We’Re going to be putting this 3 l Duramax to the test. Some of you guys are saying it can’t be as powerful as the V8 and that’s the only engine they would go with simply because they need that ump to toe well today, we’re here to prove you guys wrong and show you that this Kanto, not only that We’Re going to see what kind of fuel economy we can get for those of you who may not be familiar with what we got going on here. We have the 3 l Duramax Diesel, inline 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel motor that puts out about 495 lb feet of torque and 305 horsepower, which the horsepower is down significantly from the 62 V8. This has 35 more foot PBS of torque, which means it should be better for towing, and I’m going to show you why. I believe that that’s actually true for this challenge.
What we’re doing is going to drive from where we’re at here in Boise to Mountain Home, which is about 45 Mi each direction for a total of about 90 Mi elevation change, there’s not a ton of it we’re at 2700 ft. Now we at the highest point. I think it’s like 3250 or 3,300 ft, what kind of fuel economy could you expect with moderate terrain like you would expect on a normal Tria, we’re going to start out by doing a drive run, which I’ve already done? Prior to this, where I took my truck, got it Fu up at the gas point which is going to be our starting destination, we’re going to fill the truck all the way up, drive it to Mountain Home, get something to eat real quick drive. It back go to that exact same gas station and fill up again and see how much fuel was used.
20.8, though, is what we got today: um on a pretty cold kind of snowy day, but with without a trailer. So now we’ll see what we get with the trailer and see if we’re even able to maintain the 80 mph cuz, I’m very positive, that’s exactly why the fuel economy is less than anticipated, even less than what uh GM says for these engines on the highway. It’S usually about 55 60 M hour, not 80 M an hour like we have here today we’re going to do the exact same thing, but with the trailer so that we can see starting off with the trailer and ending with the trailer, how much more fuel did. We use the goal is to get the best fuel economy that we can, but also to see how much of a percentage change there is between where we started out without any load compared to a trailer.
One thing that’s really nice about this truck is that it has a sweet, trailing app that I’m going to put in all the information for this to make sure that it knows exactly what’s going on with the trailer uh, so we can have the safest ride possible. Got to back in here this makes it really nice. Of course, too. I can use the surround 360 to make sure I’m getting right where I need to be, and he’s done a great job of putting a tree right where I need to be at so really appreciate. Jonathan on that one we go here should be right there, that’s it uh.
This is a jco model. Uh 267bhsw, for those of you who are concerned about that overall length is about 30 ft. I already know that dry weight is about 6,300 lb um 622. I know for a fact from what Jonathan has said from what he hasn’t loaded up: it’s probably closer to 7,000 lbs and that’s not including full tanks. It’S been winterized, so the the tanks are dry.
So it would actually be even more than that still well within what my vehicle canol. So I’m not concerned about that. I want to do is see how much SAG we get this particular setup, because I want to know one: how safe is it and the weight on this is about 700 lb, which is plenty in spec. For this truck the max tongue. Weight should be about 870 lb, so we’re well within the parameters, but I’m still curious to see how much this sags I’m eyeballing roughly halfway there, and that says that it’s what about 40 and 1/2.
If you actually look down there, it’s about 40 and A2 just going to lower it on down two hours later, just locked in people are going to think. I have one of those squatted trucks holy crap, okay, all right rough whe again and let’s call it 38. So what it dropped uh two and2 in right. In said it was 40 and A2, so it dropped about 2 and2 in you can see how it sagged quite a bit in the back. This is like Factory Silverado height, without the lift for those that are seeing that we have a weight distribution setup here we know um the reason we’re not using.
That is actually to see worst case scenario worst case right. Obviously, we can go a lot worse than this um, but ordinary Towing for people who don’t want to spend the money for a weight distribution, setup um. What’S it like there cuz that would eliminate a lot of the SAG and and change the Dynamics there. I’M putting in a full tank of fuel, you do exactly like. I did yesterday, where I’m going to fill it up, let it click off.
