Chevrolet supercharges the Silverado Performance concept
We're currently in a golden age of off-road-ready trucks. Ram has the Power Wagon, Ford the F-150 Raptor, Toyota the Tacoma TRD Pro, and Chevy the Colorado ZR2. But street-oriented performance trucks seem to have vanished altogether. There's no more Ram SRT-10, F-150 Lightning, or to a lesser extent, Tacoma X-Runner. But for this year's SEMA Show, Chevrolet imagined what a modern street truck could look like in the Silverado Performance concept, and it looks quite good.
The best part of the truck is under the hood. Here, the smallest 5.3-liter V8 is thoroughly heated up with an intercooled supercharger based on the unit used on the LT4 engine in the Corvette Z06 and Camaro ZL1. Chevrolet claims it adds over 100 horsepower, which means the 5.3's standard 355 horsepower would jump to at least 455. That would also mean it makes 35 more horsepower than the available 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8. That does present the question of why GM wouldn't have simply supercharged the 6.2-liter, but we applaud the company for considering the potential of more than just the top-spec powertrains. The supercharger isn't the only performance upgrade, either. The engine benefits from the already available cold-air intake and cat-back exhaust. It also features available six-piston front brakes for additional stopping power.
Completing the Silverado Performance package are a host of visual upgrades. The truck is painted in a custom gray with various vinyl graphics scattered about. The front bumper has been changed, the hood given a hood scoop, and smoked lights fitted front and rear. The 22-inch wheels that are currently available received a custom paint job to match the rest of the truck. The interior also sees the inclusion of a custom suede steering wheel and an in-dash data logger. All of these parts are exclusive to this concept truck.
Although neither this truck nor its parts are slated for production at the moment, at the press conference for the truck Chevrolet representatives made a big deal about the company's concepts working their way to production. They reiterated that if something gets a positive reaction, the company will seriously consider offering it. So if you want to see a supercharger kit for 5.3-liter Silverados, or possibly a successor to the old Silverado SS, start telling Chevrolet.
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Chevrolet supercharges the Silverado Performance concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Oct 2017 08:00:00 EDT.
