Remade Chevrolet Silverado couples smooth performance with meaner appearance
By Scott Burgess / The Detroit News / 01.17.07

When your life starts to sound like a country song, you'll probably need a pickup.

Break-ups, hard luck and trucks just seem to go together -- like trailers, hitches and long beds.

At least, that's what occurred to me somewhere west of Battle Creek as I cruised Interstate 94 behind the wheel of Chevy's redesigned Silverado.

My wife and I were on a New Year's rescue mission to Chicago, home of a winning football team, the Jerry Springer Show and my sister, who had just endured a break-up of Tim McGraw proportions.

Her broken heart needed family, friends and a pickup to help her move into a new apartment. We hit the road in a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4WD Crew Cab LT2, ready to lend a hand.

Even before hopping inside, I understood the importance of this all-new pickup from General Motors Corp. Chevy is GM's biggest brand and the Silverado is Chevy's No. 1 model, with 636,000 units sold last year.

Barring gas hitting $3 a gallon, the Silverado could sell even better in 2007, despite stiff competition from Toyota's new full-size Tundra, Ford's F-150 and Dodge's Ram 1500.

Without a doubt, the pickup wars will heat up in 2007 and after a full week in the Silverado, I can tell you Chevy will fight from a position of strength.

New ride better than predecessor

Chevy has rebuilt this full-size truck from the frame up and nearly every change has improved the vehicle. It handles and rides better than its predecessor, offers more utility and looks stunning. Even my sister, not known for her pickup prowess, admired the nicely loaded Crew Cab, which had a sticker topping $40,000.

From a bigger grille and wrapped head lights to a bulging hood and flared fenders, the remade Silverado has a more pronounced, more confident stance. Its meaner, stronger appearance helped immensely on Chicago's traffic-filled streets. Drivers in Honda Civics and Toyota Priuses gave us a wide berth whenever we barreled around the bend. What fun!

Arriving in Chicago, I worried that the 19-foot pickup -- with nearly a 12-foot wheelbase -- would be too much for big-city driving. Would a wider front and rear track (three inches more in front and one inch wider in back) and 20-inch wheels make the Silverado a brute to wrestle around tight corners?

Hardly. I found the Silverado's new rack-and-pinion steering precise, ably handling turns through surface streets.

In some cases, the Silverado made city driving easier; try popping a curb in a Mini.

Despite the pickup's size, parking proved to be not too difficult, thanks to the optional ultrasonic rear parking assist system, which beeps faster as you near an object. The optional electric folding side-mirrors (which cut a foot or more off the width) helped, too.

Its size does pose other problems, however. Getting in and out of the cab can be difficult. In the Silverado, you open the door, throw your leg out as you slide off the seat and drop to the ground -- a move Britney Spears should only try if she's wearing jeans.

V-8 engine has big giddy-up

The Silverado's power was excellent. The 5.3-liter flex-fuel V-8 in my test truck was responsive and had more than enough giddy-up with 315-horsepower. It easily cruised along the highway at 70 mph.

Topping that speed could lead to a much rougher ride. Remember, it's a work truck, not a racer, and any of its five available suspension systems are tuned for specific jobs.

The engine had more than enough in reserve for passing semis and slow cars quickly and safely, though the four-speed automatic transmission seemed to whine under heavy acceleration or when you pressed the gas hard off the line.

When the bed was empty, the ride seemed stiff. But on the trek back to Detroit from Chicago, loaded down with about 800 pounds, the ride smoothed out considerably. There's nothing wrong with a truck riding like a truck.

While the Environmental Protection Agency says the Silverado Crew Cab LT2 can achieve 20 miles per gallon on the highway, I never reached that sort of efficiency. The best I got was 17 mpg, according to my calculations, and 18 mpg, according to the truck's computer readout -- still good numbers, considering the Silverado's size and strength.

This is in part due to GM's active fuel management system, which shuts off four cylinders when the vehicle is cruising. Still, the system is sensitive and switches too quickly back to eight cylinders. While the transition is seamless, the vehicle never realizes its true efficiency.

Chevrolet officials say they are studying the system and may make adjustments to allow for more aggressive fuel savings in future models.

Comfortable as a luxury sedan

Inside the Silverado, there's nothing but comfort, with features typically considered sedan luxuries. Dual climate controls, heated seats, heated window washing fluid, MP3-compatible stereo, remote start and a host of conveniences make long hauls more pleasurable.

There's no shortage of storage space, either. The console compartment between the driver and passenger in the LT2 package is enormous, 20.1 liters of space in the deep box or enough to fit the contents of 100 cans of soda.The front seats were comfortable, though I can't imagine a full-size adult riding six hours in the back.

However, the 60/40 fold up stadium-type seating was comfortable for adults around town and very useful when moving breakables that can't ride in the bed. The seats move up and down by pressing on them; there's no lever to pull or button to press.

Perhaps the most significant change to the Silverado is its new fully-boxed frame. The frame serves as the truck's foundation and for the Silverado, it's significantly stronger.

It provides a 234 percent increase in torsional stiffness (prevents twisting), a 136 percent increase in lateral stiffness (prevents side-to-side bending) and a 62 percent increase in vertical bending stiffness (front-to-rear bending). What all that means is that the truck's frame is stronger, providing the foundation for a host of other improvements.

For example, the exterior gaps on the Silverado, those spaces between pieces of sheet metal, are consistently narrow everywhere on the truck. Close gaps signify quality construction.

But close gaps also breed other benefits. Better fitting pieces helped Chevy cut interior noise as well as lower wind drag (important in making the vehicle cut through the air). In some cases, Chevy said unexpected issues arose from such a tight fit. For example, the Silverado's front end had to be reworked to accommodate more airflow into the engine compartment because most of the traditional gaps were sealed.

But really, you don't need me to tell you it's an excellent pickup. The Silverado was the recent recipient of Motor Trend's Truck of the Year honors and it took the North American Truck of the Year award at the Detroit auto show.

My sister, however, is unimpressed with the awards heaped onto the Silverado. She merely wanted to move her stuff. The Silverado, cast in the role of helpful sidekick, played its part stoically and with perfection.

Somewhere along I-94, east of Kalamazoo, I switched the XM satellite receiver from a country music station to something more upbeat, enjoying the Silverado's ride as we watched the soft hills of Western Michigan pass by.

Scott Burgess is the auto critic for The Detroit News. He can be reached at 313-223-3217 or sburgess@detnews.com.

[ Back to Vehicle Reviews ]