how can you even have an acceleration test when the ford weighs 800lbs more than the dodge and who knows how much more than the chevy. that right there is setting yourself up to loose. let alone the fact they are work trucks, buy a sports car if you want to race

 

Bottom line is they pretty much say the Ford is the best truck EXCEPT the Duramax pulls better. The FACT is the 6.0 deisel is like a Mustang GT in the Superduty compared to a gas V8. I have had both. It flies up hills with a load (I don't pull a trailer, but carry 1,000 - 3,000lbs in the bed sometimes} The Duramax has a TEMPORARY advantage in torque and HP. Untill the latest version which just came out last fall I believe, it was pretty much in the same hp/torque class as PSD and 5.9 Cummins. Both Ford and Dodge will respond in the 2008 model year with completely new motors. I will not mod my 6.0 because #1 it has more hp and torque than I need, I am more than happy with it. #2 I don't have money to throw away for a voided warranty if something were to happen. I have driven a modded 5.9 Cummins and the truck would blow a STOCK Duramax away like you could not imagine. The truck has had no motor issues because of the mod. I don't know how many miles he has on it now, but you tromp on that excelerator and hold on. Modded deisels are just amazing if you haven't tried one out. For most users though, it is just unecessary and a good way to wind up in a wreck because of the temptation. Fun for a day, but even at my age I don't need the encouragement to go too fast. Even the stock 6.0 PSD is just way too tempting to prove to other drivers just how quickly it can accellerate up steep hills.

 

i agree with you 100%. i did exhaust and intake to mine and love it. i thought of a chip but then also thought do i realy need all this power. they are all quick enough for a 8000lb truck

 

Just got back from a short trip (450 miles) in my '05 Dodge Cummins auto. Pulled my 10,000 lbs. trailer at 65 mph into a 20 mph headwind through the Hill Country of S. Central TX without breaking a sweat. TQ never disengaged. O/D never had to kick off. Plain flat ran away from my buddy in a '06 F150 Screw 4.6L pulling a 4000 lbs. trailer. Had to keep slowing down to let him catch up.

I know for a lot of you 10,000 lbs. isn't much of a trailer, but it is as much as I am ever going to pull.

I'm all for more power, faster acceleration, etc., but paying a bunch of $$$$ to upgrade the motor to the 6.7 (or 6.4 or D'Max) is wasted money for me.

Now, paying a bunch of $$$$ to upgrade the truck, that we can talk about.

 

What a bizarre test.........



Nothing can be done about curb weight.....it's always run what you brung.

But to purposely add ballast so as to shoot for a percentage od GCVWR??? makes no sense to me.

At the risk of being redundant (and backing up Polarbear's statement) the D/Max LBZ with the Allison 6 speed (not the old motor and 5 speed) is the best powertrain combo out that I've driven.....still don't care for the total GM package but the motor/trans rocks...............and I consider myself Ford biased.


However, this test and the weight parameters proves absolutely nothing.

They need to test all the trucks with the same loads.........PERIOD.

 

im not trying to sound rude but you are comparing a 300+hp diesel to a mid 200hp gas engine. that is like comparing a v6 mustang to a v8 mustang. your truck has twice the torque as your buddys truck does

 

I agree there... As most know - I am one of those crazy stick drivers... So for myself Chevy falls down in that department - but for 95% of people it is a darn impressive unit.
I kind of agree with you.... but, you run what you brung...
The Ford had the advantage of being fitted with 4.30gears that neither the Chevy or the Dodge offers.
I thought the same. PENALISE a vehicle for having the highest GCWR

 

Check the latest "Diesel Power"- (jun '06). There is another test with the load ~ 10,000lb. HP (at the wheels): dodge289 at 2,944rpm, ford 274 at 3,323rpm, and GM 315 at 3,245rpm. Quarter mile (with trailer): dodge 23.24sec at 57.8mph, ford 22.98 sec at 60.89mph, and GM 21.82 at 64 mph.
Right now GM provides most power, and Ford the best looking truck.

 

Still - I must say, all those times are darn quick.
My first car (in its original state) would have done a 1/4 mile in about 23s... Just with me in it...

These are trucks with 10k lb behind them. One must say doesn't matter what truck you choose - they are all pretty good units in thier own respective ways.

 

In a nutshell, the test proved that a Duramax will out-accelerate a 6.0L PSD as long as the Dmax is pulling 2500lbs less in GCWR. Duh!

I think the big flashing Chevy advertisment in the sidebar next to the article tells the tale. I frequent a GM trucks forum and they are even puzzled over the way "Ed's GM Fansite" handicapped the Ford. Alot of them honestly believe their Dmaxes will outrun a PSD towing. And they're bugged at Ed's for making it look like the test had to be rigged to make the Dmax come out on top.

 

While I agree 100% that the Edmunds test was ignorant..........I have no doubt that the LATEST Dmax will out tow a PSD. Whether it's because the truck weighs less to begin with or the 6 speed Allison does a better job putting down the extra 80 feet pounds of torque....it doesn't matter. The fact that it's also quieter is just gravy.....GM did a heck of a job on that powerrtrain.............here's hoping the 6.4 will rise to the challenge, because the 6.0 is out classed.

Have you driven one???

 

I am curious too - Does it smell bad?

I know the early 6.0ls fitted with PI didn't really smell like a diesel - but the all the rest of them do.
I love diesels, they can be as loud as they want for all I care (I did own a 7.3l...), but the smell can be more than a little nauseating - so much so, the last time I went wheeling with around 30 other vehicles, I was pretty dogmatic that I was going to be following one of the 2 gasser vehicles in the fleet, so I didn't have to put up with the smell of the diesel.
(around here trying to find a gas powered 4wd wagon, let alone a pickup is akin to finding a needle in a haystack)

 

The reason I've dogged on diesels (even though I know that they will out muscle a gasser at max loads, altitude etc..) is the noise, smell, responsiveness.

The 6.0 seems to have lessened the smell(the ones I've driven) but it is still loud IMO and has some turbo lag unless power braking.

The Dmax 6 speed actually felt like my V10 off the line, the quietest diesel I've heard AND what's very strange is that it did throw an EGR code on the way back from a road trip picking up an 8,000# trailer...........the scent my buddy and I picked up smelled like propane!!!!

He cleared the code.............and the smell seemed to have sudsided.

I was hammering the snot outta the thing up one of the steepest grades around (Cajon pass in So.Calif.) after jerks would cut me off and slow me down to 40 MPH, the thing would accelerate right back up to 75 effortlessly!!
I'm not sure if that caused the code, but it hasn't resurfaced since.

Otherwise, except for some turbo whine in the cab, the thing is the most un-diesel like diesel out there.........no smell included.


Too bad the rest of the truck sux.............LOL!! Just kidding, it's not that bad, but it's not a Super Duty.

 

I think everybody is real anxious to see what the 2008 model year brings to the deisel pick-up market. Maybe the gloom and doom predictions of epa requirements will prove to be off the mark. It is probably a REALLY NERVOUS time for all three manufacturers because lets face it, one of them could run away with the show. Whoever deals with the epa regs AND also gets the most HP and Torque (and descent mileage) will have a HUGE advantage, especially if the other two can't get their act together for a while. Could be ugly for one ot two of them. All bets are off as of 01 Jan 07. Let's hope Ford comes out on top. Best truck AND best deisel motor, wouldn't that be sweet?

 

I agree, but his truck weighed less and he was pulling less than 1/2 the trailer too.

Not a fair comparison still. I know. Really just using it as a reference.