4.6 vs. 5.3- potential buyer

KARNUT · June 3, 2018

It’s funny sometimes when people ask for their experiences on fuel mileage or anything else in regards to their truck it descend to disbelief. I’m retired so I can plan my trips. No matter what I drive I get better than advertised fuel mileage. I generally drive 2 mph over the speed limit. The little things matter. I plan my trips to avoid city rush hours. When I hit an exit ramp l coast till the stop. Little things like that mean a lot for fuel mileage. In comparison my last trip 3200 mile round trip, I changed my driving style a bit. I stayed under 10 mph over and stayed with the fast crowd. Generally running 78 in a 70 and 80 in a 75. The results was a 5 mpg loss, less relaxed trip and no real time gain.

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Gorske · June 3, 2018

I had a 2015 Silverado Double Cab LT All-star 4x4 with the 4.3 I got a really good deal on it and it was a very nice truck and honestly if you didn't know it was a 4.3 you couldn't really tell to the average truck owner. I think it is a great option for someone who wants a truck and does some light hauling and towing. Performance wise that truck stock ran 16.19 in the 1/4 and with e85 and a tune I ran a 15.14 @ 89mph with the 3.42 gears with a power boost of 320hp and 350tq on e85 tuned. My 2017 Silverado Double Cab LT Z71 with a 5.3 and 3.42 gears so same truck just a 5.3 versus the 2015 with a 4.3 stock ran a 15.21 @ 89mph in the 1/4. You can see with a very small investment you can get close to equal performance of the 5.3 out of the 4.3 It comes down to the deal you are getting, what your looking for, and in the end what you will be happy with. Yes like many have said resale wise you will take a hit having the truck with the 4.3 but it is a good motor and I know many people who are happy with their 4.3 trucks. MPG wise on 93 with AFM disabled my 4.3 got 18city/24highway and my 5.3 gets 18city/22highway.

Here are my times from my 2015 with the 4.3

http://www.dragtimes.com/Chevrolet-CK1500-Truck-Timeslip-27884.html

Tuned acceleration videos as well.

Colossus · June 3, 2018

yeah, but it's still just a 6 cylinder. Not as fun and not as great of sounding, and to many of us, that matters in a truck. But for those to whom it does not matter, more power to them!

Gorske · June 3, 2018

5 minutes ago, Colossus said:

yeah, but it's still just a 6 cylinder. Not as fun and not as great of sounding, and to many of us, that matters in a truck. But for those to whom it does not matter, more power to them!

There was a reason I traded in the 4.3 for the 5.3 ;) That being said there is some potential with that 4.3. Would love to see someone put a turbo or ProCharger on one.

bamafan76 · June 3, 2018

Well I appreciate everyone's response so far, I still haven't made a decision. I lost out on some of the great incentives through May, so now I'm not sure what I'll do. I don't know when the next big incentives will be offered either as I'm not that in on GM ways.

Doublebase · June 4, 2018

2 hours ago, bamafan76 said:

Well I appreciate everyone's response so far, I still haven't made a decision. I lost out on some of the great incentives through May, so now I'm not sure what I'll do. I don't know when the next big incentives will be offered either as I'm not that in on GM ways.

I'm sure they'll be more incentives, the 2019's are coming out, they'll be trying hard to get the 2018's off their lots. Surprised the incentives still aren't going on, I got my 2018 in April and the incentives were unbelievable. Almost $15,000 off sticker price (and that's without being eligible for all the incentives).

Colossus · June 4, 2018

Sometimes you'll see some decent sales come July.

Enough · June 4, 2018

bamafan, since everyone is throwing numbers at you why not share mine ? My truck is basically the same as Grumpy Bear's, except mine has the 5.3 with 3.42 gears vs. his 4.6, and is one year newer than his. Stock truck including the steel wheels and 17 inch Bridgestone tires.

I commute 58 miles round trip every day and run at speeds to keep up with the rest of the idiots on the road plus a lot of stop and go for 40 % of the commute. I also use my truck on weekends for whatever which sometimes includes towing 2,000 # of boat , motor, and trailer. I do get stupid with the skinny pedal from time to time but not too often. The fastest I've been in it is 82 MPH passing on a 2 lane road.

The Onstar app says I have made hard stops and hard accelerations. These things are necessary in order to keep from getting killed by the texters and coffee drinkers on the highway around here so I don't deny it. In short, I just drive the damn thing !

At 29,000 miles my lifetime fuel average is 21.4 MPG. Real world numbers !!

3.08 gears may have netted me 2-3 MPG more but I am happy with what I get now.

Grumpy Bear has and continues to a lot to show us all what kind of fuel mileage is possible with a 4.6. I am fascinated by what he does and respect the time and effort he takes to document his experiences. It's amazing that pushing that big flat Silverado nose through the air can be done with so little fuel. I'm thinking gap seals between the cab and bed, slick up the nose a little, and smaller mirrors ( the stock ones suck anyway as far as visibility goes ) and things could get really interesting.

Of course he could go really deep by dropping the whole truck another couple of inches and building a seal pan under the entire truck to smooth out and direct the air flow under the bottom of the truck, but I believe he is proving what can be done with a reasonable amount of effort.

Colossus · June 4, 2018

50 minutes ago, Enough said:

The fastest I've been in it is 82 MPH passing on a 2 lane road.

That's it!?

jaxcam02 · June 4, 2018

8 hours ago, Colossus said:

That's it!?

Lol the first thing I did when I bought my truck last week was see where the governor was. Unfortunately I found out 99 or 100 was the limit. It got there surprisingly fast too considering the size of the double cab.

Colossus · June 5, 2018

Yeah <grin> I remember when I got a new 07 Sierra.. on the way home i hit the 98 MPH governor as well not intentionally either. And it was going up a hill on the highway as well. I was a bit surprised when I looked down at the speedo. It was quite the smooth riding truck compared to my 99 Silverado. Even though the 99 had more comfortable seats. (cloth)

Donstar · June 5, 2018

The main reason I prefer the 4.3 is that for the type of driving I do, it has ample power and inherently better fuel mileage of the current gm options. If you drive conservatively, the 5.3 can meet or beat the mpg of the 4.3. I feel that with the 4.3 I don't need to drive like an "old man" ;-) to save fuel!