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Forget pony cars or luxury sedans; one of the most hotly contested performance wars these days concerns heavy-duty pickups. In particular, Ford and General Motors seem to be caught up in a race to achieve the highest in payload, towing capacity, torque output and all around capability.

When Ford introduced a revamped Super Duty for the 2011 model year, it somewhat turned the segment on its ear. By adding a new 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel V8, significant chassis and suspension changes, updated styling and new features, including a first in class factory installed fifth wheel connector, Ford boasted that it had created the definitive heavy-duty pickup, with unmatched towing capability.

Now the General is fighting back and the 2011 Silverado H-D aims to snatch the crown with some significant updates of its own. Recently, AutoGuide became one of the first members outside of GM to drive the new truck. Is it up to snuff? Read on and find out.

More: 2011 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty: First Drive (http://www.autoguide.com/manufacturer/chevrolet/2011-chevrolet-silverado-heavy-duty-first-drive-1366.html) on AutoGuide.com

All the reviews are comming out today.

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If money wasn't an issue, it would be on my list, but I just can't justify spending that much money for a truck...especially when my 05 DMAX handles all my towing needs. Plus the fact in Calif, registration fees would be over $1,200 a year....

"HTML]Plus the fact in Calif, registration fees would be over $1,200 a year...."

Highway robbery it is. The Calif. tags on my 2007.5 Sierra 2500 (6.0) are $577.00. I have a two year old, made in Taiwan, motorbike I often use for commuting. This years tags were $100.00! It won't be long before Californians start taking their chances and registering out of state. (Don't mean to jack the thread, just my need to vent my rage)

John

Quote "At the rear, larger (and wider) asymmetrical leaf springs are designed to improve payload capacity (up to 6,200 lbs on ¾-tons and a staggering 9,300 lbs on 1-ton dually trucks), while the shocks have been specifically designed to maintain a smooth ride under all conditions."

I think they have gotten their numbers wrong. It would awesome to have a 9k payload, but unless the truck only weighs 4k, it ain't possible with 13k GVWR.

Ive had front axle weigh 5000 lbs and rear duallys at 10000 lbs before with loaded trailer.

If money wasn't an issue, it would be on my list, but I just can't justify spending that much money for a truck...especially when my 05 DMAX handles all my towing needs. Plus the fact in Calif, registration fees would be over $1,200 a year....

"HTML]Plus the fact in Calif, registration fees would be over $1,200 a year...."

Highway robbery it is. The Calif. tags on my 2007.5 Sierra 2500 (6.0) are $577.00. I have a two year old, made in Taiwan, motorbike I often use for commuting. This years tags were $100.00! It won't be long before Californians start taking their chances and registering out of state. (Don't mean to jack the thread, just my need to vent my rage)

John
Our tags are about $48 a vehicle. :D

Pickuptrucks.com has a better article. I also see that they tested the trucks on I-68 in Maryland. While it is not one of the worst of the worst that is an awfully tough road because it goes up and down for maybe 70 miles or so. Plenty of hard pulls and ugly decents complete with emergency run-offs. Good exercise for that truck!

Autoblog Article

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/14/2011-chevy-silverado-and-gmc-sierra-heavy-duty-first-drive/

Autoblog Article

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/14/2011-chevy-silverado-and-gmc-sierra-heavy-duty-first-drive/

It's nice to see they finally put some real tires on 'em(Michelin LTX), and the proper size(235-80-R17)! The look very nice!

When is the next expected refresh? These interiors just are not doing it for me, especially the lt and sle.

I hear you there. I don't mind the layout of the NBS, I just wish they used better materials. Guess I'm just used to my OBS but doubt the interior quality is any better after reading some of these post. They've done so well in beefing up the rest of the truck and then let Ford and Dodge step ahead in interior quality. I always thought Dodge was cheap...crap not any more. Always liked the Cummins but could never pull the trigger on a Dodge product. The ramp up the hp/tq and add urea (just a given for them to be able to match numbers) then I might just jump ship....if I get rid of my 05. Haven't seen the new interiors on any of the new ones so we'll see. Challenger...Camaro. Would suck to switch everything to Dodge...akkkkk.

The slt and ltz interiors look nice, they just lack well thought out storage pockets, bins, console, etc. The lower level trim lines are a bit better storage wise, but they just look cheap.

That dually is one nice looking truck. No way I could ever justify selling the LBZ to get one though at $50-60K. That would probably result in a divorce for me and I would lose the truck anyway!:eek::D

Edit 1.0 - Have the mirrors been leveled from the factory?

That would probably result in a divorce for me and I would lose the truck anyway!:eek::D

:D So true there! I can hear the fight now. YOu just got this one paid off and you WHAT????? I'm goin to Mom's! Or there could be weapons fire YMMV. :D

The dually just trips me out. It all looks good to me and since I haven't physically looked at the NBS interior in a while, I don't recall the layout. I just know that the 2008 GMC SLT dually was a rush.

Just wish Gm would put a real sized crew cab like Ford has...

That dually is one nice looking truck. No way I could ever justify selling the LBZ to get one though at $50-60K. That would probably result in a divorce for me and I would lose the truck anyway!:eek::D

Edit 1.0 - Have the mirrors been leveled from the factory?

Yep, since '07!

Anyone else notice in the Autoblog review the fuel economy they got according to the DIC on a 133 mile trip?

For our final drive stint, we returned to a single-rear-wheel Sierra 3500 crew-cab with a 3,000-pound payload for the return run to Baltimore's airport...and we set the cruise control to the state mandated limit of 65 mph....the readout in the instrument cluster read a very impressive 19.8-mpg average for the diesel V8 – not bad for nearly 11,000 pounds of truck.

Pickuptrucks.com has a better article. I also see that they tested the trucks on I-68 in Maryland. While it is not one of the worst of the worst that is an awfully tough road because it goes up and down for maybe 70 miles or so. Plenty of hard pulls and ugly decents complete with emergency run-offs. Good exercise for that truck!

Yea no kidding, I run that road almost every day and it does work a loaded truck.