2003 Chevrolet Silverado SS Test Drive
Casey's List:The Good
The Bad
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Mrs. Superdork I drove the Silverado 1500 HD right before I drove this, so I could compare the horsepower between the two (this had 45 more) and the difference between 2 wheel and all wheel drive. Chris and I had been arguing about whether the 45 hp would make a difference or not, and I'm still not sure it did but the all wheel drive sure did. The truck just reacted FAST when I hit the gas. It didn't feel like power so much as nimbleness, if that makes any sense.
The interior looked the same as the Silverado 1500 except for SS embroidery in the headrests and an SS emblem on the dash. The interior was black, although I thought it was grey at first because the floormats are grey. They looked rather shaggy too. The headrest didn't bother me in this one, which makes me think it is adjustable.
There was an immediately noticeable acceleration difference; my
first comment was "this is faster than the Miata!" Not
that it's hard to be, but it's still impressive for a truck. The
acceleration was VERY responsive, but I didn't find braking as easy.
I'm used to a light car that stops incredibly well, so it took some
getting used to the stopping distance in this. By the end of the
test drive I wasn't having any trouble though, so it's just a "what
you're used to" thing.
We wanted to compare the suspension on this to the 1500, so we headed down the same road. It was a totally different ride in this truck. The road was bumpy, but that's it; it wasn't a bone jarring ride like in the 1500. The salesman explained that the HD on the 1500 designated a heavy duty suspension so that's why it was so rough and that the regular 1500 shouldn't be so bad if we wanted to go that route. Anyway, the SS handled the road just fine.
I was getting used to trucks at this point so I wasn't having the
lane issues I had been having, but I wanted to try parking it.
The SS is an extended cab, not a crew cab so it's about 10 inches
shorter
than the 1500 we drove. We headed back to Chevy and I pulled into
a spot, but it was a handicapped spot so it was huge...and I still
managed to park the rear on the white line. I apparently sat lower
in this truck than the other (seat height is power-adjustable
too) and I couldn't see anything in front of the truck, so I'd
be nervous pulling this into parking spots facing other cars. Fortunately
I
very rarely park near other cars except for in my parking garage.
We played with the mirrors while I was parking. They have a setting
where they lower when you put the truck in reverse so you can
see
the curb. That worked great when I was backing out of the spot
until I tried to see where the hedges behind me were--had to stick
my head out the window. You can adjust the mirrors from that lowered
position, but it's probably easier to just learn how big the truck
is and only lower the mirrors when you really need them. The auto-move
feature is very slow, too--it took about 2 seconds to move once
you put the truck in reverse--so if you tend to throw it in reverse
and back up in a hurry they wouldn't do you much good.
After playing at parking I drove the truck back up onto the display
area in front of the showroom and we explored the interior. The
stereo was nothing to write home about; supposedly it has a sub
but I couldn't really tell. It's a Bose system, which I used to
be impressed with until I got one...I haven't heard a good Bose
car system yet (both the Miata
and the Vette have Bose stereos).
The gauges (or "gages" in Corvette C5 speak) are white
in the SS, and I think they light up in a silver color. It was
hard to tell during the day, but I think it'd be pretty pretty
slick at
night. The rest of the gauges, like the message center and the
stereo were normal turquoise. Like the 1500, this interior looked
dated
to me.
I was pretty impressed with this truck. I didn't want to take it home with me right then, but that's thanks to the price tag. It's the same price as the 1500 HD Crew Cab, but has the exclusivity factor. Chevy dealers have to sell a certain amount of Chevy trucks before they can be allocated an SS. The dealer in our area (Tom Light) sells all kinds of trucks so they're receiving several SSs, but all have been spoken for except the one we drove. The truck comes in 3 colors: Red, Blue and Black. Too bad there's no yellow! It would be sharp, especially since they don't have a yellow on their regular trucks (the SS colors are normal colors you can get any Chevy truck in).
Chris' Ramblings from the back seat
Since we were shopping for a car for Casey, I rode in the back
of the SS. It wasn’t all that bad. Much better than trucks used
to be, but not really what you would term roomy. Since Casey is short,
I could have made a trip of an hour or two back there, but not much more.
I can’t really comment on the power difference or the feeling of AWD on the SS since I didn’t drive it, but the ride was pretty good for a truck. In fact, it seemed to ride less like a truck than other trucks I have been in.
The look was pretty cool. The paint scheme is monocolor and all body cladding
has been removed. That makes the sides of the truck look a lot bigger than
on other Silverados. I liked the stitching on the headrests and the white
faced gauges. They were a nice touch on the otherwise generic stock interior.
I also liked the sound of the exhaust. It had a nice growl to it. We didn’t
drive around with the windows down, but I bet it sounds even better while
driving.
All in all, a pretty cool truck. I liked the looks and the performance. The comfort surpassed what I expected. The only downside was the cost - $40k for a truck, ouch.
Update:
April 30, 2004
This model is for sale at our dealer for $34,471.58, marked down from $41,640. They have a black one too, for the same price. The dealer is Tom Light Chevrolet in Bryan, Texas. I would never have paid $41,000 for it, but might consider $34,000. It didn't look as good as I remembered, though. Something about the grill just screamed "pasture fence".