Picking a trim line is the familiar part. After the bottom-end Work Truck model, which starts right around $20,000, the next-up "base" model adds such essentials as dual-zone air conditioning, CD stereo, cruise control, tilt steering wheel, antilock brakes, PASSlock alarm, and chrome wheels. LS replaces the V6 with the 4.8-liter V8 and adds a color-keyed grille, power mirrors, center console, defogger, carpeting and floor mats, power locks and windows, auto-dimming rearview mirror, keyless entry, leather steering wheel, and cloth seats to replace vinyl. By the time you get to the top-end LT, you're shelling out at least $33,815 to get tinted rear windows, heated leather seats, automatic climate control, 6-disc BOSE CD changer, power driver's seat, and steering wheel controls for the stereo and Driver Information Center. The Z71 Silverado, standing for the off-road model as usual, adds to the LS skid plates, heavy-duty shocks and stabilizer bars, locking rear differential, high-capacity air cleaner, plus modified bumpers, wheel flares, fog lights, and decals.
And then there's the $39,420 SS model. A 345-horsepower, 380 pounds-feet version of the 6.0 V8 struggles to power 5,240 pounds, no doubt producing similar sensations to the Corvette but at a much slower pace. A Silverado SS can't even keep up with certain versions of the Honda Accord or Dodge Neon. That's what happens when you send a sumo to go sprint racing.
Of more honorable mention is the Silverado Hybrid, currently only offered as an extended cab, standard bed truck in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada and Florida. Curiously, the building block is the gas-guzzling 5.3-liter V8 rather than the more frugal 4.8-liter or the V6. Working like some of the earlier hybrids, the Silverado's powertrain allows the engine to take a break at idling, automatically starting or stopping as necessary at speeds under 13 MPH and by using regenerative brakes to recharge the batteries. Total fuel economy gains are claimed to be in the 10-15% range, verifying the often-made claim of this being a "mild" hybrid and ensuring that total fuel economy stays down in the teens. This is a temporary measure until GM releases a more dedicated hybrid for 2007. In the meantime, efficiency still has its price, and that's $30,175. Still, there could be a greater benefit that comes with the hybrid powertrain: portable electricity. Four 120-volt, 20-amp outlets (two in the cockpit, two back in the bed) accept the plug of any device that plugs in your house. On a full tank of gas, the Silverado can spend 32 hours serving as a power station before its juice runs out.
One Chevrolet bragging right is 4-wheel steering. For anyone who remembers this technology's near-pointless application to the 1988 Honda Prelude, it finds much more use in a big rig like this. Called QuadraSteer in GM-speak, it works like older systems by turning the rear wheels in the opposite direction as the fronts below 25-30 MPH and turning them in the same direction above that speed. Expect greatly reduced turning circles and quicker directional changes during any driving. A limited-slip differential even gets thrown in for free. QuadraSteer is an option on 1500 Extended Cab, Standard Box and 1500HD 4x4.
Few have doubts about the Silverado's competence. Chevy has been making trucks since before there was a market for them, and they know a thing or two. As usual, the main criticisms center on details like the inelegant interior design and the quality of materials. And while the Silverado was tops in 1999, all of its renewed rivals gained a leg up on it. The Toyota Tundra set new standards for refinement and quietness, the Ram and Titan have their dominating V8s, and the newest Ford F-150, its greatest enemy, has it beaten for carlike feel.
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