Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

2014 Chevy Silverado priced from *$24,585, V8 gets better economy than Ford EcoBoost V6

Chevrolet has thrown down the next hand in the pickup truck poker wars and revealed at least a couple of potential aces – depending on which numbers matter most to you. The 2014 2014 Silverado 1500 with its 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8 gets 335 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque, is mated to a six-speed automatic, can tow 11,500 pounds with the optional Max Trailer Package and costs the same as the outgoing Silverado, $24,585 (*including $995 destination fee). Chevy says the Silverado also stands atop the fuel economy charts when comparing any competitor with a V8 engine – and some competitors with V6 engines. The two-wheel drive model returns 16 miles per gallon city, 23 mpg highway, 19 mpg combined in two-wheel drive guise and 16 mpg city, 22 mpg highway and 18 mpg combined as a four-wheel drive.

For context around those numbers, the most fuel efficient V8-powered 2013 Ford F-150 pickups lose about two mpg in every metric compared to the Silverado, the 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost returning 16 city, 18 highway and 22 combined in two-wheel drive. However, that EcoBoost does have 365 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. You can get a Ram 1500 with a 3.6-liter V6 that gets 25 mpg highway, but it has 305 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque. The 2013 Ram with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and its 395 hp and 407 lb-ft drops one mpg in every category to the Silverado. Its tow rating is 200 pounds beyond its nearest competitor, the F-150 with the Max Trailer Tow Package.

Elsewhere, the new Silverado gets a quieter cab with a redesigned interior, a new bed with improved load-management possibilities, disc brakes all around, tweaked steering and suspension, along with free standard scheduled maintenance for two years or 24,000 miles.

It goes on sale later this year with pricing throughout the lineup held constant from the 2013. The Double Cab (which replaces the Extended Cab) will cost $28,610, the Crew Cab going for $32,710, prices inclusive of destination. Two more engines, 4.3-liter and 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V8s, will join the range later on.

Also, if you prefer the slightly different styling of the 2014 GMC Sierra seen below, most of the same performance metrics apply, but pricing is a bit higher – $25,085 for the standard cab, $29,110 for the double cab, and $33,210 for the Crew cab model.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/01/2...better-econom/

Aron9000

That is one ugly truck right there. Its like they took the previous body style and just managed to add a really ugly front clip onto it, didn't make any other changes.

Fizzboy7

It really is ugly. The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme headlights and 80's split grille could not be more unattractive. In fairness though, Ford's Ecoboost is a bunch of malarky. I said it four years ago and now the press is finally saying the same thing.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

In terms of efficiency sure, but 420lbft is still 420lbft

SteVTEC

If you're making more power, you're burning more gas period. I can get either exceptionally good or horrendously bad mileage in my 335i all depending on how I drive it.

I agree that the Silverado is definitely ugly though, eeeww.

I8ABMR

whats frustrating is that we all know they could have done this much much sooner and just left their old V8s at 11-14 mpg in real driving. I always wondered if the American car companies were in bed with the oil companies. LOL

J.P.

Seen one in person, they look pretty nice in 3D.

Waiting to see what the GMC \ Denali looks like........

SteVTEC

6 and 8 speed automatics cost more and are also more costly to properly calibrate
cylinder shutoff systems cost more and are also more costly to calibrate
lighter weight materials are more expensive, aerodynamics take time and can be difficult to tweak
turbocharged V6 engines are more costly than NA V6 engines
etc....

Sure they could have done this all along, but why bother if there's no demand either from consumers or the gov/EPA? With gas never dropping below $3/gal and commonly hitting $4/gal, sure now there's demand for this stuff, but the prices of the cars and trucks are going up, too. Nothing is for free.

TangoRed

GM knew the trucks were going to sell no matter what. As the bankruptcy made perfectly clear, GM need to throw all of its attention on its cars, which are recovering nicely.

mmarshall

Consumer Reports, to some extent, is now saying it, too. Especially with fuel-mileage, they have not been impressed with a number of the EcoBoost engines they've sampled.

mmarshall

Not only that, but, trucks, despite the upcoming CAFE standards for them, are generally designed to do work, not win economy-runs. The upper-ratios in transmissions with a lot of gears tend to be quite tall, which, of course, will strain or lug an engine with a heavy load on it.