For the past two nights I've been living with our long-term Silverado and once again came away impressed with this big truck -- and I'm not a truck person, in spirit or necessity. I live as close to downtown Los Angeles as possible without needing riot gear on standby. I envision filling the bed up with ice and beer far before a wheel barrow, garden equipment or whatever dirty farm implements I don't know the names of. I'm even sick to death of that John Mellancamp song from the Chevy ad...
On a drive out to Malibu, I was surprised how well the big Chevy took to the countless twists and turns thrown at it by the Pacific Coast Highway. And more impressive was how easy it was to stay in PCH's ultra-tight lanes thanks to the Silverado's well-weighted and communicative steering. The comfy bucket seats even offer a surprising amount of lateral support. Of course, the trip computer's instant fuel economy display is just depressing -- 3, 5, 9, oh wow, I got 11!
In more serious obversations, I noticed that the Silverado's transmission is acting up. Especially when accelerating slowly (to maximize mpgs!), the transmission seems to "slip" when changing from first to second. There is an unsettling jerk and it is doing it pretty consistently. The V8 also has the tendency to idle pretty rough.
James Riswick, Associate Editor @ 13,067 miles
SubyTrojan says:
09:51 AM, 04/12/07
Downtown is pretty safe! Well, that's what I thought when I went to USC for four years--no riot gear or weapons of mass destruction necessary!
Quote of the day: "Oh wow! I got 11 (mpg)!" LOL
redliner says:
03:09 PM, 04/12/07
I noticed a similar problem in a friends 2004 Camry. Out of first gear, the engine will continue to rev, but the car is'nt accelerating, then it will quickly drop into second and jerk foward, it's very anoying, and it usualy only happens at 4500rpm and up, even at the red line.
roar02ram says:
06:06 PM, 04/12/07
You thought that downtown was safe & you went to USC? Wow.
For the record, that Figueroa corridor IS pretty safe...but...ummm, yeah, navigating away from that corridor = bad idea.
SubyTrojan says:
06:39 PM, 04/12/07
roar02ram, if you have street smarts and common sense, you should be totally fine.
Then again, there's the ol' saying that you can't teach common sense! :o)
James, you should remember this blog entry in the event that you drive a 2008 Silverado with the 6AT next year to see how things have improved with the new slushbox in "our country's" truck.
jriz says:
07:24 PM, 04/12/07
Not just "our country" as it turns out. The same commercial is run in Canada, but with frigid Nova Scotia and Alberta cowboys instead of flooded New Orleans and Texas cowboys.
SubyTrojan says:
09:35 AM, 04/13/07
I'd like to see that commercial! Hopefully, one of our friends from up North will put it on YouTube sooner than later!