Ford Benchmarking Chevy Silverado Duramax Diesel
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The Chevy Silverado 1500 and Ford-150 are fierce rivals, traditionally going tit for tat in the light-duty full-size pickup segment. Now, GM Authority’s spy photographers have caught images of a Chevy Silverado 1500 diesel model undergoing benchmarking by Ford.
Looking over the images, the Chevy Silverado 1500 which Ford is using for benchmark testing is an example of the pre-refresh 2021 model year, specifically the LTZ trim level, which slots in around the top of the Chevy Silverado trim level lineup. Under the hood, this Chevy Silverado 1500 is running the 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine, which is rated at 277 horsepower at 3,750 rpm and 460 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm. The LM2 Duramax is also offered by the Chevy Silverado’s corporate cousin, the GMC Sierra 1500.
It is unclear at this time as to the exact purpose behind Ford’s benchmarking of the Chevy Silverado Duramax diesel. At present, Ford’s Power Stroke diesel engine is no longer offered for the 2022 Ford F-150, while previously, the diesel engine was only available in conjunction with four-wheel drive for the 2021 model-year F-150.
That said, the F-150 is now offered with Ford’s new PowerBoost twin-turbo 3.5L V6 full hybrid engine, which has been available since the 2021 model year and is rated at 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque. The hybrid V6 also has a maximum towing capacity of 12,700 pounds and a maximum available payload rating of 2,120 pounds.
Looking over the specs for the Chevy Silverado diesel, we find GM’s LM2 Duramax engine outmuscling the Ford Power Stroke offered for the 2021 F-150, with more power, more torque, more payload capacity, and more towing capacity for the former. Check out the table below for a full breakdown of the specs between the Silverado diesel, the previous F-150 diesel, and the Ram 1500 diesel, as well as the new Ford PowerBoost hybrid and Toyota’s i-Force Max hybrid V6.
In addition, GM Authority has recently learned that the 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 will receive a new Duramax turbodiesel engine tagged with RPO code LZ0, and the 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 will get the new variant of the Duramax engine as well.
| GM Duramax LM2 | GM Duramax LM2 | Ford Power Stroke | Ram EcoDiesel | Ford PowerBoost | Toyota i-Force Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicles | 2021 Silverado 1500 | 2022 Silverado 1500 | 2021 Ford F-150 | 2022 Ram 1500 | 2022 Ford F-150 | 2022 Toyota Tundra |
| Engine Type | I6 | I6 | V6 | V6 | Hybrid V6 | Hybrid V6 |
| Displacement | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.5L | 3.4L |
| Aspiration | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Twin-turbocharged | Twin-turbocharged |
| Fuel Type | Diesel | Diesel | Diesel | Diesel | Regular gasoline | Regular gasoline |
| Horsepower (hp @ rpm) | 277 @ 3,750 | 277 @ 3,750 | 250 @ 3,250 | 260 @ 3,600 | 430 @ 6,000 | 437 @ 5,200 |
| Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) | 460 @ 1,500 | 460 @ 1,500 | 440 @ 1,750 | 480 @ 1,600 | 570 @ 3,000 | 583 @ 2,400 |
| City Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 23/22 | 23/22 | -/20 | 23/21 | 25/23 | 20/19 |
| Highway Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 31/26 | 31/26 | -/27 | 33/29 | 25/23 | 24/22 |
| Combined Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 26/24 | 26/24 | -/23 | 26/24 | 25/23 | 22/20 |
| Max Payload Capacity (pounds) | 1,870 | 1,930 | 1,840 | 2,090 | 2,120 | 1,665 |
| Max Towing Capacity (pounds) | 9,500 | 13,300 | 12,100 | 10,010 | 12,700 | 11,450 |
To note, although the Ford-150 outsold the Chevy Silverado 1500 during the 2021 calendar year, GM’s pickups outsold Ford when combining figures for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra.
Full-Size Pickup Truck Sales - 2021 - USA
| MODEL | YTD 21 / YTD 20 | YTD 21 | YTD 20 | YTD 21 SHARE | YTD 20 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORD F-SERIES | -7.80% | 726,004 | 787,422 | 33% | 34% |
| RAM RAM PICKUP | +1.01% | 569,388 | 563,676 | 26% | 24% |
| CHEVROLET SILVERADO | -10.83% | 529,765 | 594,094 | 24% | 25% |
| GMC SIERRA | -1.62% | 248,924 | 253,016 | 11% | 11% |
| TOYOTA TUNDRA | -24.95% | 81,959 | 109,203 | 4% | 5% |
| NISSAN TITAN | +3.66% | 27,406 | 26,439 | 1% | 1% |
| TOTAL | -6.44% | 2,183,446 | 2,333,850 |
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Ford is concerned about the success of the baby Duramax in GM’s half ton products. Ford has been floundering in their on highway diesel offerings for many years. Ford is sweating it with RAM gaining so much ground with Cummins.
If I were Ford I would go to high and mighty and arrogant Caterpillar or John Deere and source a small diesel for their light trucks versus a Japanese, German or Italian diesel product.
American with pickups like red, white and blue association, not foreign association such as a Japanese Yanmar diesel in a Ford pickup.
Ford went to Caterpillar years ago for a mid range diesel for Ford’s mid range duty vocational trucks. The famed and very successful CAT 3208 diesel engine with 636 inches of displacement. Caterpillar produced bazillions of these engines for Ford, GM, and others. Very popular in school buses.
Also Caterpillar and Deere now meet tier 4 final with their diesel engines using Bosch fuel delivery systems.
Going with Cat diesels in Ford pickups would be a win-win for both as both nameplates have a tremendous goodwill and trade name.
The Cummins / Dodge Truck marriage made Ram. The success of Ram is causing sleepless nights for Ford and GM executives.
This thought might re seed Caterpillar getting back into the huge on highway diesel game of which Cummins and Detroit Diesel are rocking in Fat City.
Crazy mismanagement decision by Caterpillar to abandon on highway diesels and do other things like go into collaboration with Wolverine Shoe Co. to market Caterpillar branded work boots, or the purchase of Electro Motive Division and Bucyrus Erie.
The Ford 3.0 V-6 engine was a European product, from Jaguar-Land Rover, with some internal revisions.
The other engines are European products. The Ram engine is a VM Motori (Italian) product. The GM engine is shared development from Opel powertrains, which made a 2.0 4-cylinder Diesel engine and a 1.5 3-cylinder Diesel engine. It’s a shared design where each cylinder displaces 500cc, and the 3.0 version made for GM is just a 3- or 4-cylinder engine with another 2-3 cylinders added on the end.