Ford Motor Company and General Motors have gone head-to-head in the automotive market for the better part of the last century, and now, The General has detailed its latest Ford 3.5L V6 PowerBoost rival. As reported by our sister publication GM Authority, the recently-announced 3.0L inline-six turbodiesel Duramax engine – production code LZ0 – will attempt to give The Blue Oval’s PowerBoost V6 offering a run for its money.
GM Duramax turbodiesel 3.0L I6 LZ0 engine
Set to launch in GM’s 2023 Silverado 1500 and 2023 Sierra 1500, the new GM 3.0L I6 LZ0 turbo-diesel Duramax motor takes the place of the Duramax 3.0L I6 LM2, which was offered from the 2019 thru the 2022 model years in these pickups. The new diesel engine is capable of producing 305 horsepower and 495 pound-feet of torque, which represents a 10 percent increase in power and a 7.6 percent increase in torque over its predecessor. It also features upgraded steel pistons and a revised combustion bowl, along with a revamped turbocharger compressor, redesigned fuel injectors along with improved temperature control. Comparatively, the Ford 3.5L V6 PowerBoost offers 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Ford F-150.
| GM Duramax LM2 | GM Duramax LM2 | GM Duramax LZ0 | Ford Power Stroke | Ram EcoDiesel | Ford PowerBoost | Toyota i-Force Max | Ram Pentastar | Ram Hemi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicles | 2021 Silverado 1500 | 2022 Silverado 1500 | 2023 Silverado 1500 | 2021 Ford F-150 | 2022 Ram 1500 | 2022 Ford F-150 | 2022 Toyota Tundra | 2022 Ram 1500 | 2022 Ram 1500 |
| Engine Type | I6 | I6 | I6 | V6 | V6 | Hybrid V6 | Hybrid V6 | eTorque mild hybrid V6 | rTorque mild hybrid V8 |
| Displacement | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.0L | 3.5L | 3.4L | 3.6L | 5.7L |
| Aspiration | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Turbocharged | Twin-turbocharged | Twin-turbocharged | Naturally Aspirated | Naturally Aspirated |
| Fuel Type | Diesel | Diesel | Diesel | Diesel | Diesel | Regular gasoline | Regular gasoline | Regular gasoline | Midgrade |
| Horsepower (hp @ rpm) | 277 @ 3,750 | 277 @ 3,750 | 305 @ TBA | 250 @ 3,250 | 260 @ 3,600 | 430 @ 6,000 | 437 @ 5,200 | 305 @ 6,400 | 395 @ 5,600 |
| Torque (lb-ft @ rpm) | 460 @ 1,500 | 460 @ 1,500 | 495 @ TBA | 440 @ 1,750 | 480 @ 1,600 | 570 @ 3,000 | 583 @ 2,400 | 269 @ 4,800 | 410 @ 3,950 |
| City Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 23/22 | 23/22 | TBA | -/20 | 23/21 | 25/23 | 20/19 | 20/19 | 18/18 |
| Highway Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 31/26 | 31/26 | TBA | -/27 | 33/29 | 25/23 | 24/22 | 25/24 | 23/22 |
| Combined Fuel Economy RWD/4WD (mpg) | 26/24 | 26/24 | TBA | -/23 | 26/24 | 25/23 | 22/20 | 22/21 | 20/19 |
| Max Payload Capacity (pounds) | 1,870 | 1,930 | TBA | 1,840 | 2,090 | 2,120 | 1,665 | 2,300 | 1,800 |
| Max Towing Capacity (pounds) | 9,500 | 13,300 | TBA | 12,100 | 10,010 | 12,700 | 11,450 | 6,640 | 12,750 |
A very direct rival from Ford to the GM’s new LZ0 Duramax engine would have been the Ford 3.0L Power Stroke diesel engine, code-named Lion. Alas, this motor was discontinued last year, so we’re going to consider the Ford 3.5L V6 PowerBoost engine – which mates Ford’s legendary 3.5L EcoBoost V6 to a hybrid system – as the closest competitor to GM’s new 3.0L baby Duramax engine. Given that the PowerBoost is more potent, both in terms of horsepower and torque, than the new Duramax, it would seem that the diesel in the F-150 was simply not all that attractive, if not unnecessary.
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Comments
I think that power and torque of the powerboost disappears once you put a load behind it and certainly the mpg does to low single digits.
Bring back the 3.0 Powerstroke Diesel.
The reason the 3.0L Powerstroke didn’t do well it’s because no one wanted to pay a premium for an engine that was no better than the naturally aspirated base V-6 and the costs associated with maintaining it.