Silverado Ride & Drive Event

[RangerVT]

Well today was an eventful, rainy, cold day for a Ride & Drive, but what other kind of weather are we to expect from Pittsburgh? Anyhow...

Just got back from the All New Silverado Ride & Drive Event where we pit the new 900 pick-up vs. our immediate competition including: F-150, Ram and Titan. After running 2 full road courses with Acceleration, Hard Braking, Large Off-set Speed Bumps, Lower Higher Speed Bumps, Avoidance Lane-Change Manuevers, and Motor Cross-like curves, I was very impressed with the new Silverado!

In terms of Acceleration the Silverado felt more powerful, had better throttle response and really had a great pedal feel. The Titan had the best sounding exhaust/engine sound in a close race (my objective mind wouldn't let me had that trophy over). Even with a Hemi, Dodge wasn't close and Ford's Triton just blew along with it's horrendous engine fan noise.

In the Hard Braking test the Silverado had the least nose-dive and stayed in a straight-line down the strip with excellent stopping distance. I do have to admit that the F-150 "seemed" to do well in terms of distance, but had horrible nose dive. Also, the Ram just about shook itself off its frame trying to maintain control in this test.

During the rest of the tests, the Silverado really separated itself from the Competition. The Titan seemed to perform well but had a lot of body roll through cornering and a slower suspension response rate. Another gripe was the Titan's Steering. Never before has their been a bigger discrepancy than with the Steering response and apparent turning radius. During some cornering, I doubted the Titan would even make the full turn!

The F-150 was even worse in terms of Body Roll. During the majority of the turns I took, passengers had to hold onto the "Panic" handles which was not necessary in the Silverado. The F-150 took the articulating road bumps well, but the suspension seemed to wander upon returning to solid footing, giving a slight "shake" when it came back in touch with the road. Turning radius seemed comparable but the overall handling was soft and instable.

The Dodge Ram performed so horribly it's not even worth mentioning.

Finally, with the help of some professional drivers, the new Silverado was put through its paces using the all-new Stabilitrak with Proactive Roll Avoidance and (not new) G80 Locking Rear Differential. Not only did these two pieces of equipment work beautifully, they impressed everyone on site including the pro drivers themselves!

[Northstar]

Thanks for posting. It sounds like the Silverado is at the top of the class in just about everything.

[AxelTheRed]

Huzzahs are in order.

[CARBIZ]

Anyone who seriously looks at and drives the Silverado, then back to back with any of the other trucks wouldn't even consider the others - unless, of course, they got bogged down in all the BS about hard plastics and gaps in panels (although even then, with the new trucks those are amazing, too.)

In all areas that matter, such as build strength, payload, engine choices and the almighty G80, the Silverado outclasses, outhauls, outpulls, and out performs the rest by a solid margin.

And the sales numbers soundly support that, too.

[RangerVT]

Carbiz I couldn't agree with you more. We even looked at fit and finish (panel gaps, etc.) in comparison and the new Silverado/Sierra win hands down. Their lines are tighters and their feel is better with the interior appointments.

I went into this event with an open mind because I wanted to really take a step back and look at these trucks for what they were, not because of a hyped up event. Even still, I've gotta hand it to GM.... they've done a bang-up job with these new trucks.

[ocnblu]

I hope I can afford one.

[toyoguy]

nice review, makes me question why anyone buys a Ram over the Titan.

[regfootball]

oh, but its not a toyota.

[GMman]

nice review, makes me question why anyone buys a Ram over the Titan.

216941[/snapback]

Because the Ram is a better truck. Hands down.

[DBeaSSt]

Thanks for the review. I sooooo want to justify replacing my 92 Sierra with a new GMT900! But the darned thing just keeps running!

I'm surprised at how poorly the F-150 did. Really quite disappointing.

I also noticed that they tested the Titan but not the Tundra. Gotta wonder why. Or is is just not even worth it?

[FAPTurbo]

Because the Ram is a better truck.  Hands down.

217766[/snapback]

Nah. The Titan is a pretty decent truck. You might be surprised, but I'd take a Titan over a comparable Ram because I like my trucks fairly sturdy.

[GMman]

Nah. The Titan is a pretty decent truck. You might be surprised, but I'd take a Titan over a comparable Ram because I like my trucks fairly sturdy.

217914[/snapback]

I've seen both, driven both and disagree completely. I like everything about the Dodge better than the titan. And I like everything about the GM trucks over the Dodge (except maybe the Cummins). Having GM, Ford, and Dodge to choose from, there's really no reason for the titan to even exist, IMO.

We're all entitled to our opinion.....you can have the titan :wink: .

Edited November 21, 2006 by GMman