Does someone want to tell me why I am trying to get all this performance out of my 5.3 when I could just go buy a d-max? Why aren't we all driving duramax trucks? I am throwing a turbo on here and still going to get my butt handed to me by a d-max. Does this make sense?

Dan

Edit- Duramax, not V max.

 

Dura Max or V-max?

A decent diesal will out tow a Turbo 5.3.

 

I haven't lost to any D-max trucks yet. I am sure with the right turbo for your 5.3 you will have no problem with a dmax.

 

I don't know much about diesels, but isn't the invesment more? I paid maybe 27k for my new Z71 and it was exactly the truck I wanted. Maybe another 9-10K for all of the upgrades (didn't do ANY of the work myself) and the converter was maybe $900 of that. Do-it-yourselfer's could cut thousands off of that, but I probably made 3 times the money I spent in that period and let the pro's at trt do what they do best. I am pretty darn sure I'll get 7's my next time out (much cooler weather now) and I absolutely love it. I really like them but, what does a new Dmax cost to get there?

 

I know the option on the sticker is 7,195. Which you figure is about the cost of the turbo kit with all the extras you have to put into it, give or take a little bit.

Duramax's are 360/650 stock. So with a little programming you can get up to 800 tq without anything but the program. So for an extra 500 bucks for the programmer I don't see my truck hanging with a d-max.

Don't get me wrong....I hope I am wrong, but I have been reading up on those things and they make some crazy power. Stock numbers they are running 15's all day long. I really don't see my 5.3 doing that.

I just feel like I might have been smarter to just go the d-max route to start with.

We will see, turbo gets here tuesday.

 

If it was available with a RCSB I might have done it too, but after driving the vette for a few years now I liked the smaller size and weight of my truck.

 

duramaxs make crazy power but they also weigh a lot more than you do. my ECSB 04 duramax with a 6" lift weighs in at 7800lbs. in street trim. i have a 500 RWHP 1100 RWTq EFI live tune on my truck with a upgraded allison tranny and im running mid 13 second quarter mile times. not bad for as big as i am but the weight advantage is huge. how fast would your gasser be if you had that power without the weight? i guess what i comes down to is how big your wallet is and how small you want it to be. i know a guy in SoCal that has a 6500lb ECSB duramax that has a mile long list of mods on it that is running 10.60's. it all costs money and diesel is no exception, turbos are 3K, tranny kits with convertors are 3K-4K, lift pumps, fuel injectors, tuning software. it all adds up either way.

 

Well I am talking about my CCSB 4x4. I know it is lighter than a d-max, but I would say that the 1100 RWTq makes up for that difference. That is crazy. That is exactly what I am talking about. Is it a better platform to start with for modding?

With my turbo I don't even think I will hit 13's. Well not unless I turn up the wick a little...then trans will need to be upgraded.

I am not worried about spending some money on a truck, I just don't know if I am starting off in the right place.

 

dan,

you have a PM

 

Other than fuel milage there is no gain. A diesel does not make alot of power. A diesel with a turbo on it does. Put a turbo on your gas engine and beat the modified diesel. Race a diesel running 20psi with a gas engine of the same cubic inch running 10psi, it isn't even close.