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GM Delays Inline-Six Diesel For Trucks Until 2020MY
Chevrolet and GMC will start taking orders for the diesel soon, though.
General Motors will delay offering the 3.0-liter diesel inline six in the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, according to a memo from GM to dealers that Automotive News obtained. The note indicated that EPA emissions certification was taking longer than the company expected, resulting in the extended wait for the engine to come to market.
"Yes, we are shifting the 3.0L Diesel from a late 2019MY to a 2020MY as emissions testing is taking longer than expected," Chevrolet representative Monte Doran told Motor1.com. "However, we did not attribute to a single entity, as the truth is this is a collaborative effort between GM and several government entities. We will make the 2020MY Duramax available for dealers orders soon, and expect to deliver the first trucks to customers soon after emissions testing is complete."
Chevrolet initially announced that the 3.0-liter turbodiesel would be available on the 2019 Silverado "in early 2019" with a 10-speed automatic and stop-start. The company never announced official specs for the powerplant, but GM's Mark Reuss said he was "really confident that we'll have the best performing diesel in the segment."
A leak in 2018 from GM's Canadian dealer website indicated that the engine in the GMC Sierra 1500 would make 282 horsepower (210 kilowatts) and 450 pound-feet (610 Newton-meters) of torque. Judging by other engines available in the pickups, it would have the same output in the Silverado 1500. However, EPA certification might have required GM's engineers to revise the tuning for the road-going version of powerplant to have a different output.
GM's statement also indicated that the 2020 Silverado and Sierra were getting available adaptive cruise control, and the 5.3-liter V8 would get the 10-speed automatic gearbox.
The Silverado is available with quite an array of engines, even without the diesel's availability. The base engine is a 4.3-liter V6 with 285 hp (213 kW) and 305 lb-ft (414 Nm), and the 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder packs 310 hp (231 kW) and 348 lb-ft (472 Nm). The V8 options include a 5.3-liter offering with 355 hp (265 kW) and 383 lb-ft (519 Nm) or a 6.2-liter with 420 hp (313 kW) and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm).
