The Chevrolet Silverado has received many awards, including Consumer’s Digest Best Buy award. Most recently, the Silverado was named 2008 Truck of the Year by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

This award pitted the Silverado not only against other pickups, but against all new SUVs, Vans and Crossover vehicles in comprehensive back to back testing by over 70 automotive journalists from across Canada. To win, the Silverado has to provide quality, substance and economy.

The Silverado order sheet seems to have “three” as the predominant number. There are three cab styles - regular, extended and crew cab. The cargo box comes in three lengths — short (1761 mm), regular (1999 mm) and long box (2485 mm). The pickup is available in three trim levels: WT, LT and LTZ.
Finally, there are three V8 engines available — 4.8 litre, 5.3 litre and 6.0 litre, although a V6 engine is optional on the regular cab WT (Work Truck) short box model.

While the AJAC award applies to all models, the truck we tested was one of the more popular models — a 4×4 crew cab with standard box, 5.3 litre V8 engine and automatic transmission.

The Silverado crew cab models are great for hauling passengers and cargo. Our truck came with the 40/20/40 split front bench seat with optional power seat for the driver’s portion.

A new, lockable in-seat storage bin is built into the centre section of this seat. It is large enough to store a laptop computer and features a 12-volt power outlet. The rear seat is a 60/40-split design with folding centre armrest.

It can be easily folded up with one hand, providing an uninterrupted load floor. Extended cab models get the same rear seat and come standard with power-operated rear side windows that lower completely into the rear access doors.

Two dash designs are available. The WT and LT models get a work-inspired dash with large controls and handles, while the LTZ model gets a luxurious wood-trimmed dash and console the same as GM’s luxury full-size SUVs.

Leather seating is optional on LT trim, but I found the cloth seats on our truck provided excellent comfort and good looks. All six occupants will find this truck comfortable even on long trips.

A quality ride helps long days behind the wheel pass quickly. Short arm/long arm suspension with coil-over shocks on the front soak up the bumps and provide secure handling.

Dual-stage multi-leaf rear springs can haul a load yet are supple enough to ride comfortably over washboard roads.

I tried the Silverado out on a variety of road surfaces and the truck handled all of them well. Even when pushed hard on a tight serpentine slalom course, the truck responded quickly and accurately.

The stability control did intervene to help keep the truck under control, but did so smoothly and unobtrusively.

I even tried the Silverado on some fast corners while towing a trailer — not something I would encourage trying — but it does simulate a collision avoidance manoeuvre. The Silverado handled it with composure.

Under the hood, the 5.3-litre engine is both economical and powerful. Available as a Flexfuel engine, it is ready for ethanol fuels of the future.

The 5.3-L V8 has Active Fuel Management, which deactivates four cylinders during light load operation to save fuel. Other than the driver information display indication the truck was operating in V4 mode, you wouldn’t know it. This engine is so smooth it doesn’t feel quick.

A stopwatch showed 0-100 km-h times in 8.5 seconds during track testing.

This isn’t the fastest on the block, but it is more than quick enough for everything except the drag strip. If you want to go faster, a 367 horsepower 6-litre engine is available.

I think the Silverado wins awards because it does everything so well. It can tow up to 4763 kg and has a maximum payload of 980 kg. It can haul six people just as easily.

It is powerful yet gets good fuel economy for a large vehicle. It rides more like a car than a truck yet handles off-road excursions effortlessly.

Finally, it comes with features such as OnStar, stability control, XM satellite radio, factory remote starter, automatic dual zone climate control and steering wheel audio controls. The Silverado seems capable of doing whatever you ask of it.

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Configuration: Four wheel drive 6-passenger Crew cab pickup

Engine: 5.3-litre FlexFuel V-8 producing 315 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 338 lb.ft. torque at 4,400 rpm

Transmission: Four-speed automatic

Fuel Economy L/100 km: City: 15.1 L; Highway: 10.6 L

Suspension: Front; independent short/long arm with coil-over shocks. Rear: variable rate two-stage multi-leaf springs

Brakes: Front disc/rear drum brakes with ABS, traction control

Towing capacity: Maximum 4,763 kg.

Special features: Cloth 40/20/40 front split-bench seat, electronic stability control system w/ Proactive Roll Avoidance, remote vehicle start, dual zone automatic climate control, steering wheel audio controls, 18-inch custom aluminum wheels, Eaton rear locking differential, XM satellite radio, OnStar

Base MSRP: $37,935 / Price as tested: $44,240, plus $1,300 destination charges