Is 6.2 worth $3700 extra?

SS502 · December 21, 2018

3 hours ago, Denali_Joe said:

This time around for me the 6.2 wasn't worth it. Last 8 years I had a Blackbear tuned 6.2 in a Sierra Denali and a Yukon Denali. Got a 16 All Terrain now. August 2019 my 5.3 will be getting the tune when my warranty is gone, can't wait, 4 banger mode SUCKS!!! Sure, I miss the power when I want to step on it, but as a guy that just hauled an ATV or stuff for around the house, I don't miss it that much, I sure as hell don't miss it at the pump. Quite frankly I miss the AWD more than anything. Premium seems to be close to 30% more, I'm not a millionaire, trying to get there, trying to build a business and redo a house. Hopefully in a few years if things go good I can buy that CTS-V and get that 6.2 again...e39 M5 is going to be hard to pass over for that CTS-V, ain't always about all the speed. 6.2 is bad ass, if your finances allow don't hesitate!!!!

Well said Joe...life is short so do what best works for your smiles!

truckguy82 · December 21, 2018

6 hours ago, Denali_Joe said:

This time around for me the 6.2 wasn't worth it. Last 8 years I had a Blackbear tuned 6.2 in a Sierra Denali and a Yukon Denali. Got a 16 All Terrain now. August 2019 my 5.3 will be getting the tune when my warranty is gone, can't wait, 4 banger mode SUCKS!!! Sure, I miss the power when I want to step on it, but as a guy that just hauled an ATV or stuff for around the house, I don't miss it that much, I sure as hell don't miss it at the pump. Quite frankly I miss the AWD more than anything. Premium seems to be close to 30% more, I'm not a millionaire, trying to get there, trying to build a business and redo a house. Hopefully in a few years if things go good I can buy that CTS-V and get that 6.2 again...e39 M5 is going to be hard to pass over for that CTS-V, ain't always about all the speed. 6.2 is bad ass, if your finances allow don't hesitate!!!!

You don’t have auto-4wd in your new truck?

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

This time around for me the 6.2 wasn't worth it. Last 8 years I had a Blackbear tuned 6.2 in a Sierra Denali and a Yukon Denali. Got a 16 All Terrain now. August 2019 my 5.3 will be getting the tune when my warranty is gone, can't wait, 4 banger mode SUCKS!!! Sure, I miss the power when I want to step on it, but as a guy that just hauled an ATV or stuff for around the house, I don't miss it that much, I sure as hell don't miss it at the pump. Quite frankly I miss the AWD more than anything. Premium seems to be close to 30% more, I'm not a millionaire, trying to get there, trying to build a business and redo a house. Hopefully in a few years if things go good I can buy that CTS-V and get that 6.2 again...e39 M5 is going to be hard to pass over for that CTS-V, ain't always about all the speed. 6.2 is bad ass, if your finances allow don't hesitate!!!!

The Yukon Denali definitely eats more fuel than the 6.2 pickup. I don’t race mine but do enjoy having the 6.2 pushing along the added 100lb plus(each) wheels and tires as well as more drag from the lift too. Mine has only a SuperChips tuned so I can remove and add back on for warranty purposes as well as change tire size etc. Texas doesn’t tax the crap out of “We The People” in order to build larger government which is why you’ll find super for 2.35 in some places. Let’s not forget, my 6.2 when stock easily gave me 25 mpg plus but then came the mods and now 17-19 which my stock 2014 5.3 LTZ Z71 only gave me approx 15-16 mpg. The 6.2 has come a long way and adding $10 at the pump won’t break anyone especially being a $60K truck.

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

Back in 2016, I had a wild hair and decided to go look at the Denali XL, the XL due to its added cargo capacity. So, the owner of the dealership met with me and graciously let me test drive anything I wanted. I drove off with a 2WD loaded out 16 XL SLT. Took it fully loaded, 5 people and cargo up to California. I decided to do an mpg test, with the Yukon XL 5.3 I got 24-26 mpg’s, that’s amazing. My Escalades wouldn’t have touched that and even with a 36 gallon gas tank you need all the mpg’s as possible especially while driving through a desert. Even though it’s our official road trip vehicle my wife walks past her very sweet daily driver, jumps into the Yukon SLT and drives away.

