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2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.Over the past century, they’ve built planes, trains and automobiles, but the people at General Motors always save their best for their full-size trucks. While the emphasis lately has been on small cars and advanced alternative propulsion technologies, GM’s 2011 heavy-duty pickups seem to prove this rule true once again.At first glance, it’s difficult to tell that much has changed from last year. The 2011 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 pickups look almost identical to the 2010 trucks, although sharp-eyed GM truck spotters will be alerted by the larger air intake in the front bumper, new hoods and grilles and larger optional wheels. Underneath, however, these rigs are virtually all-new, with fully boxed frames, re-engineered suspensions and the most powerful clean-diesel engine available in the segment.But it’s when you get behind the wheel and work the trucks that it quickly becomes apparent that GM’s engineers and product planners have delivered the goods, as we found out last week driving the trucks in the hill country of Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD LTZ Crew Cab DRW With 6.6-Liter Duramax Diesel V-8 ($58,900) towing a 9,000-pound campeWaiting for us at Baltimore/Washington International Airport was a Chevy Silverado 3500 crew cab with a 9,000-pound, 35-foot camper that was conventionally hitched for a 135-mile road trip to the hotel where we’d stay for the rest of GM’s HD ride and drive program.The strongest HD pickups are 3500-class trucks. These 1-ton trucks add extra leaf springs compared with lighter trucks and often come configured with dual rear wheels to handle the heaviest trailers and payloads with maximum stability. In the Silverado’s case, it’s rated to tow up to 21,700 pounds and haul up to 6,635 pounds.

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.Only the 1.5-ton Ford F-450 pickup can out-tow the Silverado 3500, pulling trailers up to 24,400 pounds, but its maximum payload is only 4,920 pounds. The Silverado’s 13,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (the maximum allowable weight for a fully loaded pickup, including passengers, cargo and trailer tongue weight) is only 50 pounds less than the F-450’s 13,050 pound GVWR.The Silverado’s big numbers wouldn’t be possible without its 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 diesel engine that makes 397 horsepower (at 3,000 rpm) and 765 pounds-feet of torque (at 1,600 rpm).

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.Turn the Silverado’s wheel, though, and you immediately start to appreciate all of the changes you can’t see. There’s a new recirculating ball steering box with a welcome 16-1 turn ratio, down from 24-1 in the 2010 Silverado 3500.It’s the best steering we’ve ever experienced in GM’s HD trucks and compared with other heavies, and it’s near perfect. The feel is firm but not too heavy, and there’s less play than we’ve felt in the 2011 Super Duty, which also features new steering gears and improved on-road feel.As we pulled out of a parking lot and onto the freeway, we immediately noticed another change. Even though the Duramax is stronger than ever, it feels like a mellower engine because power is evenly available throughout the accelerator pedal’s full stroke. In a separate conversation about the new pedal feel, Gary Arvan, chief engineer for the Duramax diesel, said we noticed the new throttle strategy that GM is using.

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD LT Crew Cab DRW With 6.6-Liter Duramax Diesel V-8 ($50,715) towing about 10,000 pounds plus a 2,000-pound payloadThe next morning, we set off in a Silverado 3500 dually again, this time towing a Case Skid Steer Loader hooked to the truck with a pintle hitch plus 2,000 pounds of steel ballast in the cargo box.Without the large frontal area of a camper aerodynamically dragging the truck, we got a better feel for the power of the Duramax. The truck seemed much more responsive, even lugging an extra 3,000 pounds or so of weight. Having all of that weight in the bed also improved the ride quality by compressing the tall spring packs over the rear wheels but didn’t sag.Most of our driving was on backcountry two-lane roads and through small towns, so maneuverability was the priority over brute strength.We exercised the steering much more than we had on the highway and again found it to be very consistent throughout full turns, especially going around tight bends and hairpin curves. The truck always tracked where we expected it to go without requiring any corrective efforts. And the more we steered the Silverado, the more we appreciated its lower steering ratio compared with last year’s truck, and it helped reduce fatigue when the roads became really twisty and tight on the last several miles of the driving leg.

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD.New for 2011 is an electrically controlled fan that can vary airflow depending on how much cooling is needed. It runs at the equivalent of up to 25 hp, but it ran at its highest speed only once during some particularly demanding turns heading uphill, where we were constantly on and off the accelerator. Other times we could hear it, but the noise was much less intrusive or distracting.Instead of the luxurious interior of the LTZ, our LT had the “pure pickup” insides. There were fit and finish issues with the stereo head unit and glove box that shouldn’t exist in a $50,000 pickup truck. The cloth seats should be improved to provide better lower back and hind support.

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