03/19/2007
By Mike Blake
Carlisle Events

Chevrolet began selling trucks in 1918 with the Chevy 490 Light Delivery; and in 1924, Chevy introduced its first pick-up truck (the “C”), though in-house designs didn’t make it to market until 1930. The C/K and Sierra took General Motors through the rest of the 20th century, and when Silverado came on the scene in 1999, Chevrolet really had a truck winner.

Today, the GMT900-platformed Silverado IS a winner … an award winner, according to both the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and “Motor Trend”, which both named the 2007 Silverado family of vehicles “Truck of the Year.”

The Silverado name first appeared in 1975, as a high-level trim designation that lasted until 1988, but since the turn-of-the-century, the Silverado, the tough twin of the GMC Sierra, that was built “Like a Rock,” has turned America into its country with a new “Our County. Our Truck.” ad campaign.

That campaign helps keep the Silverado as the No. 2 truck in the United States in terms of total sales, while full-size pickups continue to be the most popular vehicles with American buyers.

After a complete redesign that has the Silverado more athletic-looking with angular lines, the old notion that Chevy trucks are boxy has been dismissed. A new grille and headlight design and a much tighter fit between the cab and bed make this an impressive, quality-built vehicle. Based on the Chevy Tahoe, the new Silverado is still classic truck, but now it shows off smooth architecture, solid handling, good power, four-wheel-drive and a towing capacity of 8500 lbs.

Inside, while my test truck was billed as a work truck, it is lavish for a pure work vehicle. It is cavernously roomy inside with 41.2 inches of headroom in front and 40.5 inches in row two. Legroom is 41.3 in front and 38.7 behind, and shoulder room is 65.2 in the front seats and 65.1 in the rear. You do lose a bit of bed cargo area, but with the 6-foot-6-inch bed option, you aren’t losing much, and you are gaining a spacious vehicle that is at home on the job site and equally at ease transporting family, friends or business associates to work, to play or to dinner in comfort and style.

Outside, the Silverado Z71 is 230.2 inches long, 80 inches wide and 73.7 inches high with a 32.4-inch step-in height. All that room sits atop a frame with a 143.5-inch wheelbase.

Under the hood is a massive 6.0-liter V-8 engine with active fuel management technology that is EPA rated at 15mpg/city and 19mpg/hwy on regular, unleaded fuel. The base vehicle comes standard with a respectable 295-hp 4.8-liter V-8 that offers 305 lbs.-ft. of torque, but a $1695 upgrade to the Max package gets you the powerful 6.0-liter Vortec that thunders out 367hp and 375 lbs.-ft. of torque. That increased power makes the Z71 speedier than any big truck is expected to be, and I soared from zero to 60 in a tick under eight seconds, with a quarter-mile accomplished in about 16-flat.

I tested this beefy, brawny beauty just as the Eastern sector was hit with snow, ice and freezing rain. On a trip from Pennsylvania, across Maryland to the Washington, DC Auto Show and back to Central Penn, I averaged 15.3 mpg and found the tight suspension to be confident and sure, smoothing out ruts and bumps. Engineering has also reduced road noise generally associated with large trucks, to create an interior that sounds car-silent. Road vibration is less than one would expect and while oversteer and high-speed wiggle were present at times, the solid 5280-pound Silverado achieved high speeds without the sensation of traveling faster than 35mph.

On the road, this truck handles like a truck, but it bites in hard on pavement and on the dirt in turns and in quick starts. It’s center of gravity might be a trifle high and you get some wobble in s-curves, but with some extra weight in the bed – and that’s what this working truck is for – you are low and steady.

I also checked out the towing capabilities and found that the stated 8500-lb. towing capacity is an accurate appraisal of its character.

My Graystone Metallic test vehicle had a Light Titanium and Ebony color scheme in the cabin came with a base price of $31,615, while the price as tested was $38,802.

Standard items in this massive and good-looking truck include a 4-speed automatic transmission, change-on-the-fly four-wheel drive, with an automatic 2-to-4-wheel drive adjustment, multi-leaf rear springs suspension and coil-over shock front suspension, a safe and sturdy boxed frame design, with hydroformed technology, 145-amp alternator and power rack and pinion steering.

Safety items that come standard include 4-wheel anti-lock brake system with dynamic rear proportioning, dual-stage driver and front passenger air bags with passenger sensing system, daytime running lamps, auto headlamps with flash-to-pass, Stabilitrak stability control, spare tire lock, tire pressure monitoring system, and the very valuable On-Star safe and sound.

The 2007 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4x4 is a redesign that could become our country’s truck.

 

Visit www.carlisleevents.com for more on the automotive hobby.

MIKE BLAKE, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years.

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