Chevy’s work horse – the Silverado has had a little bit of a makeover this year! Even after winning the “North American Truck of the Year” award in 2014, Chevrolet’s chief engineer (Eric Stanczak) said that he was proud of the changes they’ve made this year touting the High Country Edition as having a “rugged – luxury”.
Consumer Reports agrees with Stanczak stating that the Silverado has a cab that is quiet and steering that maneuvers like a luxury car. They liked other features also, like their fuel economy.
The 5.3 Liter, V-8 Silverado achieved 16 mpg beating out the Ford’s Eco Boost V-6 and Ram’s Hemi V-8.
Consumer Reports liked the towing capabilities and the pay load capacities. They noted the low effort tail gate assists as being a big plus to the Silverado – 2015. You can open or close one of their assisted tailgates with one hand and little effort.
Consumer Reports liked the low step in height access; it doesn’t inhibit the ground clearance but makes it easy to get in and out for most people.
The cabs of the Silverado have come a long way from your grandpa’s pickup truck! They offer leather seats that heat or cool, that adjust to 12 different positions at the touch of a button, steering wheels that heat, head rest DVD screens, rear back up cameras, Sirius radio, USB ports, Bose Audio Systems with 6 speakers, and a My Link System to synch up your phone to the vehicles touch screen command center!
The Crew Cab model has a full back seat with plenty of room for 3 people – including ample room for a car seat making it viable for a family vehicle vs. just a work truck!
The Silverado comes in 3 engine sizes: the 4.3 Liter V-6, the 5.3 Liter V-8 engine or the 6.2 Liter V-8. All are available in rear wheel or 4wd with short or long beds, as well. Depending on your towing or pay load needs, there is plenty of power to go around!
According the Consumer Reports, the down fall of the Silverado is the jittery ride, the unsupportive seats and the wet road braking. It stops fast on dry pavement, but takes quite a bit to stop when the pavement is wet.
An option that was made available to Silverado truck owners this year was the WI-FI hotspot. They are the first manufacturer to offer this to their customers with complimentary 3 months data.
For looks, the popular package is their Black Out Edition. It features dark tinted windows, a black grill and 20″ aluminum wheels / rims and a black bow tie Chevy emblem on the grill and the tail gate.
Car and Driver states that the Black Out Package is only about $1595 and obviously if you are going to have a tough looking truck like that – you better throw in another $1100 for the 6.2 Liter V-8 engine so that it sounds and acts as awesome as it looks!
The Chevy Silverado is a lot of truck for the money, but you will be hard pressed to keep the price down when you see all the amazing options available to you!
Park assist, towing packages, styling options, telescoping steering wheels, climate zone controls, navigation systems, sprayed bed liners, lights or tie down loops in the bed, corner step up bumpers, etc., etc…
This is NOT your grandpa’s old Chevy pickup anymore!