Chevrolet Silverado – Review: Chevy truck fans, take a minute to thank Ford, Dodge, Nissan, and yes, even Toyota. Seriously. If not for those brands, and more specifically the competition they bring to the table, we might never have seen a truck as impressive as the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. No, it's not perfect – the lack of a six-speed automatic transmission and factory-installed bedliner prove that – but it's 100 percent better than the model it replaces, and even those without feverish domestic truck brand loyalty can legitimately claim that Chevy is ready for the best from the rest. Thank the stiff structure, attractive styling, and competent underpinnings for that. Now, if the well-equipped price could only be made more affordable…

With a sticker price of $45,424 (including a $900 destination charge), our four-wheel-drive 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab LTZ was far from your basic pickup. Instead, it was trimmed out with all the goods you'd expect to find on a luxury car, including a touch-screen navigation system, a fold-down rear entertainment system, power-adjustable leather seats, and a Bose premium sound system. The dark blue metallic truck you see on these pages also featured a rear parking assist system, side-curtain airbags, 20-inch alloy wheels, a power sliding rear window, and XM satellite radio. To get a full test, we got in plenty of on- and off-road driving, with a final wrap up at the Hungry Valley recreational area north of Los Angeles.

In this day and age of monster V8s and mountain-moving diesels, the Silverado LTZ's 315-horsepower 5.3-liter V8 may seem a bit timid. That is, until you stomp on the go pedal and roughly 5,400 pounds move out with surprising ease. As one might guess, that overall equation doesn't add up to neck-snapping speed, but the truck most certainly feels quick, and 338 lb.-ft. of torque leads to some flustered faces when lights turn green. The flipside is that we only averaged 13.9 mpg during a week that included equal parts off-road climbing, highway cruising, and city crawling. The four-speed automatic transmission, with sometimes abrupt shifts, was fine around town but consistently took too long to downshift as we climbed California's Tejon Pass.

Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon Photo Gallery  

2007 ushers in a needed power boost by Thom Blackett Chevrolet Colorado -- Photo Gallery: Small isnt what it used to be. Todays small soft drink from the fast-f...

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Preview  

Chevrolet Malibu Preview 2007 Detroit Auto Show: Blurring the lines between midsize and full-size, the redesigned 2008 Chevrolet Malibu gets a longer wheelbase ...

2007 Chevrolet HHR Premiere Edition Brief  

Get 'em while they're not so hot! by Christian Wardlaw Chevrolet HHR Premiere Edition Brief 2007 Detroit Auto Show: Special editions of popular vehicles usually...

2008 Chevrolet Equinox Sport Preview  

Putting a little pepper on your hum drum SUV by Brian Chee New Cars: Chevrolet Equinox Sport Preview With apologies to GM, when it comes to boring cars the Equi...

2007 Chevrolet Aveo Review  

Better than its previous self, still not as good as the competition by Thom Blackett Chevrolet Aveo Review: Ponder the past 30-plus years of automobiles, and it...

2007 Chevrolet Tahoe Review  

The best Tahoe ever arrives just when people are losing interest by Keith Buglewicz' Chevrolet Tahoe Review: The current generation Chevy Tahoe is so much bette...