With comically awkward timing, the up to date 3.7-tonne, 6.6-litre diesel-guzzling V8 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD has arrived.
It follows the Albanese authorities’s proposed new car emissions requirements – incentivising automobile manufacturers to supply Australians extra low- and zero-emissions automobiles, notably EVs.
But right here’s an improved-for-2024, right-hand-drive transformed (in Australia) mega truck with bathtub-sized gas tank, efficiency to haul a cruise ship and thirst to rival a Bali bucks weekend.
However some Aussies want any such truck.
We are able to’t all silently zip round metropolis streets within the newest electrical automobile carrying only a lettuce.
Greater than 1100 Australians purchased the outgoing Silverado 2500 HD (Heavy Obligation) final 12 months. Why? They should tow huge, heavy issues, sometimes over lengthy distances.
Which is the place this American excels. You possibly can hitch on 4500kg, there’s good and protected towing tech, the engine breezes up mountains and the up to date inside’s correctly plush.
GMSV asks $163,000 for a MY24 Silverado HD within the sole high-spec LTZ Premium grade. That’s $30,000 above the smaller Silverado 1500 ZR2, however $10,000 underneath its RAM 2500 Laramie rival.
Functionality-wise, your {dollars} purchase an automated locking rear differential, off-road suspension, easy-use two-speed switch case for low vary adventuring, and good Diesel Exhaust Brake (like a truck’s compression braking), supreme for slowing when driving down a hill with a heavy load. It really works fantastically, the driving force barely needing to the touch the brake.
Little luxuries? There’s full leather-appointed inside, energy, heated, ventilated reminiscence seats, a 13.4-inch infotainment display screen, 12.3-inch digital driver show, wi-fi CarPlay/Android Auto, Bose audio, sunroof and an influence tailgate. That’s hardly slumming it.
The cabin’s huge and also you sit trucker-like excessive. The RHD conversion feels factory-good with no dodgy alignment or rattles, and solely the display screen’s shortcut buttons being too distant from the driving force betray its LHD origins.
The column shift gear change is a obvious let-down: it’s too clunky and I usually selected the fallacious gear. There are not any paddle shifters both; you need to use fiddly buttons on a too-plastic shift stalk.
You can camp on this double cab’s rear seating space. Head and legroom are huge (though reclining seats would enhance issues additional), there’s air flow and USB ports, plus huge under-seat and even in-seat storage.
The Silverado HD’s new grille, bumpers, C-shaped LED headlights and 20-inch black alloys add visible clout, however the true get together’s underneath the imposing eye-level bonnet vent.
Not like petrol-powered 1500s, the 2500 HDs pack diesel engines.
For the Silverado, its Duramax 6.6-litre V8’s figures have jumped 18kW and 88Nm to a ridiculous 350kW and 1322Nm. Such torque may flip tides.
Fireplace it up and there’s a removed from refined rumble. It roars into motion, launching this 3762kg brute ahead with crushing pressure.
The ten-speed auto gearbox easily flies via cogs, holding revs sensibly in verify. The low-speed journey’s a bit jittery with no load behind, but it surely’s totally majestic on the freeway.
The V8 barely makes a peep and luxury ranges are extraordinary.
In fact it’s a nightmare on the town and on tight roads. You want six parking areas to your self, a footie discipline to show, and it’s simpler to go over roundabouts than via them.
Which is why you need to solely purchase this HD if you happen to tow. We hitched up a 2.6-tonne caravan, utilizing myriad cameras to effortlessly line it up.
The van made no distinction to the engine’s capability to effortlessly haul, however our unladen 14.3L/100km financial system climbed considerably, in the end averaging 16.5L/100km.
Because of unbiased entrance suspension, there’s cheap entrance finish steering response and suspension journey, however don’t ever neglect this can be a truck. It rewards clean, light inputs and early braking; adhere to those and it feels measured and protected, backed up by core driver help tech equivalent to blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert.
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My favorite characteristic is its “clear trailer”, the place your van seems see-through within the centre display screen. It generates an AI picture because of 14 distinctive digital camera views (together with one on high of the trailer), massively boosting confidence and security when towing or reversing.
We sampled a quick off-road course, and whereas bumps have been effectively managed, the 2500 HD’s ludicrous measurement – it’s a metre longer than a Ford Ranger – made skinny trails nerve-racking to navigate. Once more, cameras save the day.
The bathtub with spray-in boot liner’s over two-metres lengthy (500mm greater than a HiLux), has 12 fastened tie-downs and a payload of 733kg. Stingily, you need to pay extra for a tonneau cowl.
VERDICT
The possession prices are daunting and it’s not right here to save lots of the planet, however this huge truck shines with herculean functionality and King of the Street consolation and enjoyable.
Three and a half stars
CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2500 HD
PRICE: $163,000 plus on-roads
ENGINE: 6.6-litre V8 turbo-diesel, 350kW/1322Nm
THIRST: Not accessible (14.3L/100km as examined)
WARRANTY/SERVICE: Three years/100,000 km, approx. $2200 for 3
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SAFETY: Six airbags, low pace auto emergency braking, adaptive cruise management, head-up show, lane-change and blind-spot alert, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert,
TOWING/PAYLOAD: 4.5 tonnes, 733kg
SPARE: Full measurement