Published: August 17, 2018, 7:55 AM
Updated: November 21, 2021, 3:00 PM
Renewing the quiet force
Chevrolet chose the rugged landscape and ragged skyline of Wyoming, where 36% of vehicles sold are trucks, to introduce the redesigned version of its half-ton, ‘light-duty’ Silverado. The design and engineering teams once again chose subtle and rational changes over brash and spectacular styling or technical features, despite the fierce competition in this massively popular segment. Marketing mavens matched their efforts by expanding the line-up to eight different trims, with six powertrain variations. This Silverado LT Trail Boss is one of the newcomers, here sporting optional 20-inch aluminium wheels.
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And then there were eight
Standing atop the new 2019 Silverado line-up is the High Country, followed closely by the LTZ. Both share a chromed version of the milder new grille, the LTZ getting more of the shiny plating on its front bumper and several trim elements. Next in the new hierarchy are the LT Trail Boss and RST trims, both new and both with a blacked-out version of the new grille. Then come the LT, the new Custom Trail Boss, and the Custom. Rounding out this new Silverado family is the trusty Work Truck, still available with a regular cab but also with the more popular Double Cab.
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How they have grown
More than half a century separates these two pickups as Chevrolet celebrates its first centennial as a truck manufacturer. The brawny, top-of-the-line 2019 Silverado High Country shown here is a Crew Cab, now the most popular configuration, with more than 70% of sales. This body type is now available only with the short box, because of its excessive length with the standard box, henceforth exclusive to Double Cab models. The most obvious and substantial styling change, on the new Silverado, is the return to round wheel wells instead of the squared-off design of the previous generation.
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Ready and able on all terrains
The new LT and Custom Trail Boss come standard with the popular Z71 off-road package, now available on all other models. It includes twin-tube Rancho shocks, hill-descent control, a dual-range transfer case with locking rear differential, skid plates, a heavy-duty air filter and all-terrain tires on 18-inch wheels. Trail Boss models come from the factory with their body lifted five cm. A kit is available for the others. With the new Silverado’s lighter, more rigid structure and new suspension, this LT Trail Boss was impressively able on twisty asphalt and tackled a rough off-road course impeccably.
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Full range of engines
A 5.3-litre, 355-hp V-8 is available or standard on all models. The first version is mated to a 6-speed automatic on Work Truck (WT) and Custom models, the second with a new 8-speed auto for LT through High Country. The LTZ and High Country are also available with the 6.2-litre, 420-hp V-8, coupled to a 10-speed automatic. Standard on WT and Custom models is the venerable 4.3-litre, 305-hp V-6 while a new, 2.7-litre, 310-hp, turbocharged 4-cylinder is standard on LT and RST. These two, plus the LTZ and High Country, will be available next spring with a 3.0-litre, inline-6 turbodiesel.
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Full range of metals and materials
Instead of going all-aluminum, Chevrolet chose to use seven grades of steel alloy for specific areas. Advanced high-strength steel is used for the most critical sections of the safety cage and high-strength steel for the floor, bed and most of the fully-boxed frame. Aluminum is used for unstressed panels such as the hood, doors and tailgate. Forged aluminum is used for the new front suspension upper arms while composite springs for the live rear axle alone save a total of 10 kg. As a result, the new Silverado is 204 kg lighter despite being slightly larger in every dimension.
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Different faces
Somewhat surprisingly, the new Silverado gets at least five different front fascia/grille treatments. The range from the aforementioned, chrome-enhanced grilles of high-end LTZ and High Country models to a black grille with the name CHEVROLET knocked-out of the horizontal bar on Work Truck and Custom models. There are black grilles with the Chevy bowtie outlined in silver on the RST and LT Trail Boss, a chrome-accented grille with a golden bowtie on the LT and even a body-coloured variation that makes this white LT look like a Stormtrooper out of Star Wars.
