How is your 4.3L EcoTec3 V6 Engine working out for ya?

azsundevil · October 11, 2016

It boils down to how you drive and what type of truck you drive. Heavier tires and a level will decrease you mileage quite a bit when you have a v6. What did you average when the truck was stock?

This is what I've averaged so far with mine. 70% highway driving and 30% stop and go city driving. Also mixed with some spirited driving (Single cab, 2WD, 3.23s, bone stock)

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That's about what my DIC indicates but when I actually fill up and hand-calculate, it turns into roughly 18mpg. Try doing the calculation yourself and see if it still adds up. Seems like some of us have trucks that don't accurately measure fuel consumption.

GMC2015 · October 11, 2016

That's about what my DIC indicates but when I actually fill up and hand-calculate, it turns into roughly 18mpg. Try doing the calculation yourself and see if it still adds up. Seems like some of us have trucks that don't accurately measure fuel consumption.

When I do my hand calculations per tank, it usually comes to be within 1-2 mpg, which is fairly accurate imo. Not sure why some of the others tend to be like 3-4 mpgs off.

paullgj · October 11, 2016

4 days into owning 2016 2wd reg cab SWB. Now mind you, this is the lightest full size GM pickup they make. The 4.3 blows some pretty good smoke! Lots of pick up and go. At least if not better than the V-8's I owned during the 1990's. Hard to believe I am driving a six. I wanted a stick shift so I test drove the 4 cyl Colorado. No way! It felt like a four. So I went with the Silverado. This truck really does deserve a manual trans. YMMV but for me the stick would really extract the full potential of power from the 4.3.

Edited October 11, 2016 by paullgj

tmo · October 13, 2016

Mine will say about 18 (when I've been careful) but then turn out to be around 16.5. When it was bone stock I was getting around 19 on the cluster and about 17 hand calculated. I have only added stock tire size nitto grapplers and a 2 inch level. When I'm hard on the accelerator in town, it has gone as low at 10 which came out to like a little over 200 miles on the whole tank of gas.

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Edited October 13, 2016 by sierraguy2015

Donstar · October 13, 2016

4 days into owning 2016 2wd reg cab SWB. Now mind you, this is the lightest full size GM pickup they make. The 4.3 blows some pretty good smoke! Lots of pick up and go. At least if not better than the V-8's I owned during the 1990's. Hard to believe I am driving a six. I wanted a stick shift so I test drove the 4 cyl Colorado. No way! It felt like a four. So I went with the Silverado. This truck really does deserve a manual trans. YMMV but for me the stick would really extract the full potential of power from the 4.3.

I have a cc 4x4 with a standard size bed and my 4.3 is not lacking either. I agree that a manual transmission would enhance the performance!

Camaro45th · October 13, 2016

CC 4x4 4.3L 2016. Not a bad motor, I am running e85 to get the extra boost in power tho.

Silva · October 13, 2016

I must say the new v6 is not bad at all. I recently traded in my 14 double cab with the 4.3L for a crew cab 5.3L. Nothing wrong with the 4.3 just needed the extra space. To be honest driving around town I do not feel a difference in power. Only difference is the noise inside the cab. Got a lot louder inside with the V6.

Donstar · October 13, 2016

I'm happy to see this thread reappear from time to time. The 4,3 is a very strong motor and has ample power for most of the performance requirements of a 1/2 ton truck. GM produces two more powerful engines for these trucks so we have a tendency to think of the 4.3 in terms of being the "smallest". I have close to 20K kms on mine and couldn't imagine a circumstance where I would need a bigger engine.

NYSierra4 · October 14, 2016

I too am happy with the 4.3. It meets all my needs as I don't tow much of anything and has plenty of room for family vacas and hunting trips. Has anyone modded their exhaust for a bit more throat when throttling down?

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Perseus · October 22, 2016

I'm still very happy with my v6 with 40,000 miles on it now. Would be interested in a turbo tho . . .

Imcrazy · October 25, 2016

I'm still very happy with my v6 with 40,000 miles on it now. Would be interested in a turbo tho . . .

Why a turbo over a 5.3 ? I liked my 4.3 but the 5.3 is well worth the $1000 up charge especially if you're gonna do some towing/hauling.

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Perseus · October 26, 2016

Why a turbo over a 5.3 ? I liked my 4.3 but the 5.3 is well worth the $1000 up charge especially if you're gonna do some towing/hauling.

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Because ecoboost destroyer.

Also I don't believe it's worth $1,000 to have my penis a tad bit longer. I do think GM should have given more off on the 4.3 to entice more buyers.

Camaro45th · October 26, 2016

If it's only $1000 to make it longer, sign me up! Lol.

My friend had an ecoboost loaner. That thing moves. But from a stop it takes a while for it get going.

Imcrazy · October 26, 2016

Because ecoboost destroyer.

Also I don't believe it's worth $1,000 to have my penis a tad bit longer. I do think GM should have given more off on the 4.3 to entice more buyers.

I needed to pull more than 7000#, I'm not in my vehicle to get into a measuring contest, just needed a better tool for a job. Plus I like having the extra ponies for passing on the highway, the 4.3 makes the truck just a little under powered, not in most situations though .... I think the only real reason for the 4.3 is pure fleet sales and epa b/s. It gets 1mpg better in the testing but, having had both in the same config, the real world MPG is identical. If GM dropped the 4.3 from the lineup they could offer the 5.3 as the base engine at the same cost...

I don't miss my 4.3 but, if I never pulled a trailer it would not have weighed against that truck as heavily in the decision process. With all that said if it was a $3000 and 5mpg difference between the 4.3 and the 5.3 it would have made me more included to stick it out with a V6. Some will argue that you can get more $$ off the V6 trucks so it's not a true $1000 difference, I got a better deal on my V8 than I did my V6 so that's just my experience.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Imcrazy

Imcrazy · October 26, 2016

If it's only $1000 to make it longer, sign me up! Lol.

My friend had an ecoboost loaner. That thing moves. But from a stop it takes a while for it get going.

No replacement for displacement.... v8 will always be king, these little turbo charge truck motors wouldn't be for me....