6.6-Liter Duramax Diesel Torque Monster

Like the horsepower wars that "The Big Three" are involved in with their cars, the war to build a heavy-duty truck that can push the limits and take the crown for the biggest and best torque ratings is very much alive as well. 

For 2017, GM decides it's time to refresh and toughen up its 6.6-liter Duramax diesel engines for its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD trucks. The extra boost in power will provide the already stout HD trucks with 455 hp, up from last year's 397 hp. And the new torque ratings for the Duramax will be boosted up to 910 lb-ft of torque, a bump from the 765 lb-ft of torque from the previous year.

90% of this newfound torque can be available at a very low 1,550 rpm, helping you take off from a dead stop very effortlessly, even when towing an extraordinary amount of weight.  

• The refreshed Duramax gets its power from a mound of new and beefed-up engine components:
• Turbocharger 
• Cylinder Heads
• Pistons
• Connecting Rods
• Crankshaft
• Venturi Jet Drain Oil Separator

The Venturi Jet Drain Oil Separator uses boost from the turbocharger to suck more oil back into the sump, ensuring the oil doesn’t get in places it’s not supposed to go. GM also strengthens its notorious Allison six-speed transmission to help deal with the new torque numbers, making the Duramax HD trucks more powerful and durable than ever. 

Along with all of the beefed-up new components, the Duramax will also be able to run on B20 fuel, which is a mix of 20% Biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel fuel. 

So, how does the 2017 Duramax setup match up with the other competitors? The Ford Super Duty 6.7-liter Powerstroke diesel puts out 440 hp, but the Ford still takes the torque crown for 2017 with 925 lb-ft of torque. The Ram HD sports an inline six-cylinder diesel that puts out 385 hp with a very stout 900 lb-ft of torque, not bad for a six-cylinder. 

Since it doesn't seem like the competitiveness for big torque numbers is going to go away anytime soon, one would have to suspect that the possibility of seeing these HD trucks coming in at 1,000 lb-ft of torque+, very soon, is very real.    

The New Chevy Silverado HD Hood Scoop - Cool And Functional

For many years now, ram air hood scoops were put in place to shovel in more air into the intake system causing an increase of performance by horsepower. This new Chevy Silverado HD hood scoop is also designed to create better performance, but not by forcing more air into the intake system, instead, the hood scoop will help create a cooler engine compartment for the engine which can also help create better performance.

These trucks are designed for towing/hauling, four-wheel driving activities, long drives, withstanding major mileage while still performing well. Whenever an engine can run cooler it will always perform better. So when an engine is under constant stress, like these Chevy Silverado HD trucks spend a lot of their time under, it makes sense to want to keep that engine as cool as possible for all of the time that it is performing any type of activities.

So just how much does this ram air hood scoop actually help? 

The ram air scoop will take in 60 percent of all of the cool air that will enter the engine compartment. The other 40 percent of air will come through the space behind the front bumper which is designed to take on the engine compartment air funneling responsibilities even if the ram air scoop gets blocked up.

The ram air design features a 90-degree angle which is capable of catching large droplets of water (rain) and small debris keeping out as much moisture and crap as it can to ensure that as much clean and cool air gets into the engine compartment as possible.

All and all, the scoop not only looks pretty cool, but it is more functional than a lot of ram air hoods we have seen in the past. Let's face it, some ram air hoods we have seen though the years hardly created noticeable extra horsepower and some of which we've seen weren't even functional.

I have yet to hear any official statement if GMC will have the same ram air scoop on their HD trucks, but one would imagine they will follow suit.