2011 Motor Trend Truck of the Year: Chevy Silverado HD
Chevrolet completed the rare Motor Trend SWEEP, with our great Silverado HD winning the 2011 Truck of the Year….just weeks after the Volt won 2011 Car of the Year.
2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD
Motor Trend – In the heavy-duty truck world, capability is most important. Folks like to brag about numbers — horsepower, torque, and payload and towing capacity — and talk about the monstrous things they can tow. Take, for example, the Chevrolet Silverado HD’s 21,700-pound towing capacity. That means it can tow three other Silverado HDs, or 10 Lotus Evoras. Payload capacities in this category mean that each truck is rated to carry a half-ton pickup in its bed, if you crushed it small enough to fit. These are the trucks that haul horse trailers, massive boats, and huge construction equipment; the ones many people pooh-pooh as being too big and too environmentally unfriendly — until they need to use one, of course. Styling isn’t nearly as important in this category, so when the Great Recession hit and GM’s development budget was cut, it prioritized function over form.
…The editors had the chance to drive two Silverado HDs, two Super Duties, and two Sierra HDs back to back, to compare apples-to-apples gas and diesel models. We tested all of them with and without payload, on highway straights and on twisty roads, with and without trailers.
