Matthew DeBord/Insider
- I tested a $62,515 2020 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that featured a 3.0-liter diesel engine.
- The Silverado ranks behind the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-150 in my full-size pickup list, but the diesel motor adds something special to this Chevy truck.
- Towing capacity is respectable, and fuel economy is appealing at nearly 30 mpg on the highway.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Of the top three full-size pickups in the US market, the Chevrolet Silverado has long been last on my list. Driving the diesel version didn't move it up, but it sure did heighten my opinion of the truck.
That list, of course, includes the Ram 1500 and Ford F-150 ahead of Chevy's offering. The Silverado was new for 2019, but I didn't think the pickup's designers and engineers went far enough. Meanwhile, the F-150 retrained its lordly position, and the revamped Ram 1500 was so good that we named it our 2019 Car of the Year.
The Silverado is a good truck, and it's newer than than the mighty F-150, which is slated for a redesign in 2020. But it just hasn't been good enough to pass the other two.
A funny thing happened a few weeks back, however. Chevy loaned me a 2020 Silverado featuring a Z71 off-road package and a 3.0-liter Duramax diesel engine, and it was so good that it made me completely reassess my view of the truck. Read to find out why:
My tester Silverado sported my favorite Chevy pickup-truck paint job: "Cajun Red Tintcoat." The base price was $49,000, but numerous extras took the sticker to $62,515.Matthew DeBord/InsiderI'd already sampled the gas-powered Silverado, redesigned for the 2019 model year.Matthew DeBord/Business InsiderRead why the Silverado lost out to the F-150.
My more recent tester was effectively the same crew-cab pickup, but an LTZ trim package added $6,700 and a Z71 off-road kit tacked on $1,600. In all, my Silverado was more than $10,000 heavier on the price scale than the cheapest of the diesel options.Matthew DeBord/Insider
The real excitement was with the 3.0-liter, inline six-cylinder Duramax turbo-diesel, making 277 horsepower and an impressive 460 foot-pounds of torque. This mill is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.Matthew DeBord/Insider
The Z71 package adds special shocks, protective skid plates, a more sophisticated transfer case for the 4x4, a sturdier air filter, and chunky all-terrain tires. If you're following along at home, the idea is to provide Silverado fans with a viable Ford Raptor alternative.
Owning a diesel means looking for green-nozzle pumps and refilling the urea-injection system (blue cap), which mitigates oil-burner emissions.Matthew DeBord/Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- These are the 8 coolest cars we saw at the 2020 Chicago Auto Show
- This Japanese customization company helps turn the Suzuki Jimny into a miniature version of some of the world's most iconic off-roaders
- I took a new $24,000 Nissan Sentra SV on a first drive to find out if this basic yet stylish sedan is a good deal — here's the verdict
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