I just came back from an elk hunting trip to Colorado and we took a 2004 4-door 4x4 chevy duramax, f-250 4x4 offroad 4 door powerstroke and a gas powered 96 4x4 extended cab chevy. All automatic trannys. The duramax and it's trailer weighed an extra 1,000 lbs. both had 16 ft trailers only the chevy had a pointed front trailer nose. The gas powered chevy hauled approx. 700# of gear on a flat trailer. To my embarassment the chevy duramax would walk away from the powerstroke and what was even worse is it used atleast 2 gal less fuel at every fill up. The gas powered chevy was about equal with the powerstroke. The chevy boys really rode me hard on this one------------ I would not have believed it but I saw the weigh slips at a truck stop and I filled the fuel tanks. The chevy got 10.8 mpg and the ford much less. Please someone tell me it was because of the pointed trailer on the chevy and maybe the one size oversized tires on the powerstroke.

 

A lot has to do with driving styles of who was driving both trucks, how far you let it wind before you shifted, The speeds you maintained, the weight, all kinds of things. The PSD is just as capable as the Duramax, capable of more in the right configuration of truck.

 

Was the powerstroke a 2004, too? If it was the old 7.3, the chevy probably will outperform it. The 6.0 is supposed to outrun the duramax, though, so if it was a 6.0, I would blame it on the increased wind resistence caused by the trailer it was pulling, whether that was it or not. You might want to check and see if that duramax has any aftermarket parts you are not aware of, too. And finally, powerstrokes typically get worse mileage than the duramax, loaded or unloaded.

 

There are alot of things that will affect this. Things like gear ratios, tire size, trailer loading, wind resistance, etc. My 7.3L wil 3.73 gears and stock 265/75/16 tires will run 17-18mpg empty and with 6000-7000lb behind it I get 13-15mpg. Now there are significant changes from the 94-97 PSD engines compared to the 99-03 PSD trucks. The 94-97 tend to like running in the higher rpm band especially when towing. The 99-03 7.3L trucks like to hang below 2000rpm from a mileage stand point. If I run over 2000rpm I take a 2-3mpg hit. Right now we don't have enough info to make any kind of guess as to why things turned out the way they did.

 

What yr. was the Ford? The 7.3L is a lugging engine, the 6.0L is a performer.

Read C&D's test on the big 3. Chevy,Dodge, and Ford.

If I remember right they all had a 10 or 7k trailor each. The 6.0L Power Stroke in the most heavy model the Harley Davidson, out performed them in every catagory.

 

Motor Trend did the same test with the same results.

 

No motor trends results were that the 2004 f250 out pulled, out handled, and out performed the duramax. Truckin' also had a similar test with the 2004 f250, 2004 GMC ( duramax), and a dodge ram 2500 ( cummins). ford blew out both competitors....the duramax GMC came in dead last. Just proves the ford is better.....

"p****ys dodge, and only little boys wear bowties"

 

I just wonder if test results are reflective of advertisment expenditures in a particular magazine. Ever notice how all manufactures take turns for "Truck of the Year" --- "Car of the Year"at Motortrend mag. and then notice the full page adds from that manufacturer in that issue.--------- I know only that that particular duramax waxed that particular PSD

 

Doubt it, The Superduty was the Harley Davidson edition and they said the styling was poor compaired to the others.

The XLT styling is head and shoulders above the other to let alone the HD edition.

Just look up RWHP and RWTQ numbers. You will understand why the Power stroke is the best.

 

how are you going to says the test results are reflective of advertisement? on the back of Truckin' is a full page picture of a chevrolete silverado...just about every issue is like that....don't get me wrong ford is in there too...but chevy ads deffenitly out number them...so if what u said was true don't you think that chevy ( GMC....duramax) would of came in 1st instead of dead last in the test?

 

Sorry, I get both truckin and motortrend mags so sometimes I get my articles mixed up.

 

WOW did I open a can of worms----------only I call 'em like I see 'em----------- Ask any chevy duramax owner and he will give you a hundred facts to support his position. Remember I am a lifelong ford owner and only reflecting the performance of one particular PSD and one particular Duramax and the power wasn't even close.

 

I know plenty of Duramax owners who don't even try to compete with PSDs, because a lot of us in my hometown also know one guy with a Duramax that did, and that particular test came back the same as the magazines. The 6.0 has no trouble walking away from a Duramax. I haven't seen a race between a 7.3 and a Duramax.

 

You still never stated your year and engine of your PS

 

or your gear ratio compared to the Chev. You also stated you had larger tires (which changes your final gear ratio) This has a huge effect on putting the power to the pavement.