Naturally, I’m going to um, let it set for a minute on time it and then fill it up again. Yesterday, on both trips, both the return and there I saw sometimes only about a quarter tank more fuel, sometimes a little bit more than, and so I want to make sure this as accurate as possible doing the exact same way. So we’ll just fill it up and let it click off and see where we’re at again we’re not using the Distribution on purpose. It’S very windy today I can tell you driving 45 50 mph. I really wish I had it.
This is a Tall trailer. That’S got a lot of sway to it. It’S very nose heavy too um the water weight. Actually, it goes to the back to lift the back up a little bit. So, in this case, if it wasn’t winterized, we might have a better Advantage with not having as much frontend sag, either way we’re going to show you what that’s like uh, because I know how to deal with that safely, because the military planes you for really dumb Things all the time, just in case you’re, like you, really need one.
We know it I’m also printing receipts for all this, so we can put that in I’m still going to put this in my fuel app, like you guys saw yesterday, I’m going to reset trip number two here. Yes, I want to reset it we’re all full of fuel we’re ready to go. This is the same exact spot. We’Ll come back to this exact pump. If I can help it to where we’re going to come back and see where we’re at it’s exactly what I did yesterday, um doing it unladen without any trailer, and I know what that fuel economy is so we can compare what it’s like under.
You know normal conditions versus Towing conditions, so you guys can see how much of a percentage uh decrease there is there, but I’m confident this is going to get better fuel economy than the 6.2 V8 uh that some of you guys are like. Oh there’s no way this has more torque earlier on in the power band than what that V8 does, and yes, it’s down in Horsepower, but that’s not really going to make a difference once you’re idling at highway speed. So how much better it’s going to be would be the real question and – and maybe I’m wrong, but I very much doubt it I’ve experienced is that it uses significantly more diesel exhaust fluid, while Towing uh than it does under any other condition. And so it just popped up here, uh to check the de range, which I’ve only put 1,000 miles on it.
Since I filled it up, it shouldn’t be doing that. I’M guessing! Once we settle into a group, it’s going to be fine. Here we go 20 miles now uh that we’ve been on the interstate, maybe a little bit more than uh. The wind is blowing directly onto us um, it’s a very strong wind, just trying to keep an eye on the Shrubbery to see where the wind’s coming from it’s definitely more of a head-on wind.
Every time a vehicle goes by it. Sways uh really makes me wish. We had that trailer distribution set up, but again we did that deliberately. We knew that that wasn’t going to be here to show the worst case scenario. What’S interesting, is it’s a bit of a climb to get out of Boise, and then it levels out here, um and we’re sitting right now at 9.m
per gallon is what it’s showing us presently. I think that it will actually get better, especially when we come the other direction we have the wind at our tail, hopefully could switch around. I just jumped to 9.3. Actually how funny so we’re going to go into the trailer app here and see what it says.
It’S showing the average fuel economy, 8.
9 mes per gallon or excuse me, 8 plat miles per gallon. So I’m not sure why there’s a discrepancy between one and the other um? Maybe this calculates it differently? I’M not really sure.
If you guys know, let me know in the comment section below why there’s a difference between them uh, but there is we’re just going to keep an eye on on. It we’re going to take this exit up here to get off of the main Interstate, we’re still going to technically be on a highway uh. The speed limit, though, is a little bit lower and we’re going to go actually in to Mountain Home here and get something to eat. Uh, take a break for a minute, just like I did yesterday should take about the same amount of time, so everything should be fairly consistent, uh so far, the fuel economy has jumped up to 9.8 m per G G uh, which isn’t bad at all.