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Wide, roomy and handy
With total height, length and width up by a few centimetres, on a wheelbase almost 10 cm longer, all Silverado models get a longer cabin and up to 113 litres more in interior volume. This means 7.6 cm more legroom for Crew Cab models, for example. Storage is abundant, with a couple gloveboxes, good door bins, a wide center console and that great big trunk in the middle. You can still get vinyl seats in a Work Truck, but cloth seats are the most common. Leather is standard on LTZ and High Country, optional on LT models and up.
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Catching up with the times
Higher-end versions of the Silverado get push-button starting to finally get in line with the times. Other new features include stop/start technology, active aero shutters, lane-change and blind-spot alert systems, a comprehensive trailering system and LED lighting for all exterior lamps.
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More traction choices
Most of the 4-wheel versions of the Silverado, including Trail Boss models or those equipped with the Z71 off-road package, come with a 2-speed transfer case and a locking rear differential. This system lets you choose between 2-wheel drive, automatic 4-wheel drive and high or low, mechanical 4-wheel drive. New with this generation is a single-speed transfer case for drivers who have little need for off-road capability. It comes with Terrain Mode that uses selective brake application in light off-road driving or on low-traction surfaces. The high-mounted knob also lets you choose between normal, towing or sport modes.
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Well-matched optional rubber
These Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires, mounted on optional 20-inch aluminum wheels, were surprisingly able and quiet on curvy Wyoming roads, even under a Silverado LT Trail Boss perched five cm higher, with its factory-installed lift kit. They also provided more than adequate grip on a short off-road course with a challenging mix of obstacles and surfaces. Standard on Trail Boss and Z71-equipped models are Goodyear Duratrac tires with more aggressive off-road tread, mounted on good-looking, split-spoke, black alloy wheels.
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On-road refinement
This Silverado LTZ Crew Cab cuts a fine figure, riding noticeably lower than the LT Trail Boss pictured earlier. However angular and broad-shouldered, as modern pickups need to be, it boasts respectable aerodynamic efficiency, thanks to a few tricks. Among them, functional air curtains that reduce drag by channelling air around the front wheel wells and active aero shutters, in the grille, that improve efficiency when closed and pop open when needed to cool the engine. There even is a spoiler, at the trailing edge of the cab, to minimize drag caused by the open bed.
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Carrying on
Team Silverado proudly claims that its Durabed pickup box offers the largest cargo volume, whether they’re short, standard or long (WT only). This Crew Cab short box is said to have 1,784 litres of volume, up to 20% more than its rivals. Higher-grade steel is used for the floor and there are now 12 fixed tie-downs and nine adjustable hooks to clamp anything down. The bed also has task lighting for night sessions, and a 120-volt power outlet. It’s hard to understand, though, why this fine steel bed does not come with a standard liner.
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More flexible power
Chevrolet says more than half of all Silverado models will be powered by revamped versions of its trusty 5.3-litre and 6.2-litre V-8s. These two are graced with Dynamic Fuel Management, a more advanced form of cylinder deactivation that has 17 different firing scenarios and monitors the accelerator 80 times per second to instantly deactivate or reactivate cylinders according to engine load, to reduce fuel consumption. The 5.3 is flexible and willing, with a smooth 8-speed automatic. But once you taste the roar and grunt of the 6.2 and its 10-speed box, you don’t want to give it up.
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All systems go
Most everything is clear, accessible, precise and legible in the Silverado’s new cockpit. Driving position is fine, footrest included, and visibility quite good to the front and sides, thanks to large, yet well-positioned exterior mirrors. The Chevy guys are sticking with the large and stubby, column-mounted shift lever on the right, claiming a console-mounted lever robs precious space, while showing no fondness for rotary knobs or push buttons. This venerable impediment generates precious little enjoyment, but you get used to pulling it down from D to L and flicking through the gears with your thumb.
