2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD LTZ Premium review

There are full-sized pick-ups and then there are FULL-SIZED pick-ups. The Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty is one of the latter.

You think NZ’s favourite ute is big? When you see the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD LTZ Premium alongside its Silverado 1500 sib (which dwarfs Ranger) you realise just what a mammoth this machine is.

It’s humongous at 6387mm stem to stern and with a 4036mm wheelbase. Width is 2263mm (without mirrors) and it’s 2039mm tall. As Chevrolet says, the 2500HD takes ‘Living Big’ to the next level.

Those steps they put all around the vehicle are there because it’s so tall. Thank the Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner All Terrain tyres for that and the 251mm of ground clearance.

Best to use those running steps to help with ingress then. Not if they’re covered in mud, however, as ours were after a day out in the wop-wops. You could always wash it off but the mud effect shows it’s a proper work vehicle.

So parking it outside our inner city digs was about as appropriate as landing a Jumbo Jet on an airstrip.

When parked outside, the tow hitch was half way across our driveway and I had to apologise to the neighbour that the front end was impinging on her space as well.

The tray is a monster too, 2089mm in length. It is also 1814mm wide and can pack in 1968L of guff. There are 12 handy tie-down points.

We loaded it up with tree branches and headed off to the tip, as you do. Not that we exactly stressed its 1386kg maximum payload. Nor did loading a metre of firewood for a friend, though it did help soften the already quite reasonable unladen ride.

Those who actually buy one of these will no doubt put the tray to even better use. Or, more to the point, they will hitch up something that our regular medium double-cab utes would baulk at.

This is designed to tow braked loads of up to 4.5 tonnes, and it has all the tech to achieve that, including up to 14 unique camera views, Trailer Sway Control, Hill Start Assist, Tow and Haul mode, Auto Grade Braking, 12-Pin Wiring Harness and even a Diesel Exhaust Brake.

Oh yeah, now we’re trucking. At first we didn’t think it made any difference, after pushing the “exhauster” button.

Amateurs. Stick it in L for towing and instantly you can feel the lower gearing and the additional deceleration the diesel exhaust brake offers.

Stay Alert

Never having driven anything quite this large, it’s a bit of a learning experience. You need to swing out wide before making sharp turns to avoid kerb collections.

And when you’re on the motorway this seems to take up both sides of the middle lane, those jumbo wing mirrors sticking out on stalks.

Thankfully they retract when you’re parked up. Sometimes at intersections small cars and the like can be hidden behind the mirrors, they’re that big, so be warned.

The mirrors feature two panes of reflecting glass, the lower one to help with reversing into a parking space. Good luck finding one big enough in town though.

And that 16m turning circle makes turnarounds a bit of a chore, as do the 3.7 turns of the wheel between the lock stops.

So if you’re contemplating one of these, probably best not be a city slicker. Not out of the question but my sense is that these sell to those who live on city fringes and are likely involved in the building, horse or forestry industries.

It’s for those who want something more serious than a Ranger or Hilux, who want a towier, showier, or more luxurious ute. In other words, a full-size pick-up.

Not that Ranger or Hilux are exactly tiny but my word you do look down on them when riding on high in the 2500 HD. Such utes look like pipsqueaks from up there.

Monster engine too

This particular vehicle weighs in at 3762kg before you throw anything at it. A proper truck then. Which is why it is powered by an almighty big engine.

I believe both are probably the biggest I’ve experienced in my career. Under the bluff hood – the photographer had to climb a small hill to shoot the engine – is a 6.6L V8 turbodiesel.

Despite its size it doesn’t roar like some petrol V8 truck engines do. This is more about isolation and refinement.

As you might imagine, the numbers are as monstrous as the vehicle itself, with a torque figure of 1332Nm, up from 1234Nm in the previous version, while for 2024 the power output is 350kW, an increase of 18kW on its predecessor.

This massive mill is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. Revised final drive ratios evidently enhance low-end performance by as much as 25 per cent, in the interests of towing or ascending steep grades.

Most of the time, whether in town or out, the engine is ticking over below 2000rpm. At open road speeds in top gear it’s running at just a hair over 1000rpm.

We took to the hills in this, and went a little off road, though never really tested its mettle. With a two-speed transfer case and locking diff, it would no doubt fare well in the wilds.

While out roaming around the back blocks, we never saw a fuel use figure less than 14.4L/100km, even after drifting along the southern motorway at a cruise-controlled 103km/h.

However, on a couple of occasions thereafter, again on the motorway, it fell as low as 11.0L/100km. But single figures? Doubt it. Oddly, in all the spec sheets and whatnot, I could not find a claimed fuel use figure but I do know that it has a 136L fuel tank.

So you could probably eke out 700km in this per tank. At a bit over $2 per litre that’s not far shy of $300 for a fill-up. There’s an AdBlue tank as well, to quell the NOx emissions.

We had the 2500 HD during a spell of filthy weather. So it was quickly filthy itself after a sojourn into the back of beyond.

And cleaning something almost six metres long and over 2m tall isn’t easy. Nor can it be done quickly.

Buttoned down interior

Step up inside and even after an interior redesign, this seems old school compared with regular double cab utes. It is button intensive, for example, which makes it easier to run once you know where everything is.

The new cabin does have a configurable driver instrument set-up. Finishing the upper dash is leather-like material but inside it’s largely hard surfaces, except the seats which are fairly plush.

Figure not on traffic sign recognition or sat nav; the latter is done via the phone.

But there’s the kind of stuff you would expect, like adaptive cruise, powered and heated seats with independently warmed back rests, a lumbar pump and even a powered tailgate.

There’s also leather upholstery, a wheel warmer, wireless phone hook up and charging, head-up display, and a mountain of safety features. One includes teen driver alert!

They’re handy features to have in something that costs twice what a high-end Ranger goes for ($175k).

Be sure to check out Mad Mike’s missives because he and son Linc are running around in a 2500 HD, hauling their off-road toys.

Mad Mike Motors has taken on the task of customising one, and no, not for drifting purposes. It will be fascinating to see how that turns out.

This story first appeared in the August 2024 issue of NZ Autocar magazine.