2020 Chevy Silverado 2500 Review: For Needs Not Wants

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Towering over everything else on the road ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Andrew Krok/Roadshow
[/roadshow/suvs/ SUVs] aren't the only ever-growing cars consumers are obsessed with -- pickup [/roadshow/trucks/ trucks] are a part of that fray, too. But a heavy-duty truck, like the 2020 [/roadshow/make/chevrolet/model/silverado-2500/ Chevrolet Silverado 2500] at the center of this review, is not a truck you buy for stuff like that. This is the pickup you pick up when you need to live the real-deal truck-stuff life, pulling horse trailers or assembling lumber to raise a whole barn. If in the course of your cowboy cosplay, you decide you want to move beyond the 1500s and up to this tier of truck without actually needing to, you'll be doing yourself -- and everyone around you on the road -- a disservice.























7.0


2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500












MSRP

[ $34,600]







[ View Local Inventory]









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LikeWill tow a houseSolid standard infotainmentCommanding driving position

Don't LikeIs the size of a houseLacks standard featuresMiddling interior



All about that truck stuffEquipped with my tester's 6.6-liter V8, which puts out 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque, the Silverado 2500 can pull up to 17,400 pounds. Upgrade to the 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8, which puts out 445 hp and 910 lb-ft, and that figure will rise to a whopping 35,500 pounds. [/products/2020-chevrolet-silverado-2500hd/ The first time we drove the truck], former reviews editor Jon Wong praised the Duramax's effortless hauling ability, but he pointed out that the 6.6-liter gas V8 really had to huff to keep the pace. As it turns out, GM estimates some 70% of buyers will drop the coin on the diesel, so my tester's V8 will largely end up with fleet purchasers and not single consumers, making this not that big of an issue.

[/roadshow/make/chevrolet/ Chevrolet] also has a bunch of new tech reinforcing the Silverado HD's newfound capabilities. Equipped in the right way, the silverado lift kit HD can show up to 15 different camera angles on the infotainment screen, including an "invisible trailer" mode that stitches camera feeds together to show the driver what's happening behind the trailer itself. An additional trailering app can monitor tire pressures and lights for trailers or water tank levels and HVAC for recreational vehicles.























Big boy
The 2020 Chevy Silverado HD has presence in spades. It's so freaking big that it can be seen across a parking lot relatively easily, not that this is an excuse to buy a truck larger than most San Francisco apartments. Put it on the road, and it's disturbingly larger than just about everything around it. While it's nice to be able to see through a sea of SUVs and other pickups, the 2500 is so giant that I can see the roofs of those vehicles, which means I'm easily blotting out the sun (and the road ahead) for anyone in a smaller ride.

Driving something the size of a house means parking something the size of a house, and it's not easy. My tester is pretty bare-bones, coming equipped with a federally mandated backup camera and little else in the way of scratch-preventing tech, so even something as straightforward as a trip to the grocery store becomes a Herculean effort. The Silverado 2500 doesn't fit into parking spots very well, which means I spend most of my time at the store walking from the extreme back end of the lot to the front door.





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