Edmunds' Full Test: 2007 Chevrolet Silverado

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Honestly their nitpicks are a little annoying such as the Vortec Max naming but overall, they liked the truck. I think the most impressive thing I read besides the hp and torque #'s which we all knew already was that it recorded an interior sound level of 65.2 decibles, more quiet than an Audi A6. Nice job there.

The longer braking distance is slightly disappointing but we'll have to wait for other publisher's braking tests to see if the results are consistent. The looks are slowly growing on me more every time I see it, and I hope it does well in Edmunds' long-term fleet.

[caddycruiser]

Terrific first review, and their nit-picks are spot on.

The 4-speed still can't, regardless of tuning, get the best out of the engine power, but that will eventually be remedied. But that's talked about enough. And then little things like the hard armrests and odd driver offset are very minor, and not many will probably even notice.

I'm still not overly hot on the look, but these trucks have undoubtedly improved far and beyond what the last gen was (and they still aren't too shabby themselves). The increased body/frame rigidity, revised suspension, and interiors are the 3 keys that made the biggest improvements, no doubt.

[BigPontiac]

Interesting about the braking as the VortecMax package gets rear wheels disc brakes vs. the rest of the Silverados have rear drums...

I still can't believe that they won't offer the 6-speed auto until MY2009. Can anyone confirm that's true???

[Drew Dowdell]

I find it interesting that they used a different flip seat setup in the Silverado than they did in the Avalanche. The Avalanche's work well and leave you with a level load surface.

Save some engineering dollars here GM.

[caddycruiser]

I find it interesting that they used a different flip seat setup in the Silverado than they did in the Avalanche. The Avalanche's work well and leave you with a level load surface.

Save some engineering dollars here GM.

213869[/snapback]

Good point. Having owned an Avalanche, the only thing I can think of is that there might not be as much space overall in the back seat of these crew cabs, so you'd always have to make sure to push the front seats up so it would fold down properly--we already have to do that with both the Av and the Suburban, at least a bit. With the way it is in the trucks, no worries about moving the fronts, just flip it up and you're done...even if the loading space is a little odder then.

[FAPTurbo]

The fact that they are picking on the badge means that this is a great truck.

The VortecMAX should have the six-speed auto, but I think the four-speed is just fine for the 5.3L.

[BigPontiac]

I find it interesting that they used a different flip seat setup in the Silverado than they did in the Avalanche. The Avalanche's work well and leave you with a level load surface.

Save some engineering dollars here GM.

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The new truck evolves the rear seat design of the current trucks. From the brochure pictures, the extended cab and crew cab models appear to share the same rear seat design, but the bottom cushion on the crew cab is longer. Also, the new trucks (other than the WT models) have a 60/40 split folding rear seat. Based on the volume of combined Silverado and Sierra sales, the Avalanche's design is likely in the minority. The old model also had an optional tool box that would fit under the seat when it was being used, which likely will show up for the new trucks too...the seat flips up to access the box.

The Avalanche back seat folds the opposite way so it can extend the bed. While this creates a flat surface, it's also several inches higher than the open floor of the pickup. As my dog rides in the back of the extended cab of my truck, I'd hate that setup. I much prefer the current approach with a husky liner over the floor. I rarely use the rear seat in my extended cab, but the floor space is equal to the "way back" space of my old 2000 Nissan Pathfinder.

Edited November 10, 2006 by BigPontiac

[mcseanerson]

The way I see it the 4sp auto is the workhorse of GM with all the bugs worked out and proven reliability. Just the sort of thing a work truck needs. What it's still doing in cobalts, hhrs, and epsilons I don't know. You want a 6sp auto in a truck with a big engine buy GMC.