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2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Work Truck First Test

Why dont they just make a basic truck anymore? the rancher asked me. I was in northwestern Arizona on vacation, but it couldve been anywhere, anytime. Its a question Ive answered a hundred times and an example of why I usually dont mention where I work unless someone specifically asks. It always ends up dominating the conversation. The simple answer is that the majority of truck buyers have decided they want a minimum level of modern convenience. Truck enthusiasts wax poetic about crank windows, manual transmissions, and push-button AM/FM radios, but if thats what actually sold, theyd still be available. On the face of it, youd think manual windows would be cheaper than powered units, but thats only true for the physical parts. When an automaker is ordering a small batch of parts, thousands instead of hundreds of thousands, the price goes up because its a special order. Beyond that, its an extra bin of parts that has to be transported to the factory and integrated into the assembly line, and which line workers have to be trained to install and doors have to be designed to accommodate. Put all those costs together, and its considerably cheaper to just make power windows standard. Its the same reason manual transmissions are disappearing. That said, basic new trucks do still exist. We just call them work trucks now. Yes, they come with power windows, automatic transmissions, and color infotainment screens, but theyre otherwise as close to a blunt instrument as youre going to get with zero miles on the odometer. Whereas others dress them up with names like Tradesman or XL, Chevrolet just calls it what it is; the WT in 2019 Chevrolet Silverado WT stands for work truck. Dont assume work truck means dirt cheap, though. Todays trucks get pricey quickly, even the base models. Although its possible to get a single-cab Silverado WT for just under $30,000 with zero options, youre likely to pay significantly more. Our tester, the kind of crew-cab long-bed youd see in the fleet lot, rings in at about $36,500 to start and nearly $39,800 with all-wheel drive. (Note: Because the transfer case on our tester doesnt have a low-range gear, we refer to it as all-wheel drive rather than four-wheel drive. True four-wheel drive with low range is available on other Silverado models.) Our truck has a couple options on it, like the Work Truck Convenience Package that includes niceties like cruise control, keyless entry, a power-locking tailgate with remote release, heated power mirrors, and a rear window defogger. Fancy stuff. We also picked up rubber all-weather floors for maximum durability. Plus, it looks better than any other Silverado, with its black, Chevrolet-stamped grille and steelies. Total cost out the door: $41,125. Those rubber mats cover the smallest transmission hump in the segment, which means the person stuck in the middle of the front bench seat has somewhere to put their legs (though its too bad the rear floor isnt flat like the competition). That and the standard 7.0-inch, color infotainment screen preloaded with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are the highlights of an interior Christian Seabaugh called a rolling OSHA violation. Hang on. Work trucks are supposed to have basic interiors, obviously. Theres a difference between basic and bad, though, and Chevrolet came down on the side of bad. Actual park benches would make more comfortable seats than the benches Chevrolet installed in this truck. We feel sorry for any tradesperson who spends their entire shift behind the wheel of one of these. Pair the uncomfortable, unsupportive drivers seat with a steering wheel so close to the dash that even I, with my short legs, have to get up on top of the pedals to reach it comfortably, and you have a match made in a chiropractors dream. Manual seats are fine, but these only slide and recline. You cant raise or lower them, a problem for shorter drivers because the dash is very tall and the seat is so low even 6-foot Miguel Cortina complained about it. A comfortable driving position simply does not exist. Resigned to that, you start looking around and seeing what else you dont get. Namely: storage. Unlike work trucks from Ford and Ram , theres nowhere to put anything in the Silverado WT. Theres no storage under the front middle seat, no storage in the front armrest when the middle seat isnt in use, no bins in the rear floor like in a Ram, no extra pop-out cupholders on the floor between the front seats like in a Ford, just a pair of dinky glove boxes barely big enough for more than one pair of gloves. The cost-cutting doesnt get any better from there. One USB port for six passengers, all of whom will have cell phones they want to charge at the end of a shift, is behind the times. Taking out the steering wheel buttons and making you reach through the steering wheel rim to turn a little knob to change screens is ridiculous. Spending money on a fancy infotainment screen and saving it on speakers with all the fidelity of an 80s boom box makes no sense. If this were simply the way work truck interiors are, it would be one thing, but when Ford and Ram work trucks come standard with considerably nicer interiors, it just makes Chevy look cheap. That would be fine if it was cheaper than the other trucks, but it isnt. Instead, as Seabaugh put it, Its a middle finger to the working stiffs wholl have this truck forced on them by penny-pinching fleet managers. The good news is the Silverado WT excels at the one thing its supposed to: work. Everything bad about the interior is offset by the bed, which does more than any competitor straight off the dealer lot. The extra payload space is obvious to the naked eye. The inside of the box is so wide, I can lie down sideways in the bed without bending my neck (Im 5-foot-9). At the corners are three times as many tie-downs as any other truck on the market, making it