2015 Chevrolet Silverado: Real World Review

What is it? 2015 Chevrolet Silverado — two- or four-wheel-drive, two- or four-door, pickup truck.

Price as tested: $35,660 for a 6-passenger Silverado 1500 2WD LS double cab, with the 5.3-liter V-8

Competitors: Ford F-150, Ram 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan

Alternatives: Ford F-250, Ram 2500, Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD if you need more size and power; Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, GMC Canyon if you can manage with less

Pros: Looks good; plenty of passenger space; drives smaller than its size suggests

Cons: As tested, lacked seating adjustability for smaller drivers; expensive to option the 6.2-liter V-8

Would I Buy It With My Own Money? The Silverado is a great truck, but without splurging more on options, the lack of driver’s seat adjustability would be an issue for someone my size.

I don’t have a need for towing or hauling heavy things in my daily life; I’m as far removed from a woodsman as Bear Grylls is from one of the Queen’s red-hatted guards. And I can’t afford a boat. So instead I used the 2015 Silverado Chevy leant me for the week to haul my four children, which is far more taxing anyway if you ask me.

If you are fortunate enough to own a fancy boat or use your truck bed for carrying heavier items, the Silverado can tow up to 9,500 lb. while handling 1,870 lbs. in the bed (the available 6.2-liter V-8 ups its towing capability to 12,000 lbs.) The Silverado’s 5.3-liter V-8 (as tested) is the most efficient V-8 offered in any pickup, with 16-mpg in the city and 23-mpg on the highway.

What’s great about the Silverado is that it drives smaller than it really is. It doesn’t feel intimidating in crowded parking lots, and at speed, the steering feels precise and almost nimble. This offers the impression of driving a larger car as opposed to a light-duty pickup, and yet with the first row bench seating, I could fit my wife and four kids with ease and load the bed with whatever we needed for the day — like 17,541 diapers and approximately two tons of Shopkins (god I hate those things).

While the interior was workman-like (the roughly $3,500 in options over the $31,940 base price derived mainly from exterior niceties and $1,095 for the 355 horsepower V-8), the seating position for the driver was very limiting. For instance, the steering wheel only tilted, with no option to slide it closer (which meant I needed arms like Inspector Gadget). And the seat could not be raised or lowered, so for a 5-foot-8 inch person like myself, vision was only barely acceptable; my wife at 5-foot-4 needed a thick pillow to see over the wheel.

Beyond the seating woes, the rest of the cabin was functional and bare — a perfectly acceptable combination for those that care not about creature comforts. But if you’re looking for an interior with a level of luxury more akin to the price tag, you’re going to need to spend a chunk more change on options.

You might also desire the bigger of the two V-8s — the 420 horsepower 6.2-liter with its 460 lb.-ft. of torque. This will hit 60 mph in 5.7 seconds and can arrive with a new 8-speed automatic transmission, delivering better low-end punch and a more suitable top gear for highway cruising. For that, though, you’ll need to option the Silverado in a trim that’s $10,000 above base, and then fork out an additional $2,495 for the motor. However I didn’t feel short-changed with the 5.3-liter V-8 (I didn’t drive the base 4.3-liter V-6, but I’d guess the $1,095 for the smaller V-8 is the sweet spot within the lineup). The 5.3 pulls well, and while Shopkins and diapers aren’t inherently heavy, you’d probably need a bigger boat for the price jump to make sense.

If you did tick many of the boxes — including four-wheel-drive — before you know it, the total price of a loaded Silverado can easily crest $55,000. The same can be said for much of Chevy’s competition, though, so this shouldn’t deter you from taking a test drive. In fact, the Silverado is about the quietest truck on the market (in part thanks to hydraulic body mounts that isolate the cabin), and with its relatively agile handling, it remains a great option for anyone in the market for a light duty pickup — despite not boasting a buzzworthy aluminum body.

And anyway, within this segment, the question as to which brand of truck you should buy will likely be answered based on loyalty: If you’re a Chevy guy (of decent stature), this Chevy truck will do just fine.

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