ram 1500 | EcoDiesel | 3.0L | DOHC | 260 @ 3600 | 480 @ 1600 |
| 2020 Ford F-150 | Power Stroke Diesel Lion | 3.0L | DOHC | 250 @ 3250 | 440 @ 1750 |
All told, the 2020 Silverado diesel and 2020 Sierra diesel definitely put up a fight, boasting the highest peak horsepower and second-highest peak torque in this comparison. However, there’s a whole lot more to unravel when it comes to comparing these three light-duty diesels, especially how all three behave in the real world, so stay tuned for additional follow-up posts later.
Until then, subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet Silverado news, GMC Sierra news, Chevrolet news, GMC news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
I really want a nice RST 2 wheel drive so I can get 33 mpg highway. But I did hear that we may get a refreshed interior in 2 years so going to wait.
Yes but as usual GM comes in last place for towing and hauling.
Would ask you to go back over a period of 10 years and count how many live comparisons have been done with GM, Ford and Ram in that time span and see how often GM had the lowest ratings on paper for horsepower, torque and mpg but came out on top with live performances. take your pick, a truck that is under rated and over performs or a truck that is over rated and under performs, like mpg ratings for the current ford ranger?? Do your research and come back and post your findings but be honest about it when you do.
Gm rates the desiel low because they dont want owners thinking it will pull like a 2500. Ultimately power is what pulls. The V8 desiels make over 400horses at low rpm. The half ton desiels don’t crack 300 horses. Motortrend did a live test of the Ford v6 desiel and it struggled to maintain 50mpg up an incline with 8000lbs. I bet you you can tow 13000lbs with the new chevy, but expect 40mph up inclines at foot to the floor with only 277hp on tap. The 5.3 would make it up the hill better with its 350 horses.
Torque is what climbs hills. I used to haul 104,000lbs gross with 250 hp 855 cubic inch cummins. The 750 lb feet of torque is what moved the truck.
Torque is to make power. Your right in that it helps. Power=torque x rpm. At 750ft lbs you were probably making all 250hprse power at 1200rpm, and would crawl up that hill at 25mph, unless it was a gental incline. Physically energy is mgh/time=power. More power means uphill faster. My strongest price of equipment can tow 50000. And it’s a 40hp tractor. It has 120ftlbs of torque but has the gearing to Handel it.
Where are those towing specs?
I would guess that these engines are underrated so they don’t eat into HD truck sales. The old GM 6.5 diesels were rated at 180 to 215 hp and 360 to 440 lb-ft torque at 17-1800 rpm’s, available in 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. They were not powerhouses but they got the job done. The original Duramax came out in 2001 with 235 hp at 2700 rpm’s and 500 lb-ft at 1600 rpm’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if this new inline six becomes available in the 3/4 ton trucks as a lower cost option with better
fuel mileage than the gas engine equipped trucks.
I think that 3.0 won’t provide enough power for 3/4 ton truck, however, I think that GM missed the boat by not offering the 4.5 duramax (along with 6.6) in 3/4 ton trucks and (4.5) in suburbans back when the engine was developed.
I love that it’s an inline six.
Many of you guys/gals don’t quite get it…A diesel half ton must have a small displacement engine at the state of current technology, because, by definition this segment must not have total gvwr of more than 8500. So, for instance, F150’s PSD power train including exhaust treatment and all that crap weighs 500+ more pounds than an equal truck but with the 5.0 V8 or 2.7L; 400+ more than the 3.5L Ecoboost, and 600+ more than the base V6. Once you add that much weight, you start taking away payload capacity. If you have a larger engine and low payload, then what’s the point of the added power and torque and you’ve lost towing too because tongue weight capability is reduced. I know they were all planning V8 diesels for 2010; but looking back, it could not have happened. The only other possibility was a tweener like Nissan had in XD, which is exactly why they had a tweener. The diesel engine and it’s accessories made it far too heavy for the segment. No; with a diesel half ton, the focus should be decent capability, good mpg, and most importantly, affordability. Ram wins by at least $6K in that most important factor and allows customers in all but the barest bones a chance at a thrifty diesel. With Ford, at least they are honest. GM announced that their diesel would be available in LT and RST, and add $3800, and the media figured that meant $43K; but they played this same trickery game with Colorado and Canyon. They force you to keep convenience and luxury and active safety packages to keep the diesel on the build sheet. Final price is the same as Ford. Starts at $47K. Ram is $39K at most. If I were buying, I’d take a Tradesman Ecodiesel Quad Cab while others were driving around a 269 peak ft pound Penstar with heated seats that cost more than a truck that could actually do work while using little fuel versus people who are afraid to get their a**es cold.
I can see sometimes having certain options only available on certain trim levels but drive train options should be available accross the board, I would like to know how many potential buyers walk away when they discover that they cant have a certain engine or transmission without buying an upscale model.
But Ram’s diesel will be available on all models, GM just on high end ones.
Since when is the Silverado LT Model considered high end in the Silverado line up?
At the Ford website, I can look at all sorts of specifications, and I can take an educated guess at how much weight adding the PSD adds to any particular configured and trim level pickup. It goes sort of like this: Versus the base 3.3L NA V6, the diesel power train including exhaust treatment and all the fixings, adds at least 600 to the weight of an F150 even if you can’t get a choice of either of these in any single trim level except maybe XLT. The PSD versus either the 2.7L twin turbo Ecoboost or 5.0L V8 Coyote is going to add more than 500 lbs to an otherwise equivalent truck; and compared to the 3.5L Ecoboost, the PSD comes with a 400 plus pound weight penalty. The new Duramax 3.0 is likely lighter but GM doesn’t provide those specs. I’m confident, however that the 3.0 Duramax option adds many hundreds of pounds of weight to a base LT 2.7L turbo and 5.3L V8 equivalent truck. So those of you asking for the 4.5L V8 Duramax that got nixed in 2009 in a a half ton Silerado or Sierra, think about what you may get; an truck that would add another 250 pounds curb weight to any trim or configuration reducing payload by at least that much; a premium price that would go from $3,750 to $10-K$11K like an HD; a diesel half ton with mpg equal to the 5.3L gas engine powered truck, and a truck that can haul no more than 1,750 pounds in it’s max payload configuration and go down from there. All of these diesel dilemma occur only if it is even technically possible to certify with the EPA in this class with such a large and capable diesel engine that will be limited in it’s ability to provide a high payload and towing number due to its high weight penalty.