The ever-escalating diesel horsepower and torque race appears it’s in full force, if figures found on the GM Powertrain site are any indication. Technically, the site is in the public domain, but is generally only visited by dealers and hard-core GM devotees and fans. Luckily for us, we were able to get a screen grab of the figures before GM had a chance to pull them down. As you can see, the figures for the next-generation L5P 6.6L Duramax V-8 are clear to see – 445 hp at 2,800 rpm and 910 lb-ft at 1,600 rpm.

This gives the L5P a 5 hp edge over the 2017 Super Duty’s 6.7L Power Stroke, and 15 lb-ft less peak torque. But being this close to 1,000 lb-ft, who’s counting? This temporarily puts Ram third in the torque race, a position it once held in first place with 900 lb-ft. If these figures are revealed to be official at next week’s Texas State Fair, this would put the Power Stroke and Duramax essentially neck-and-neck in the power race.

So far, GM has revealed a new two-path intake system for the L5P , allowing it to ingest greater quantities of air. We now know that extra air has been used to good effect. The only other information revealed in the powertrain guide is that the 103 x 99 mm bore and stroke dimensions and 16.0:1 compression ratio remain. We’ll have to wait until next week for specs such as peak boost and other power-making voodoo. Let the diesel power battles begin…again!

Source: GM Powertrain