Denali_Joe · December 21, 2018

1 hour ago, truckguy82 said:

You don’t have auto-4wd in your new truck?

I do but it doesn't feel the same as the full time AWD in the last 2 trucks, not as smooth especially low speed turning. New tires go on today so we'll see how that resolves the traction issues, especially in wet. Guess I just got used to and liked the AWD. I seem to get 17-18 on the highway no matter which of the last 3 vehicles I had. If premium wasn't about 30% more where I live I would have gotten a 6.2, no questions asked. I'm set to get rid of my company car and start driving my own so fuel cost became a concern (I also wanted to get as low of miles as possible for my budget and the 6.2 just wasn't there this time around)

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

I do but it doesn't feel the same as the full time AWD in the last 2 trucks, not as smooth especially low speed turning. New tires go on today so we'll see how that resolves the traction issues, especially in wet. Guess I just got used to and liked the AWD. I seem to get 17-18 on the highway no matter which of the last 3 vehicles I had. If premium wasn't about 30% more where I live I would have gotten a 6.2, no questions asked. I'm set to get rid of my company car and start driving my own so fuel cost became a concern (I also wanted to get as low of miles as possible for my budget and the 6.2 just wasn't there this time around)

My Escalades were AWD and ate my tires up, could’ve had something to do with my driving but AWD is very well known to eat up tires. If you’ve got good tires you won’t need AWD even in a storm. I’ve got the Michelin LTX premier performance on our 2WD Yukon XL and they’ve been excellent tires especially noticed on road trips during sometimes heavy rain. Only draw back to stickier tires is they’ll wear faster hence the reason why AT tires lose grip halfway tread. Most tire companies like Michelin and a few others put a lot of thought into traction and with great traction comes smoother rides especially when P rated.

Denali_Joe · December 21, 2018

13 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

My Escalades were AWD and ate my tires up, could’ve had something to do with my driving but AWD is very well known to eat up tires. If you’ve got good tires you won’t need AWD even in a storm. I’ve got the Michelin LTX premier performance on our 2WD Yukon XL and they’ve been excellent tires especially noticed on road trips during sometimes heavy rain. Only draw back to stickier tires is they’ll wear faster hence the reason why AT tires lose grip halfway tread. Most tire companies like Michelin and a few others put a lot of thought into traction and with great traction comes smoother rides especially when P rated.

With the 6.2 and AWD you could be very liberal with the skinny pedal and not have the rear tires wear out so fast! I had stock goodyears and then Cooper Xeon LTZ on my Sierra and on my Yukon I had the Bridgestones, KO2's, & AT3's. AWD was great in the snow, ice, rain, and the fire/dirt roads for hunting. I rotated every oil change, never had issues with tire wear, your leadfoot is heavier than mine! I'm done derailing the thread. 6.2 is awesome!!!

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

With the 6.2 and AWD you could be very liberal with the skinny pedal and not have the rear tires wear out so fast! I had stock goodyears and then Cooper Xeon LTZ on my Sierra and on my Yukon I had the Bridgestones, KO2's, & AT3's. AWD was great in the snow, ice, rain, and the fire/dirt roads for hunting. I rotated every oil change, never had issues with tire wear, your leadfoot is heavier than mine! I'm done derailing the thread. 6.2 is awesome!!!

22’s and low profiles on mine and yes ate them up. Bought my wife a couple AWD T6 Volvo XC70’s and same thing happened to them.

