Jump to content

The Inevitable Comparison: GM 6.6 vs. Ford 7.3

C/K Man

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 120
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Posted Images

magnum74 Enthusiast

magnum74

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, kenny_r said:

Yea I mean over 3 minutes faster...pretty insane for not having that much more power

The 10-speed is a must for the 6.6 to be performance competitive. I expect the Ram 6.4 8-speed to beat the 6.6, not as dominant as the 7.3, but the extra gears on the gas engines make them work better. It is what it is. The fact that the 7.3 is achieving 15mpg in real testing makes it the one to beat although it is an extra cost option. I'd like to see the F350 6.2 10-speed compared to the the 6.6. I bet it beats it. 

 

I don't tow 16K up the Ike but it's a pure torture test that exposes strength and weakness. I'm sure the added gears are not far off from GM but this was a sound thumping. 

artie2908 Enthusiast

artie2908

Posted
Posted

I believe the 7.3 has been getting 15mpg with the 3.55 rear end.   In the mid 14's with the 4.30's.  On the Ike test that 7.3 had the 4.30 rear vs 3.73 for GM.   Sure the 10 speed helped  greatly but the Ford also had a distinct advantage in rear gears.   Overall interesting to watch but in the real world who is towing that much weight up a grade like that.   I bought mine to tow 7,000 lbs and the 6.6 gas will be just fine. 

 

C/K Man Enthusiast

C/K Man

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I agree, most of the 7.3L's advantage is attributable to the 10 speed transmission and 4:30 gears.  Which leads to the question how would the L8T be with a 10 speed transmission and similar gears.  

2016HD Enthusiast

2016HD

Posted
Posted

Sorry I dont believe that the 10 speed will make that much of a difference?  4.30 vs 3.73 is more the deal maker. However a 3 min change? Something is not quite right there?  Sorry but the HD diesels were just compared and the Ford has 140ftbls more than the Dmax and Barely bested the Gm in time. A minute difference i believe.  I think Mr truck Or should i say mr Ford needs to stop doing the driving!  The 7.3 isnt putting out that much more power. Either traffic or other issues were involved.   Just my thoughts.   But lets see how the durability is? Almost a copy of an LS engine as well. But Hey thats a compliment from Ford. LOL.   Just my thoughts

 

kenny_r Enthusiast

kenny_r

Posted
Posted

I remember them testing the ford 6.2 hauling 12k and it did in like 8 minutes. Of course it broke the first test, but the second run hauled ass. So a lil longer for 7.3L, not much. more gears, 4.30 ratio, bit more power and 4K extra pounds, I think they kept it a clean run.

 

Colossus Senior Enthusiast

Colossus

Posted
Posted

well I admit it.  I am getting old.  All this time I was thinking this topic was regarding some brand new diesel engine that Ford had come out with vs the latest Duramax.  ::face palm:: 
:idiot:

magnum74 Enthusiast

magnum74

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, artie2908 said:

I believe the 7.3 has been getting 15mpg with the 3.55 rear end.   In the mid 14's with the 4.30's.  On the Ike test that 7.3 had the 4.30 rear vs 3.73 for GM.   Sure the 10 speed helped  greatly but the Ford also had a distinct advantage in rear gears.   Overall interesting to watch but in the real world who is towing that much weight up a grade like that.   I bought mine to tow 7,000 lbs and the 6.6 gas will be just fine. 

 

Not ragging on your choice, either. The 6.6 is a nice upgrade over the 6.0's I'm used to driving and I'm still fine driving mine today. In the end, it needs to be reliable before winning a race. 

artie2908 Enthusiast

artie2908

Posted
Posted

agreed.   One of the main reasons I bought a new  6.6 gasser.  Reliability.    I have a 2011 Crew Cab 4x4 LML that I used to pull a 34 ft 5th wheel that weighed 11,500 lbs .   Pulled it just fine.  The only problem I ever had was with the emissions.  I'd be on long trip and I'd get a CEL come on.   A bad nitrogen sensor.   That's great... now what.  It will start going into a limp mode in 1,000 miles and I'm 1,300 miles from home.   I've gone through 3 nitrogen sensors, one DEF tank,  EGR code has flashed a few times but thankfully cleared.  It's all been warranty but that's expensive stuff.   Now add the potential for the CP4 problems and a lighter bumper pull trailer (7,000 lbs) --- a new gasser was the choice.    I did drive the 7.3 before deciding on a 6.6.   Ford was nice but I think power seemed very similar.  I thought the 6.6 shifted a lot smoother and felt more refined.  I would have been happy with either one.   JMHO

diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

I think this towing up Eisenhower is foder for the maases. If it impresses you, great !

Me, not so much.

They use the time it takes to pull this grade as a measuring stick. Not applicable in the real world IMO.

 

Most people buy a truck to haul things or tow a trailer. Whether it be a TT or a trailer for work or farm.

They will never see the gauntlet. Most will not race their trucks either.

As artie2908 said - In the end, it needs to be reliable before winning a race.

 

I live in Colotado and have pulled the gauntlet in many different vehiles. Cars, trucks, motor homes. Towing and not towing.

I have been the one getting passed and the one passing.

In the end, getting to your destination trouble free is the goal IMO. So if it takes a few minutes longer, so what.

 

If you drink the Kool - aid of this test what are the benefits.

