Chevrolet Silverado High Country Test Drive.

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silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

I mentioned before that I am not a “truck guy”. I like cars.
I have zero need in my life for a truck (Maybe that’s why).
But I thought it would be interesting to drive one for a week. A real big macho truck that makes John Wayne look like a girl scout.

The Siverado is big. Bigger than almost anything you can get . But I think it looks fine for what it is.
(Except the cheesy chrome wheel on my test unit.)

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

The interior is very comfortable. It all feels super solid and well made.
I even didn’t mind the old fashion column shifter (But I think I still would in the $70 000 Escalade…)

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

A few things, details, were quite distracting. Especially for the $52 500 price of this truck.
Like the glove compartments. Once you open them you realize they are both tiny. And not really useful.

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

Everything is powered but not the steering wheel. And you have to deal with 2 sets of manual controls. Plus that area behind the steering wheel looks really, really cheap.

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

No push button start here. (Even in the loaded version). Just a cheap looking key. And cheap plastics around it.

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

The gauges also look really cheap. Plastichrome everywhere. Bright blue and red colors. It has a bad 80’s feel to it.
Really…

silverado chevrolet chevy test drive testdrive review

Once you drive it, and once you get used to the size, things are pretty easy.

The steering is just fine. Light but not too much actually.
The suspension can be quite firm with the 20 inch tires.
The optional 6.2 Liter V8 (a $2000 option) is both powerful and super quiet and refined.
It is rated at 14/20MPG, and it is pretty much what I got during the week.

All and all, I did enjoy driving the Silverado. Maybe because it was special to me, knowing I would never own one.
But it rides much better than the current Ford F150, and is light years ahead in every aspect , of the Nissan Titan. (My only other experiences with full size pick up trucks)

I still think they are things missing in the $52000 version I was driving. For that price there was no Navigation or sunroof.
And some interior bits are still quite cheap looking.

But if you really need something like this, I would really recommend it. It does make a very decent every day ride. (you’ll just need to avoid any Trader Joe’s parking lots)

And make sure you go easy on the options….
These trucks can get really expensive.

Conversation 6 comments

  1. ^Because the mark of a quality product is how light it is? Or because truck buyers are dying to get their hands on small engines? Or yet another numerically lower gear? Or because saving weight means saving money to the manufacturers?

    Look, lost in all the hooplah here is the fact that GM's trucks also lost weight. In fact, they're several hundred pounds lighter than similar Fords now in some cases. Did Ford one up them? No doubt. But not by all that much. (I can't believe I'm defending GM here, LOL.)

    And again: let's not pretend weight is everything. I'll take a heavy, less efficient product any day if it's well-built and can take the abuse I throw at it; vs. a lighter "disposable" product.

    I'm curious to see how Ford's weight savings washes out. Will the body, particularly the beds, hold up to abuse (let's not forget Ford's had some issues with "abuse" in some of their trucks lately). Will real world fuel economy come near Ford's estimates (they've been caught on more than one occasion here recently inflating figures)? And what about repair costs with the new body? Or insurance costs?

    Hopefully they've raised the bar. I think it will be a while before we know one way or another, though.

    I personally hope no one buys them. There are far too many of these things being sold to people that don't need their capabilities.

  2. Looks like a solid truck, and well built. The interior looks good. But overall there's nothing new here. It's just an evolution that's barely noticeable. Why is GM satisfied with this? I suppose they know their market. But Ford is coming out with a much more sophisticated truck that's substantially different than the one it replaces.

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