I won't take that bet because I KNOW it had 3.73's.

Yes, 4.30's would have made a big difference I'm sure.

 

I just picked up a 250 6.2L and love it so far. I had a 6.6 Duramax previously and drove all the major brands before purchasing this one. For my money, the 2017 6.2 is the best out there if you're not towing heavy. The emissions garbage just isn't worth the extra power to me for my needs. And yes, this thing can move pretty good and sounds glorious

 

I have a 6.2 with 4.30 gears coming and I plan on towing heavy (18.3K). Sold my 450. couldn't justify paying that much for a truck to just sit all the time. I only have a 3 mile commute to work, and that would kill the engine.

 

I think from hearing everyone 4.30 rear is a must if going gas!!

 

Towing 18.3k is going to be a struggle for the 6.2L, even with 4.30 gears.

I have a 2-mile commute to work every day and it hasn't hurt my diesels so far. That said, I tend to put a lot of evening and weekend miles on, so it all balances out. You could do a 3-mile commute and it would be fine, just so long as you took it out for a 20-mile cruise once a week.

 

I know no one wants to discuss the cost of fuel when you are looking at a SD. But I used a "GENERAL ANALYSIS" to see if I wanted to go 4.3 or diesel, or just go midway with a 3.73. For instance "generally speaking" if a 4.3 gets 11 mpg, 3.73 13 mpg and diesel 15 mpg. Gas in Canada is $1.15 per litre or $5.22 per CAD gallon where I am. If you travel 12000 miles / year and you plan to keep your truck for 10 years, you will use $56,945 in fuel for the 4.3 and $41,760 for the diesel. The difference being $15,185 less in fuel for the diesel. I think if you are planning to tow regularly over 10000 lbs and keep the truck over 10 years, I would probably go with the diesel over the 4.3. It would more than cover your initial cost of the engine and give you peace of mind on "much heavier" weights. I decided to go halfway with the 3.73. I would not be towing much over 10000 lbs. I would also be paying $48,184 in fuel over 10 years. This is $8760 less than the 4.3. Not to say the 4.3 is not an option for me but I think I would have went diesel to tow much heavier weights rather than 4.3 because the difference in fuel between 11 mpg vs 15 mpg over 10 years is "so significant". Just my opinion.

 

My new 4.30 6.2 is averaging about a 15% improvement over my previous 3.73 6.2. But my driving is town and rural back road, combined with local towing. I do know that when I get on the interstate at 70-80mph my mpg will not beat the 3.73 truck. I just did my first significant 70-80 mph run, It was a challenge to keep the trip average at 14.

 

Those numbers might work in Canada, but here they don't come out the same. We'll throw some hypotheticals out there based loosely on real numbers. We have a 6.2L with a 4.30 averaging 12.3 mpg (based on my own mileage since the truck was new), a 6.2L with a 3.73 averaging 14.3 mpg, and a diesel averaging 17 mpg. My fuel prices for regular are right at $2.00 per gallon (plus it makes the math easier). Diesel is $2.34 per gallon. Using 12,000 miles per year we get:

6.2L 4.30 = $1,951.22 per year ($19,512.20 per decade)
6.2L 3.73 = $1,678.32 per year ($16,783.22 per decade)
Diesel = $1,651.76 per year ($16,517.65 per decade)

This means my truck will use approximately $2,994.55 more in fuel than a diesel leaving me with another $5,505.45 in my pocket compared to the purchase price of a diesel. Granted all these numbers are hypothetical. Gas prices aren't static. Mileage numbers are only estimates based on what I've seen. Based on the numbers I ran for my usage (using more than fuel prices alone), a diesel would pay for itself after about 18 years. I owned my last diesel for 16 years.

Each person's scenario is different. Buy what suits your situation.

 

Pretty close to what we came up with when we did the math..

 

Your numbers are fairly realistic and accurate. Only thing that would fall off would be trade in value but I'm sure it wouldn't be that large of a drop in comparison. Just having the reliability of the gas engine vs the potential issues that could arise with the diesels is worth it too.

 

Thank you everybody for your comments. You can see what exponential prices in fuel does to the numbers. If I lived in the US I would opt for the 4.30 over the Diesel for sure and probably go with the 4.30 over the 3.73 even over pulling just 10000 lbs. The $3000 additional cost in fuel over 10 years doesn't justify buying the diesel either at $2.00 gallon, in my books. In Canada a lot of people drive XLTs due to the cost to moving to a Lariat and beyond. Our vehicle prices and gas prices are high up here not to mention we pay 13% tax also. So with fuel 2 1/2 times greater the multiplication factor starts to take over and makes your decision a little tougher

 

If I didn't have a decent sized 5th wheel that I pull to Colorado, I wouldn't have a diesel. The 6.2 with 4.30s is a real attractive option for the occasional puller IMO.


My oil changes cost right at $90 on my 6.7. I do it myself. I buy filters on Amazon and only buy T6 in the gallon jugs. I use the leftover the next oil change. Our family recycles a good bit of household goods, so taking oil with that stuff is no big deal. My DEF is $5 in a 2 gallon jug. Blue DEF is overpriced IMO.

 

The problem is the motor not coming up to temperature in Michigan winters. Get lots of moisture in the crankcase. I ride my motorcycle all summer so only concern is the winter months.

 

I live in northern NH and drive my short commute all winter long...

 

For real troverman that is not good. I've recently had two of the other six sevens and I've seen over and over how long it takes and how many miles for the oil to get to temp say 190 or so. And I live in Texas.