I dont know...but my 5.2 feels pretty peppy as the guy said in the beginning...Im definitely not saying its any race truck, but its stock other than an exhaust and a k&n air filter not even cai...I take pretty good care of it though, changing oil every 3000 and flushing all fluids in all the systems every 6000. That might help a lot, I run the synthetic in my oil also...but my friends 5.2, exact same truck both of us manual transmission, with a cai and exhaust and hes even got a programmer in it because he had death flash, but mine still takes his every time, he doesnt even get lucky occasionally...so either he is much worse at shifting or there really truly is a difference in how the different trucks will run... I mean maybe I just got lucky and got a truck that really goes(and when I say really goes I mean for a 5.2 magnum dodge )

But saying that, I am wondering how much of a difference it really does make that I do all that to take care of my truck instead of the average persons care of their vehicle...

Oh yeah... and mine is a standard cab with the back seat but no back doors and a shortbed

 

360, thanks for the info. Sounds like it would be very hard on the tranny and clutch and rear end. I guess I"m just too nice to my rig. There have been times I've nailed it but I'm completely scared of hitting redline. I know, I know I'm a wimp but this truck was my first love many years ago and she's been with me through tons of sh#t so beating on her is not my first priority. I'm just not a racer I guess. Glad you can do it!

Sounds like I have the same truck as described above^^^^ : deathflashed with programmer, flowmaster and kn. Maybe there's still some ill effects of the deathflash...

 

well my 1500 98 5.2 (auto) ext cab short box, stock other then the gutted cat and cherry bomb, with the stock 3.55 gears, and 265/75/16's

vs

my buddies 1500 91 5.3 (auto) standerd cab long bed (steel flat bed), cold air intake, headers, highflow cat, thrush power muffler, and 4.11 gears, with 34" tsl super swampers,

i take him every time. my truck is rated at 6700lbs, and his is at 6600lbs.
i ake him, on dirt, pavement, sand, clay, hills, what every. i take him every time.

not to mention, i am usually the one to get him unstuck. i do a circle to see whats wrong, and then line up and pull, so yea.

we have even went bumper to bumper and tried to pull each other. i pull him every time. and its not me driving, i switched with him. i got pulled by my own truck.

i also agree, my truck has never left me stranded, it always hold up. plugged cat, going 30 mph, pinned to the floor, heat gauge pinned to the passengers door. and she kept asking for more. i have tore the oil pan off my truck, like hit a rock and tore it off, still got me, drove her to the parts store, then the shop, put it on, and ran fine.

 

I was able to get behind a 99ish 1500 Z71 4x4 on 36" or so tires, it was up there in the air a good ways. My truck sits fairly low so I have a serious aerodynamic advantage and from a 60 mph stab, I could not make up any ground on that big jacked up in the air 4x4 and all he had that I could see was some sort of half assed dual exhaust on it. We both let off about 90 or so, but that thing was pullin very well on the top end to keep his lead like he did. If that had been a 2wd rcsb with a 5.3, he would have handed me my *** bigtime, no doubt in my mind.

As far as screwin up with a auto trans, mostly it would be on the launch unless he is foolish enough to try and shift his auto manually and hold gears too long etc(pcm would eventually overide). Any 5.2 that gets over on a 5.3 from a dead stop or from a roll better thank his lucky stars because somehow he got very very lucky IMO

 

im not counting anything, i just know my dodge beat that chevy, a 6.9 pre powerstroke ford, and the 5.7 chevy suburban but there is a thing about that one. look at my album (just added today), youll see my truck, my dads, the flat bed chvey and the suburban nd i will go post a pic of the ford up there now that i think about it

 

For those of you that think that the new chevy 5.3 motor is peppy... were you used to driving a hamster powered car? We bought a 2008 Chevy Avalanche back in the summer, and IMO Its a gutless wonder... I think a lot of the problem with the new motors is the electronic throttle. My 5.2 will has no problems pulling away from that chevy on the highway. Not to mention it has been a long time since I have seen a vehicle that was so cheaply made..

 

I wouldn't brag too much on whippin a 6.9 diesel ford, they were turds and if that 'burban is a 5.7 tbi powered truck, it ain't much better lol It's all about havin fun, but them 4.8/5.3/6.0 chebby trucks do run awfully strong and the aftermarket support is endless it seems. I'll still never get one though Mopar or no car for this boy.

 

I thought GM didn't come out with the 5.3L until like '99 or so?

 

LOL, Exactly!

 

Yea dont get me worgy i love my dodge to death and i well never sell it and have completer redone the front end to save it. But she never left me down anywere. axle push out 6in to the driver side oil pump stop working spin crack shaft bearings she sounded like a diesel but i got home in one peace. And drove it for a week after fixing the axle and pull the motor the next weekend. but our trucks were not made with a lot of power. there just not that fast but my mom 04 chevy blow rear and trans in under 100,000 miles and lot other crap but she lite them up lol now the 3nd and 4th gen truck are freaking fast as hell for a stock truck