ROAD TEST 2015 Chevrolet Silverado

By Patrick Morgan - August 12, 2015

Coming from the world of sports cars, my first long term experience with a truck was a bit eye opening. To be honest, I “got it.” I now fully understand why people enjoy their truck that much. Actually, in terms that are easy to translate from sports cars to trucks, I can respect something that performs its designed task, and does so very well. Sometimes that task is high lateral G loads with a car, and other times, high payloads with a truck.

The Silverado I had for a week was optioned as a Double Cab with standard 6’6 box, motivated by the ample 5.3L EcoTec V8. Speaking of that engine, I felt it to be plenty powerful at 355 horsepower, decently economical with my average of 19 MPG, and mated quite well to the Hydra-Matic 6-speed automatic. For the dry sunny days that spanned my time with the truck, it’s 2WD was fine, but I can see optioning for 4wd given Chicago’s reputation for snow.

On the outside, Chevy’s signature bow tie emblem is shrouded in a two-part grille, differentiated in this trim by chrome accents. Chrome also adorns the side mirrors, as well as the door handles which sit in line with the waistline of the truck. Standing proudly on 20 inch rims, the big Chevy certainly looks the part.

On the inside, Chevy’s Double Cab has comfortable seating, with a folding center arm rest up front for three abreast seating on the front bench. When that folding arm rest is down, it holds USB and Aux inputs for your tunes, a trio of cup holders, as well as an extra 12v outlet for things that need to be charged. Seating in the rear is three across as well, with the ability to have the seat bottom cushion fold up and backwards for a wide open loading area behind the seats if you desire.

Red needles on a black face lay ahead of you in the instrument cluster, with white lettering making it very easy to read. Critical information such as voltage and oil pressure are in a top row of four smaller dials that also include fuel level and coolant temperature. Below them, the predominant dials of speedometer and tachometer flank a central LCD screen which has various other information that can be pulled up, including transmission fluid temperature for when a heavier load is in tow.

Radio and entertainment systems on this particular Silverado were of the more cost-conscious variety, with only a tiny LCD screen as a display. There were no steering wheel controls for the radio either, but higher trim levels can accommodate that need if your right thumb feels the need to press buttons. Even so, this lower option radio offered AM, FM, XM, CD, Aux, and Bluetooth compatibility, so I never felt like I was left without options for playing music. Sound was on the better side of ‘acceptable,’ and the only gripe I had was with the Bluetooth connection. Occasionally when starting the truck, the Bluetooth would struggle to re-connect, requiring me to manually turn my Bluetooth off/on for the devices to recognize each other.

Pay loads are accommodated quite readily by the 6’6 box, as an entire set of laundry room cabinets were able to fit in the back of the truck after judicious use of skills honed by hours of playing Tetris. The rear bumper has built in steps up to the tail gate, which came in very handy and were put to use often for getting in and out of the bed while loading. Loading and unloading was definitely more of an exercise on my part as I was miles away from reaching the Silverado’s 1,870 lb payload rating. I may have only had the truck for a week, and might have only skimmed the surface of its ability to do truck-stuff like hauling, but I already know that I can use one in my life.