2005 GMC Sierra Duramax - The Next Level
Diesel Vs. SupercarsTo give you an idea of what kind of performance bracket a truck will put you into, we compared Komaromi's '06 LBZ truck with some of Europe's finest. We tracked down a list of new '06 vehicle prices, then added $13,000 to a basic-optioned '06 GMC 2500HD to arrive at our hot-rodded diesel price figure. All we could find were crank horsepower numbers, so all power ratings are at the engine, not at the wheels.
VEHICLE
PRICE | HORSEPOWER | `0-60 MPH
QUARTER-MILE |
| ’06 LBZ Duramax with upgrades | |
| $56,000 | 800 hp | 3.3 seconds |
| | 11.8 at 115 mph |
| ’06 Ferrari F430 | |
| $202,000 | 483 hp | 3.5 seconds |
| | 11.7 at 120 mph |
| ’06 Lamborghini Gallardo | |
| $200,000 | 520 hp | 4.1 seconds |
| | 12.1 at 117 mph |
| ’06 Porsche 911 Turbo | |
| $125,000 | 480 hp | 3.6 seconds |
| | 11.9 at 118 mph |
As you can see, the modified diesel truck hangs with all of them in terms of performance while costing half of what the Porsche does and a quarter of the Ferrari and Lamborghini prices. In addition, the diesel has more seating capacity, gets better fuel economy, has a bed to carry things in, and can tow more than 10,000 pounds. Try that in a Ferrari. Still want an exotic car? We don't.
Driving ImpressionsNow that we've showed you the steps to build an 11-second Duramax, you probably want to know how it drives, right? Well, Komaromi was nice enough to let us take his '06 LBZ for a spin around the block.
Our first impression as we puttered around was that the truck still felt pretty stock under normal driving, even with the programmer on level 6. Once we rolled into the throttle, it felt pretty fast, but not as fast as we might have hoped. What was funny is that we could look in the rearview mirror and see two black marks whenever we laid into the throttle-in two-wheel drive, all our forward momentum was just going up in tire smoke. We tried accelerating from 30, 40, and finally, 50 mph, but the vehicle would still break the tires loose as soon as the boost came in. As silly as it seemed, we pulled over and put the truck in 4WD because we realized we needed all four wheels to grab at anything under freeway speed-the truck is that fast.
With all four wheels doing their job, the acceleration was intense. The truck would launch hard, and by the time we would get a second to look down at the speedometer, we would already be going 50 mph within a few hundred feet of where we started. As long as we eased into the throttle instead of flooring it, smoke really wasn't that bad, and the big turbo cleaned things up to just a light haze. The real surprise was the lack of turbo lag. Once rolling, the larger turbo felt just as responsive as a stock unit. We were very impressed with the overall package, and we honestly believe someone could drive a truck at this power level on a daily basis.