Chevrolet Silverado LTZ Toyota Corolla Wagon GX Hybrid

Chevy’s new premium pick-up. By Mark Baker. Photos Sean Willmot Once and a while a car comes into the country which has no fanfare, no marketing push and would barely register on buyer’s radar, except that the vehicle in question is the perfect company v

Chevrolet’s Silverado LTZ comes stacked with tech and spec for 2003. It’s also one of a few ways to enjoy a stock 4WD pickup or SUV with that evocative rumble of a V8. To be specific, 6.2 litres of V8.

Two variants are on offer: the luxuryfocused Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium with standard Z71 package to enhance its all-roading capability, and the new Silverado 1500 ZR2, offering a Ford Raptor-style boost to its all-round driveability.

Uniquely, the LTZ Premium features brightsilver 20-inch alloys with 275/60 Bridgestone Dueler tyres, an all-black, leather-appointed interior, adaptive cruise control, and a fullcolour 15.0-inch head-up display, a rear camera mirror and a bed-view camera.

The Silverado features a four-wheel drive system capable of running in twoor four-wheel drive, or in an automatic all-wheel drive mode suitable for sealed surfaces.

Chevy says LTZ is bigger, but lighter than the outgoing model. It would tow the team and toys Auckland to Wellington without complaint from any of the occupants.

Towing things is likely to be a big driver of sales for LTZ. A 4,500kg braked towing capacity and clever towing software engaged from the driver’s seat are class-leading. Even better, one of the camera modes is ‘hitch view’ for getting towball and trailer together.

Towing and reversing a towed load are made easy with eight cameras offering up to 14 camera views. There’s trailer side blind zone alert and an integrated trailer brake controller with brake gain memory.

Silverado offers technologies like Trailer Sway Control, Hill Start Assist and Auto

Grade Braking. There’s also a segment-first Advanced Trailering System with an in-vehicle trailering app offering customised trailer profiles, predeparture checklists and trailer tyre pressure monitoring.

At 2070mm wide and 1911mm tall, Silverado is 145mm wider and 31mm taller than the new Ford Ranger, and it shows from the outside and inside. Another key number: it’s almost six metres long.

The infotainment screen is 13.4 inches, but looks tiny perched in its matte black housing, and the black buttons on the dashboard are logically laid out.

Door mirrors are truck-sized, and the interior mirror is camera-based.

There’s an inductive (wireless) phone charger in the centre console. Hands-free phone calling is pretty much universal these days, and Silverado LTZ Premium is Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatible.

Chevrolet’s Infotainment three system is on board, and there’s a Bose seven-speaker sound system. The door speakers live behind some on the biggest speaker grilles we have ever seen in a pickup or SUV.

The driver’s information display – what we once may have called the dash – is 12.3 inches wide.

The safety package begins with six airbags - dual-stage frontal airbags for driver and front passenger; seat-mounted side-impact airbags for driver and front passenger; head-curtain airbags for all outboard seating positions.

A key active technology is Chevy’s Stabilitrak electronic stability control system with traction control.

Under the hood is the latest version of Chevy’s Ecotec V8, mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission. Key numbers:

313kw of power, 624Nm of torque. Clever engine management systems – Dynamic Fuel Management – mean it will operate on just two cylinders under a light throttle load to yield an official combined fuel economy figure around 12.2l/100km.

The truck’s transmission is smooth and capable. Ten speeds work hand in hand with that V8 to propel 2.5 tonnes of 4WD pickup.

Grip-wise, the LTZ is hard to disturb in 4A on-road or 4-high offroad. We never had the need to hit 4-Lo and the rear diff is a locker which simply propels the truck forward in low grip situations.

The wellside is huge and has an industry first: the tailgate is powered in both raise and lowering functions. On the LTZ’S well-side, there’s a roll top to keep gear secure.

All things considered, tt an exceptionally pleasant place to spend extensive lengths of time. It will be bought for its ability to tow masses of gear, for its ability to transport five people huge distances in a day, and equally for the experience of sitting behind that big gold bowtie badge.

This is one of those vehicles. The Toyota wagon GX – now with a hybrid powertrain should be front of mind for any organisation wanting a practical workhorse, perfectly proportioned for shrinking city spaces and capable a carrying copious quantities of cargo.

The Corolla wagon has always seemed to be a little behind its hatchback counterpart, especially in design. This comes about through the wagon being a Japanese domestic model, designed in and for Japan.

Toyota New Zealand however, made a strong case for the earlier iteration of the wagon and today, we have the 2023 model which has caught up with the shapely appearance of the hatch.

At one point, an uncharitably minded critic could have called the Corolla wagon a little ‘porky’, but not anymore. It’s sleek, borderline sporty and looks purpose-built and crafted.

What’s more, it handles as its appearance suggests – no, strike that; it handles far better than its appearance suggests – almost a sport-wagon. Hmm, is there a GR model in the wings, TNZ?

Never say never, but for now, the Corolla is the quintessential ‘little’ wagon, which means it has some significant advantages.

It is for example, easy to drive the wagon in town where its compact size works to its advantage or as a long-distance runner, where its extended body makes for a very stable and well-balanced ride.

It can carry more than a Corolla hatchback – actually, a lot more, with 392 litres stacked in behind the back seats and blah blah litres if you fold those back seats down.

And speaking of the back seats, that’s where you’ll find the hybrid battery pack well, if you rummage around under the seats that is. This is where Toyota stashes the lithiumion battery, which is smaller and lighter for the 2023 model to give better electric performance.

Yes, the wagon can operate on pure electricity alone for a little while, but the battery and 70kw/185nm motor work best when they are working with the 1.8 litre petrol engine.

And this is good because it requires drivers to pay attention to what the car is doing.

For example, you can bring the Corolla wagon up to speed using engine and motor, then lift off the accelerator which shuts down the petrol engine, allowing the motor to efficiently maintain speed – even on slight inclines.

So, it’s clever? Yes, very much so. For this generation – the fifth in Toyota’s hybrid system development – the control system has been significantly improved, allowing for smoother transition between petrol and electric power, faster charging ability and quieter operation overall.

It has to be said, this is a workhorse vehicle and as such, frills and frippery should not be expected. That being said, features like smart entry and push button start, climate control air conditioning, eight-inch colour touchscreen infotainment suite for Android Auto connectivity as well as wireless Apple Carplay, voice recognition, and Bluetooth-ery are all in place.

For Company Vehicle readers especially, it is unfortunate that the Toyota Corolla wagon – while we consider it to be an exemplary workhorse for any fleet – does not come with a five-star ANCAP rating, which may limit its acceptance into some fleets.

To explain, this vehicle does not come into Australia and therefore is not tested as a matter of course.

The Corolla wagon has the Toyota Safety Sense package of the five-star hatch, which sets it up well for an ANCAP rating should it ever be tested. In terms of active safety features, the wagon only lacks the rear cross traffic alert and secondary collision braking system of the hatch.

While it lacks one airbag – six against the hatchback’s seven – it does take dynamic guidelines for the reversing camera rather than the static ones of the hatch. Fair trade in our eyes.

If your inhouse fleet policy calls for a five-star ANCAP vehicle, we would suggest the Corolla wagon be awarded a special dispensation as we believe its overall package to be worth considerably more to a New Zealand fleet user.

In terms of its efficiencies, the safety features it does have and the fact that as a driving machine, the Corolla wagon is far – far – better than its humble workhorse nature suggests.