I was in an accident in a Chevy Cobalt back in May of 2015, before then I had admired the GMC/Chevy Duramax.... Now, I'm just plain obsessed with the Duramax. This video reaffirms my NEED for a Duramax, Great Truck! Thanks for the video guys!
I tend to agree with all the other videos...I'm a younger guy and I still liked this video better than most of the other ones I've seen on the fast lane..very informative...still had a few laughs but most importantly it was very much real-life like, good points stressed about pros and cons (ie front bumper sits a little too low for an off-road truck, but you gotta love those side bumper steps at the rear), and last but not least there were no clowns around.
I came back to this video after watching the 7.3 Godzilla tow 16k pounds up the Ike in around 8:40s to see how it compares to older diesels. What’s impressive is the 7.3 pulled a little more weight only around 40-50 seconds slower then this duramax. Y’all should really do a new video of an older diesel like this towing the same 16k pounds up the Ike to compare to the Godzilla. The main thing people want to know is how does it pull compared to a diesel especially an older diesel that is more affordable for the average person. Thanks for making great content!
DEF you say?... DEF delete is one of the first mods on my list for a new Durtymax, along with deleting the rest of the emission bullshit. Then 5 inch straight pipe. then tune.
Best truck on the road. My opinion like it or not I just love the look and the power cant beet it. Cant beet GM power. (Yes im aware that it's an isuzu diesel a company of which GM owns a hefty chunk of so say what you will)
farmerallis They owned a sizeable chunk when the 6.6 was originally designed. Isuzu helped design it but it's built by DMAX in Ohio. Nothing wrong with Isuzu either, they make great diesel engines that are used all over the world.
***** Yes, GM did own a majority share of Isuzu, but when GM went bankrupt in 2008, Isuzu bought back all of GM's shares in exchange for GM owning the DMAX engine company. The design of the 6.6 was a joint effort between Isuzu and GM. And yes, regardless of who designed the engine, it is easily one of the best light duty diesel engines ever built.
I like how the only things they had to complain about were pointless and not noticeable or didn't matter. Like if they had to find something bad to say about it.
+David Malinovsky The steering feel could have been differently because of the way it was loaded. I have driven both a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4WD with the Duramax and my stepdad's 2015 Ford F-250 Powerstroke 4WD loaded with about the same weight at around 12,000 lbs and the steering wasn't as tight and precise as it was unloaded. The only difference I noticed was that my stepdad's F-250 squat lower than the GMC with it loaded, but the Powerstroke did feel like it had more 'umf' to it while towing, and the Duramax would be on it's tail. Thep-again, they might have been squatting the same length, but would have been harder to tell with the GMC's wheel wells being squared off and not round like the Ford. I'm not a brand fanboy, i'm just saying what I have experienced and how adding some weight can change things up
Roman in my opinion this was one of your best reviews. You need to get away from Nathan and that so called Russian that is mocking the Russian people that has gotten old.. When your not joking around I think of you more as a professional vehicle tester. The guy you had with you would be a good replacement for the 2 other not so funny guys. I was an automotive engineer for 42 years during that time I worked for Ford - General Motors and Also worked for the Kenworth Truck Manufacture for 6 years. May I ask what prior experience - professional that is all of you have had? I enjoy your videos until things get to be to non-profession. I meant my reply in a positive way not as a slam towards you but this was a good video. It was a nice change with your partner this trip. Cheers
+K-9 COOPER Being that they make videos on for youtube that can't be 100% professional and straight laced all the time, because then the videos get boring.
great job working together on this clip. I have got to say I like the style of this GMC as opposed to the competition. I wonder if they are willing to haggle with all the hot water GM is in right now.
Thank god I bought a 2014 3500 LongHorn. The interior of that truck is Basic as Mr. Trucks lifestyle. However, the grill is hands down the best grill on the market. But this isn't a beauty contest. The cummins was given the most weight in the test--This isn't the new standard. My first truck was a HD Ram LongHorn kiddos and im happy I didn't go with the Denali.
I recently purchased a 2015 Silverado 2500HD LT Duramax and I'm a little annoyed that EVERY review I've seen on this truck (2500HD) are all the Denali or LTZ/Z71 trims. I didn't have a need for a $65,000 truck however I did needed 4x4, Diesel and crew cab. I Picked up my truck for under $45k with less than 30k miles. I believe reviews should be done on trucks that will appeal more to the masses and not to the people looking for a pavement princess like these Denali's/LTZ's. Just IMO, but nice truck and good review.
