All the Pickup Truck News: Chevy Silverado Diesel MPG, GMC Canyon Upgraded, Jeep Gladiator Is Best and More

For the average American car buyer, the diesel engine is something of an exotic bird, or maybe even an unidentified insect that you’d just as soon squash as Google to find out what it is. But for pickup truckbuyers, diesels are not only a known quantity, they’re downright desirable — and, remember, despite the sales surge for SUVs over the past decade, trucks still rule the roost on the national top-sellers list. In addition to their gas-model-besting torque for hauling, towing and other truck duties, diesel engines also boast much longer range per fill-up, as well as superior fuel economy.

Related: 2020 Pickup Truck of the Year Nominees

Topping this week’s news on Cars.com sister site PickupTrucks.com, we completed our diesel-truck testing trifecta, taking the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Duramax on a 1,000-mile unloaded run after having already evaluated the 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel and Silverado brand sibling the 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 diesel. The Silverado shares an engine with the Sierra in the 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder diesel, but due to the trucks’ different shapes and resulting aerodynamics, their mileage figures are as different as their nameplates, with the Silverado besting the Sierra almost across the board in EPA estimates, with 23/33/27 mpg and 23/29/25 mpg city/highway/combined for the Silverado’s 4×2 and 4×4 configurations, respectively.

Cars.com reviewer Brian Wong’s real-world testing was in a 2020 Silverado 1500 RST double cab in 4×2 flavor, with the diesel-engine option comprising $3,890 of the truck’s $48,685 price, including a destination charge.

“The results were a reported 26.4 mpg from the truck’s trip computer, while our measurements indicated 27.4 mpg on a total of 37.41 gallons of diesel,” Wong writes. “… While 26-27 mpg is still impressive for a full-size pickup, the numbers did fall short of the estimated 33 mpg highway estimate.”

Follow the link below for the full report on Wong’s real-world fuel-economy testing of the Silverado 1500 Duramax diesel.

In other truck news this week: The Ram 1500 made our monthly roundup of recommendations for the best new-car deals we could find for January (better read this one before the Ram deal expires Feb. 3 if you’re shopping for one); GMC unveiled an updated Denali trim for the 2021 Canyon, on which it promises improved luxuriousness, as well as an AT4 off-road variant for shoppers who wish to actually take their Canyon into the canyon; the all-new-for-2020 Jeep Gladiator was named its top pickup by the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year jury (on which Cars.com had two judges, #humblebrag); pickups figured big into the 10 biggest federal safety recalls in 2019; and we recommend whether shoppers should spring for the 2020 Honda Ridgeline or find a deal on the outgoing 2019 version.

You can get the whole scoop on all that and more below. Here’s all the pickup truck news we published in the past week on both PickupTrucks.com and Cars.com:

2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Duramax Diesel MPG Report After 1,000 Miles

What’s the Best New-Car Deal for January 2020?

 GMC Unveils Updated 2021 Canyon Denali and All-New Canyon AT4

 2020 Chevrolet Corvette, Jeep Gladiator, Kia Telluride … You’re the Best

2018-2019 Toyota Tacoma, Tundra Fuel Pump: Recall Alert

The 10 Biggest Recalls in 2019

2020 Honda Ridgeline: Which Should You Buy, 2019 or 2020?

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