The Chevrolet Silverado never actually left us, but the debut of the all-new 2019 model feels like a second coming for the Bowtie’s massively popular half-ton pickup. It has a dramatic new look, a lighter packaging, and a staggering number — eight in total — of trim options that’ll make your heads spin in excitement. Best of all, though, is the fact that Chevy is also diversifying the Silverado’s engine lineup, including an all-new Duramax 3.0-liter inline-six turbo-diesel engine that will compliment revised versions of Chevy’s 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter V-8 engines.

The rumors were true. After months of speculation, Chevrolet has confirmed the introduction of an all-new Duramax 3.0L inline-six turbo-diesel engine. The automaker remained coy on the output numbers of the engine, but it’s expected to be competitive against Ford’s new 3.0-liter Power Stroke V-6 and Ram’s 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engines. GM executive vice president Mark Reuss alluded to this in the press conference introducing the new Silverado. “I’m not going to go into the numbers today, but some of our competition have given numbers on their diesels, and let’s just say I’m confident that we’ll have the best performing diesel in this segment,” he said.

It’s the same story with the two bigger V-8 engine options. Updated power numbers remain vague, but we do know that the 5.2-liter V-8 on the current model pumps out 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. Meanwhile, the 6.2-liter V-8 unit produces 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. With all the changes made to the two units, including the adoption of the “industry-first” Dynamic Fuel Management system, it’s expected that both mills will be able to unlock instant power at the driver’s disposal, to go along with improved fuel efficiency.

The new 3.0-liter inline-six turbo-diesel and the updated 6.2-liter V-8 are getting a new Hydra-Matic 10-speed transmission and start/stop technology. No mention was made on the transmission for the 5.3-liter unit, so the expectation is that it’ll retain either of its two current transmissions: a Hydra-Matic six-speed automatic and a Hydra-Matic eight-speed automatic.

References

Chevrolet Silverado

Read our full review on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado.

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