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We Drive The 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel Ahead Of Rival 2019 Silverado Diesel
General Motors and Chevrolet haven’t disclosed details on the upcoming 2019 Silverado 1500 Diesel, but rival Ford gave our sister publication Ford Authority some wheel time with its own half-ton diesel pickup.
What did we learn from our time with the 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel? A lot, and we decided to call the pickup a modern-day successor to the F-250 of yore. The 3.0-liter Power Stroke V6 diesel engine produces 250 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque—more power and 10 units of twist fewer than the 1998 F-250’s 7.3-liter Power Stroke V8 engine.
We found the truck to operate quietly and the rig provided a comfy place to handle whatever work was thrown at us. That included towing a 5,500-pound horse trailer.
On the fuel economy front, we averaged 13 mpg, which painted a very different picture from our hypermiling achievements. The loop included 23 miles of varied road stretches with the 5,500 pounds sitting behind the F-150 Diesel.
With those figures in front of us, it will be Chevrolet’s turn to perhaps crank things up a bit. The 2019 Silverado 1500 Diesel will arrive with a 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel engine. We don’t have power or torque figures, but GM product chief, Mark Reuss, previously said he’s confident the Silverado will one-up its rivals.
Right now, the F-150 Diesel is a good pickup. We’ll have to wait and see if Chevrolet can best it.
