Jump to content

4.3 vs 5.3

Manny254

By Manny254
in Engines & Drivetrain

 Share

Recommended Posts

Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

The most noticeable difference between the 4.3 and 5.3 that I notice with everyday use is the sound. I have owned both and I do prefer the sound of the 5.3 at idle. I have not experienced any noticeable difference in everyday "usable" power.

  • Replies 125
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Colossus
Colossus

Eh. People were towing boats like that with the old 255 HP or less 5.7L trucks of yesteryears. And now a V-6 does it even better. No big deal.

Grumpy Bear
Grumpy Bear

We do realize that the ICE is a demand device…right? Motor only makes the power it needs to overcome the load running against it.   That said, with nearly 300 Hp on tap out of the 4.3 Ecotec3 those

Brian S.
Brian S.

I agree that we live in a "golden era" of car performance compared to the 60s and 70s.   What I'm saying is all this "5.3l performance is the stuff! Makes the 4.3l look like a slug!" is kind of a mo

KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

It shouldn't, it doesn't have the HP or TQ. And nobody expected the V-6 to run like a 5.3. But it's not a slug. Ever check the HP on a 13 5.3? Or maybe a 4.3 on E-85?

  • Like 1
Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

It shouldn't, it doesn't have the HP or TQ. And nobody expected the V-6 to run like a 5.3. But it's not a slug. Ever check the HP on a 13 5.3? Or maybe a 4.3 on E-85?

Yes for me the HP and TQ has remained pretty close as my 5.3 was in a similarly equipped 2009 Sierra. I pull/carry the same loads and travel the same roads. The switch for me has been seamless.

  • Like 1
KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

Yes for me the HP and TQ has remained pretty close as my 5.3 was in a similarly equipped 2009 Sierra. I pull/carry the same loads and travel the same roads. The switch for me has been seamless.

I was responding to the post before you, guess I was too slow. I should have hit quote and responded directly to him.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Manny254 Enthusiast

Manny254

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I went with the 4.3 it was in a truck that basically had all the features me and the wife were looking for in a vehicle

BlackHawkZ71 Enthusiast

BlackHawkZ71

Posted
Posted

I went with the 5.3 would have gone 6.2 but not available in LT trim, I don't tow hardly probably will at some point , but i do enjoy the sound of the v8 plus i feel in ccsb the v6 wouldn't be stout enough. When added extra weight

 

I dont race (unless its the time clock) just stick it in drive and hit the gas.

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted

We do realize that the ICE is a demand device…right? Motor only makes the power it needs to overcome the load running against it.

 

That said, with nearly 300 Hp on tap out of the 4.3 Ecotec3 those that say it isn’t enough power are saying that they drive in a way that demands over 300 horsepower for the daily commute the majority of the drive.

 

Here’s a bet you can check with a Scan Gauge II. I’ll bet you don’t ask your half tons motor for more than 100 Hp 99% of the time.

  • Like 3
Andy Seibel Enthusiast

Andy Seibel

Posted
Posted

I’ll bet you don’t ask your half tons motor for more than 100 Hp 99% of the time.

 

Truer words have never been spoken. But still there is the 1% of time impatient people need to FLOOR it to pull out and cut someone off, they need that extra horsepower.

  • Like 1
  • 1 month later...
CharlestonJoe Enthusiast

CharlestonJoe

Posted
Posted

I've had my 4.3 for a year and a half. It's a slug, I can tell when the A/C is on and so forth. I have to gun it and jump into traffic daily. My next truck will be a V8. I fell for the coolness of the blacked out package on the work truck package. I have added a cold air intake and upgraded the exhaust. Next is a tune, that should give me the zip to jump into traffic, I hope. This is my second V6 truck, I swore I wouldn't get another V6 after the last one.....dang salesman and showing me the blacked out truck!

I am a contractor and probably have 500 lbs worth of tools and such in the back, other than that, just me in the truck.

My truck was in the body shop for two weeks (just for a bumper!!!) and my rental was a 2017 Expedition with a 3.5 V6, that thing had some zip, even with the tools and such in it. I don't know why GM has to program such sluggish throttle response. I love my Chevy though, I was missing it even after zipping around for two weeks.

  • Like 1
Crstfr Enthusiast

Crstfr

Posted
Posted

I work at a dealer, I've driven every combination of Gm truck multiple times. I can always tell the v6s from the v8s just from driving them. The v6 just doesn't have the get up and go that the v8s have.

agree 100%.. when the 5.3 was in the shop.. i got a v6... no getup and go.. always pedal to the floor to get any power.

