Modern pickups drive rattling close to in addition to many luxurious sedans, which arguably facilitates the troublesome pattern of utilizing pickup vans as household sedans. Today’s vans are tech-laden, subtle issues, a far cry from the pickups we had only a few many years in the past. How do you make that job even simpler? Well, you make a pickup truck that may drive itself. With a trailer. Sort of.
Full Disclosure: Chevrolet generously loaned me a 2022 Silverado 1500 High Country geared up with Super Cruise to tow my Mitsubishi i-MIEV from Columbus, Ohio to Winchester, Virginia and again. After a bit over a thousand miles, I’d say each the Silverado and Super Cruise are fairly cool, even when they do have a couple of faults.
The truck Chevrolet despatched me was a 2022 Silverado High Country with principally each choice field checked. At $72,950, that is principally the costliest Silverado you should purchase with out upgrading to the 2500, ZR2, or HD sequence. Refreshed for 2022, the Silverado’s updates might simply be misconstrued as only a few minor modifications.
After all, on the surface, the brand new truck doesn’t look all that completely different. The entrance fascia has been restyled, with the most important change being the boomerang-shaped DRLs. But actually, it’s the inside and the tech upgrades that set aside the 2022 and ahead Silverado.
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The dashboard and middle console have been utterly restyled. GM stepped up the standard right here, with higher plastics and a extra understated utility of metallic accents. My top-trim High Country got here with a swanky retro blue-tinted leather-based coating on all surfaces, combined with some fairly good open-pore wooden.
In the middle, a 13.4-inch touchscreen controls most capabilities, though there are onerous buttons and knobs for HVAC and quantity. The display screen itself is tremendous vibrant; I personally suppose it’s one of many prettiest screens available on the market, with good shade and a powerful black level. It’s at all times seen, even in conditions that introduce glare.
Most notable, although, is that the touchscreen is utilizing Google’s new car-based working system. Essentially, it’s an automotive model of Android; first seen on the Polestar 2, the working system is now obtainable to make use of by any producer who needs it (and desires to pay Google for the pleasure). The Android system has native Google providers embedded into it, like Google Maps or Google Assistant.
I’m glad GM outsourced the infotainment interface to an actual tech firm right here; I used to be impressed with the Android Automotive utility within the Polestar 2, and I’m largely impressed within the Silverado. The move is simple, the interface is straightforward to make use of, and graphically, it’s pleasing to take a look at. Still, there have been a couple of quirks: the Silverado’s infotainment was generally laggy, and inputting addresses into Google Maps generally wasn’t as simple because it might have been. The keypad on the display screen had points with lag, and total the system didn’t appear as fast at finding addresses as researching them in your telephone.
Secondly, the truck does have Apple Carplay, however as a result of CarPlay is phone-based and basically runs parallel to the precise infotainment display screen’s duties, sure issues don’t get handed over from the telephone to the dashboard. Like, if I used to be utilizing Google Maps on my telephone, then plugged it into the car, I’d be navigating on Google Maps through Apple Carplay, not through the built-in Google Maps within the Android Automotive OS. It looks as if a foolish factor to nitpick, however utilizing Google Maps built-in into the OS is essential to Super Cruise’s operation.
Oh yeah: with the 2022 refresh, GM gave the Silverado Super Cruise, albeit solely on the topmost High Country trim. Super Cruise is a Level 2 autonomous driving system, as soon as solely obtainable on Cadillacs; on choose geofenced roads, it permits for utterly hands-free driving.
Super Cruise is the most important purpose why I wished to get behind the wheel of the Silverado. I’ve a confession: I low-key hate towing. My route for this journey went from Columbus, Ohio to Winchester, Virginia, a 350-mile slog by means of the northern tip of Appalachia, by means of WV, MD, PA, and VA, over hills and valleys, a lot of it with zero mobile phone service.
I’ve performed this route earlier than, utilizing Super Cruise in a Bolt EUV and towing with a Honda Ridgeline. I questioned, would doing each within the Silverado be greater than the sum of these two separate experiences? Towing within the Ridgeline made me just like the truck much less, and I discovered Super Cruise within the Bolt to be type of pointless; I turned it off and drove manually after an hour and a half into my seven hour journey.
