Higher HP in full sized trucks with the 5.3

[Jkust]

Hey all, my wife's Rainier is in the shop getting a whole list of warranty work performed. As a loaner they gave her a 2013 Yukon SLT. It makes my 9-7 and her Rainier feel like bootleg suv's by comparison. She called me on the way home and said she wants to buy one. It's just way nicer of a truck. Anyway its hard to believe that massive suv has the same sized engine as both of our 360's. I noticed that it produces 17 more hp however than both of our 5.3's. My question is how do they get that extra HP from the 5.3. Torque is only 5lbs more.

 

[Denali n DOO]

Hey all, my wife's Rainier is in the shop getting a whole list of warranty work performed. As a loaner they gave her a 2013 Yukon SLT. It makes my 9-7 and her Rainier feel like bootleg suv's by comparison. She called me on the way home and said she wants to buy one. It's just way nicer of a truck. Anyway its hard to believe that massive suv has the same sized engine as both of our 360's. I noticed that it produces 17 more hp however than both of our 5.3's. My question is how do they get that extra HP from the 5.3. Torque is only 5lbs more.

I think the extra hp comes from VVT, not sure when it was added. I think 303 hp vs.323 hp.

Took my Denali 5.3 in for warranty engine work today. Your dealer is smart they give you something to drive that makes you want to buy one. My dealer is dumb because they give me a loaner that I won't even park in my driveway, and I would never want to own one. Thumps up to your dealer and thumbs down to mine for this;

 

[ScarabEpic22]

Does the loaner have the 6spd auto? If it does, it's going to feel like a MUCH different truck.

VVT might play a part as well, I dont know for sure because I havent driven one personally.

 

[willn513]

I think the extra hp comes from VVT, not sure when it was added. I think 303 hp vs.323 hp.

Took my Denali 5.3 in for warranty engine work today. Your dealer is smart they give you something to drive that makes you want to buy one. My dealer is dumb because they give me a loaner that I won't even park in my driveway, and I would never want to own one. Thumps up to your dealer and thumbs down to mine for this;

What is that thing??

Edit: nevermind- I now realize that it IS an Orlando, and you're not IN Orlando...

 

[Denali n DOO]

What is that thing??

it's a 4 cyl 7 passenger chevy orlando, yuk! I gotta take a pic of the side view mirror and show how distorted it is. It has manual shift buttons too but this thing sure is ugly and very slow...very very slow!

 

[Jkust]

Does the loaner have the 6spd auto? If it does, it's going to feel like a MUCH different truck.

VVT might play a part as well, I dont know for sure because I havent driven one personally.

Yep six speed it is. Believe it is standard now. I've never heard about the 5.3 having VVT so that is real news to me. Looks like in the SLT yukon the 3.42 rear end is the top option as well. She said it drinks gas too but the rating is the same as her Rainier.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

My buddy is a dealer and pulls that same trick on people. Set up the wife with a really nice loaner and hope they fall in love with it.

 

[Jkust]

My buddy is a dealer and pulls that same trick on people. Set up the wife with a really nice loaner and hope they fall in love with it.

Good trick, couldn't believe how she was raving about the truck. She could care less about vehicles usually so it was really out of character. The new car smell is nice. The retail/out the door on one of those is huge though.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Works more than you would think. Guys like new vehicles and when the dealer has the wife helping make the sale....

 

[Denali n DOO]

Works more than you would think. Guys like new vehicles and when the dealer has the wife helping make the sale....

When we were looking I told the sales rep right out that the Denali package was too expensive and we were not interested in buying one, he gave my wife the keys so she could at least test drive a Denali. 2 days later we owned that Denali...

 

[Jkust]

When we were looking I told the sales rep right out that the Denali package was too expensive and we were not interested in buying one, he gave my wife the keys so she could at least test drive a Denali. 2 days later we owned that Denali...

Sometimes it's nice to splurge with the package especially if you keep it for a while. I didn't even price the Yukon Denali but guessing the package is a nice bump. The black leather and interior on that thing is sweet.