  • Like 1
ShamrockShooter Senior Enthusiast

ShamrockShooter

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a 5.3 in 16 and just drove my dad's 4.3 in a 16. The 4.3 is very rough with lots of vibration and it's kind of like stepping on a hampster to make the wheels turn. His readout said 15 mpg on the v6. The only nice thing about the v6 is it hardly goes to v4 so it seems smoother in that regard. My v8 spends half its time in v4.

Edited by ShamrockShooter
GMC2015 Enthusiast

GMC2015

Posted
Posted

I've had my 4.3 for a year and a half. It's a slug, I can tell when the A/C is on and so forth. I have to gun it and jump into traffic daily. My next truck will be a V8. I fell for the coolness of the blacked out package on the work truck package. I have added a cold air intake and upgraded the exhaust. Next is a tune, that should give me the zip to jump into traffic, I hope. This is my second V6 truck, I swore I wouldn't get another V6 after the last one.....dang salesman and showing me the blacked out truck!

I am a contractor and probably have 500 lbs worth of tools and such in the back, other than that, just me in the truck.

My truck was in the body shop for two weeks (just for a bumper!!!) and my rental was a 2017 Expedition with a 3.5 V6, that thing had some zip, even with the tools and such in it. I don't know why GM has to program such sluggish throttle response. I love my Chevy though, I was missing it even after zipping around for two weeks.

 

An uncle of mine who owns basically the same truck as you, with it being a 2016, said the same thing about the sluggishness. Last week, he had it custom tuned on a dyno for 93 octane and man it moves now. The tune will completely transform your truck no doubt.

  • Like 1
  • 3 weeks later...
Brian S. Enthusiast

Brian S.

Posted
Posted

http://www.autorooster.com/0-60-times/chevrolet/silverado/

 

The new 4.3l is slightly faster than the 1999-2006 5.3l, and slightly slower than the 2007-2012 5.3l.

 

When I was driving those trucks I don't remember weeping and cursing GM, wishing they were faster.

 

Reality is these things are pickup trucks, not race cars. The ONLY ones that could be called "quick" are the 6.2l models.

 

If a person had one of the last couple generations of 5.3l the new 4.3l will seem very similar. I didn't really notice the difference driving one for a year after spending the prior 11 with a 2002, 2006, 2010 5.3l. (and I don't notice a lot of difference with the two current gen 5.3s I've had since then)

 

New 4.3 is not a "slug" - numbers don't lie.

  • Like 1
KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

People that say trucks today aren't quick are either hard to please or haven't been driving very long. My 14 on E 85 rivaled many of my performances cars of the 70s- 2000s. Even the famous 70 chevell SS 396-350 HP stock on street tires. I've seen singal cabs 5.3s on E-85 run mid 13s on this web site, slow indeed.

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Atlas
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By Atlas · Posted

      Declaring victory would upset the demons that possess this Blazer, so I won't. But I did make progress today--after it put up a fight. Always a fight.   I had the day off so I spent the morning cleaning up the shop and I thought I'd get ahead of things by filling the cooling system in prep for the final part I needed to arrive: the driver's side knock sensor. Glug, glug, glug....and then the unmistakable sound of liquid hitting the shop floor. It induces the same chagrin when the sonar and targeting laser temporarily malfunction during a late night bladder evacuation over the toilet with the bathroom light off. D'OH!!! That made a mess...   Oh, hey, that knock sensor I removed? It threads into a wet port. Who knew?! Learn something new every day. Put a pin in that chore, I'll fill it the rest of the way later.   The knock sensor arrived at about 1pm. I threaded it in, connected the wire, filled up the coolant, checked for leaks, and... drumroll.... fingers crossed for a perfect start, excellent timing, model fuel trims, and ...no squeaks... Here goes.....   No, it didn't start. At all. I cranked it a few times and it wasn't sounding good. Furthermore, I heard leaking again. Jesus H Tapdancing Christ, stop leaking all over the dang floor. This time I had accidentally overfilled the coolant reservoir and the churn of the water pump via cranking caused a bit to burp out. Ok, just, breathe... Put the flamethrower down. Dang thing wouldn't burn anyway, leaks too much...   Did you know the rotation of a round crank sensor in a round hole, matters? I do now. Took me about half hour to retrace steps and realize what I had done. Then it started right up.   No squeaks. The squeak was the old balancer.   Once it entered closed loop, fuel trims are dead on, hovering right around zero at idle. No more -30%. I'll credit the injector rebuild on that one.   Timing? I think there's an OBD 1.5 translation error with my Actron scanner. It's anywhere from -20 to -30 at idle, sometimes as high as -40 cruising. Sorry, the engine just isn't running that smoothly at -40 degrees ignition advance. It's just not. It's smooth all through the rev range and has decent power. I'm going to have to trust the seat of my pants on this one.   The new exhaust is very quiet. The old catalytic converter? Not melted, but definitely not healthy. Rains glitter when you turn it on its end...all the precious metal is flaking out. Once the new exhaust system burned in/smoked off a bit, the engine's exhaust smell is normal again. Not that I'd recommend going around huffing car exhaust, but, you know what I mean?   One problem to correct. The new exhaust has the opposite problem of the old spliced up exhaust. It wants to hit the floor where the old one wanted to rest on the cross member. Happy medium, please? Still noodling on that one, need to look at how I can adjust some hangers.   I don't know what's next. On one hand I want to run away from this thing as far and as fast as I can -- there have been a lot of NOT fun moments. On the other, now that it kinda drives nice, maybe drive it around for a little bit?   Shhh... it's not currently dripping oil all over the floor. I can see just a little wet at the bottom of the timing cover where it meets the oil pan seal. It's not dripping multiple drops with every ignition cycle, in fact, after some driving this evening it has yet to even form a drop that could drip off yet. But the weekend is young... I fully expect this could turn into Exxon Valdez by Sunday. Because this Blazer hates me. LOL.      
    • Grumpy Bear
      The Peckish Synapse

