Shaun_300 Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Here is our first new vehicle review folks, hope you enjoy! 2011 Chevrolet Silverado / 2011 GMC Sierra The 2011 GM trucks have not had many changes since the new body style brought out in 2007. Still on the GMT-900 platform, the Silverado and Sierra are one of the best trucks on the market. Over the years GM has proven durability and performance in their truck line up and they continue to do so. Available powertrain options: 4.3L V6 with 195hp and 260lb ft of torque 4.8L V8 with 302hp and 305lb ft of torque 5.3L V8 with 315hp and 335lb ft of torque 6.0L V8 with 360hp and 380lb ft of torque 6.2L V8 with 403hp and 417lb ft of torque 6.6L Duramax Diesel with 397hp and 765lb ft of torque The 4.3L V6 is only available in the regular cab 1500 series trucks. In my opinion I would opt for the V8 engine because you get the extra horsepower and equal fuel economy. I honestly don’t know why GM keeps putting the 4.3L in the full size trucks, sure it’s a great engine, but it’s old technology and still has a distributor even. They would be better putting the 3.6L DOHC VVT with direct injection featured in the Camaro and Cadillac vehicles that has over 300hp if they want to continue to have a V6 in their trucks. With Ford coming out with the Ecoboost engine, which is a twin turbo 3.5L V6 with 365hp and 420lb ft of torque, I’m sure GM will come out with something to compete with that when the next generation trucks come out in 2013. The 4.8L V8 is the smallest V8 offered in the trucks. It is suitable for a 2WD truck or a regular cab 4WD. In my opinion the crew cab 4WD trucks are a little underpowered with the 4.8L. Better fuel economy can be achieved by going to the larger 5.3L engine. The 5.3L V8 in my opinion, is the best all around engine for the 1500 series trucks. Once you step up into the 5.3L, you also get the 6-speed 6L80E transmission. The 5.3L gets just as good or a little better fuel economy than the 4.8L, especially once you get into the bigger 4WD trucks. Why you ask? With the 5.3, you have the extra horsepower and torque, with that, it doesn’t have to work as hard as the 4.8 to get the vehicle up to speed and maintain speeds while towing etc. If I had to have one engine for the 1500 trucks, the 5.3L would be my choice. The 6.0L V8 is only offered in the 2500 series trucks. They have lots of power and torque for hauling and towing. I don’t quite understand why GM doesn’t put the 6.2L engines in the 2500s now, they would be even better with towing with the extra 43hp and 37lb of torque. Who knows, they may surprise us for 2012. The 6.2L V8 was brought into the Silverado’s and Sierra’s for 2010. They are only available in the 1500 series extended cab and crew cab 4WD trucks. These engines were brought out in the 2007 Cadillac Escalade’s, and GMC Yukon Denali. If you are like me and love horsepower, this is the engine to get in your new truck! These trucks will pretty much leave any other truck on the market in their dust. I must say though, the new 2011 Duramax and the 6.2L would be a very close race. The 6.6L Duramax diesel is new and improved for 2011. The power ratings have been upped quite a bit. If you need a workhorse to pull pretty much anything, this is the engine option to get. Mated up with the Allison LCT-1000 6-speed automatic transmission, it’ll get any job done that you need. They do come with a price though, to add the Duramax option, expect close to a $10,000 increase on the price tag. The Diesel Exhaust Fluid is a new item on these trucks. It’s a separate fuel tank on the passenger side of the truck, underneath the passenger front door on the outside of the frame rail. This tank needs to be filled approximately every 5,000-8,000 miles. It’s a 5 gallon tank. This fluid is injected into the exhaust to help reduce the NOx levels in the emissions. Another new feature on the new diesel trucks is an exhaust brake. This helps slow the truck down while towing heavy loads, helping the brakes on both the truck and the trailer. With a 3500HD dually equipped with a Duramax, you can tow up to 21,700lbs! Also available is the 2011 Silverado Hybrid. This truck is a 2-mode hybrid, meaning it has the ability to drive on only electric power up to approximately 30mph on light throttle acceleration. This truck is equipped with a 6.0L gas engine with the 2ML70 transmission, which is basically an Allison case with two HUGE electric motors(80 pounds each) inside along with a few clutch packs like a normal automatic transmission. I went on special training for these transmissions and they are amazing how they work. One of the motors actually starts the engine, there is no conventional starter on this truck. The 300V battery turns the electric motor inside the transmission which is connected to the flywheel of the engine to start it. It’s pretty neat to hear this fire up, there’s no normal noise of a starter engaging and cranking the engine, you hit the key and the engine is just all of a sudden running, no starting noise whatsoever. The engine only starts when it has to. You can be