 

[navigator]

We have an 06 TB with the I6 and 3.42 gears 30 inch tires.
Our "New" 07 Suburban LTZ with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears has a lot more giddy-up than the TB even with 32" tires.
I know folks said the 5.3 in the TB is comparable to the I6 in HP and Torque but in something as big as the Suburban it is a big difference.

I wish my TB had the 5.3 in it.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Isn't the transmission gearing different too???

 

[Jkust]

So I finally got the chance to drive it with the family going to the Twolves game last night so light traffic there and back. What I noticed is it is a bit of a dog compared to both of our 360's. It just doesn't move out as well at any speed. The mpg is about the same for the same trip with both our 360's as well. 50 miles mostly highway was 17 mpg overall. The 4 cylinder mode didn't kick on as often as Silverado's I've driven which was weird. Of course I have no clue when our 360's are in 4 cyl mode since there is no indicator. It really barely kicked on even when I'd be in the center lane going steady with no hills...it was odd. I'd let off the gas and coast for a good while and it would finally kick on at the end of the coast. It is just superior in all other ways. My hands were cold so I just turned the heated steering wheel on, the mirrors are power fold, the nav system is way updated but smaller screen than our 360's. It had some sort of brake controler and a built in read out on the dash dic but didn't quite understand what it was supposed to do. Also, the 6 speed tranny didn't hunt nearly as bad as the Acadia's i've driven with the 6 speed. I was pleaseantly suprised about the trany. My solace is how little I paid for my 9-7 with a 5.3.

 

[jimmyjam]

The retail/out the door on one of those is huge though.

this is where you swoop in and sell her on the "fiscally responsible" route which would be to throw a supercharger on your existing truck :wootwoot:

 

[jimmyjam]

Isn't the transmission gearing different too???

      4L60      4L80      6L80
1st   3.059:1   2.482:1   4.027:1
2nd   1.625:1   1.482:1   2.364:1
3rd   1.000:1   1.000:1   1.532:1
4th   0.696:1   0.750:1   1.152:1
5th                       0.852:1
6th                       0.667:1

 

[Jkust]

this is where you swoop in and sell her on the "fiscally responsible" route which would be to throw a supercharger on your existing truck :wootwoot:

Ha ha, it'd be on her Rainier and she has no idea that the 5.3 has any balls. If she drives 10 city miles a week, that's a lot. I gotta say though that that heated steering wheel is nice. I bet it'd tow the hell out of my boat.

 

[GMDUDE2003]

Yep six speed it is. Believe it is standard now. I've never heard about the 5.3 having VVT so that is real news to me. Looks like in the SLT yukon the 3.42 rear end is the top option as well. She said it drinks gas too but the rating is the same as her Rainier.

Also has Direct Injection like the pick-ups.

 

[jimmyjam]

Also has Direct Injection like the pick-ups.

Are the 2014s at dealers yet? I don't think so

 

[MDBT]

I think the extra hp comes from VVT, not sure when it was added.

Correct, VVT was added for the 2010 MY resulting in 5 more lbft of torque and an additional 15-20hp depending on application. Power for the 2010-2013 5.3L v8 is 315hp/335lbft for trucks and an extra 5hp for the SUVs (like the OP's loaner Yukon) vs 300/330 for GMT360 5.3L v8s. Claimed MPG improvement of 5% when compared to the 2009 5.3L v8 according to GM.

The new engines (new as in 2014 model year Gen 5 small blocks) are called "EcoTec3" used because of the combination of AFM/DOD, VVT, and now Direct Injection as GMDUDE2003 mentioned. These engines are rated at 355hp/383lbft which is 55hp/53lbft more than the Gen 3/4 5.3L v8 LH6 in the 360 platform.

Yes I realize this thread is somewhat aged and was brought back to life with somewhat misinformed data two months after the fact but since it's already bumped and I had been looking at some of this info already for other purposes I figured I'd share the particulars.