The 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel engine produced by General Motors is currently standard equipment on the 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X. The 6.2-liter V-8 has 35 more horsepower than the diesel, but the diesel has 35 more pound-feet of torque. Also, for 2024, GMC added two new paint options and gave other Sierra 1500 models an optional active exhaust. Last week, Chevy announced that the standard engine for the 2024 Silverado ZR2 will be a 3.0-liter Duramax diesel inline-six. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that GMC is following suit and making the smaller Duramax the base engine on the 2024 Sierra AT4X. Even though the powerful 6.2-liter V-8 has 30 more horsepower, the oil-burning straight-six has 35 more pound-feet of torque (305 versus 420 hp, respectively). The V-8 engine has 460 pound-feet of torque, while the diesel engine has 495 pound-feet. The diesel 3.0-liter engine from GM and Duramax now has a new turbo compressor, fuel injectors, steel pistons, and better temperature management. This means it can make more torque than its previous 460-pound-feet rating. We have yet to use the new Duramax, but the old one was very smooth and quiet, which we liked a lot. As you might expect, most of the changes made to GMC’s half-ton pickup truck models for 2024 are the same as those made to Chevy’s. On Sierra’s higher trims, you can now get side steps that retract automatically and an exhaust system that works. There are also two new types of wheels and two new paint coolers (Downpour metallic and Thunderstorm Gray). The Sierra 1500’s base 2.7-liter turbo-four engine stays the same regarding how it works, but it is now called the “TurboMax.”