sitting at in your garage and hit the key and the engine will stay off. You’ll have power steering and air conditioning, since they have alternate power sources to let them operate with the gas engine off. Put it in drive and away it goes, then the engine will kick on after a certain speed or if the hybrid battery gets low. As the vehicle decelerates, the power in the electric motors basically reverses to charge the 300V battery. These vehicles are very safe, any fault or sense of a collision will deactivate the hybrid system completely before anything can short out or cause any problems. What is my opinion on the practicality of the hybrids? If you live in a city and do a lot of city driving and don’t tow a lot, the hybrid would be a practical truck to buy. If you drive mainly on the highway, the gas engine will be running all the time and you won’t benefit much in the way of fuel economy. The hybrids get approximately the same fuel economy both in town and highway driving, approx 21mpg. Here’s a few pictures: Silverado/Tahoe/Escalade Hybrid Battery. This is the full width of the inside of the vehicle, underneath the rear seat. It's 300V DC, many small batteries in series inside the case. Weighs 300 pounds. The stuff us technicians have to wear to work on the 300V systems, there's another layer of gloves inside the rubber gloves. 3 layers. Cutout of the 2ML70 hybrid transmission All new 2011 Denali HD, ultimate luxury pullin and workin machine! I'll start with that. Please post up what you think, and suggestions what I could add to this, or what you'd like to know that is not listed in here and I'll keep adding as the questions come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 mpg with each motor and model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrophies Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Good choice for first review. Does Chevy have the steps or nerf bars available for the diesel yet? All the aftermarket producers are apparently having problems with the DEF tank as I still have not been able to get any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 mpg with each motor and model. Good idea Ben, I actually meant to put this in, but obviously forgot. I'll get on that tonight. Good choice for first review. Does Chevy have the steps or nerf bars available for the diesel yet? All the aftermarket producers are apparently having problems with the DEF tank as I still have not been able to get any. Yes there is Chuck, The normal GM steps will work, but the brackets have to be purchased for the front passenger side to accomodate the DEF tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Fuel Economy 4.3L V6 4x4 - 18/14 2x4 - 20/15 4.8L V8 4x4 - 18/13 2x4 - 19/14 5.3L V8 4x4 - 22/15 2x4 - 23/16 6.2L V8 4x4 - 22/15 6.0L Hybrid - 23/20 Can't find one on the Duramax, the write ups are saying up to 680 miles on a 36 gallon tank, so that'd be 19mpg highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrophies Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 To and from work and normal running around I get about 16 +/-. That is usually doing about 70 - 75 on the back & forth to work. On a trip with limited stops I have gotten around 19. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Good information there Shaun. Have heard battery replacement on the hybrids are supposed to be pretty outrageous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Not sure how much the battery is, I should check that someday if I think about it at work. Can't find it on Mitchell or online anywhere for the trucks. Says it's 2.6 hours labor to change. If I had to guess I'm guessing the battery would be around $2-3K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 If I had to guess I'm guessing the battery would be around $2-3K. I read somewhere that battery life expectency on hybrids might not be more than 3 to 4 years, wondered how many are on the roads that are starting to see issues or how much longer before that happens. Thought I had also read that some vehicles that those battery replacements would be upwards to $5000-$6000 to replace the cells. Guessing some folks who buy the latest and greatest with hybrids while thinking they are saving money with better economy may not realize the potential costs of ownership/maintenance. Kind of intriguing to me I guess, gonna be real interesting to see in the next few years when enough have been on the road that they start having issues how they are perceived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Fuel Economy 4.3L V6 4x4 - 18/14 2x4 - 20/15 4.8L V8 4x4 - 18/13 2x4 - 19/14 5.3L V8 4x4 - 22/15 2x4 - 23/16 6.2L V8 4x4 - 22/15 6.0L Hybrid - 23/20 Can't find one on the Duramax, the write ups are saying up to 680 miles on a 36 gallon tank, so that'd be 19mpg highway. once you get 40,000 miles on the duramax you'll get the 19. i'm at 145,000 on my '06 and i get 18-19 empty and 20 on trips as a rule. hook up the 5th wheel and i'm at 10. but, oh boy, the power..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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