An Avalanche with the 4.5L turbo diesel would be an awesome vehicle.

 

No Avalanche though, as it won't be coming back. The crew cabs with a short bed make it pointless.

 

Not entirely pointless...

 

Is it the pass through bed? The SUV suspension? There isn't a business case for a random odd truck when the Silverado can handle what those buyers really want. A jacked up car with a bed.

 

I have an 08 avalanche and I love it. It's different than my silverado.

 

I'd actually have to think about it. Diesel here is a lot more expensive than gasoline. For what I currently use my Silverado for, I think I'm better off with the current gasoline engine and 15 mpg.

 

I think it's that potential Avalanche and Tahoe buyers are interchangable.

Those who actually need Avalanche's bed tend to buy pickups instead.

GM tends to studies these types of marketing decisions well into the ground and doesn't tend to let go of profit makers very easily, so discontinuing the Avalance most likely has some serious resoning behind it even if we doubt it personally.

 

With the gas/fuel prices around here you would need to average 16.25mpg in the same driving you get 15mpg with your pickup. I think that should be more than doable with a 4.5L duramax.... hell i dont think the 6.6 would have a problem with that in a 1 ton pickup

You can make a pretty good business case for the 4.5 duramax if you dont count the initial investment. if you do any kind of towing though or tend to keep vehicles long after 200,000 miles it would be a no-brainer

 

I think I'd rather have GM's 2.9L V6 diesel. It is good for 400tq, should get better fuel economy and be a fair amount cheaper than the 4.5L V8.

Maybe the 2.8L I4 diesel that the new Colorado is using would be better that the V6. It puts out 346 lb.-ft. of torque and would be even cheaper. Does anyone know how much that 2.8L costs to build compared to a Gen V small block V8?

New Diesels Power Chevy

 

I'm guessing your 15mpg vs 16.25mpg break even point is not including what would surely be a premium up front to buy the diesel in the first place... if I remember right, the diesel option on the 2500+ trucks is liek $5000 additional.

Factoring that (or somethign close) in should spread those numbers out quite a bit more.

 

Any idea what kind of mileage the small Duramax should get?

 

guess you missed that part

 

I guess I did miss that part.

Then again, if you are comparing the economic impact of the engine difference, what's the point if you just disregard a relatively huge upfront cost?

 

Does anyone know if these trucks will have the 8 speed automatic from day 1?

 

8cylinders>4 makes a good point, if you do tow A LOT then it would make sense to spend a little more money up front and get something that can get the job done. Diesels don't have a huge drop in fuel economy like gas engines do with a trailer behind them. My Z71 will only get 11mpg pulling my ~3,500 lb boat loaded up with toys and equipment. My friend has a 2008 tundra and he pulls a ~7K skidsteer/trailer with it and the pic below is a pic he took of his fuel economy (kinda hard to see, but it says 6.9mpg).

However, the people that would need that kinda towing power will typically buy a 2500, so a 1500 diesel could steal 2500 sales.

BUT, if they can keep the cost down it might not be as bad as people think. The 6.2L is a touch over 2 grand to option a truck with it. With the high profit margins on trucks and if GM could sell a lot of them, it could keep the cost down. It may even work as a high end 1500 and even add the engine to the 2500 line up as a "low cost" HD work truck without having to pony up for the duramax???

Just throwing some ideas out. And do I want one? YES!