2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 First Drive | Edmunds

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2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 First Drive | Edmunds

We drive the new Silverado with its turbo 2.7-liter four-cylinder. Not only does it make 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet of torque, it's one of six engines available in Chevy's full-size pickup.

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gregsfc1

Better article than most, and while it is true that GM is really going to finally step up with some amazing engineering in their 1/2-ton pickups; it is also true that pretty much all auto media writers are letting GM off the hook by not pointing out that GM is greatly overstating and exaggerating the choices that customers will get when they finally bring new technologies to compete with Ford. No there will not be a single buyer of a 1/2-ton Chevy Silverado that will have 6 power train choices in any particular category that they have artificially created to limit their great engineering to only the rich, famous, and not so smart. The maximum choice at any given trim level is three; and, except for the "high feature" category there will be only two choices for any particular trimmed truck. Further, the future customers of their lowest category, which is ironically called "high value" will get very old power train technologies. Value is not offering cheap stuff cheap. Value is offering new and better stuff cheap. This is a long ways from Ford where a customer looking at the most basic truck has a choice of three gas engines; and two of them with their most advanced transmission; and all of them with start-stop. Even the Ford customer that chooses the very cheapest pickup gets an engine all new from 2018 and auto start-stop, and the only power train component that is carry over from older models is the 6-speed transmission. This means that a shopper of an F150 standard cab, 2WD, XL trim with roll-down windows can get a reworked 5.0L V8 with dual fuel injection with a ten speed can purchase a pickup for at or about $29.4K according to MSRP before destination; or a 2.7L twin turbo with a ten speed and auto start-stop and dual fuel injection for a thousand less than that. And if a customer goes from a standard cab short bed to a standard cab long bed, he or she can then have a fourth engine choice, and they'd still be well under $35K; and they'd have Ford's most advanced and most costly power train not counting the PowerStroke. So in this example, a customer of a work truck F150 can have the same power train as the customer that chooses the $50K+ Limited trim or the King Ranch, which are way, way up in price compared to XL. But a Ford customer can get that same exact power train for much, much less. GM, according to their on publication, is not offering anything like this to their customers, and are getting a pass on this from the media.

Not only is "choice" being over stated, but GM is up to their old tricks of using plays on words to make it seem as though they are going to have some competitive advantages over F150 that are not quite whole truths. The full truths are being diverted and we get omitted information. The biggest exaggeration has to do with them comparing the new 2.7L turbo peak performance numbers to Ram and Ford's base engine. That's probably fair versus Ram, because they offer only two engines total, and one of them is not even available yet in their new-designed pickup. But like this writer pointed out, just because you have a different base engine in a higher trim, that doesn't make it a base engine, and therefore, it is deceptive to compare it to the competition's base engine. The new 2.7L turbo is really a second tier engine for them as it will be the standard engine in two trim levels, and both of those trim levels are in the 2nd tier category, which puts it in the fourth and fifth trim level up. Ford also offers their 2nd tier engine as a base at the Lariat level, which is their 3rd level up. The biggest difference between Ford's 2.7 versus GM's 2.7 from a marketing standpoint is that the F150 offers this engine from the bottom up to the 3rd level trim, whereas GM will not make it available except for two trim levels in the middle category. It is also worth mentioning that GM spokespersons have stated that they expect around a 10% uptake of this new turbo, not a large share of the lineup as the writer suggest that it might. I think what you'll see with Chevy and GMC is that most customers will step up to the 5.3L V8 with Dynamic Fuel Management and 8-speed transmission, as the premium will likely be fairly low versus the standard 2.7L turbo, and this is why they are guessing 10%. Compare this expected uptake to Ford's 2.7 Ecoboost. It's their number one choice in a power train. A second problem with GM's comparison is how they are stating that it will be about 100 pounds lighter than Ford's Ecoboost. While that is technically true, one must realize that Ford built their small turbo partly out of composite graphite iron, and that engine is 100 pounds or so heavier than even their own base engine, which is a V6. So GM makes it seem as though this new turbo saves about 100 pounds beyond any pickup truck engine, but in fact, is going to weigh about what a naturally-aspired V6 weighs from Ford or Ram. So basically, they compare it to Ford and Ram's base engine when it's advantageous to do so, and compare it to Ford's twin turbo when it suits them, and they shouldn't have it both ways without being called out for doing so.


I own a F150, but I am not anti GM. I may be biased, but I'm not being biased in this case. I actually want GM to come up and really compete with Ford with some really modern choices for all customers. Like many people, I'm very stoked about some of their upcoming products. They will have the next generation cylinder deactivation available. No one else will have this. They will step up like Ford did and give customers a choice in a gas-powered, turbo engine, and it looks to have been fantastically engineered. It will be the only one that combines both downsize turbo charging and cylinder deactivation. They will, like Ford have a ten speed transmission available. They like Ford and eventually Ram will have auto start-stop. And they will have the latest and greatest 3.0 diesel that is being designed and built right here in the U.S. specifically for these two trucks offered by GM. It will almost certainly be the best diesel, most modern diesel, and most likely the cheapest diesel and cost reduction is very important for a diesel offering. GM will likely eventually have the FE title for both a gas engine and a diesel engine and with little if any performance sacrifice and a very modern, well designed pickup truck. However, if GM is going to be so greedy as not to give value to their customers with all these great products available, then I'll have to say that it is a waste of some great engineering work, because Ford gave me their best work for a good price. And GM, as usual, will not.