It is better than what uh my friend gets in his 6.2 and we were heading into a headwind day entire time. So if that remains consistent, we should have a better fuel economy on the return trip, potentially, as we won’t be having so much uh to go into, especially with the trailer. Behind back in the truck, it actually says the miles per gallon. Right now is 10.
so somehow it went up or maybe did calculations after we uh sat in there and eight so uh we’re going to go ahead, hit the road right now and uh. When we get back to Boise, we’ll stop back at that same station and see how much fuel we used so as we were sitting here talking, we were noticing how quiet it is inside the cabin some people have asked in the comments section. How loud is it on the highway, so I will tell you it’s fairly quiet, we’re able to talk normally uh the engine’s, not struggling. It’S. It’S not super loud, like I’ve had other V8s in the past, where, yes, it can maintain speed, but it’s noisier.
It’S pretty quiet in here uh. You can hear the sound of traveling cars, of course, but it has nothing to do with how quiet the truck itself is. First, half of the journey done we’re on our way. Back now, overall impressions of the ZR2 with Towing, again I’ve towed with this before this is my first time towing a a bigger trailer like this um and I’m not talking big Weight Wise, I’m talking about overall size-wise, it’s the length of it um, it’s not aerodynamic. Even a little bit, it’s basically a brick and because of that, you feel all the wind and everything uh, one of the things that we noticed.
Looking at my truck versus uh Jonathan’s truck that he toes us with and that’s a Trail Boss um, is that there are more leaes in this truck than on his truck um, and so we weren’t sure how it was going to Sag or what that was going To do um so interested to see how much sag there was with this, and I think it’s because it’s softer suspension. I mentioned that when I hooked it up, which I believe can play a part in how well is er2 may or may not be able to tow. I know that I would feel more comfortable if this had uh airbags or something of the like to help keep it uh where it should be. Since this one is so nose heavy. Overall, it’s not bad the bumps, I feel I don’t hit.
He was mentioning how every little bump he hits he’s on the bump stops because it scks so much. I don’t get that? U, but the ZR2. Also. I don’t think that it was uh designed with the same amount of Towing in mind as say a High Country or some of the other packages.
This is meant to be more of an Offroad truck, not that it can’t tow. It clearly can, but I think that there are trucks that, if you’re like, I want to tow all the time, this may not be the best choice for you. I think that there’s other options from GM that might be more up your alley and, I would say the same thing, probably for the at4 and the trail boss. In the same same respect that you would probably want to choose something different, such as a High Country, trim that car is smoking. What is going on there, what the distraction right little squirrel moment overall, this is a good hauler.
I think that I would be mindful of buying a tular given how this is towed so far. I would definitely make sure the truck was more worthy for this kind of uh trip or even a longer trip. So far. I will tell you, though, on the ride back. We do have a bit of a Tailwind.
It’S not so much of the headwind. That’S pushing us uh as a result, I’m not getting pushed and thrown around as much as I was on the way there like on the way there. You notice it all the time. It’S constant. You just got used to it’s almost like being in a boat.
It’S just constant movement that you learn to live in with. What’S okay, interestingly enough, also, I’m already getting 13 13 m a gallon. We just started with 6 miles, then I’m getting 13 m a gallon compared to the 10. I was getting on the way there so that wind played a significant factor when you’re towing, basically a sale behind you, so things to keep in mind as we go between them and we’ll see. If this holds out, this could drop could just be that we’re starting off in a flat portion of it.
I know that when I did the test without any weight, we actually got worse fuel economy on the way there than on the way back. Excuse me other way around better fuel economy on the way to than on the way back, the winds were going, the opposite direction too, so something that definitely plays a factor in it, along with it being a lifted. Having larger tires than some of the other trim levels, things like that these all play a factor in it and also why I say that maybe if you plan on doing a significant amount of Towing that the ZR2 may not what you want to go with. But this engine, I still feel is the right choice to go with, has nothing to do with the engine. It’S nothing to do with the transmission, it’s purely a suspension setup.
