2021 Silverado 1500 RST: Great Truck, Even Greater Engine
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST is a solid and reliable truck, though the optional 6.2-liter V8 engine is the star of the show.
The Silverado 1500 has been a huge seller for Chevrolet for many years. It has some innovative features for sure, but its calling card is that of a dependable and comfortable truck. And while the world moves fast towards all things electric, the beloved V8 engine is not dead yet. In fact, the Silverado 1500 RST can be optioned with one of the best V8 engines of all-time. The 6.2L V8 in this application cranks out 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. And it sounds damn good while doing it.
Recently the folks over at Car and Driver had a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST equipped with the 6.2-liter and found that it was the star of the truck. The nice thing about this engine is it comes with an upgraded transmission as well. The 5.3-liter V8 option comes with an 8-speed automatic but selecting the 6.2-liter brings a 10-speed auto box. One thing to note is with the continuing chip shortage, the automatic stop/start feature is not available at the moment. That does reduce the EPA mileage estimate by 1 mpg in both the city and highway cycle. However, many folks hate that feature anyway so if you want the 6.2-liter and don’t want automatic stop/start, now is the time to buy.
The 6.2L V8 is going to cost you $2,495 over the cost of the 5.3L V8. There is nothing wrong with the 5.3L. It puts out a perfectly adequate 355 horsepower and will serve you just fine. However, for less than twenty-five hundred bucks you get 65 more horsepower. And 77 more pound-feet of torque. The days of ordering a powerful V8 are numbered, so you may as well go big. In their testing Car and Driver managed to hustle the 5,421-pound Silverado RST to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds. It went on to run a 14 second quarter at 100 mph. To give that some perspective, that is about dead even with a base Corvette from 1995. Sure, that was a long time ago, but these are more than respectable numbers for a pickup.
The rest of the truck is solid, but it is really the big V8 that makes this truck standout. The Silverado RST lost some points for its basic suspension, plain interior and low sound quality stereo. None of these things are a deal breaker but they don’t quite match what some competitors are putting out there nowadays.
The Multi-Flex tailgate that was optioned to this test truck is a clever solution but not quite clever enough. While it can be deployed as a work bench, a bed extender, or steps, it will smack against a trailer hitch in the step position. That seems like something someone at Chevy should have thought to test.
There is a reason why Chevy sells over a half-million Silverado pickup trucks every single year. At the end of the day, they get the job done. And if you order it with that sweetheart 6.2L V8 you are getting one of the best truck engines available today. The rest of the truck is tried and true, but nothing new.
Images: GM
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