The Most Powerful Diesel Engine Detroit Ever Made (And The Vehicles It Powers)

There are a few companies you should probably look into if you are in the market for some serious power for a heavy-duty vehicle, and one of them is most certainly Detroit Diesel. This company has been in the business of producing diesel engines for nearly 90 years. Originally, Detroit was a division of General Motors, but it has been owned and operated by Daimler since 2000. While Detroit Diesel has produced many powerful engines in its history, one stands above the rest: the Detroit DD16.

The DD16 is not a particularly new engine for the company. It first debuted back in 2010, making it all the more impressive that the engine has been able to stay at the top of Detroit’s product stack until now. The DD16 is a hulking 15.6-liter inline-six engine that weighs over 2,800 pounds dry. The DD16 can produce a maximum of 600 hp; impressive enough on its own, but the DD16’s torque really shows its true power, as you can expect to get up to 2,050 lb-ft from the engine. For comparison, this engine’s predecessor, the 2007 DD15, only produced up to 1,850 lb-ft of torque.

Because the DD16 is such a large, powerful engine, it can’t be shoved underneath the hood of just any semi truck or construction vehicle. Only a few vehicles come equipped with the Detroit DD16, and they’re all from under the Daimler umbrella.

Freightliner and Western Star trucks with the DD16

Daimler Trucks owns many different companies, including Mercedes-Benz Truck (Mercedes-Benz cars are owned by Mercedes-Benz AG). But it also owns other heavy-duty truck makers like Western Star and Freightliner. As they’re all under the same ownership, it only makes sense that these companies would use Detroit Diesel engines to power their vehicles. These two brands have chosen to put the Detroit DD16 in their trucks, though only three models use it.

Western Star offers the DD16 in two different trucks. One is the Western Star 49X, which the company describes as “what might be the best truck anyone has ever built.” This is a truck with a multipurpose design, capable of running as a vocational vehicle, like a dump truck, or a highway-bound semi-truck. The other truck that uses the DD16 is the larger Western Star 57X, which is made strictly for highway use. For the 57X, the Detroit DD16 is the most powerful engine available, but Western Star also makes the Cummins X15 engine available in the 49X. This Cummins engine can make up to 605 hp, narrowly edging out the DD16.

The final truck available with the Detroit Diesel engine is the Freightliner Cascadia, which is another heavy-duty highway vehicle. However, the latest fifth-generation model of the Cascadia doesn’t have the DD16 as an engine option. Instead, you’ll need to go back to the fourth generation to get the DD16 under the hood, as the newer model maxes out with the DD15.