2020 Chevy Silverado 2500 review: For needs, not wants

Towering in excess of every little thing else on the street ain’t all it really is cracked up to be.


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SUVs are not the only at any time-rising cars shoppers are obsessed with — pickup trucks are a section of that fray, much too. But a large-obligation truck, like the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 at the heart of this review, is not a truck you acquire for things like that. This is the pickup you choose up when you have to have to dwell the authentic-offer truck-things daily life, pulling horse trailers or assembling lumber to elevate a full barn. If in the class of your cowboy cosplay, you make a decision you want to move beyond the 1500s and up to this tier of truck with out really needing to, you will be carrying out oneself — and all people all over you on the street — a disservice.

Like

  • Will tow a house
  • Strong common infotainment
  • Commanding driving posture

Never Like

  • Is the dimensions of a house
  • Lacks common capabilities
  • Middling interior

All about that truck things

Equipped with my tester’s six.six-liter V8, which places out 401 horsepower and 464 pound-ft of torque, the Silverado 2500 can pull up to seventeen,400 pounds. Upgrade to the six.six-liter Duramax diesel V8, which places out 445 hp and 910 lb-ft, and that figure will rise to a whopping 35,500 pounds. The to start with time we drove the truck, former critiques editor Jon Wong praised the Duramax’s effortless hauling means, but he pointed out that the six.six-liter gasoline V8 seriously experienced to huff to preserve the rate. As it turns out, GM estimates some 70{d11068cee6a5c14bc1230e191cd2ec553067ecb641ed9b4e647acef6cc316fdd} of purchasers will fall the coin on the diesel, so my tester’s V8 will largely end up with fleet purchasers and not one shoppers, creating this not that large of an problem.

Chevrolet also has a bunch of new tech reinforcing the Silverado HD’s newfound capabilities. Equipped in the suitable way, the Silverado Hd can present up to fifteen different camera angles on the infotainment display, together with an “invisible trailer” mode that stitches camera feeds collectively to present the driver what is actually taking place guiding the trailer by itself. An further trailering app can keep track of tire pressures and lights for trailers or h2o tank concentrations and HVAC for recreational autos.

Big boy

The 2020 Chevy Silverado Hd has existence in spades. It is so freaking large that it can be seen throughout a parking large amount reasonably simply, not that this is an excuse to acquire a truck larger sized than most San Francisco apartments. Put it on the street, and it really is disturbingly larger sized than just about every little thing all over it. Although it really is wonderful to be capable to see through a sea of SUVs and other pickups, the 2500 is so huge that I can see the roofs of those people autos, which means I am simply blotting out the solar (and the street in advance) for anybody in a scaled-down ride.

Driving a thing the dimensions of a house means parking a thing the dimensions of a house, and it really is not quick. My tester is rather bare-bones, coming geared up with a federally mandated backup camera and small else in the way of scratch-preventing tech, so even a thing as uncomplicated as a trip to the grocery retailer gets to be a Herculean work. The Silverado 2500 will not match into parking places very nicely, which means I commit most of my time at the retailer going for walks from the extraordinary again end of the large amount to the entrance door.

If you have to have to open the hood, I hope you introduced a action stool. Even at six ft tall, I can barely see into the engine bay the moment the hood is open, and I have to get for anything at all I can get my palms on to close the darn matter all over again. Obtaining up into the truck by itself is also an exercising, with shorter motorists and passengers creating fantastic use of the a lot of techniques and get handles readily available, like some twisted version of an elementary college playground.

The Silverado 2500’s interior is hit or miss. On the good facet, it really is monstrous, with the crew cab gaining far more than three inches of duration in 2020, and each individual inch of that spaciousness is instantly recognizable — you could host a loved ones get-collectively in this matter. On the damaging facet, Chevrolet barely gave the interior any attention in the truck’s makeover, leaving it with a design and style that appears aged and masses up on mediocre plastics, and the create high quality is not as fantastic as it is on rivals like the Ram 2500. You can, however, fold up the heart console so the to start with row acts as a bench seat, which is a pleasurable contact on decrease trims.

The dynamics of a brick

Supplied the Silverado 2500’s household dimensions, it shouldn’t occur as a shock when I say the matter drives like a house, much too. My tester’s Tailor made trim is just over the extremely-primary WT (Perform Truck) spec, and although uplevel trucks are seemingly comfortable in accordance to my colleagues, this bare-bones setup is a good bit choppier. Bumps develop regular body-on-frame wobbles, and my truck’s twenty-inch wheels do practically nothing to take up or in any other case mitigate on-street nastiness. The steering calls for a full large amount of enter, much too. At no place am I unaware that I am driving a thing the dimensions of two parking areas it feels each individual bit as large as it is.

