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2004 Chevy Silverado LS1500 4WD Extended Cab Hybrid August 2004We've been driving a lot of pickups lately.After all, it's summer, a.k.a. outdoor work season--time to don Carhartts and denim shirts and get down to roping cattle and throwing hay bails around...Oh, wait, we forgot--that's not who really buys pickups. With nearly 1 in every 5 vehicles sold in the U.S. being a pickup truck, it's simply not true that everyone who drives one works with his or her hands. And if people do, they're just as likely to have calluses from gripping their Montblancs too tightly as they are from wielding chainsaws. Okay, so why the insatiable appetite for trucks in America? Probably because trucks are more macho than ever on the outside and far superior in terms of comfort, features, handling and usability overall. Clamber into the cab of a pickup today, and you'll be struck at how un-macho the materials are, how clean the layout is, how car-like the whole package has become. This isn't by accident. When Ford (nyse: F - news - people ) spent upwards of $2 billion to reinvent the F-150, they did so knowing that to sell nearly one million a year they'd darn well better anticipate the needs and wants of all their customers. Also, they know they're no longer alone in this field. It's not just General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) and DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) that are out to rival Ford. There's now Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) and Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ) vying for sales. Indeed, the strong entry by Nissan with its slick, powerful Titan (we'll review that in the coming weeks), forced Toyota into a mid-cycle redo of its Tundra, which will offer a larger cab and, next year, more powerful engines. And with Dodge selling its screaming, 500 horsepower Ram SRT-10, Ford was forced to revise its SVT F-150 Lightning. The new Lightning will likely be based on the yet sturdier F-350 platform, which is better at handling 500 horsepower. If all this escalation in amenities and horsepower reminds you of, say, the wars that go on in the entry-luxury car segment, consider that the 0 mph to 60 mph speed of even base-model, full-size pickups is right up there with that of quick sports sedans. Again, this is all to attract a customer who is quite different than the pickup buyer of 1980. Also different are the options--which brings us to the subject of this review, the $34,200 Chevy Silverado LS1500 4WD Extended-Cab Hybrid. A mouthful, we know. But the Hybrid Silverado is one unique truck. Yep, it has a 5.3-liter V-8 engine with 295 horsepower and 330 pounds-feet of torque, but it also has an integrated electric starter/generator to fire up the engine, and this system is powerful enough to assist the steering and brakes when the motor is off. And the motor will be off--for instance, when you're just coasting, or when you've come to a stop. This is a hybrid system, just not like the ones we've been hearing about, such as Toyota's Prius and Honda's (nyse: HMC) Civic. Instead, this setup doesn't power the wheels; it just saves gasoline (about 10% better fuel economy can be expected) at times when you don't really need that V-8 sucking up fuel. So what? What's so special about a hybrid truck that doesn't get 40 miles per gallon (mpg)? Actually, quite a lot. This kind of system may in fact be used on every car in the future, whether or not the cars are hybrids. We'll explain why, and what is so special about the Chevy, on the following pages. Source and Additional Pages: Forbes | ||
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