no its not the 5.3 its a 4.8. there is only a 15 h.p. difference, but the 4.8 has a different timing set-up so it has just as many balls as the 5.3, im planning to bolt on a procharger kit soon though, the rims are boss motorsports and i wrapped them in some toyo proxes. i like the denali man, its definately a sweet ride, i use to really like the c3's, the 6.0L and AWD was sweet.