That makes a bit of a difference on that and it’s give and take the best off-roaders. Don’T make great Towers they just don’t the best Towers, don’t make good off rotors they just don’t it’s a compromise in between, and I think that there are things you can attach to the ZR2 to make it more tow worthy. But there’s not a lot. You can do to a tow rig to make it more off-road, capable so just my general thoughts on that, and I still love being able to take this Offroad and do some of the things I do that I’m more likely to do than tow something of this Capacity at you know just the way I we currently live, our lives man, the fuel econom, is still going up and I’m going the same speed. I have it locked in at about 62 m hour.
I actually feel like I could go a faster speed and the RPMs are significantly lower because it’s not struggling to maintain that speed like it was on the way here, so definitely a big factor in the direction of travel, which is why we do the test both Ways not just one way, so we got about 10 miles to go until we’re back at the gas station should be 10 Mi thereabouts. The ride back has been a lot nicer of a drive probably could have driven a little bit faster. I didn’t simply because I wanted to go a similar speed as we went on the way there to keep things as consistent as possible. The fuel economy is significantly higher on the way. Back again, wind was a huge, huge Factor.
Um, I’m not feeling as unstable as I was in the very beginning of this um. There was concern initially when we started out that we may not even do this trip that we may hold off until the weather was better because of the wind. But here in Idaho, where we’re at especially there’s no guarantee the wind’s ever going to be good like it is there one? Second, it’s not the next, it’s just part of where we live at, but we are seeing much better fuel economy on the way back. The winds at our back, it’s a lot more of a stable thing, I’m not getting as bounced around as much, especially when semi- trucks go by.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t like to go 10 under the speed limit for even semi trcks. But again you got to do what you got to do to make sure that it’s a safe ride, uh, but right now we’re sitting at 14.8 MP gallon on this return trip alone and we’ll see where it’s at when we get done at the gas station here. In a little bit got the fish Tingler 9000 back there, all right, so we’re here filling up. We just finished the trip – God dang it.
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my God! There we go hey. I got it. We’Re good kind of curious, because the fuel economy was so much better on the way back and it kept going up so want to know how it all leveled out.
This should take quite a bit of fuel, I think, by comparison yesterday, it took four gallons, maybe probably take 10 okay and that’s it so 6.
8, about $ 10 more in fuel, again doing a fuel up on the fuel app I’ll get the odometer here in a second all right, so cost per gallon it didn’t go up in the few hours are gone 149. The amount of gallons 68 69 confirm that what that says: yep we’re good City Driving 5 %. If that, okay, making sure looks good, we’ll start it up and get the odometer reading, we’ll see what this says and compare it to this 12.8 m per gallon.
That’S what that said – and it shows 12.3 on here so the distance is about the same. I might have been off like a mile or two, but all that’s going to do is improve fuel economy. If I actually went farther than what this thinks, I would have gotten better fuel economy, so, let’s showing 12.8 m per gallon compared to the 12.
that is showing on the trip computer for this I was wondering yesterday, was spot on without a trailer. The trailer definitely makes a difference. It’S trying to estimate a lot more because the fuel economy is so varied. Every time you go up a small incline. Everything makes a huge difference.
So 12
8 MP gallon overall down yesterday for sure no question about that. But now you guys have a good idea of what kind of differences that you might be able to expect. Um, given your own towing conditions there, and this is still a huge improvement over uh. What the 6.2 V8 is on the trail boss, so it just kind of keep that in mind too that if they were different, trims LTZ, something that’s not off-road oriented with a lift and stuff like that, you’d get better fuel economy.
I’M curious, though, because I feel like they should get a lot better fuel economy for those who have the three leaders and know somebody who has somebody or a cousins Brothers, a whatever who has one, what kind of f economy are you guys seeing while Towing? Do you have problems with heavy loads? Is it something where you wouldn’t feel comfortable with this? Did I make a mistake? Should I have gotten a 2500?
Let me know in the comment section below what you guys think and for you 62 guys, who think that the VA is superior. Let me know what you’re getting as well, because I guarantee you’re, probably not beating this till next time, guys I’ll see you later
