well heres my opinion ........ not making the choice for u .. but i have a 11 4x4rcsb yes its alittle lighter then cc but im pretty dam happy first new vehicle so that helps but one thing i was getting pissed at first w the 6 spd love the fuel eco but the dam thing couldnt decide on a gear especially in city.BUT once i put exhaust (slp lm2) n a volant cai wow it woke up n adjusted to me yeah now im so satisfied and yes with a 308, highway is nice 22 n city hmm like 16 17
but warranty is holding me back alittle well w wanting 373s maybe intake etc
yeah first gear is nice

just my honest opinion
also think about what u want out of it me not a race truck
i got a project for that so yeah

 

My 6.2 is getting 17.5-18 on the highway. I never drive it in town so I dont have clue what it would do there. It has tons of power and just loafs along. If you can swing with less options go with more cubic inches.

 

^I couldnt agree more. You get so much more truck and really only give up maybe 2 miles per gallon. They come standardwith 3.42 gears, a 14 bolt rearend, and a tranny cooler. If price were a factor I would get a lower optioned truck but I wouldnt compromise on the 6.2. Look up-Your on performancetrucks.net. lol

 

Why anyone thinks its a good idea to buy a brand new 2011 with AFM then take it off and void warranty is beyond my imagination and just plain dumb. The 6.2 is only a couple grand more ( by the time you add the required options its not just engine cost ) and as people here have mentioned you get roughly the same mileage as a 5.3 anyways and twice the engine

 

You also void the warranty when you put a tune on it or anything else. It's no different.

 

Thanks guys- I'm starting to ponder the 6.2, now if I could just keep my foot out of it and not chase everything down. 3.42's will be the order of the day, could live with the 5.3 if I can't find a or get a 6.2. Say- can anyone help me out with the 8th digit on the VIN#? Is it a 3 and something else to know if it's a 5.3, which by default fets the 6L80e in the CC. I'm looking at dealers a few cities over on the internet and if I knew what I was looking at in the VIN it would sure help alot.
Thanks......

 

eighth digit is a 2 on a 6.2

 

Even the best tuned 5.3 wont outperform a stock 6.2L and even more than my comments above its not free to "upgrade" a 5.3 by removing AFM. Providing you can do the work yourself you still need to buy; lifters, pushrods, head gaskets, head bolts, and a tune. This is in no way cheap and the mere cost of this work would put you over top of the purchase price of a 6.2L anyways.

There is no sane argument in the world to deliberately buy a 5.3 and remove AFM vs buying a 6.2 instead. Or as mentioned prior if its a budget thing then buy the 4.8 but you lose the 6L80e as well.

 

I'm not saying the 5.3 without AFM is the way to go. I'm just saying it's easier and cheaper than all you folks are making it out to be. The AFM delete kit is less than 300$. How is that higher than a 6.2? Even buying a cam kit ($800) and the delete kit, you're cheaper than a 6.2.

Trust me, I know. I've been looking for a truck to buy for the last month. I've looked at 6.2s and 5.3s. I know that I can buy a fully loaded LTZ 5.3 for the cost of a LT model 6.2.

 

If you can find the parts for $300 bucks shipped with taxes in etc then im impressed. Regardless you still need a tune to delete the AFM in the PCM and there is no "cheap" way to do this. You either drop 5 or 6 bills on HP or the like or pay the $400 or so for someone to tune it out and have the hassle of either getting the truck to them or paying them to travel to you or doing a mail order which is not exactly fast/or cheap either.

Plus its not like every guy can just swap out of the AFM lifters and whatnot himself theres a good many who need to have this done. The only reason I keep harping on about it is how many guys actually believe you simply tune it out of the PCM and its over forget about which is not at all the case.

In terms of what your shopping for hey man its your money I really couldnt care less what you spend it on. FWIW I too would gladly remove AFM on my truck if it had it and I did just buy a 2011 and IMO its not worth the hassle of swapping out defective crappy parts on a brand new truck with warranty etc. If you dont care about that then thats great for you more power to you brother but its important to me and many others to have the warranty there.

Good luck on your purchases fellas