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      About that:   Once upon a time in a land far far away lived a car company that was shy about taking your money and wanted to be sure that they gave you more that you asked for so that you'd come back. No really, not a fairytale. 😱   But after the field got thinned out enough to limit the competition it seemed good enough to give you only what you asked for. Fair enough I say but in such a market you have to give something the others are not or they go to the one who does. Gimmicks or glitz. Oh, fins and chrome. Yea, shinny crow like cars. Yum.    Field narrows a bit more and 'brand loyalty' becomes a thing and the minute it does they start thinking to themselves, "Could we make more money if we gave them less than they expect and they will hang in there for brand and comfort with the known?" They gave it a try and da*n, it worked!!    Well, what if we teach them, groom them into believing that less is "Normal" and cut some more corners. Will that work? Oh heck yea!    🤔 I wonder, can we give then WAY less than they expect and make them mad enough to spit nails and STILL get them to pay up? Sure, if we get everyone else to do the same so that the choice is less or nothing at all. How would be do that? Platform sharing.  What a concept, right?  Steal like there is no tomorrow and it's legal too!    Truth is no one is going to give up driving, not for very long. The Gen Z crowd is fine with it and will be as long as someone not Gen Z will haul them around. At some point we all die.    Economic voting only works if you cast a NO vote now and again and enough of them to get dumb and dumber to wise up. Well, that's how I was taught anyway. And it should have worked. Would have worked. But the Bail out!!   Look, you have another choice if  you take that bag off your head. If the dumb it down to some predetermined expectation of how John Q Public will use it the, that is under design it to failure they you use it to a lower stress mode. D'ho!    A 1950 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 will go anywhere a Suzuki Hayabusa will and for just as long. But you will have to treat it for what it is and not for what you wish it was. 
    • Vu1can
      Bridgestone vs Goodyear tires?

      By Vu1can · Posted

      Maybe I was just too unlucky, but I had nothing but bad luck with Bridgestones. Out of 3 sets, they all started losing a lot of air when they got down to about 1/2 tread life, and at that point also wet traction suffered more than it should have. Also, the only tire I ever had in my 60 years of driving that had a side wall blow out was a Bridgestone.   I'm currently running Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT and am very happy with them.   
    • davester
      Broke Down on the Mountain

      By davester · Posted

      maybe when the trip is over, check all the other joints in the front end, like all the ball joints, tie rods, pitman & idler arms, etc...
    • Carlos Eduardo Silva
      adding 360 surround view, UVI (Trailer Camera) package to UVS (Surround/invisible Trailer) Upgrade 2020 Silverado RST

      By Carlos Eduardo Silva · Posted

      Thks, and actually it was my bad, because here in this post there is someone showing the correct wire position as well. My bad... But thank you a lot with the help as well. I was able to find and buy a 10 channel VPM that came from a sister silverado of mine. The same year, same mode, same trim, same everything. 2022 Silverado 1500 LTD LTZ (pre-refresh). I also found to buy just the bottom mirror part that has the cameras, so way cheap than the full mirror. + a used front camera. I did test everything together, cameras, cables and the VPM.... everything worked EXCEPT my original Bed camera and the backup grid lines. I think the reason is because now I need to do the VPM reprogram. I sent a msg White Automotive & Media Service to confirm that it is the problem and that they can do it service for me case.   Once I get it 100% done I will post here result....

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...