The HUGE 2024 Chevrolet Silverado Reviewed

Utes are hot in Australia, so hot that utes (aka pick-up trucks) occupy the “Best Ten Sellers” top positions, but Hilux, Ranger, and Triton are babies when put next to the monumental Chevrolet Silverado. Not only is the Silverado big, but the brawny ute tows up to 4500kg for a Gross Combined Mass (GCM) of 7160kg.

On its own, Silverado 1500 has a GVM of 3300 made up of the 2552kg Silverado and a payload of 748kg. That may sound like a lot but once you have 5 beefy blokes on board, that’s only a few hundred kilos left over for 6-packs.

That all sounds tickety boo, and it is. Silverado is a very capable 4X4 with the off-road focused ZR2 having a massive 296mm worth of ground clearance. The 2500 HD is almost 400mm longer giving the tub more capacity, but all models have a tasteful selection of appointments such as front and rear electronic locking diffs and a fancy 360^o camera.

Depending on the model there are fancy adjusting dampers too.

Silverado, and her Ram and F150 cohort, are used in heavy duty mining and construction, but feel as comfortable in town, parking excluded. They’re all converted to right-hand drive once landed in Australia. That accounts in part for their princely pricetag.

There is a certain beauty to their simple construction and vast size. The bodacious body is laid on the ladder chassis so that most of the load is taken by a couple to tram lines running the full length. The driveline and tow bar don’t place undue strain on the gorgeous metalwork, and crossing continents can be a little more daring.

Speaking of metalwork, Silverado’s bonnet is almost chest height, and the power assisted tailgate tops out at shoulder height. The roller cover is like a garage door the runs along rails atop the tub. A press of the fob (that looks exactly like a garage door opener) allows the tub to be fully open, or closed to secure the load. It isn’t dust-proof so anything delicate needs sensitive treatment.

The cabin:

Pickup truck interiors were once as bare as a monk’s truss.

Silverado is generous and accommodating, more like a stately mansion festooned with lashings of leather. The easy chairs in the front room coddle its occupants with heating and cooling, and the 10-way power adjustment has memory for the driver. The back-room bench is split 80/20 with bins under to secrete things you’d rather the apprentices didn’t see. The bench also gets heating, and the rear window has a small centre section that is power operated to allow the good apprentices to shake hands with the bad apprentices. Anything else they might get up to is something we aren’t insured for, and this is a G-rated show.

Instruments include a 13.4” centre screen, 12.3” driver’s screen, and a Head Up Display around 10” wide. In fact, Silverado’s cabin is positively plush, yet the Americans have kept things simple. It is like being in a humble family hatch that’s gone full-on “Incredible Hulk

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Car Review – P2024 Chevrolet Silverado Alan Zurvas Review

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ABOVE: Chevrolet Silverado Range

The Drive:

Silverado’s immense presence makes you feel invincibly butch.

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GMSV MY24 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2 Flyer

The 2500’s 6.6L diesel is a muscular masterpiece of industrial design and deserves its own words, so we’ll save that review for later.

Meanwhile, the slightly less seismic 6.2L V8 petrol is rather amusingly badged, “Ecotech3”. Depending on the price of petrol you’ll be paying $250 per 91L tank which empties at between 12.9 and 14.5L/100k. Not exactly ECO. None the less, that’s a remarkable figure given the 313kw/624Nm V8 is propelling a small office block via a 10-speed automatic, in comfort and at high speed.

Parking

Putting the fierce beast to bed is not as much of a trauma as you’d think. As long as you don’t try to park the 5931mm Silverado in a 6000mm kerbside spot, you’re fine. The Silverado 2500 HD is 6387mm and needs two spots, angering the torch-wielding hoi polloi.

Getting the truck (pronounced “truuuurck” in American) into any kind of parking spot would be impossible without the surround camera.

On the road

You’re expecting the Silverado 1500 to be dog on anything but the gravel-paved tracks criss-crossing Gina’s best, but not a bit of it. There’s oodles of room with Silverado up to 2074mm wide and lanes up to 3.5m wide, but corners and bends need a careful hand guided by a laser-focused mind.

Drive modes include normal/sport/off-road with the knob low down on the right-hand side of the dash. Although it probably won’t see much action, sport mode opens the second sound pipe. It projects the engine’s core in glorious choral waves. When pressed hard, it sounds like a thousand burning souls are banging pots against hell’s metal walls.

Acceleration is a brisk affair, and handling far friskier than that of which the hulking brute looks able. On the Old Pacific Highway, Silverado scampered from bend to bend, and on one occasion crossed on the Berowra Ferry. Beyond the gentle crossing lay roads created by the most twisted of minds. One switchback after another is layered upon the other, like a giant sandstone wedding cake. Many of the turns need the full width of tarmac, starting and finishing on the wrong side of the road. Such turns raise the pulse causing the odd Code Brown moment.

Otherwise, Silverado feels like a very high-riding limousine. There is plenty of room in the back seat, a nice place to watch the hills slip by.

Highway travel is joyous. Touring is helped by driver and safety aids more akin to fancy SUVs and sedans. As ADAS has crept into the requirements of ANCAP’s crash-tested star system, ADAS has also found a home in larger commercial vehicles. Just as the off-roading system takes care of far-flung fun, the ADAS helps take the dreary out of distance. Roadtrips are comfortable experiences with Silverado getting fuel figures nudging the 12L/100k mark. City driving makes that needle shoot up like a sky rocket, but that’s life. If you want to sap the fun out of life, buy a hybrid.

Conclusion:

Starting at $130,000 up to around $159,000, Silverado is expensive but as a commercial vehicle escapes the luxury car tax. It oozes sex appeal and its gloriously vociferous engine can be heard suburbs away. It can carry a small moon and handles like a sportsman, albeit a retired one.

It would be a great tower of a fifth-wheeled camper, and is a cheap alternative to the horsey crowd whose credentials need butchifying.

It is a shame only the 2500 gets the diesel, but there is so much bliss in the petrol engine that one longs for the longest of stretches to get the Silverado up to fell flight. There, it is magnificent.

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