The six.six-liter gasoline engine is the weaker of the two V8s on present, and even when the truck is unladen, the Silverado 2500 will not particularly hustle. The V8 makes a wonderful small noise as it pushes pounds in excess of pavement, but you don’t get any form of authoritative acceleration you do on Duramax-geared up variants. The 6-pace automated transmission will not endeavor to hide its shifts, as upshifts get there with an obvious thud and downshifts incorporate equally that aforementioned clunk and a waiting time period for every little thing to happen.

The Silverado 2500 appears about as aerodynamic as it is.


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The brake pedal will not encourage a lot self confidence, both. Following a 50 {d11068cee6a5c14bc1230e191cd2ec553067ecb641ed9b4e647acef6cc316fdd}-inch of journey, the pedal firms up immensely, creating smooth modulation a small tricky. My colleagues who’ve towed with the Silverado say the brake pedal feels assured in these conditions, but in daily use it really is not that breathtaking.

But which is kind of the place: None of the over issues as a lot when you’re carrying out authentic-offer perform like towing or hauling. If you only do that the moment each individual 6 months and treat the Silverado 2500 like any other vehicle amongst those people periods, you’re heading to have a bad time.

Strong truck tech

In addition to all the truck-unique tech I touched on when discussing the Silverado 2500’s genuine capabilities, Chevrolet manufactured positive to throw in some of its most up-to-date passenger-vehicle know-how, and you don’t even have to have to shell out the large bucks for it.

Each Silverado Hd arrives with a seven-inch touchscreen operating Chevrolet’s Infotainment three program, a the latest reskin that boosts responsiveness and offers the aesthetics a complete modernization. It is a fantastic program, and it consists of equally Apple CarPlay and Android Automobile, in addition to GM’s optional OnStar 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot. A one USB port is common, which is on the small facet, and it really is the standard ol’ Sort-A port so it will never charge your machine as speedy as a Sort-C port could possibly. Navigation and an 8-inch display are updates on better trims, but the seven-incher will do rather a lot every little thing you have to have it to do.

From there, though, the creature comforts can get a small depressing. For its $forty six,300 beginning cost, my Silverado 2500 tester is depressingly devoid of possibilities. Heck, I don’t even get common steering wheel controls for the radio on my Tailor made trim, and there is certainly a large ol’ blank panel wherever the heated seats must be. I know GM likes to present its shoppers worth by maintaining foundation trims reasonably stripped down, but some of these capabilities are common on cars beginning under $twenty,000. You won’t be able to notify me that all the further price of this truck went into the steel in its frame.

The way GM possibilities go, you won’t be able to seriously tack all the fantastic things onto decrease trims, so you seriously have to shell out to equip this truck like you could possibly any other vehicle. Transfer up to better trims, though, and you get obtain to further basic safety capabilities like parking sensors, rear cross-site visitors alert, a head-up display screen and blind-place checking.

The seven-inch display could possibly glance smaller in a truck this large, but it arrives common on each individual Silverado, and which is a excellent matter.


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How I’d spec it

My tester’s Tailor made trim is the next least expensive on present, and with 4-wheel generate provided, it starts off at $43,600 right before destination. Toss in a few possibilities offers (a custom products bundle and 1 for gooseneck towing), and the cost balloons to $48,420, even with getting rather light-weight on kit. Let’s see what I can cook dinner up alternatively.

Given that I like my cars to feel a small much less sparse, I’ll start out with the LTZ trim, which adds items like keyless entry, heated seats and automated weather manage. The only challenge is that it instantly shoots my cost up to $54,895 ($sixty four,785 with the Duramax diesel V8). The problem deepens when I notice that I can get just about every little thing I want — the even bigger infotainment display, lively and passive basic safety devices, all that fantastic things — but it really is contained in a one $six,805 bundle. So, in order to have a Silverado 2500 geared up with all the tech I want, I’ll be spending $sixty one,seven-hundred just after destination. Yikes.

Down to brass tacks

There are three trucks in the large-obligation area, and they’re all rather comparably able. The Ram Significant Obligation and Ford Tremendous Obligation boast virtually the identical towing ability, so it seriously just boils down to finding the truck that you think appears the finest and contains all the capabilities you’re just after. The Silverado Hd is the only 1 with the “invisible trailer” tech, for instance, so for towing aficionados that could possibly be a recreation changer.

If you really have to have a large-obligation truck, the Silverado 2500 is mighty able, but it really is not with out its downsides in the create-high quality, aesthetics and possibilities departments. If you are only shopping for a truck to use very once in a while (or just generate for the way of living details), I would remarkably advise sticking with light-weight-obligation variants for far more consumer friendliness.