BTW, AWD Escalades do not have 4x4 options, not sure about Denali but I’d think same. Maybe you’re talking about 4x4 cause you can look into it on the net, AWD’s are notoriously known to chew up tires. Good luck and hope everyone gets what they want for Christmas lol

truckguy82 · December 21, 2018

2 hours ago, Denali_Joe said:

I do but it doesn't feel the same as the full time AWD in the last 2 trucks, not as smooth especially low speed turning. New tires go on today so we'll see how that resolves the traction issues, especially in wet. Guess I just got used to and liked the AWD. I seem to get 17-18 on the highway no matter which of the last 3 vehicles I had. If premium wasn't about 30% more where I live I would have gotten a 6.2, no questions asked. I'm set to get rid of my company car and start driving my own so fuel cost became a concern (I also wanted to get as low of miles as possible for my budget and the 6.2 just wasn't there this time around)

I’ve driven tons of awd vehicles, including the denali, there is no difference in steering of low speed turning between them and ‘14+ auto4wd. Zip zatta none.

The 4x4 system you have now is vastly supperior to that denali awd. You can select awd anytime you want in your new truck.

If you’re getting 17-18mpg highway on your k2 v8, you are the only person in the forum that gets that without mods or something wrong with the truck.

It’s all in your head.

Just trying to make you feel better about your new truck. Denali AWD was just marketing because so many yuppies buy the suv’s and want “awd”

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

I’ve driven tons of awd vehicles, including the denali, there is no difference in steering of low speed turning between them and ‘14+ auto4wd. Zip zatta none.

The 4x4 system you have now is vastly supperior to that denali awd. You can select awd anytime you want in your new truck.

If you’re getting 17-18mpg highway on your k2 v8, you are the only person in the forum that gets that without mods or something wrong with the truck.

It’s all in your head.

Just trying to make you feel better about your new truck. Denali AWD was just marketing because so many yuppies buy the suv’s and want “awd”

Ummmm, I’m not a yuppie lol. The difference I felt between the two was the 4x4 auto had a clank of sorts when engaging and the AWD’s didn’t. Personally, for myself I prefer the 4x4 to the AWD, lot more you can do with having a 4x4 to a AWD and you won’t be chewing up tires too. The AWD can be driven at any speed but the 4x4 cannot, 4x4 I believe is now limited to 65 max speed before disengaging. My wife aside of the 2wd Yukon xl road trip vehicle only gets AWD to drive, cuts through the remembering to engage and disengage.

Denali_Joe · December 21, 2018

32 minutes ago, truckguy82 said:

I’ve driven tons of awd vehicles, including the denali, there is no difference in steering of low speed turning between them and ‘14+ auto4wd. Zip zatta none.

The 4x4 system you have now is vastly supperior to that denali awd. You can select awd anytime you want in your new truck.

If you’re getting 17-18mpg highway on your k2 v8, you are the only person in the forum that gets that without mods or something wrong with the truck.

It’s all in your head.

Just trying to make you feel better about your new truck. Denali AWD was just marketing because so many yuppies buy the suv’s and want “awd”

I go 75mph+ on the interstate, don't have a unicorn that gets 30mpg like some of these posts on mountain roads.

My inferior old AWD never got me stuck, I just wish that it still was an option. It's actually in my hands and feet where I feel the difference and my head process it! It's still an AWESOME truck!!! We all like pics, here is my old yuppie mobile before the black grill, good think my kid is learning to play hockey & soccer!! 6.2!!! Happy Holidays everyone, safe travels in your trucks regardless of power train!!!

truckguy82 · December 21, 2018

20 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

Ummmm, I’m not a yuppie lol. The difference I felt between the two was the 4x4 auto had a clank of sorts when engaging and the AWD’s didn’t. Personally, for myself I prefer the 4x4 to the AWD, lot more you can do with having a 4x4 to a AWD and you won’t be chewing up tires too. The AWD can be driven at any speed but the 4x4 cannot, 4x4 I believe is now limited to 65 max speed before disengaging. My wife aside of the 2wd Yukon xl road trip vehicle only gets AWD to drive, cuts through the remembering to engage and disengage.

I didn’t say all the buyers were yuppies.