Good video Roman. Hauling water in a bumper pull trailer is like hauling cows. The load moves around and the tail wags the dog. Same with the water in the truck bed, like driving a tanker. I think that's where your steering drift came from. I really like this test it's realistic especially on the dually models. I hope you can replicate with the GMC soon. Same road, same driver, same load. You can't get a better test and comparison. We're all waiting for the Ford test, we hope soon. Thanks.
On the pull, accelerating from 0-60mph. Can someone explain why the truck shifted at 3,000rpm? I guess you want to stay +/- 500rpms from max torque when towing? Because you still have a very decent amount of torque at 3,000rpms+ and the hp is much higher.
Nice video, but I'd suggest adding a monitor for EGT's. Also, I know that this is a "race" up the hill, but a second trip up with the driver in control would be great to show what the truck can do for the real-world. Anyone that owns this truck (and cares about it) is going to run more RPM and a lower gear to keep revs up, boost up, and EGT's down! It would be interesting to see what each truck can do in that scenario in an attempt to maintain the speed limit and keep it's cool in the process.
I need you to explain something to me. While this truck did pull the grade at 7+ minutes, how can this be considered the new bench mark? The Ram pulled an additional 2,000 lbs so shouldn't the GMC have to go back down and pick up the rest of the load??? or test the dodge with less weight...
I know there's nothing you can do about it but these Ike Gauntlet videos really need to have the entire crew present in my opinion. This means Roman, Nathan and Mr. Truck (with Andre taking temps). The video really feels like its missing something with Nathan not there. Still great video though.
Ram still hasn't made any announcement for the '15. It could get a power boost for all we know. Hopefully at the very minimum, the 2500 will get the HO and the Aisin.
If your gain is set that high and the one trailer brake is that cold I'd be checking the other 3 wheels to see if they're working and much hotter. If they're cold like that id pull the breakaway cord and check to see if my trailer brakes lock up, if they don't then your trailer brakes aren't working
I find your videos very entertaining. I'm wondering how you will test the Ford? Right now the 1ton Ford F350 SRW 6.5ft bed only comes with a 3.55 rear end. The Ford tow ratings are lower than the GMC. Will you use the same weight on the Ford, or will you have to go to a different setup on the Ford? I would love to see the GMC, Ford, and Dodge, all tested with the exact same setup on the same day...but I realize that's hard to do.
Well, there's your Dmax and Cummins. Can we please do a Powerstroke now and see who had the best times? Or how about a HD shootout and take one of each up all on the same day?
do they still have weaker steering then a Honda civic? It always amazed me how thin the steering linkage was. About the size of my pinky finger. That's why they are known for snapping when put into 4 wheel drive. If only they offered a real front axle I would look at chevy for a tow rig. The engine and trans are pretty good and you can work on them unlike the fords.
Ford F450 has a death wobble at 55 over expansion joints, RR tracks and cattle crossings. Ford front ends are a joke, the brakes are a joke, the rear diff is junk and the HD Ford Trans is no match for the Allison. Only a Fool buy a Ford.
tpcrb well considering I drive a Ford f450 everyday at work and our whole fleet of tricks are ford f450 and none of them do that I have a feeling your talking out your blind hatred for fords. Ford trans are just as good as your Alison trans. Some of Our bus's run Alison trans and they ate the weakest trans out of the bunch nothing like the voith trans. Not a bad trans like you get in the Dodge 2500. You need to spend an extra 3k and get a 3500 Dodge to get a trans that is similar in size and strength to Chevy and Ford.
tpcrb nope don't work for Ford. I work as a heavy diesel mechanic on County bus' s. Most of our bus run cummins. We do have some Chevy 8.1 in our small bus but they are junk. They break down all the time. Can't even last 5 years where the big bus's last 10 to 15. The 6.0 and 6.4 do suck but the new Ford diesel is good and the old 7.3 are good.
Do the 3500 single rear wheel and the dual rear wheel have the same (fifth wheel) towing capacity? Is the capacity going up for 23ish k lbs due more to the 3500 package or the rear vs single rear wheel?
honestly think they should find someone that drives these trucks for a living to do the test . I would like to see more of the dash shot. he mentioned several times he had the pedal to the floor and anyone that drives a diesel could tell that was a bald face lie. I am not saying rag the trucks out but actually run them through there paces to get a good comparison of each truck.
What i understand is that payload is what a truck can carry not what it can tow or carry and tow in the same time, so the payload is the 2400 ib of water weight in the bed and passengers plus the trailer tongue weight which is only 15% of the water weight in the trailer , so the actual payload in this video is not 15000 ib ... please correct me if i am wrong !
I'd love to see Wesley Beech's truck do this pull with ~1,400 lb-ft of tq. You know just to compare the benefit of buying an older truck and tuning it down to 8mpg. lol.
once they get the other 2 they will all be right about the same i dare say, they did do it with the 2013 ram and well we all remember how it did:) 15k total + truck be knocking on the door of 24k? not quite probbally but close!
