Went back and forth on the bigger gas or the diesel, went with the 2019 GMC Denali HD with Duramax, MPG is 20+ with no load, and 14-16 pulling our 4k travel trailer. Diesel is $2.61 , premium which I believe the larger gasser needs is $2.90.
The math and longevity of the diesel just makes more sense, plus we can always go bigger on the trailer at a later date.

 

Sounds Great, Diesel is always 40 -50 cents higher than gas per gallon around here. Bought a new 2019 Silverado Crew Cab Z71 with 8 speed and 355 horsepower 5.3 and getting 21 mpg unloaded on Interstate and 15.5 pulling the 3k trailer at Interstate speeds. Has about 800 miles on it, so hopefully will get better when I get 10k on the odometer. Has same tow rating as the 2016 Chevy Van One ton I had. I do miss my 2015 2500 I sold, but not the mileage ..hi
Looks like a Great looking truck, know you will enjoy it.
Have a Great Week.
Ken

 

4.10 is what the 2500 6.0 has in it except for a few fleet work trucks that got 3.73. The new 6.6L L8T gasser has the 3.73 instead of the 4.10. I think they should have stayed with the 4.10. I have liked the 4.10 ratio since the early 70's. Just about the best all around ratio for a pickup and even muscle cars. My '98 2500 454 also had 4.10. That was my favorite GM pickup truck.

I generally keep my 2500 6.0 out of top gear most of time unless I am on the interstate and level ground and running over 65 mph. I find that keeping in manual mode and limiting it to 5th gear, it does far less gear hunting while towing or not on the rolling hills in my area. That really helps with mpg when it isn't shifting all the time. All I use in it is E85 100 octane. Engine seems to run better on that. MPG sucks, but still averages about 11 mpg overall. At $1.88 a gallon now, I can live with that. At current pricing, that comes to about 17 cents a mile fuel cost. Diesel in my area is 3.03. So a Dmax version would have to average for all miles about 18 mpg to break even on the fuel cost per mile. That is doable, but it is just break even. So the better mpg of the diesel is just a feel good thing, not anything really substantive.

As for being a dog, well, I suppose if one is trying to get poll position at Daytona while towing a trailer. But the 6.0 will work hard. My wife used our 2015 2500 6.0 to tow my 20,000 lb Freightliner class 8 semi truck tractor 2 miles thru the nasty, muddy, hilly spring thaw gravel roads we live on to the nearest hard top. The tractor just buried itself in the mud. The 2500 6.0 didn't even break a sweat. Wife was nervous as hell and hopes that never happens again, but she did a fantastic job towing my semi with the 2500. Kinda wish I had video of the event, especially the look on her face at the end of it all and her white knuckles that I almost had to pry from the steering wheel. She did great!

 

I have the 4.10

 

I appreciate everyone’s replies, the truck is doing great I don’t have any problems getting up to speed with 8 to 10 thousand pounds behind it I just have to run at high rpms to capitalize on its max torque. They say you either get horsepower or MPG and this truck with the 4:10 definitely gives me horsepower as soon as I touch the gas pedal it downshifts and I take off getting about 12 miles to the gallon.
I bought this truck since it was the end of model run using the Vortec 6.0 and the Hydromatic E95 heavy duty transmission because this powertrain is known for its reliability and I hope to be driving this truck well past 300K miles. I like the new 6.6 that they are putting in the 2020 models, but that engine has a lot of technological advances that I’m sure are going to take a few years to perfect.


I feel like you cannot compare a gas engine to a diesel engine when it comes to performance, I was just a little surprised how much the 6.0 shifts. I know GM is trying to bridge the gap between the gas and diesel engines but if you are going to be long haul towing on the interstate you need the diesel. In my situation where I am mostly towing 8k lbs. around town below 50 mph and covering about 20 miles a day, the 6.0 with the 4:10 works beautifully

 

I typically will run in manual mode on my 2015 2500 and select M5, not allowing the trans to go into top gear unless I am running more than 65 mph on the freeway and empty or only light loaded. I find that just keeping in M5 it shifts far less on the rolling hills in my area. The constant shifting around by just leaving it in Auto and letting it play its own games really beats up a trans and negatively affects mpg. Even running the higher RPM by leaving in M5, the fuel economy is better than in Auto.

