The second best selling truck in America is the Chevrolet Silverado; the Ford F-Series has long occupied the top spot. When the Silverado joins forces with its platform-mate, the GMC Sierra, however, it’s actually neck-in-neck with the F-Series. The Silverado/Sierra’s claim to fame is towing capacity, and it continues to be Like A Rock in this department. GM trucks are indeed still the Heartbeat of America, but they aren’t all dual rear wheel 3500 HD’s outfitted in leather beyond your price range; GM also offers the mid-size Canyon/Colorado twins. Let’s take a look at what they offer this year.
Full Size
The “Silverado” nameplate became an official model in 1999 but traces its lineage to the “C/K 1500” and “Truck” models which Chevy sold before. The entry-level Silverado WT (work truck) starts at $36,800 msrp with a bevy of standard features. Double cabs begin at $42k and Crew Cabs at $44.5k msrp. Like its competition the F-150 XL and the Ram Tradesman, these no-frills trucks still offer enough compared to trucks from twenty years ago, and have push button start with remote entry and 12 tie downs, along with all the power options that come standard today (windows, mirrors, locks).
The Silverado Custom is one you’ll see on the road more often, starting at $43,600. The standard motor is the “TurboMax,” which has 310 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque; you could be forgiven for not figuring out that this impressively powerful motor is actually a 4-cylinder, which Chevy does not play up on their website. The Custom trim includes covered armrest storage, 10-way power seat for the driver, and 20-inch aluminum wheels. Z71 Off-Road TrailBoss starts at $51,800 msrp with black 18’s and hood appearance package. The more refined LT trim begins at $48,000 msrp and adds 13.4-in color touch screen as well as 12.3-in. driver info center.
Moving up to luxury trims, there is the LTZ which starts at $57,200 msrp. It has leather seating surfaces and outdoor cameras with 14 views to make maneuvering and parking more simple. The top-luxury model is the High Country, replete with its exterior High Country mountain badging. It has premium perforated leather with custom stitching and open-pore real wood on the dash, starting at $62,700 msrp. ZR2 ($69,900 msrp) is a pseudo F-Series Raptor but not nearly as powerful, featuring off road shocks, e-lockers (instead of a mechanical locking diff), skid plates and mud tires. The big-Kahuna Heavy Duty Silverado models begin at $43,400 msrp, but can easily top $90k when optioned liberally. The top models can also pull a 36,000 pound trailer and hold 7,000 pounds of payload, but that kind of capacity won’t come cheap — expect north of $60-80k depending how crazy options get.
Engine choices include the aforementioned high-output 2.7L TurboMax with its impressive 300+ horses and over 400 lb-ft of torque, thoroughly embarrassing V8 Chevy truck output numbers from just fifteen years ago. If you still want the roar of eight cylinders, there are multiple options, including a 5.3L V8 (355 hp / 383 lb-ft), and a 6.2L V8 (420 hp / 460 lb-ft.) GM’s corporate diesel is also available, which is a 3.0L Duramax turbo-six with 305hp and 495 lb-ft of towing torque. Silverado HD, with its massive towing power, can be had with 6.6 liters of turbodiesel V8 fury, serving up 470 horsepower and 975 lb-ft of neck-breaking torque. The gas HD option is 6.6L V8 with 401 hp / 464 lb-ft of torque.
Despite sharing a Silverado mechanical platform, it is possible to option out a GMC Sierra differently than its SIlverado brethren, in addition to its unique sheet metal. The Sierra Denali ($65,800 msrp) started the whole lux-truck craze back in the late nineties, and its still an SUV and truck success to this day. The Sierra’s different exterior styling may or may not be subjectively preferably to you as well. The AT4X off-road and the Denali Ultimate are unique GMC trims, and can start at $84,990 msrp. Pro trim starts at $37,200 msrp and the SLE trim at $50,300, making the Sierra a bit more expensive than the Silverado. Elevation is $52,000 msrp and SLT is $56,000 msrp.
Mid Size
The modern-day Chevrolet Colorado and its platform-mate the GMC Canyon have come a long way from their “compact” roots as the Chevy S-10 and the GMC Sonoma. Now marketed as mid-size trucks, today’s Colorado and Canyon rival the “full size” trucks of yore in terms of dimensions, and are both brand-new for model year 2023 in their third generation. The Colorado is the cheaper of the twins, starting at $29,200 msrp, while the more up-market Canyon starts at $36k and change; the new 2023 models reflect a fairly large price increase from the previous 2nd-generation 2022 model.
No longer outfitted with an unloved five cylinder, both trucks feature the “TurboMax” blown-4 with up to 310 horsepower from their big-brother siblings, and both feature an eight speed automatic; the only real row-your-own game left in town for pickups is the Toyota Tacoma midsize, though technically the basically-a-Jeep-Wrangler Gladiator has one as well.
GM just discontinued the six cylinder option for both trucks with the 2023 redesign, but the turbo-four is more than adequate; there is also no longer a diesel option, which sold poorly. Entry-level Colorado trims get 237 hp, while all trim-levels of the Canyon get 310 hp along with up-market Colorados. The potent Colorado ZR2 also gets a torque bump to 430 lb-ft, but retains the 310 hp rating; it turns out the quarter mile in fourteen seconds flat, something of an off-road spiritual successor to the GMC Syclone.