Agreed, turbos are nice for power but add complexity. They may be rare, but I have a buddy who was stranded for a week in Flagstaff, AZ because of DEF issues with a Silverado Duramax. I'm likely to end up with another RAM diesel. But, there's something so appealing about seeing a pushrod V8 sitting under the hood and actually being able to see the ground underneath.
In the TFL towing tests, the 7.3 got 2.2mpg going up the Ike. The diesels didn't do much better (all were towing 16K lbs). But they used the computer calculated mileage so take those numbers with a grain of salt. The big advantage to the diesels was in the downhill run. Far less touches of the brakes in the diesel trucks.
