vortec 454 vs. lq4 6.0?

RufusTheRam

New Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Raleigh
looking for opinions on the differences of these motors in terms of power, towing, etc. i know what the numbers are on paper, so please keep it real world.;)
 
RufusTheRam said:
looking for opinions on the differences of these motors in terms of power, towing, etc. i know what the numbers are on paper, so please keep it real world.;)
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I have towed Kevins Blazer (that K5 thats dovetailed on Tons and Gumbo's that sat over at Matt's on occasion) with his Dads Denali that had a 6.0 from Raleigh to The farm, it did fairly decent, it was able to keep up about 70 mph and only downshifted (in tow/haul mode) on the biggest of hills between here and there, granted the hills on I40 between here and Raleigh arn't that big so idk how it'd do if you got near the mtns or if you tryed to tow two rigs with it.

I've also towed with a 2500 burb with the vortec 454, it was all boats thou at my cousins boat place I've worked at forever . . . to be honest it didn't feel like I had much more power over my trucks new engine, granted my truck dyno'd the same as the 454 trucks do at the rear wheels which is 190hp 270ish ftlbs.

Feels like probably the 454 is about on the same level as the 6.0 powerwise IMO, but I think a 6.0 will do much better on gas mileage so might wanna lean towards it if your gonna go with a gaser.
 
I don't think the power is hugely different, however the newer LSx based engines (lq4, lq9) are extremely reliable. Its not uncommon to have a 454 need a ring or valve job after 100k or so. I have a lq4 with 80k on it, I've have it since it was almost new. I've towed many miles, mostly a gooseneck that weighs 4600 lb empty. Hauling a car / truck it does fine, hauling a skid steer (8000 lb w/ attachment) is another story. Its not a diesel, and not your F350. The truck has never hic-upped. The only time I ever got the temperature to rise was up clinch mountain / cumberland gap area with the pedal on the floor loaded.

I have been extremely impressed with the powertrain, and I've heard that the torque management is holding them back. ie it will pull 12,000 lbs but won't spin a tire on wet pavement.

My 2 c
 
My 06 2500hd work truck has a 6.0 and I have towed 10,000 lbs including trailer on the interstate with no problem. Still has lots of power to get up the small hills.

The truck weighs about 7200 lbs and I can average 14 mpg on the interstates with the bed loaded, but I also run 80 psi in the rear tires.

It has 70,000 miles on it and it requires at least 1-2 quarts of oil a week and has been that way since I got it when it had 35,000 miles. Many mornings I can crank it up and see a nice big puff of blue smoke come out of the tail pipe. The technician that had it before me said it has always done that and the chebby stealership 'worked' on it several times and it never got fixed.

We have a '00 2500 with the 6.0 with about 215,000 miles and it does not seem to have as much power or as good of mileage as mine, but we have had minimal problems with that one.
 
I have towed with a 454 truck before. It towed pretty well in my opinion. Seemed to have a little more bottom end than my 6.0 now. Of course the load i towed was lighter, so go figure.

I like my 6.0, good motor, turns up good, tows nice if you keep the rpms around 2200 or more. Very reliable, I have not done anything to mine at all. Wish i could get rid of the tourque management junk for cheap. I am told $500 will cure you of that, and completely change the way it runs. I just need $500 bucks.
 
I've towed with both. The 454 just keeps pulling on big long hills. The 6.0 pulss great but on big long hills the gas pedal has to keep going down. For a all around tow rig for gas milage 14 to 16 around town and relabily the 6.0 is the way to go, for all around power and heavy loads plus not so good gas milage the 10 to 11 mpg all the time the 454 is the way to go. (There is not nothing like a big block!!)
 
I would love to see 14 MPG's out of my 6.0. I average 9 MPG's in town and 10 on the highway. The plus to that is I get those numbers empty or loaded with 10K. The 6.0 pulls great. It is not a diesel but on flat ground I think it is very comparable. Big hills can bog it down sometimes as well but I do not think any 454 I had before holds a candle to the 6.0. just my .02
 
you must have 4.10's or bigger tires that are throwing off your numbers. My suburban with a 6.0 and 3.73 gears gets a consistent 12.5 around town, and 17 on the highway.
 
33" tires on mine, it hurts overall performance over the stock 245's. mileage didn't really change that i could notice. I get 15-16 hwy and 12 in town. Normal driving I usually get 14.

Mine has never ever burned a drop of oil. I hate to hear that yours did. The first 15,000 mine had conventional oil and ac delco filters (grandfather owned it, dealer maintained). The rest of the miles (up to around 80k) have been mobil 1 and good filters. it has never used a drop.

I have heard the 8100 BB use oil
 
I have an 02 2500hd ex cab with the 6.0. It pulls good except for really long hills. I pulled to mtn city over july 4th and by the time i got to the top of 421 mtn, i was on the floor runnin 25 mph. It was heating up pretty quick too! Granted i hit the mtn runnin around 50 mph, and tried to keep a steady speed. about halfway up I just layed it to the mat, and it kicked down in second and started screaming! But all in all i love it. I usually get 10-12 mpg towing and 17-18 hwy unloaded. Ive not done anything to it, 68000 miles.

