Chevrolet and GMC unveiled new full-size pickups today that offer familiar styling, but big improvements beneath the skin.
The major changes for the 2014 Silverado and GMC Sierra include three new overhead-valve engines equipped with high compression, direct fuel injection, variable cam timing and cylinder deactivation for better economy.
The engines — a 4.3-liter V-6, 5.3-liter V-8 and 6.2-liter V-8 — and the trucks’ interiors received major upgrades, but both trucks also got numerous refinements to their chassis, cabs, suspensions, brakes and steering.
“The new trucks are better in every way and dramatically better in some ways,” said Jeff Luke, executive chief engineer of full- and mid-size trucks at General Motors.
The current pickups were introduced in 2007.
Although GM declined to release horsepower, torque or fuel economy numbers for the new engines — saving them probably for the upcoming Detroit auto show — Luke said the new base V-6 “should have the most torque of any [entry-level] V-6 in the segment.”
All trucks will be offered with six-speed automatics regardless of model — an upgrade for GM, which currently saddles its lower-end pickups with old-school four-speed automatics.
The new engines, called EcoTec3, are all aluminum and will shift from six or eight cylinders to four when power demands are low.
“We believe these are the most technologically advanced engines ever offered in light-duty pickups, and they are 100 percent truck,” said Jordan Lee, chief engineer and program manager for small-block engines.
Pricing on the vehicles also will be disclosed later.
Based on GM’s claims for the EcoTec engines, the V-6 is likely to have 310 or more horsepower; the 5.3 around 350; and the 6.2 in excess of 400 horses.
Dealers say they expect to begin receiving the trucks in June of 2013.
Inside the high-volume Silverado — GM’s top-selling vehicle — drivers will be greeted by an upright, six-gauge instrument panel and a much bigger, better-looking center stack.
The stack includes a 4.2-inch color driver information center, and both trucks will be available with a MyLink infotainment system capable of linking up to 10 devices.
While the trucks retain most of their current dimensions, engineers reconfigured their cabs, adding two inches of leg space in the back seats of crew-cab pickups.
They accomplished that mostly by making the front doors slightly smaller while increasing the size of the rear doors.
On both trucks, a leaf-spring suspension was retained in the rear with twin-tube shocks in front and back, aluminum control arms and electric power steering.
Also, both will feature roll-formed steel pickup boxes, which GM says are lighter, stronger and more durable than stamped boxes. They will continue to utilize fully boxed frames as well.
Though neither truck is likely to lose any weight — both currently weigh more than 5,000 pounds — they shouldn’t gain much, either, despite the additional content, Luke said.
“I told my people if you redesign a piece, it must perform better but weigh less,” he said.
A current mid-level Silverado is rated at 15 miles per gallon city and 22 on the highway with a six-speed automatic.
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