Archive for the ‘GMC truck information’ Category

In my last post, I talked about the tug-of-war challenge that Tom Stephens, General Motors’ vice chairman in charge of global product operations, issued to Ford. The idea was to have the biggest and baddest from GMC and Ford fight it out and see who’s tops.

Well, Pickuptrucks.com reports that Ford responded in a way that can be considered pusillanimous. Here is the relevant quote, although please go to the link to see the whole story (and if you love trucks, RSSing Pickuptrucks.com isn’t a bad idea!).

GM on Tuesday jumped in with both feet to formally challenge Ford to a fun tug-of-war contest between both companies’ 2011 heavy-duty pickups. Now, we’ve got a response from Ford via Twitter.

One of our Twitter friends, @KyleRohde, asked @Ford and @FordTrucks, “So are you guys going to accept GM’s challenge with PickupTruck.com??”

The reply was, “We typically don’t respond to challenges. We let the vehicles speak for themselves,” with a link to this page: http://bit.ly/dbFZXj.

Hmm. IMHO, chaining two trucks together and seeing which one wins is “letting the vehicles speak for themselves.” But maybe that’s just me!

In order to let your Sierra or other GMC vehicle “speak for itself,” come on over to Mike’s for a test drive!

–Truck Man

You are going to get a big kick out of this post on www.pickuptrucks.com:

Truck of War: GM Vice Chairman Challenges Ford to Heavy Duty Tug of War

As the title implies, that’s just what Tom Stephens, General Motors’ vice chairman in charge of global product operations, did. A key quote:

You know what I want to do to prove it? I want to take our truck and Ford’s [new Super Duty] and chain them together back-to-back. Then I want to have them pull against each other. I know our truck will beat theirs.

Them’s fightin’ words! The trucks he’s talking about are GM’s 2011 Chevrolet and GMC Heavy Duty pickups vs. Ford’s 2011 F-Series Super Duty.

The question I’d like to ask (and you readers are welcome to provide your input) is: Would the GMC truck beat the Ford?

The GM engine in question is the Duramax diesel–a powerful sunvagun if ever there was one. We turn to another pickuptrucks.com post for the info:

We’ve improved the performance of the Duramax in the van to 250 horsepower and 500 pounds-feet of torque from today’s 250 hp and 460 pounds feet,” Arvan said. “We aren’t prepared to talk about the new power figures for the heavy-duty trucks yet, but we won’t let the new emissions regulations bring us down [in power]. We’ll produce at least the 360 hp and 660 pounds-feet of torque [with the LML] that we make with today’s engine.

Did you read my recent post on torque? 660 lb.-ft. of torque is monstrous. If you figure that even a higher-end Peterbilt tractor is going to come in around 1,850 lb.-ft.–and that’s for hauling loaded trailers!

But how about the Ford? Pickuptrucks.com has yet another post. Here is the key quote:

Ford won’t say what the final power figures are for its new 2011 engines, though we have heard that the 6.7-L PSD will make more than 390 horsepower and 720 pounds-feet of torque. The 6.2-L V-8 is expected to pump out approximately 400 hp and 400 lbs.-ft. of torque.

Both GM and Ford are being a bit reticent about their figures, hmm? I personally take Stephens’ line about the GMC winning the tug-of-war to mean that the GM engine will end up with higher figures than the Ford–but that is anybody’s guess.

Let’s imagine, however, that we have figures for both trucks, and they are close. Can we know who will win? Not at all. The above torque figures–everyone would admit this–are sloppy. We need to know torque at various rpms to know who would be stronger off the line–in tug-of-war, low-end torque is crucial. Then, the differential and even the tires could make a huge difference. For that matter, vehicle height and the angle of the chain would also come into play. Finally, driving technique alone could rule the day.

Personally, with my current level of knowledge about these future vehicles, I have no idea who would win the tug-of-war (OK, I will be rooting for the GMC–hence the title of this post!). I have to give up the props to Ford–they make excellent trucks, too (and we sell them pre-owned!). I’m a GMC partisan, though. I think when you look at price and your application and what you get for your money, 9 times out of 10 the GMC is going to come out on top. So I simply advise you to check out GMC and Chevy and Ford and see what works for you.

What I can say with complete confidence is that Mike’s has the best GMC deals in town, so come on over and test drive and kick tires to your heart’s content. We also have some sales guys who “talk truck” pretty well and can give you the straight dope on any model you have questions about. Check us out!

–Truck Man

These ads from GMC always give me a kick: “Never send a truck to do a Sierra’s job.” Take a gander at this one:

It may not be that you use your truck to tow other trucks a lot, but this ad does have a very realistic scenario: towing in the mud.

And the “selling point” of the Sierra here is the locking rear differential. Normally a rear differential allows the wheels to spin at different rates, as when you are cornering and the tires actually “want” to travel at different speeds. This prevents tire wear and is a good thing–most of the time.

But imagine now that you’re towing in the mud. A non-locking rear differential allows the torque to go to either wheel regardless of whether its gripping or not. You just end up spinning and flailing about in the mud.

A true locking differential prevents this mess. As you move forward slowly in the mud, giving your Sierra a little gas at a time, you’ll be able to “feel” how the tires are gripping and steer appropriately because the same amount of torque is going to both wheels. No flailing.

As the ad indicates, anything but a true locker is going to be “crud in the mud.” Time to get a real truck!

The Wikipedia article on locking differentials has some good info. Check it out!

–Truck Man

We love www.edmunds.com for two reasons. The first is that it’s just an informative site. The second is that it tends to be highly appreciative of GMC trucks!

Edmunds ranks the GMC Sierra 1500 #3 for towing. One of the benefits of having a “real truck” is that you can use it to pull stuff. Here is what Edmunds said about the Sierra, one of our favorite trucks:

GMC Sierra 1500: With a 9,990-pound rating, the Sierra Denali offers the most towing ability of any 1500-Series (half-ton) pickup. To get more capability than the Sierra, you have to step up to a heavy-duty series truck from Dodge, Ford or Chevy. Standard on this top-level Sierra is GM’s Quadrasteer, a four-wheel-steering system that gives it a reduced turning radius and improves stability when pulling heavy loads.

Check out the list. Although the Sierra came in at #3, the trucks above it are very different vehicles. We think for all-around towing capacity and value for money, you’ll find the Sierra is one of the best deals available.

To get your best truck deal in Indy, come on over to Mike’s! We’re going to treat you right!

–Truck Man

Here is a neat ad about torque that GMC put out:

Torque is important when you are hauling anything. The more torque, the better. For reference, the 2010 Sierra 1500 has torque of…

• 260 lb-ft @ 2,800 rpm
• 348 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm
• 305 lb-ft @ 4,600 rpm

…as referenced here.

By its very nature, torque is different for every possible engine rpm. What you want to see when you’re hauling is good torque throughout the powerband. Low-end torque is especially important. A truck will feel “wimpy” if you have to redline it just to start pulling, say, a boat!

The 260 lb-ft @ 2,800 rpm figure the Sierra gets is really nice. You will push down on the accelerator and feel a nice pull right away. Needless to say, check your specs and don’t haul more that your truck is rated for. But your GMC is going to be one torque-y ally when you need to get some real hauling done!

–Truck Man

Kelley Blue Book has a great review up of the GMC Sierra and the Sierra Denali. This is truly a fantastic truck! We cordially invite you to get your own Sierra at Mike's GMC in Indianapolis. You won't be disappointed!