Oh and ck out waitformeperformance, i hear they do some really good tunes for these engines, ill probably get there tune soon for mine. Im pretty sure they will get rid of the torque mgmt crap cheaper than 500.00
 
PHP: 
 I hate to hear that yours did
hell, i dont care, its my work truck and my work pays for gas and oil and everything else. I havent bought gas on a regular basis since gas was about $1.75 a gallon
hopefully next year my new truck will be a crewcab diesel
 
thanks guys, good informative thread so far! probably made up my mind for me actually. i expected it to go as follows:

post 1- guy has never driven either, but thinks the 6.0 should be better reading about both

post 2- forget both and get an 8.1

post 3- how does the 8.1 compare to the 6.0?

then there is a brief discussion of these two engines...

post 9- get a diesel, screw gas!

post 10- yeah, a cummins!

and downhill it goes...:flipoff2:

anyway, i already own a 454 suburban. i must be a lucky SOB (for once!) taylor, this one is all over 240k if its not there yet. haven't looked at it in a while. it's never been touched, and still runs like a top. definitely one of the best vehicles for the money i've ever bought, and as you know that's sayin something!;) it's even spent about 3000 miles total on trips in the mountains with my 32 ft. trailer loaded to the max at 14-15k trailer included. it does great, and even pulls all of the "infamous" grades in the state like black mountain and deep gap at a solid 45-50mph. on 24" rims to boot, lol. some airbags or helper springs would really help stability. i can drive it alright because i've been towing a long time and i know the truck, but if someone else were to get behind the wheel it might get ugly. with just one rig it's fine, no worries at all.

anyway, the reason for this thread is i'm trading a guy my 1998 grand cherokee for a 2001 chevy 2500. it's just a basic truck, reg cab/long bed, 2wd, etc. it has high mieage at 170k, which doesn't really scare me as long as it's been taken care of. plus, i rarely keep anything too long anyway. supposedly it was a maintinance supervisors truck, so it was just driven around all the time checking on crews, no actually work done from it. if it turns out to be an upgrade, then i can sell the suburban. if it sucks, i'll just sell it and stick with the suburban

it sucks having to keep 2 tow rigs on hand, but i just makes sense for everything i do. at first, i thought i had it all worked out using my work truck as a tow rig as needed, then the bus i had at the time for weekend trips, etc. the transmission started slipping bad in the f350 though, so i had to retire it to work only use again. which now looking back on it, is the smart thing to do. i can't afford to have my truck broken down in bumfuck, tn or something and i'm losing money at work because it takes me a day later to get back and i've got a truck down. not good. so, i decided a dirt cheap 2500 would be the ticket as a tow only vehicle. it could blow up at tellico, and for all i care just leave it!:lol: then, i replaced the bus with the toterhome. it is the most awesome way to travel i know of for long weekend trips. tows like a dream, all the comforts of home, etc. the only problem is it's a little big for some of the campsite areas and access roads. it's also a hugh pain in the ass to get it all ready for uwharrie for just a day trip. i also drag race, and it's also not worth taking the toterhome for a daytrip, only to out of state places and stuff. the toterhome largely earns its keep as an rv as well taking non automotive trips.

thanks for the info, i'll be sure to post up my impressions if it works out.

oh, and taylor and patrick let me know if you want a contact of who can take care of that stuff. it's a hindrance to any lsx engine, but can easily be tuned out. a few hp gained as well through a good dyno session. anyway, just let me know... if it's the both of you, i can probably work a small discount for you based on the business i've done there and sent there. plus i'm friends with a couple employees on a personal level. we're VERY lucky to have two of the premier lsx specialty shops here in the raleigh area. or, maybe make a thread about it, get some other gm gasser guys up, and make it a real discount. i'll do whatever i can to help, just let me know.
 
I'd be interested in getting more power /econ out of my 8.1 if I could keep running 87 octane, but not so sure i want to eliminate the torque management, but dialing it back a bit might be good. (I'd like the trans to live a good long time)
 
i can't speak specifically for the 8.1 since i don't have any direct experience with them, but i would ASSume they're controlled similarly if not identical to the ls, lq, etc. family. i wouldn't be real concerned about hurting that 4l80e though, it's a tough unit mechanically and very well controlled electronically itself via the tcm to guard against failure with constant adjustments in line pressure, etc.

from my understanding and experience, torque management can't be completely eliminated on any of them but it can be dialed back to the point you don't notice it and it doesn't affect performance. or, if you still have concerns about shocking the drivetrain too much it can be set at a happy medium. the main thing is it gets rid of that "dead pedal" feel so many of them are stricken with as it cuts power when you're pulling out into traffic, going for a pass on a 2 lane, etc. keep in mind while it's all somewhat integrated, torque management is completely different from any traction control or active handling (if so equipped). abs is also in the mix to a certain extent.

i'll see what i can come up with as far as group discounted pricing on some basic gm custom tuning.
 
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