 

:)

 

 

FirstAscent Enthusiast

FirstAscent

Posted
Posted

They will never see the gauntlet. Most will not race their trucks either.

I live my life 1/4 gauntlet at a time. Haha

Yeah I will 99.9% never tow the gauntlet or even drive through it, nor will I be towing that much. These tests wouldn’t sway my decision one way or another but I still enjoy watching them for comparison even though it’s not a realistic scenario for most of us.

I’m happy with my choice to go with the 6.6 duramax.
artie2908 Enthusiast

artie2908

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, FirstAscent said:


I live my life 1/4 gauntlet at a time. Haha

Yeah I will 99.9% never tow the gauntlet or even drive through it, nor will I be towing that much. These tests wouldn’t sway my decision one way or another but I still enjoy watching them for comparison even though it’s not a realistic scenario for most of us.

I’m happy with my choice to go with the 6.6 duramax.

in the end..... that's all that matters.  It's your truck and it only has to make you happy.   ok- maybe the wife too. LOL

Ray Pickle Enthusiast

Ray Pickle

Posted
Posted

Comparing TFL times up the Ike gauntlet 7.3 vs. 6.6 is not about the engines at all but about transmission tuning choices. The 7.3 ran much closer to its horsepower peak the majority of the run staying between 4200 and 5k for almost the entire run. GM allowed truck to follow more of an economy strategy thus having engine turn between 2600 and 4k way too much of run. Clearly no one with any towing experience would ever so that.  I get why they do it for uniformity in testing but it does not offer any insight into real world performance.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Aimatdeer
      Ac not keeping up

      By Aimatdeer · Posted

      Monday looks like a good day for the dealer to test an ac issue. Hopefully it all turns out good.
    • CamGTP
      Gas Prices

      By CamGTP · Posted

      Paid $2.72 for E85 today.
    • Atlas
      Gas Prices

      By Atlas · Posted

      Welcome back! No, it definitely doesn't pass the sniff test. Even "ceasefire" needs an alternative definition these days.    $5.29 at Kroger today
    • bluev8
      Intermittent no-code issues on 2022.5+ V8 trucks — what did the shop fail to capture?

      By bluev8 · Posted

      That makes sense, and I think you are describing the real product problem. Capturing data is the easy part. If the owner or technician has to manually dig through five minutes of millisecond-level logs, the product has already failed. The device would be at the ECM harness, not at the OBD port, so I agree that data retrieval and event marking need to be thought through carefully. The way I am thinking about the architecture is: The recorder itself should not depend on a phone, app, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cloud connection to capture the event. It should always keep a local rolling buffer and lock the event locally. A button, phone app, or small cabin device would only act as an event marker. If the driver feels a stumble and presses the button 10–30 seconds later, the pre-buffer has to already contain the useful data. For data retrieval, the practical options would be a sealed service USB lead, Wi-Fi download, or a phone/cabin companion device. I would not expect the owner to remove the ECM-side module or work with raw files directly. The cloud or AI side would be for interpretation, not for capturing the event. The truck may have no connection when the issue happens, so the evidence has to be saved locally first. After that, cloud processing could help decode the data, compare it against baselines, and generate a readable report. For the first version, I would keep the automatic triggers conservative and objective: driver event marker bus-off error passive voltage drop / brownout device reset FIFO or queue overflow a normally periodic message disappearing side-to-side communication mismatch, if the topology supports that For “learning normal,” I agree with your point, but I would not want to overclaim it as automatic root-cause diagnosis at first. A realistic first step would be learned baseline comparison for that specific vehicle and operating condition. For example, a value would only be compared against similar conditions: RPM range load / MAP throttle position gear / vehicle speed coolant and oil temperature battery voltage AFM/DFM state, if decoded and validated Then the report could flag things like: this periodic message disappeared compared with its normal timing this value deviated from this vehicle’s normal range under similar conditions the same abnormal pattern repeated after the same type of event the anomaly occurred together with voltage, oil-pressure, misfire, or communication changes But I would still call that “abnormal pattern detected,” not “replace this part,” unless there is enough validated repair data behind it. So the intended product would not be “here is a huge log.” It would need to be an event package: what triggered the capture how much pre/post data was preserved what changed before and after the event whether the device itself reset, overflowed, or saw a bus error selected graphs around the event raw data only as supporting evidence From your perspective, what would make this kind of report useful instead of just another datalog? For example: What are the top 5 parameters or events you would want highlighted first? Would you trust a learned baseline for that specific vehicle, or would you prefer fixed thresholds? How much false-positive flagging would be acceptable before you stopped looking at the reports? What would a one-page report need to show for an independent shop to take it seriously? For misfire, AFM/DFM, oil pressure, or U-code complaints, what would you want the tool to flag automatically?
    • scotthvac.net
      2022-24 halogen - led grille swap

      By scotthvac.net · Posted

      2024 Silverado 2500 HD LTZ grille no camera Parts list   84603331 84913656 84913657 84913654 84913655 84911567 84911568 85646092 85646093 85797921 85797922   11570637  x10-15   grille/bumper bolts 11546500  x10      grille clips 11571006  x10      push/retainer clips 11546454  x6       nut retainers 11611609  x6       M5 bolts 11610700  x6       molding/trim retainers

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...