And but, whereas towing in an enormous, highly effective truck, Super Cruise simply felt proper, if a bit surreal.
The Silverado’s 420 horsepower, 460 lb-ft of torque and 10-speed computerized could make fast work of towing most something this facet of a double-wide trailer. Between my i-MiEV and the weirdly heavy U-Haul automobile transporter, my mixed rig was hovering round 5,500 kilos, properly under the Silverado’s 10,500-pound max towing capability.
It was superb how simply the Silverado dealt with the automobile trailer in comparison with the final time I did this route towing the same quantity of weight utilizing a Honda Ridgeline. The Silverado’s sheer functionality, mixed with Super Cruise, made for an nearly set-it-and-forget-it towing expertise.
It’s such an odd feeling sitting behind the wheel, along with your palms in your lap, basically babysitting the car whereas it fortunately navigates itself and 5,500 price of electric-car junk down the street.
When towing, sure Super Cruise options are turned off, particularly computerized lane modifications. The cameras and proximity sensors that make Super Cruise work simply can’t account for the added size of the trailer. But, computerized lane retaining and radar cruise work simply advantageous.
As I mentioned earlier than, the final time I used Super Cruise was on the Chevy Bolt EUV. The Bolt’s system is generally the identical, besides computerized lane modifications aren’t obtainable. I assumed the system was cool on the Bolt, however manually altering lanes, then holding the steering wheel good whereas the system discovered when it was okay to renew management, obtained irritating. Somehow, the identical setup wasn’t so annoying within the Silverado. I’d wager that as a result of it’s such a large car, discovering the middle of the lane takes lots much less effort and occurs extra shortly. Lane altering whereas towing with Super Cruise was pleasant, even when I needed to do it manually.
Over the roughly 700-mile round-trip from Columbus to Winchester and again, I used Super Cruise practically all over the place it was obtainable. The Silverado was nice at sustaining pace up and down the massive hills in Maryland. It maintained lane place with none qualms as I drove by means of Wheeling, West Virginia. Believe me, I’ve had some experiences with different manufacturers’ makes an attempt at “autonomous driving” or guided cruise management, and I anticipated the Chevy’s system to bail at inopportune and unwarranted occasions.
That by no means occurred, although. The Silverado is content material to roll alongside on its geofenced freeways all day. And when Super Cruise does shut off — if the truck can’t see any lane markings, or in development zones — the system will warn the motive force properly prematurely. The built-in LED gentle within the steering wheel will flash crimson, and the seat will furiously vibrate. Otherwise, it’s easy crusing on the greater than 200,000 miles (and rising) of mapped freeways.
There are a couple of small gripes with Super Cruise, although. For starters, there’s no technique to truly see which roads have Super Cruise mapping with out placing a vacation spot within the truck’s GPS. If you’re an individual who shuns GPS, discovering out if the street has Super Cruise is a guess-and-check ordeal.
Also, Super Cruise depends on a very good GPS sign in addition to cell service. I ended in western Maryland to make use of the restroom. When I returned and merged onto the freeway, Super Cruise mentioned it didn’t have any street data, though I hadn’t altered my route in any way. About a mile later, the truck regained service, and Super Cruise was as soon as once more obtainable.
Still, regardless of these qualms, I used to be impressed with Super Cruise. When I obtained to my vacation spot, I marveled at how not-tired I used to be. I had performed a six-hour slog with a trailer by means of tight curves and large hills, and I wasn’t even remotely fatigued. I feel that’s the fantastic thing about Super Cruise; GM has created a system that tangibly makes the driving (and towing) expertise simpler and fewer burdensome, with out abdicating the motive force’s accountability to really watch the street.
The 2022 Chevy Silverado is an enormous, hulking brute, however that’s not likely distinctive to this class of car. When geared up with Super Cruise, the Silverado goes from a fairly good truck to a stealth techno powerhouse that may tow greater than 10,000 kilos.
Source: jalopnik.com
