Once inside the vehicle, one can't help but be impressed. The Silverado carries an interior which is equal to any "big buck" pickup available from GM, Ford, or anyone else. From the dashboard layout with the nice wood effect accents to the leather seating, the interior just screams 'high class".
It also has a very spacious feel to it, which is mainly due to the sculptured dashboard design. All the controls and switches fall readily to hand, and there are plenty of them as this truck is loaded with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, including XM satellite radio.
There is however one thing still missing, which I keep reminding GM about on most of their trucks and SUV's, and that is telescopic steering. Tilt is there, but it is the old-fashioned notch-lever type. Somehow, GM still hasn't realized that people like telescopic as well. This is something which most manufacturers have figured out by now, in fact, the Hyundai Sonata that I'm in this week has both, and that vehicle comes in at just 29k!
That aside, it is hard not to fall in love with the interior of the Silverado. It is not only an extremely comfortable place to spend your driving hours, but it will impress even the most picky luxury sedan owners.
Now we come to the drive. With its Vortec 5.3 L V8, the Chevy Silverado has ample power and yet, because of GM's smart Active Fuel Management system which can shut down four of the eight cylinders in low demand situations such as highway cruising, it returns rather good fuel economy figures.
My tester came with the STD 4sp electronic auto/overdrive, which is then coupled to GM's Autotrac - Automatic 4WD system. This allows for control of the 4WD system with just a quick turn of a knob. It also boasted of a limited slip differential and a 3.73 ratio rear end.
I would call the ride quality of Silverado extremely good. Naturally, it feels like a truck on the road, but a very comfortable and stable truck. The bumps and potholes are soaked up superbly by the suspension and the steering is precise, and allows for some good driver feedback.
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| The dashboard layout is much more modern than it used to be. |
It also has a very spacious feel to it, which is mainly due to the sculptured dashboard design. All the controls and switches fall readily to hand, and there are plenty of them as this truck is loaded with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, including XM satellite radio.
There is however one thing still missing, which I keep reminding GM about on most of their trucks and SUV's, and that is telescopic steering. Tilt is there, but it is the old-fashioned notch-lever type. Somehow, GM still hasn't realized that people like telescopic as well. This is something which most manufacturers have figured out by now, in fact, the Hyundai Sonata that I'm in this week has both, and that vehicle comes in at just 29k!
That aside, it is hard not to fall in love with the interior of the Silverado. It is not only an extremely comfortable place to spend your driving hours, but it will impress even the most picky luxury sedan owners.
Now we come to the drive. With its Vortec 5.3 L V8, the Chevy Silverado has ample power and yet, because of GM's smart Active Fuel Management system which can shut down four of the eight cylinders in low demand situations such as highway cruising, it returns rather good fuel economy figures.
My tester came with the STD 4sp electronic auto/overdrive, which is then coupled to GM's Autotrac - Automatic 4WD system. This allows for control of the 4WD system with just a quick turn of a knob. It also boasted of a limited slip differential and a 3.73 ratio rear end.
I would call the ride quality of Silverado extremely good. Naturally, it feels like a truck on the road, but a very comfortable and stable truck. The bumps and potholes are soaked up superbly by the suspension and the steering is precise, and allows for some good driver feedback.
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| The Silverado offers a nice quality for a pickup truck. |