Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT: Plush power

But, there's finally a truck available in the American car market that's pretty good at appealing to the car-lover. Chevrolet's Silverado, formerly known as the C/K, is surprisingly car-like with all the appointments of a fire-breathing pickup.

This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to beautiful Iowa with the newly improved Silverado. Iowa is full of long stretches of two-lane highways that lead to other long stretches of two-lane highways. Each highway starts off a quick turn, then there's just flat, straight road for miles until the next sharp turn, then more of the same.

Imagine a wall covered with knotted, latticed Charleston Chews - you have yourself a map of Iowa's roadways. The Silverado's biggest improvement is its on-road prowess, so 1,600 miles of highway driving was a good environment for some testing.

Reilly Brennan Daily Driver

The best thing about the new Silverado might be the interior. It's bigger than the older C/K model, and there's a gigantic collaboration of stuff going on in between the two front seats. A huge center console, big cupholders, and two ample armrests make the front passengers feel like they're in different environments. In fact, my passenger had a hard time hearing me speak during the trip.

My test model was the ultra-luxurious LT trim with the optional Z71 off-road package, which comes shod with plush leather 4-way adjustable seats with electronic lumbar support and two-stage butt warmers, cassette and CD player, the 5.3 liter 16-valve V8, and power everything. Of note should be the 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS standard on every Silverado.

A ride in a truck will never be exactly like a car, and we did get bounced around a bit on the road. However, the ride is softer, and when the bumps are transferred through thick leather seats, they affect you less. Step-in height was lowered an inch for the new Silverado, which makes the experience less big-rig like, but ground clearance is a decent 8.5 inches.

Somewhere before our Silverado's final assembly in Pontiac, Mich., the passenger side weather-stripping was overlooked. It was there, but poorly attached and producing a loud howling sound nears the top of the window. Noise was actually reduced by opening the window at 90 mph. This is one of those sounds that isn't noticeable on a quick test drive at the dealership, but certainly a thorn in your side for a long road trip.

While I do not normally have anything to tow, I did indeed this weekend. Iowa isn't exactly a hot destination unless you're there to pick someone or something up, after all. I picked up a gigantic, 2,500 lb. trailer for a vintage racecar. The length of this beast was about one-and-a-half times a Silverado, and probably a foot wider on each side.

This red behemoth proved a weak challenger for the Silverado's big 5,300 V-8 with toe/haul package, which tops out towing capacity at 8,000 lbs. in the 4x4 model. The toe/haul feature is a button on the end of the shifter. When enacted, it allows towing in overdrive and also makes for smoother shifts and acceleration if you've got a heavy load behind you. I couldn't really notice the difference on shifting, but the ability to drive easily in overdrive is nice for the long haul.

The 4x4 package is quite nice to shift on the fly when conditions can change on the road. There are four settings - 2-wheel drive, auto 4-wheel drive, 4-low, and 4-high (the latter two are not shift-on-the-fly, and require stopping the car and putting the transmission into neutral). Normal driving is rear-wheel (2-wheel), and the auto 4-wheel drive is for variable road conditions like snow or rain. We came across some serious wind and rainstorms on I-80 on Friday, and it was nice to know 4-wheel drive would kick in if we got into trouble.

I've been scratching my head since the new Silverado launched as to why they didn't change the styling that much. The exterior is a bit more rounded, but essentially it's the same boxy design as the old C/K. However, it seems to fit right in between the monster Dodge Ram and the soft Ford F-150. Chevy reports that their customers wanted it that way, but when you redesign a big selling unit like this only every 10 years, why only go halfway? Can you imagine this same model competing against the F-150 and Ram when they're redesigned in a few years?

My roommates were shocked when I told them the sticker price for this thing: More than $32,000. I can't imagine choosing this over a German sedan for the same price, but I guess if you've got the need to tow and haul a bunch of stuff, it's nice to do it in style. Then again, if that were the case I'd wait around for the Lincoln Blackwood for a few more bucks and have the best of both worlds.

- I hope you've enjoyed reading this column all semester. Most people will agree that cars and trucks are far too interesting to be ignored, and I'm thankful I had the chance to be the man to deliver the information to you. I won't be back next s jäemester in this space, but you'll see my fat head and wide tie pop up in car magazines in the coming years. Thanks for reading. You can reach me at brennanr@umich.edu.

Courtesy of Chevrolet The new Chevrolet Silverado replaces the aging C/K, but unfortunately looks suspiciously like its predecessor.

1999 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT

3 Base Price: $30,939

3 Price as Tested: $32,413

3 Engine: 16-valve 5.3 liter V-8

3 Power: 270 hp @ 5000 rpm

3 Performance: 0-60 in 8.8 sec.

3 Torque: 315 @ 4000 rpm

04-15-99