2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Duramax

Comfort

At the track, no one batted an eye over the Silverado, but they did ogle the barn-fresh 1959 Ducati residing in the back. Personally, I think the Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra pickups look as good as anything out there—about on par with the new Ford F-Series and Nissan Titan, and certainly much more tasteful than the Dodge Ram. It's nice to anticipate the next driving stint in a good-looking vehicle, and the Silverado is most assuredly that.


Heading north from the track into the desert later that evening, the third pleasant surprise surfaced: the seating. The Silverado has about the deepest most comfortable buckets ever thrown into place by an UAW line worker. As a willowy six-footer (it's all the running and Red Bulls), I wasn't even close to occupying the entire seat, but I can vouch for the deep and comfortable upholstery. Thousand-mile days? No problem—but GM, how about padding the door armrests and center console better?


Time for the first fill-up in Ridgecrest, a town made famous in the 1950s by the exploits of NACA and NASA test pilots, and later that Tom Wolfe book. Realistic or not, I was hoping to see over 20 mpg from the Duramax. Didn't happen. A combination of highway and some city rambling netted 17.1 mpg. But on the plus side, diesel was a nickel cheaper than regular unleaded.

Power

From Ridgecrest, we headed north toward the Panamint Range and easily climbed a dirt road to 8,200-ft. Mahogany Flats, our embarkation point for a day hike. Even without 4WD the beast would churn up the dirt road as fast as you'd please, though with some axle tramp under hard acceleration. Dirt work is still better with all four wheels driving.


Slinking into Death Valley at dusk the temperature hit 102 degrees, but the Silverado never noticed. Radio searching for signals and A/C whispering, after dinner it hauled us up and out of the valley and into the high desert, the big engine loafing along at just 1500 rpm at 60 mph. Sweet.