easier than ever to secure a load. Likewise, the standard bumper corner steps and handholds make climbing in and out a breeze no matter whats in the bed, on the hitch, or hanging out the tailgate. The power-locking, remote-opening, soft-open tailgate (part of the convenience package) isnt a must-have, but you appreciate having it every time you use it. Allowing the Silverado WT to make use of all that hauling capability is a tried-and-true 4.3-liter pushrod V-6 with all the torque Fords and Rams base engines are missing, and then some. It doesnt look like an earth-shattering difference on paper, but the Silverado WT gets up and moves with the slightest touch of the throttle, empty or loaded. Thats great for towing and hauling, because the engine barely notices the difference. If we could just get the transmission to pay attention, wed really have something. Alas, it leans on the engine to get everything done with torque rather than just downshifting, and when it does drop a gear, it starts hunting back and forth between the low gear it needs and the higher, more fuel-efficient gear it wants. Tow/Haul mode helps, but it isnt a silver bullet. Whatever the mode, its all backed up by brakes that feel stronger than the truck even needs, inspiring plenty of confidence when towing or hauling. It shows in the numbers. The Silverado WT needs a respectable 7.2 seconds to get to 60 mph and does a 15.6-second quarter mile at 88.7 mph, quicker than a base model Ford or Ram. It outgrips those trucks, too, pulling 0.77 average lateral g on the skidpad and running a 28.0-second lap of the figure eight at 0.62 average lateral g. Braking is surprisingly longer than the Ford or Ram, stopping from 60 mph in 126 feet. Just goes to show a good brake pedal doesnt always mean more stopping power. That performance, though, comes at a cost. At 15/20/17 mpg city/highway/combined, its enough to make a fleet manager run screaming off the lot. The good news is, it actually gets much better fuel economy, at least when its not loaded. Our Real MPG team recorded 17.6/25/20.3 mpg city/highway/combined, making it almost as good as a Ford or Ram work trucks EPA-estimated fuel efficiency. The bad news is, the Ford and Ram work trucks outperform their EPA numbers, too. Last but not least, theres the simple matter of how the Silverado WT handles itself with and without a load. Just driving to the job site, it drives like a truck. The ride is a bit brittle at times and bouncy at other times, but thats the trade you make for payload and towing capacity. Unlike other trucks, though, everything isnt automatically better when you put weight in the bed. Although weight irons out the brittleness, it exacerbates the bounciness so the rear end heaves up and down over the slightest bumps. At the end of the day, the Silverado WT is the kind of work truck you need when you just need to get stuff done. Its not comfortable, its not efficient, it doesnt drive that great, but its got it where it counts. Between the torque and the do-anything bed, the Silverado WT does exactly what its advertised to do and nothing more. 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 44 (WT Crew) POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT Front-engine, AWD ENGINE TYPE 90-deg V-6, alum block/heads VALVETRAIN OHV, 2 valves/cyl DISPLACEMENT 262.4 cu in/4,301 cc COMPRESSION RATIO 11.0:1 POWER (SAE NET) 285 hp @ 5,300 rpm* TORQUE (SAE NET) 305 lb-ft @ 3,900 rpm* REDLINE 5,700 rpm WEIGHT TO POWER 17.5 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 6-speed automatic AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE/LOW RATIO 3.42:1/2.29:1/- SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar; live axle, leaf springs STEERING RATIO 15.2:1 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 3.1 BRAKES, F; R 13.5-in vented disc; 14.1-in vented disc, ABS WHEELS 8.0 x 17-in steel TIRES 255/70R17 112S (M+S) General Grabber HTS DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE 157.0 in TRACK, F/R 68.9/68.3 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 241.2 x 81.2 x 75.4 in TURNING CIRCLE 49.5 ft CURB WEIGHT 4,994 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 59/41% SEATING CAPACITY 6 HEADROOM, F/R 43.0/40.1 in LEGROOM, F/R 44.5/43.4 in SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 66.0/65.2 in CARGO VOLUME, INTERIOR 48.9 cu ft PICKUP BOX L x W x H 79.4 x 71.4 x 22.0 in PICKUP BOX VOLUME 72.0 cu ft WIDTH BET WHEELHOUSES 50.6 in PAYLOAD CAPACITY 2,006 lb TOWING CAPACITY SAE: 7,600 lb / VIN: 7,656 lb TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 2.4 sec 0-40 3.7 0-50 5.3 0-60 (PAYLOAD) TOWING** 7.2 (8.6) 13.0 0-70 9.8 0-80 12.8 0-90 16.0 PASSING, 45-65 MPH 3.9 QUARTER MILE 15.6 sec @ 88.7 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 126 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.77 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 28.0 sec @ 0.62 g (avg) TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH 1,500 rpm CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE $39,695 PRICE AS TESTED $41,115 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/Yes AIRBAGS 6: Dual front, front side, f/r curtain BASIC WARRANTY 3 yrs/36,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 5 yrs/60,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 5 yrs/60,000 miles FUEL CAPACITY 24.0 gal REAL MPG, CITY/HWY/COMB 17.6/25.0/20.3 mpg EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON 15/20/17 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 225/169 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 1.15 lb/mile RECOMMENDED FUEL Unleaded regular *SAE Certified **Payload: 722 lbs; Towing: 3,398 lbs The post 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Work Truck First Test appeared first on Motortrend .

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/silverado-1500/2019/2019-chevrolet-silverado-1500-work-truck-first-test-review/

 

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