Gm 6.0 litre v v t v8 tow vehicle engine

[Lyn Smith]

Anyone have a newer GM tow vehicle with the GM 6.0 litre v v t engine? How does it perform?

[dennis dunlap]

Lyn we have two of them with the 6.0 in them both 3.73 gears, plenty of power, the allision trans is a big plus for towing ....

[Bob Bender]

I have a (6.0) 2008 (2500 HD) and it pulls by wagon like it was nothing.

[cad]

Lyn,
I bought a brand new 2014 crew cab LTZ 4x4 6.0vvt in February, and it pulled like it had 200hp. RUN AWAY from the new 6.0 trucks. Before you buy, hook up your trailer and run it down the highway.
If you are pulling an enclosed trailer, it will not even be able to run in overdrive at 65mph on flat roads if you have a headwind without pushing it hard.
I tried premium fuel, e85, and had no luck.
With 4000 miles, I towed my 8000lb 24' enclosed from Omaha to Eddyville and got 7.04 mpg from Omaha to Des Moines while trying to run 70mph.
On the hills, the tach was pegged at 4400rpm trying to keep it at 65-70.
I traded down for a 2012 2500hd Duramax and havent looked back.

I got just under 11mpg running 75mph from Omaha to Denver for the ET Finals and the truck never downshifted.

In town/part highway empty, the 6.0 mpg was less than 11.5mpg. Duramax gets almost 18mpg on the highway empty.

Clark Doukas

[Ed Carpenter]

I have a 2001 1500HD with 200,000 miles on it. Towed to Columbus and back in May almost 3000 miles round trip. I have a 24' trailer 3000lb car plus scooter tools spares etc. Still going strong!

[vetteboy]

I had a 2000 with the 6.0 and pulled a 24’ enclosed trailer (9500 LBS) and it pulled ok. You will get 6-7 mpg. My dad had 2007 5.3 (3:73 gear) he pulled a 20’ enclosed trailer and that work ok. when he bought a 2012 5.3 it had 3:43 and the 6 speed trany it wouldn’t pull it. so he traded it in and bought one with the 6.2 (3:73 gear) and that has a lot of pulling power. If you plan on doing a lot of pulling get a Duramax. I have a 2011 duramax now and the difference is night and day. Once you pull with a diesel you will never go back. Brett

[Tom Moock]

I had a 2013 Chevy crew cab 6.0 2500 4 wheel 4.10, it made it to 5000 miles and I trade for new 1500, the 1500 5.3. With 3.46 gears pulled better than the 6.0 and got better mileage. Tom

[Jeremy1374]

Originally Posted by cad

Lyn,
In town/part highway empty, the 6.0 mpg was less than 11.5mpg. Duramax gets almost 18mpg on the highway empty.

Clark Doukas

Just out of curiosity what do you figure your avg MPG are? Is this a 4WD & what cab/box configuration is this?

[Jim Cimarolli]

I don't own one, but I have worked on my share of them. Sadly, I rarely ever hear anything good about a 6.0 when it comes to towing and mileage.

[cad]

Originally Posted by Jeremy1374

Just out of curiosity what do you figure your avg MPG are? Is this a 4WD & what cab/box configuration is this?

It was a loaded 4wd LTZ Crew Cab. I think the average on the DIC was just over 10 when I traded at ~4600 miles. With a 34 gallon tank, towing 90 miles round trip to the local track and back, and 50/50 in town/hwy unloaded the rest of the week, it would only muster about 270 miles per tank (refill was about 28-30 gallons...somewhere in that range) on 89 octane gas.
I hooked up an inexpensive OBD2 dongle and monitored timing while towing once. On the flat with little wind, the VVT technology would alter the timing constantly. As low as 9 degrees and never more than 24 while towing.

Here is just an estimated mileage/cost calculator I used to convince my wife to let me dump a brand new truck for a Duramax. Note the cost per year in fuel...