Diesel owners know that it's not about peak horsepower or peak torque. It's about where those numbers peak vs. RPM.
Diesel engines make massive torque in the mid teens to the high 2000s. Right where we need it.
Now I'm not comparing the 5.3l to a diesel, but this low RPM power band is also being achieved in gasoline engines. Not as great as diesel, but its starting to get much better.
I cant seem to find the graphs, but I do remember what they looked like.
Peak 5.3L numbers are reached at the upper 4000s of the RPM scale, and that's an area that's out of bounds and unuseable for 99% or us. Nobody runs at 4500rpm plus..... It does not have a spike in torque around the spot where we all drive the most. I see it in the hills on a freeway. There simply isn't anything there to haul overdrive at speed when confronted by a hill or headwind.
The 6.2 and the Ford Ecoboost hits sweet spot of torque right where we need it, around 2000 rpm, and hold max torque right on up.
If GM Wants to to tout 5.3l power, they need to make more of it where we all use it, and not having to run wide open to get to it.
I guess I might be beating a dead horse, but why buy an extremely heavy SUV with a smaller engine when a larger one is more capable?
Maybe the reason is that those of us with a 6.2L on order..simply aren't driving it.
