Rugged Silverado ready for anything
CHEVROLET » a General Motors company — is known for its truck line.
With rugged usability and strong resale value, GM has seriously demonstrated a way to drive marketing and sales, while providing great value to the consumer.
Enter the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty “HD” — a main driver with multiple trim levels, historically great motor and transmission packages, and boundless options. The 2500HD was mainly designed for work uses, ideal for construction crew workers or foremen who needed on-the-job functionality without compromising comfort, towing capacity, seating space or most importantly, reliability. The 2500HD meets all those markers but is also purchased for those in need of towing campers or fifth-wheel trailers for the on-the-go or working-type customer.
It’s all about the numbers, so let’s review them: A box length of 82.25 inches on their standard bed, seating for six, a 10-inch ground clearance, sitting almost 80 inches tall, and weighing in at just over 10,000 lbs.
Our test vehicle featured the 6.6L Duramax Turbo Diesel engine paired with a 10-Speed Allison transmission, producing 445 hp and an astounding 910 lb.-ft. of torque. Now we’re talking!
Our tester, a NorthSky Blue Metallic model with LTZ trim, came with a spacious crew cab, 4-wheel drive, the Z71 off-road package, fifth-wheel Gooseneck package and an engine brake. You can check every box on the build sheet which will bring you to $80G, but with all of the important options it came in at just over $73G — $10,000 alone was the Duramax. If you are unfamiliar with the term engine brake, it uses the engine’s cylinders to aid in slowing down the vehicle while not using the brake, making a louder exhaust noise in the process. Pretty cool if you want to mock a tractor-trailer driver.
If you remember, we recently reviewed the Ford F-250 Super Duty and Dodge 2500HD Limited. Now that we have reviewed all of the American trucks in this category, we feel the Dodge was the most luxurious and comfortable, the Ford was the largest and most powerful, yet the Chevrolet was the most practical. At the end of the day, how can you go wrong with practicality? It’s an easy sell to your checkbook with all of the added usability you get for the buck, and the cheapest of our testers.
Mountainous terrain, offroad capability and everyday work-truck usage are just a few of the great qualities in the Silverado 2500HD.
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Chevy Silverado 2500HD
MSRP: $53,300 As tested: $72,770 MPG: 17.8 mpg/diesel as tested