Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty – Chevrolet have upgraded their Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty dual cab pickup truck.
Pickups from America are converted into right hand drive and are a size above the traditional ute. In the Australian market they are categorised as pickups above $100,000.
Our more traditional utes outsell Pickups by a ratio of 20 to 1 but the Pickup numbers are increasing and for 2023 it was the larger versions of these very large utes that showed the most percentage growth.
The Silverado 2500 HD comes with a muscular powertrain and a wide range of operational features especially if you are going to haul a trailer. As Shawn Norwood, the lead engineer from Detroit for the Silverado Line, who came to Australia for the launch said, “These vehicles are for people who are towing the thing they love the most be it a caravan, boat, horse float or race car”.
Silverado 2500 Exterior
The upgrade model has a new front fascia and grille design. The image is clear with a very tall, square front in the style of a modern truck. It is not good for seeing pedestrians, especially if they’re small such as children, which emphasises that these vehicles have limitations for operating in an urban area.
The external dimensions are:
- Overall Length: 6387 mm
- Wheel Base: 4036
- Body Width: 2263 mm
- Height: 2039 mm
- Front Wheel Track: 1731 mm
A big truck has good carrying capacity, but with the sides getting taller and taller it can be hard to access the cargo area. Shawn, who loves using these vehicles for practical purposes, admits that things in the back of the tray always seem to roll forward to the becoming hard to get to without climbing over the rear tailgate.
To overcome this the Silverado has a small winglet on the outside of each side of the vehicle at the front of the tray and just behind the cabin. They are made to stand on and reach into the back cargo area.
The Durabed cargo area has 12 standard tie downs and LED cargo area lighting.
Silverado 2500 Interior
The interior has clear attention to comfort and space.
With a new design there is now jet-black leather appointments; a Bose premium sound system; power sunroof; and a power rear window out onto the tray.
There are two very large information screens. Directly in front of the driver is a 12.3-inch screen while there is a 13.4-inch infotainment touch screen in the centre.
In both cases they’re not overpopulated with information nor are they overcomplicated. The Silverado uses the centre infotainment screen very affectively. Not only for the traditional controls but for images and information to do with towing.
There is also a head up display which is clear and you can vary the information on it. The clever feature is to include the time gap to the vehicle ahead of you (up to three seconds). This is an excellent feature. Keeping the right distance behind the vehicle is best measured by time rather than guessing the physical distance. The time factor is also directly related to the speed.
The internal dimensions for the front passengers are:
- Front Head Room: 1093mm
- Front Leg Room: 1131mm
- Front Shoulder Room: 1677mm
Space for second row passengers is certainly much better than traditional utes that typically have a very upright back of the seat.
Silverado 2500 Powertrain
If you think a Pickup is large you should see the size of the engine!
The Silverado has a 6.6 litre turbocharged V8 diesel engine with 350 kilowatts of power and a massive 1322 Newton metres of torque. It has a four-wheel drive, on demand system, a two-speed transfer case, driving through a 10 speed automatic gearbox.
There is a switch to enhance engine braking although without a trailer the difference did not appear to be all that significant.
Australian rules limit the towing capacity to a 4.5 tonne but in America the limit is over 8 tonnes. So the Silverado is well within its capability in our market, making it easy to drive and you won’t become a slow roadblock for the vehicles behind you.
Towing Aids
Chevrolet has made a big effort to provide aids for towing. It gives you a strong feeling of ease and security.
There’s a revised the final drive ratio to enhance low-end performance by as much as 25%.
Part of the camera options include a view of your hitching area so you can accurately match the tow ball with the trailer arm.
You can set up a range of parameters for the regular trailers you tow, and save those, to call up when necessary.
There is a trailer tyre pressure/temperature monitoring system. And a pre departure checklist that you can call up on your infotainment screen.
There is also a trailer lighting diagnostic tool which goes through a sequence of all the lights. Brakes, indicators and parking lights, on your trailer so that you can get out and check if they’re working, even when you’re on your own.
The adaptive cruise control function can now be used while towing.
You can option up to get 14 different camera angles showing not only the sides of the vehicle and trailer, but also your cargo such as a horse in a float, and the view of traffic behind.
A few missing features
There are a couple of items that are missing.
The vehicle doesn’t come with its own satellite navigation system, and it does not have lane keep assist. If you are going to travel long distances and perhaps into areas that are not covered by mobile phones, these two items would be particularly helpful.
Driving impressions
The initial feeling of climbing into this big vehicle and getting use to the driving, is one of being very aware of its large size. However, after driving for some time on the open highway. You’re feelings are soon dominated by ones of comfort and security, particularly with the driver aids.
We drove the vehicle on some graded dirt roads and there is no doubt it was very competent in this situation. We asked Shawn Norwood how much of a rugged off-road vehicle it has been designed to be.
He noted the inclusion of an automatic locking rear differential and the Z71 off road suspension with twin tube shock absorbers. The departure angles are 28.5° front and 23.6° rear and the ground clearance is 251 millimetres. But Shawn admits that it is not intended for the most extreme off-roading situations. Which in reality is a very limited market. Most people think rough off-roading is going down a well graded dirt road.
The important point is that even if you are going to a rural location that is off the bitumen. To maximise your enjoyment it is important to arrive without being too stressed and tired. For camping and family holidaying then, this is a vehicle that copes particularly well.
Fuel economy
Such a large vehicle with such good power will have a high fuel consumption rate. Chevrolet tell us that the vehicle has not been rated yet and one wonders if they would rush to promote the official figure.
With a mixture of general driving and towing, we saw a figure of over 22 litres per 100 kilometres. And there had been reports from overseas of higher figures when towing all the time.
The vehicle has 136 litre fuel tank which at $2.00 a litre means $272 to fill. And if the price reaches $2.20, as it has recently, then that’s just a smidgen under $300.
2500 Heavy Duty Conclusions
The Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty is undoubtedly a vehicle that provides a big image. It might well be owned by tradespeople who want to make a statement about their seniority or the success of their business.
But Chevrolet hasn’t as yet gone into giving the giving their vehicles hyper macho names. Like Pro 4X, Rouge or Raptor as is the case with some more traditional Utes.
So it carves a niche in the market as a large, comfortable, and competent four-wheel drive utility. That would make touring a comfortable experience, if you can afford to buy and operate one of these vehicles.
The 2500 Silverado heavy duty has a list price of $163,000 plus on road costs.
2500 Heavy Duty Alternatives
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