Vortec 454 vs 6.5L Diesel Magazine Article

[Crummins]

A buddy of mine gave me a bunch of old Diesel Power magazines. In one of the issues they had reprinted an article from 1996-ish. It compares the 454 Vortec to the 6.5L diesel. It is a pretty interesting read:

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/general/0701_big_block_diesel_comparison/viewall.html

 

[Mean Green]

That was an interesting article, I just read it. Although I did have a feeling that the 454 would get better results with the performance, but was impressed with the millage the 6.5 put up!

 

[Kamd90Chevy]

interestingly enough, i've had a diesel and a gas suburban. not both the same years, but close enough. I found out about the same things they did. the gas pulled harder, and steadier than the diesel getting worse gas mileage. BUT the diesel hauled me and my buddies to the track with the car and trailer, on a flatter land getting the better gas mileage.

 

[97PROSHOZ71]

Hm, wow. Interesting article, nice find. That's one GMT400 I'd like to have, the diesel Suburban.

 

[Fobroader]

Hm, wow. Interesting article, nice find. That's one GMT400 I'd like to have, the diesel Suburban.

X2.....but not the one with that 6.5 boat anchor, I want Crummins' truck, thats a proper diesel!!!!! Cool article though, not surprised the 454 towed better, its a giant V8 vs a half assed diesel, the mileage was pretty impressive though.

 

[Crummins]

X2.....but not the one with that 6.5 boat anchor, I want Crummins' truck, thats a proper diesel!!!!! Cool article though, not surprised the 454 towed better, its a giant V8 vs a half assed diesel, the mileage was pretty impressive though.

LOL, thanks! I had looked for about 4 months for a nice 6.5 Diesel 95-00 truck -- that I could afford -- and never found one. I ended up buying this Suburban because it had the 454 and the PO had put a Banks kit on it. I really liked the 454 plus it only had 60k on it in 2002.

That being said, I REALLY LOVE the Cummins. Now in 2010/11 it just got a diesel at 97k.

 

[Goliath]

With the burb this summer we pulled approx 5500 lb camper to Destin (about 750 mi round trip) and got about 10-10.5 mpg, drove to Gatlingurg no towing (about 600 mi) and got about 11-11.5 mpg. Not a heavy camper but I guess the big block could barely tell the difference.

Pulled the same camper to Destin last year with my Dakota that gets about 15-16 mpg without towing and it got 9 mpg towing the camper. That was not fun, probably not real smart either, even though the Dakota has a 4.10 rear end. With an 18 gallon tank, we couldn't drive 2.5 hrs without stopping for gas. Not much of a comparison - a 4.7 vs a 7.4 but kinda interesting how significantly it changed towing and not/towing.

Towing our camper is primarily why we got the Suburban - tows and rides great. I will probably only put about 3,000 miles per year on it (and maybe 30% of the time it will be towing) so it would take me a long time to pay for a diesel swap. Still plan to go that route if my engine dies but I'll probably be about 120 years old by then - but no 2 ways about it, a Cummins Suburban is just cool.