Everyone knows that pickup truck rivalries like the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 vs 2024 Ford F-150 result in massive capabilities and rugged performance, but the bigger story in the full-size pickup category is how automakers are designing their trucks for daily driving. Gone are the days of gas-guzzling big-block V8 engines and ungainly road manners; instead, the newest Silverado 1500 and other pickups in the category are built for everyday driving, achieving unheard-of fuel efficiency and providing comfortable accommodations for growing families.
If you’re tired of the vanilla SUV but feel obliged to choose one for practical reasons, the newest crop of full-size trucks might sway you to abandon the SUV category altogether. More families than ever are opting for pickup trucks, taking advantage of all the benefits that come with a truck bed without sacrificing creature comforts. In fact, buyers cite the Silverado 1500’s plethora of available configurations, trims, and powerplants as a key benefit: dial-in all the features you want without getting stuck with the ones you don’t.
The full-size pickup category has grown exponentially over the past few years, indicating mainstream adoption of the body style and demonstrating current buyers’ open-mindedness to a pickup as their daily driver. Life with a truck bed offers a level of utility you won’t find in any other car category, including nearly 90 cu.ft. of cargo volume and the power to haul a heavy payload. Is a full-size pickup right for you? More importantly, will pickup truck ownership trigger any compromises in practicality? Here are three reasons to consider saying goodbye to your SUV…
Reason #1: Capability
Full-size pickup trucks unlock a level of capability that can’t be found in an SUV. Choose from four available powertrains and seven trims on the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500, including multiple configurations designed for off-roaders. If your lifestyle includes a dose of adventure, the Silverado 1500 ZR2 Bison Edition delivers the most capable off-road-ready version, with 33-inch mud terrain tires, special off-roading bumpers, and a chassis and suspension tweaked specially for tackling difficult terrain.
The Silverado 1500 keeps up with the competition, offering a max towing capacity of 13,300 lbs, a 2,260-lb max payload limit, and engines that deliver up to 495 lb-ft of torque. Chevy’s 3.0-liter Duramax Turbo-Diesel engine is where you’ll max out torque and enjoy 305 hp for brisk acceleration and efficient and capable towing (and you won’t find a diesel engine option on the 2024 Ford F-150 pickup). Per towing, buyers can outfit their Silverado 1500 with up to 14 camera views, including trailering-specific views that help with hook-up and maneuvering. An available Trailering App allows drivers to build trailer profiles and keep an eye on trailer tire pressure.
The Silverado 1500’s truck bed—made of roll-formed high-strength steel—offers the most cargo volume of any full-size pickup in the category, along with twelve standard tie-downs for securing cargo. An available Multi-Flex tailgate reimagines the lowly tailgate into a capable feature that incorporates load stops for keeping long cargo anchored, a work surface that doubles as a buffet for football tailgating, and built-in steps and an inner gate that folds down to facilitate easier access to the truck bed. The F-150’s Pro-Access tailgate works similarly but uses a less advanced swing-out design for access.
Reason #2: Utility
If your driving habits consist mostly of traversing pavement, consider a two-wheel drive drivetrain with Chevy’s fuel-efficient Duramax Turbo-Diesel engine, which delivers 23 MPG in the city and 33 MPG on the highway. For price-conscious buyers, the entry WT (Work Truck) and Custom trims keep pricing at the low range, but buyers will sacrifice some creature comforts. Either way, the Silverado 1500 bests the F-150 in truck bed lengths, with a five-foot, eight-inch small bed, a six-foot, six-inch standard bed, and an eight-foot, two-inch long bed; Ford’s smallest bed size measures five feet, five inches, while its longer beds are a six-foot, five-inch bed and an eight-foot bed.
Chevy’s base engine—a powerful 2.7-liter TurboMax four-cylinder—is more powerful than the F-150’s standard V6, coming in at 430 lb-ft of torque. Ford’s base engine—a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6—makes 400 lb-ft of torque. Both the Silverado 1500 and F-150 offer comfortable seating for five in a crew cab body style. The affordable Silverado 1500 WT keeps cabin amenities to a minimum but comes with a sub-$40k starting MSRP, which will appeal to budget buyers. Moving up to the Custom keeps the price in the lower-$40k range and adds larger 20-inch wheels, a trailering package, a remote start, and a power driver’s seat.
Ford answers Chevy’s affordable low-end trim options with a few of its own, including the base XL and the STX; however, high-end buyers will appreciate that the top-of-the-line Silverado 1500 High Country is more than $10,000 less than the Platinum, Ford’s most luxurious F-150 trim. Both trucks have the same 13.4-inch infotainment touchscreen, leather seating surfaces, and hands-free driving capability, yet Chevy manages to keep its price as low as possible—a practical fact that will sway buyers even at the upper end of the segment.
Reason #3: Safety
Among the most attractive standard features of the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 is Chevy Safety Assist, a suite of driver assistance technologies that aid driver attentiveness, stave off fatigue, and keep occupants safer. Chevy Safety Assist is standard on all Silverado 1500 trims and includes six systems that use on-board cameras, sensors, and radar to monitor road conditions and alert the driver to potential hazards, as well as facilitate safe lane changes, safer trailering, and overall better road (and off-road) awareness.
Though all full-size pickups offer similar driver assistance technologies, Chevy was the first to create a hands-free cruise control system—Super Cruise—which works on more than 400,000 connected roads and highways. Super Cruise automatically maintains a safe distance from the vehicle ahead and keeps your truck centered in its lane. The newest Super Cruise can also automatically make lane changes and assist with trailering, all while helping drivers stave off fatigue.
Chevy Safety Assist includes systems that perform automatic emergency braking in situations where driver braking is insufficient or happens too late, which helps avoid or minimize the severity of a collision. Other systems—like Lane Keep Assist and Lane Departure Warning—alert the driver when the vehicle drifts out of its lane and sends gentle steering nudges to help edge it back toward the center of your intended lane of travel. Automatic high beams are also standard, sensing oncoming headlights and switching from high to low beams, then switching back once the vehicle has passed.
Is a Pickup Right for You?
There is no shortage of options for new vehicle buyers. Families looking for comfortable accommodations and enhanced safety and convenience may find the unique utility of a pickup exactly what they need. Chevy’s 2024 Silverado 1500 puts freedom of choice in the hands of the buyer, offering four powertrains, multiple trims, and countless configurations that make it easy to customize your pickup for your unique lifestyle and needs. Whether you tow a boat to the lake house or your days are consumed by your kid’s activities, pickup trucks like the Silverado 1500 make daily life easier.
Within the full-size pickup category, several best-selling models are on offer, so make sure you do some comparisons before signing on the dotted line. While many—like the Silverado 1500 and the F-150—offer similar features and equipment, the devil is in the details; you might appreciate Chevy’s roomier truck bed or available diesel powertrain over the F-150’s hyper-powerful Raptor or Tremor trims, both of which price out at nearly six figures. Whatever you decide, add a full-size pickup to your list of vehicles to test drive because—chances are—you’ll find the practicality you’re looking for.