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Gauges as God intended them
There is no imperious reason to show a half-dozen classic, white-on-black, analog gauges, but since they have long been an endangered species in most production vehicles, it is a simple joy to behold such a fine set. Of course, they are not only for show purposes in trucks that could be submitted to and/or carry heavy loads, in challenging conditions, making engine speed, oil pressure and coolant temperature vital data. On the digital side of things, plenty of complementary information can be displayed on the configurable centre screen.
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Doing it right
All Silverado models, including the otherwise sparse Work Truck, are equipped with an electronic parking brake that is engaged or deactivated with this simple button, mounted on the lower left side of the instrument panel. Well clear of other controls, it is perfectly accessible and effective. Manufacturers still using archaic pedals that scrape the driver’s left shin should take note.
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On the bigger screen
While WT and Custom models are content with a 7-inch colour touchscreen, the LT and higher-spec versions get this clear 8-inch screen, complete with a proper physical knob for on-off/volume and a few redundant controls, also in 3D. The previous Silverado already featured the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. Menu structure is clear with Chevrolet’s Infotainment 3 system, quick and painless to use. You can just as easily set up several 4G LTE wi-fi hotspots, if your OnStar subscription allows it.
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Hooks, lights and blinkers
Models from LT up, in the New Silverado hierarchy, get LED headlights in much slimmer, horizontal bezels. Their blinkers and other exterior lights also rely on cool, LED power. WT and Custom models rely on trusty HID headlamps and the latter also gets LED tail lamps. All models get strong tow hooks in the front bumper. They are painted red on Trail Boss models that are most likely to use them, chrome-plated on the top-billed High Country model – that show-off – and just painted black on the others.
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Stepping up
For the first time, V-8-powered versions of the Silverado come with dual chrome exhaust tips, long a popular feature on rival trucks. The corner steps, carved out of the rear bumper, are now deeper and taller to better accommodate work boots with steel caps and such. And that sturdy trailer hitch, along with 4- and 7-pin connectors and hitch guidance, comes with the standard trailering package.
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Civilized rear accommodations
As with other pickups access to the rear seat is easier in Crew Cab models, thanks to doors that are longer than those on Double Cab versions. Comfort is more than decent in the outboard seats and even acceptable in the center, thanks to the wider cabin and very low floor tunnel. A pair of USB ports is included in the optional convenience package.
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Boosting interior space
The cushion of the rear seat can be flipped up at the flick of a wrist, in tandem or 60/40 sections, to clear a sizeable chunk of additional cargo volume in Crew Cab models. Wide-opening doors help with the loading. An optional, lockable lib is available for the cabin-wide open storage tray under the seat. The hydraulic wheel jack has its spot on the right side.
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Semi-secret storage bins
Ten-litre storage bins in the rear seatbacks are smart and practical new options in Double Cab or Crew Cab versions of the new Silverado. Chevrolet says they are good for gloves, tie-downs and such, but kids will undoubtedly find numerous other uses for them. The plastic bins are easily washed and the seat fabric has ‘built-in premium antimicrobial soil repellent’, by the way.
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Mission control
Controls in the Silverado are strictly digital, in the primary sense of the word, since fingers already have more than plenty of buttons, knobs and switches to fiddle and play with on the bottom part of the center stack, in keeping with truck tradition, of course. The most novel and exclusive switch remotely opens or closes the power tailgate, and comes standard on High Country models and optional on its high-end siblings. The aluminum tailgate can also be power-locked.
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Pulling duty master
The Silverado LTZ, powered by the optional, 6.2-litre V-8, shrugged off this large closed trailer loaded up to 2,721.55 kg. Acceleration was good and one could feel only the slightest bit of the typical rocking motion generated by a heavy trailer. Maximum towing capacity is 5,534 kg with this very powertrain. Chevrolet adds an impressive array of available trailering aids such as a quartet of cameras to align the hitch, trailer tire pressure and temperature sensors, a trailer light test and a theft alarm, in addition to five trailer profiles for just about all imaginable towing needs and preferences.
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