Originally Posted by clinebarger
Originally Posted by DriveHard
Its amazing to me how many folks simply don't read the thread before they reply....
I DO NOT imply that it is a good idea to simply slam the L9H into the 2500 or 3500 truck...not saying that at all. I didn't say it was a good idea to use an aluminum block on the heavy duty trucks, and I'm not sure why people are using that as an argument (maybe it is a good idea, I simply don't know). All I am saying is that the 6.0L engine is getting old, and I think Chevy could sell a lot more trucks if they upped the hp in the heavy duty line and offered a little more tow capability with the gas engines.
Yes, I do love my L9H in my truck! I know it is high compression, and for sure not set up for the heavy duty market. I run E85 99% of the time, and don't really care about the poor mileage. If you search my past posts you would see that I do tow decent loads, including a tandem trailer setup, a 30' Formula boat with dual small blocks, and currently a 26' Glastron bowrider. Before I got my Fiat, my truck was a DD. I have driven a co-workers 2500 with a 6.0L. Maybe it has "enough" hp to get the job done, but I just don't want to "upgrade" to a slower, less powerful truck to get more payload and tow capacity.
I'll admit that I didn't thoroughly read your opening post.
The return on investment for GM to design, build & certify a new engine for this particular segment would be what? Sure....There might be a spike in sales the first couple years but will normalize to the same levels as before.
In my opinion....They would need to spread the bore spacing out & raise the deck height to accommodate let's say a 4.125" bore & a 4.00" stroke that would yield 7.0 Litres.
GM had the L18 8.1L mated to a Allison 1000......Available for 6 years in the GMT800 platform, Made 40 more horsepower & 95 more ft lbs of torque compared to the LQ4 6.0L that was standard in 2500/3500 trucks.
The torque under the curve was outstanding & the Allison was a big leap with it's ratio's compared to the 4L80E........They couldn't hardly give them away!
GM lost a ton of money on the 8.1L even with help from Medium Duty Kodiak/Top-Kick, RV chassis & Mercury Marine sales. And it wasn't even a clean sheet design as it was based on the big block.
Ford has the 6.2L "Boss" & Dodge has the 6.4L Hemi, They both make more HP & Torque than the GM offering. Dodge has the most power but GM sold 300,000 more fullsize trucks than Dodge last year. I can't find data that breaks down 1500 vs 2500 vs 3500 & what engine was installed......
In the 3/4 and 1 ton segment Ram outsold GM by a considerable margin.