First trip with new Duramax
After buying my new 2013 Silverado, 6.6l Duramax, CC, standard bed last November and waiting all winter to hook it up to my camper we finally got to take a pretty good trip, 6 days from central Indiana, through Kentucky into the Smoky Mountains around Norris Lake and back. Something like 900 miles round trip.
First of all, I’m not towing a huge amount of weight compared to what some other folks tow. Fully loaded our camper is just under 6,000 lbs. and roughly 30’ from bumper to tongue. So in reality, after all was said and done, I don’t think our current camper was much of a test for the truck.
From the time we left central Indiana the truck was in tow/haul mode, exhaust brake enabled, and cruise control set at 65 mph. Unless we were pulling off the interstate or passing slower vehicles my foot never touched the brake or accelerator. From Indiana all the way through Kentucky, cruising through moderate inclines in 6thgear at 65 MPH, the RPMs stayed at 1,600.
Going across the mountain at Jellico, Tennessee on I75 (up and down), which I think is a 4% grade roughly 5 miles long each way, again…my foot never touched the brake or accelerator. Going up I had the cruise set at 65 mph. The truck ran in 5th gear, never dropped below 64 MPH, and RPMs never got above 1,800. At the top I set the cruise at 60. Going down the truck never accelerated past 62 MPH (then only briefly) and again the RPMs never got above 1,800.
To put it mildly, the cruise, tow/haul, and exhaust brake worked flawlessly.
We stopped for 2 days at General Burnside Island State Park in Kentucky. I hand calculated my MPG there and it was 12.63 MPG. We left there and spent 3 days at Big Ridge State Park north east of Knoxville. I checked the MPG again (the inclines are more drastic on that leg of the trip) and it was 12.0. Coming back we drove straight through and we got 12.59 MPG. Just as a side note, I didn't use any kind of fuel additive.
I debated myself for over a year trying to decide if I was going to buy a diesel for my new TV. I can say now, without any equivocation, I would never go back to a gasser as a tow vehicle. At the end of the trip I wasn’t wore out (which is the most important thing) and I drove 99% of the way with one hand. This thing is so smooth and I never once felt like it didn’t have enough power. And this truck isn’t even close to being broke in…right now it has 7,500 miles on it.
So…I’m one happy camper.
First of all, I’m not towing a huge amount of weight compared to what some other folks tow. Fully loaded our camper is just under 6,000 lbs. and roughly 30’ from bumper to tongue. So in reality, after all was said and done, I don’t think our current camper was much of a test for the truck.
From the time we left central Indiana the truck was in tow/haul mode, exhaust brake enabled, and cruise control set at 65 mph. Unless we were pulling off the interstate or passing slower vehicles my foot never touched the brake or accelerator. From Indiana all the way through Kentucky, cruising through moderate inclines in 6thgear at 65 MPH, the RPMs stayed at 1,600.
Going across the mountain at Jellico, Tennessee on I75 (up and down), which I think is a 4% grade roughly 5 miles long each way, again…my foot never touched the brake or accelerator. Going up I had the cruise set at 65 mph. The truck ran in 5th gear, never dropped below 64 MPH, and RPMs never got above 1,800. At the top I set the cruise at 60. Going down the truck never accelerated past 62 MPH (then only briefly) and again the RPMs never got above 1,800.
To put it mildly, the cruise, tow/haul, and exhaust brake worked flawlessly.
We stopped for 2 days at General Burnside Island State Park in Kentucky. I hand calculated my MPG there and it was 12.63 MPG. We left there and spent 3 days at Big Ridge State Park north east of Knoxville. I checked the MPG again (the inclines are more drastic on that leg of the trip) and it was 12.0. Coming back we drove straight through and we got 12.59 MPG. Just as a side note, I didn't use any kind of fuel additive.
I debated myself for over a year trying to decide if I was going to buy a diesel for my new TV. I can say now, without any equivocation, I would never go back to a gasser as a tow vehicle. At the end of the trip I wasn’t wore out (which is the most important thing) and I drove 99% of the way with one hand. This thing is so smooth and I never once felt like it didn’t have enough power. And this truck isn’t even close to being broke in…right now it has 7,500 miles on it.
So…I’m one happy camper.