I like everything about the truck except those $10 aftermarket looking tow mirrors. For a truck that expensive you would think that GM could do better.
We test each truck near or sometimes just over the limit. This test GCWR was 22,660 lbs after 15,000 lbs of load. We test half-tons with 10,800 lbs total load.
Guys I love your channel and your general attitude towards truck reviews. Please understand though that most of the people viewing them cannot practically apply any of this information to their daily commutes. Only the hard core haulers will get useful information.
I get it, and I enjoy the Ike stuff. It just seems tedious to me to see HD's doing it after watching all the LD's. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, and that's OK. I like the videos, just wish there was more content on real-world applications for the millions of us that live nowhere near a mountain, or will never tow 5-10K up a 6% grade.
Robert Poster This test is used because if it works at this elevation and grade, it will work anywhere. Too often you see tow ratings and guys towing in flat land and then they come here (This are is home to me), and they have issues, often causing accidents. Anyone that lives in Colorado has been on this road.
Again, though, if we've already seen all of the light duty trucks crush this content, doesn't it only make sense that all of the HD trucks will also crush it? It's like Mr. Universe walking into a high school gym, watching a kid bench press 150lbs and then say to the kid "I can do that too!". No $h!t, you're Mr. Universe...
4200 for the truck, 2400 in the bed = 6600. Trailer was 12,000 plus 650 for the passengers and gear. This all comes to 19,250 not 15,000 like the guy stated.
If you are going to test these trucks it has to be controlled. You used the ram diesel towing 17000lbs on the gauntlet, towed only 12000lbs with the GMC and declared GMC to be the winner with power to spare? Seriously? Put the additional 5000lbs behind it as you did to the Ram, that makes it a fair fight with controlled environments. You can't compare results with completely different variables, doesn't work gentlemen.
wait wait wait, you guys claim this is the benchmark for the heavy duty trucks yet you tested the Ram with a 17K horse trailer and then the Chevy with 19K? Do you guys know what a "benchmark" is? Please explain what you're trying to accomplish?
You are towing over the max rating of this vehicle. Total Single Rear Wheel rating are listed on GMC's website and you are over for a SRW vehicle.(13k lbs.) I am a regular viewer, but this example could kill someone. Remember SRW and DRW are vastly different towing numbers. www.gmc.com/trailering-towing/towing-charts.html
SRW 3500 towing with the Duramax is 13000 lbs bumper pull. They were towing just over 12,000lbs. The other 2500 lbs was from the tote in the bed. So it possible they were both under GVWR of truck and max trailer weight.
cragre28 Unlikely given the fact some Denali 4wd 3500hd only have an 11000 lb gvwr. I would love to be proven wrong. Axle ratio would need to be 4.10 to even come within striking distance. Lets hope TFLT will comment but I have my doubts when they are wrong.
Max truck payload as they described was 4200lbs, so the 24lbs water tote left them with 1800 lbs of tongue weight before it exceeded trucks GVWR. Considering it is recommended that bumper pulls get 10-15% tongue weight, that would give the tongue weight between 1200 and1800, everything is ok. The guys knew what they were doing, they weren't out to kill anybody, so just let it go you were wrong, it happens.
cragre28 You are assuming an awful lot. Until we know the exact specs of the truck, you very well could be just as wrong. Until TFLT replies, we will not know if it is at max tow weight or over.
+Joel Johnson 17,000 lbs max towing is what the 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 Denali HD is rated at. 22,000 lbs is the max for the 2015 GMC Sierra 3500 Denali HD.
A truck is a truck and it's personal preference weather which brand product you prefer to purchase at what best price is affordable for whatever, and personally I strongly dislike the prices on these diesel heavy duty trucks..."It's like saying who in the world do these truck inverters that designers think they are? I mean $70,000.00 just for a truck? Come on...Seriously! It's just a darn truck!" And then by the time when 72 months is almost over to complete a truck payment the truck will be just another piece of scrap to trade in at a high mileage, less trade in value, and then again, time to stay in style once again...Does the darn thing at least turn into a transformer for $70,000.00?
Come on G.M., Get that Engine ,to put out more Horsepower and Torque.Maybe About 430 Horsepower and 860 FT LBs Torque. Get Engine to about 6.8 , from 6.6 .
Real Safe! You're towing a large load through a mountain pass while you are playing on the phone. FFS maybe have the passenger do the timing next time.
In the area where i live, morons pull that much with a mercedes gl550. Just out of of curiosity I wonder how that might do pulling an 8500lb boat up that road. I know it is not rated, but that does not stop idiots from trying.