There is no clank, and there is no max speed.

This is really fustrating this has to be explained so many times. If you consider auto4wd to be a simple 4x4 system you are very much misinformed.

Our k2xx systems are superior to the denali system in every way possible.

They are stronger

They get better traction by design (yes in auto4wd you will get slightly better traction than denali awd)

They are more flexible in usage.

They get better gas mileage.

There is literally nothing the denali awd system does that is superior to our trucks other than a misconception of the hardware and how the systems function. This is what I meant by yuppies. They don’t know or care how it works, they just like the awd label. It’s just a label!

truckguy82 · December 21, 2018

12 minutes ago, Denali_Joe said:

I go 75mph+ on the interstate, don't have a unicorn that gets 30mpg like some of these posts on mountain roads.

My inferior old AWD never got me stuck, I just wish that it still was an option. It's actually in my hands and feet where I feel the difference and my head process it! It's still an AWESOME truck!!! We all like pics, here is my old yuppie mobile before the black grill, good think my kid is learning to play hockey & soccer!! 6.2!!!

Yeah I drive 80+ mph on interstates.

17-18mpg is still low.

Nobody is talking about 30mpg unicorns, they don’t exist. I’m talking about 25mpg at 65mph, 22mpg at 75mph, and about 19mpg at 85mph.

That is literally what everybody with a stock truck without issue gets on the highway with cruise control on. You now have a DI engine compared to your old port injection. You also can select 2wd unlike the crappy denali system. You don’t get the same fuel mileage unless you have a problem with your new truck.

TXGREEK · December 21, 2018

I didn’t say all the buyers were yuppies.

There is no clank, and there is no max speed.

This is really fustrating this has to be explained so many times. If you consider auto4wd to be a simple 4x4 system you are very much misinformed.

Our k2xx systems are superior to the denali system in every way possible.

They are stronger
They get better traction by design (yes in auto4wd you will get slightly better traction than denali awd)
They are more flexible in usage.
They get better gas mileage.

There is literally nothing the denali awd system does that is superior to our trucks other than a misconception of the hardware and how the systems function. This is what I meant by yuppies. They don’t know or care how it works, they just like the awd label. It’s just a label!

I’m old school 4x4 enthusiast with an enormous amount of experience in all of these we’ve mentioned. No need to attempt to explain over and over. I bought my in-laws an new SLT 4x4 and they love it too but a vehicle in constant 4x4 is always far more superior in unexpected road conditions hence the reason off-road racing doesn’t have a 4x4 on and off switch, just high and low like my land cruisers always had and they were the best off-road vehicles Period.

truckguy82 · December 21, 2018

21 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

I’m old school 4x4 enthusiast with an enormous amount of experience in all of these we’ve mentioned. No need to attempt to explain over and over. I bought my in-laws an new SLT 4x4 and they love it too but a vehicle in constant 4x4 is always far more superior in unexpected road conditions hence the reason off-road racing doesn’t have a 4x4 on and off switch, just high and low like my land cruisers always had and they were the best off-road vehicles Period.

Incorrect lol

Auto4wd is the same exact thing as AWD!!!!!!

go research the fundamentals of an awd system and our auto4wd system and get back to me.

Actually I’ll explain it.

The denali awd system - front diff is open, center diff is viscious coupling, rear diff is a g80 locker

K2xx truck system in auto4wd setting - front diff open, center diff is clutch pack (nearly identical in function to a vicious coupling just does it a different way), rear diff is g80 locker.

The only difference in function between the two systems = On the Denali, you can not chose 2wd, and you cannot lock the front and rear driveshafts together (also known as 4wd).

The new auto4 sytem also has a wider range of torque split between the front and rear. Offering anywhere from 5% to 50% torque to the front. The denali had a max of 40% to the front.

K2xx 4wd system with auto4 = there is absolutely nothing that the denali awd system does a better job at, nothing! Anybody who prefers the denali awd just does not understand how they work.