The new 6.6 L8T gasser looks interesting, but until GM finally kicks out a 8 or 10 speed transmission that is a better match than the beefed up 6L90, I will just sit on the sidelines and let others get the bugs worked out of a new engine offering. And I hope that GM will offer the 4.10 ratio again. The 3.73 is now the standard diff ratio. If GM doesn't get things right, I may have to consider the new 7.3 gasser / 10 speed in the Ford SD. They still offer up to 4.30 diff ratio in that.

 

You are wise, Cowpie. These days, with lots of parts made in Asia, and all the hurdles the vehicle manufacturers have to go through to attain proper emissions and fuel economy standards, it just makes sense to wait and see what occurs. I thoroughly checked out my 2015 Chevy Malibu 2.5 liter non-turbo vehicle, before I bought one. Best move I've made recently. Back in the day, before the 1990's and fuel injected motors, I think it was easier to choose a well-made vehicle, and the new 6.6 liter and 6L90 transmission are no exception vs.the older 6.0 liter engine.

Things have changed with the old 366 cubic inch and/or the 6.0 liter motor. The 366 CI engine in my father's 1969 Chevy C-60 was rated at around 322 horsepower but up to 510 FP of torque. Of course it was a big-block, solid iron and steel motor, including the intake manifold which was not aluminum-alloy like the 6.0 liter small-block is.

Came with a Holley 4-barrel carburetor, but no vacuum advance, just centrifugal advance, and he also ordered it from the dealership with a speed governor system, tied into the carburetor and ignition system, which caused lots of problems. It also came fitted with an A.I.R system (smog pump) that was not required for a medium duty truck.

That too was a real mess to deal with until I found out that it was not required by law on a 2.5 ton medium duty truck, so I chucked it, plugged up the exhaust manifold inlet holes. It was still a 1960s closed-chamber designed motor, not the later "smog-control" open chambered engines, which lost lots of torque and horsepower in the 1970's.

I dumped the point-style ignition system for an aftermarket electronic ignition distributor (it needed new points every month) with a vacuum advance as well as centrifugal
advance. Had to put a new Holley 4-barrel 650 CFM carburetor on the engine as the old one was designed to be used with the speed control limiter, and the CFM's were too low anyhow. It had dual exhaust so I installed some better flowing mufflers too. The difference was amazing. More power and torque, and a 1.5 MPG increase in fuel mileage, almost 7 MPG from 5.5 MPG. It was two-wheel drive with a Spicer 5-speed transmission mated to an Eaton two-speed rear axle, thusly ten-speeds total.

All that time I spent in high-school auto-shop really paid off, but I should have stayed in auto-mechanics, not have spent two years in junior college, learning advanced auto-tech, only to end up as part-business owner and professional CDL driver. Still kicking myself for making a mistake, but it is what it is. No changing the past at all.

 

My 2019 Chevy HD Diesel 6.6 tuck! Here I am with around 7,000 miles on the truck and I can't tell you how happy I am with it. With 445 HP and over 900 lbs. Torque it hardly knows my work trailer is back there. Hardly ever goes over 2000 RPMs even on the steeper hills. And last week on a trip to Indiana from Tennessee for my grandson's wedding without the trailer, it averaged 20 MPG. And some areas I got over 22 MPG while driving all at 70 MPH.
Wished I would have bought it prior when I wasted my money on the 2015 2500 HD with the 6.0 Gas Engine.
RCC

 

Couldn't agree more. Just over 5k on ours and also am seeing 22 mpg+ on the highway without a trailer, if I keep it 60 to 65.
4500lbs travel trailer at same speed and getting 14-16mpg. With towing got about 3700 miles out of a tank of DEF. Have been using Walmarts Supertech DEF.

 

Shadow
Yes there is:
Nov 01, 2018 · The report says that the new 6.6L gas V8 engine codename is LXX, and it is expected to produce 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. This is a significant jump of the 6.0L Vortec V8 which had 350 hp and only slightly over 3** lbs. of Torque. Mine was a real DOG! It is about time they did away with the 2500 in the 6.0 engine!
I really liked my Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 410hp engine prior to buying the DOG! It would scream with my slightly smaller trailer I had at the time.

RCC