Watch the Diesel & Gas 2020 Silverados Duke it Out on the Track
Duramax-powered Silverado gets an all-new Allison 10-speed automatic transmission to hand all the torque.
The debate has been raging for ages: Which is better? Which is faster? Which tows more? Which gets better gas mileage? You get the picture. It’s Gas vs Diesel. But rare is the day when we are granted–nay, are privileged–with the opportunity to have a side-by-side performance test done for us. And all from the comfort of our La-Z-Boy at that.
The Fast Lane Truck has just posted a sweet new video of a time trial between two masterfully crafted pieces of metallic art, and all that exciting action is now available via the nearest mobile device.
First off, host Andre Smirnov walks us through some of the finer details of the gasoline and then the diesel truck; the latter of which houses a 6.6l turbo-charged Duramax V8 mated to an all-new Allison 10-speed automatic transmission. This combo puts out a whopping 910 lb-ft of torque and 445hp which is nothing to bark at.
Shortly thereafter he jumps right into the first time trial run, starting with the diesel in 2WD. After a bit of brake torquing, Smirnov launches the truck and gets up to speed, reaching 60 mph in a cool 8.00s flat. Not too bad for a heavy-duty work truck.
Next up is the 6.6l gasoline-powered Silverado. This truck utilizes a gasoline engine with shared Corvette roots. It achieves 401hp and 464 lb-ft of torque. Pretty nice. A quick switch-off of traction control and Andre pulls a 0-60 time of 9.05s.
Respectable, but still second place.
In the next set of runs, Andre tests the two vehicles in 4WD. The Duramax-powered rig produces a 0-60 time of 7.90s. So 4-Hi tuned out an even better time for the diesel truck. But the same cannot be said for the gas-driven Silverado which turned out a slower time of 9.22s.
Somehow, the diesel Silverado, weighing a full 1,300lbs more due to options, was still able to outperform the lighter, nimbler gas engine. Undoubtedly the massive torque advantage had a huge role to play in this particular test.
But hey, a one-second loss in 0-60 time isn’t so bad if you consider the $10,000 you save in buying gas over diesel. At any rate, choose wisely, friends.