We have all heard from sometime that the Ford Ranger plant here in Minnesota is going to close. Some wondered if the recent tax breaks that went into effect in April would keep the plant open. The Detroit News reported yesterday that Ford officials met with Governor Tim Pawlenty to discuss the future of the St. Paul plant. The plant only builds the Ranger which has been slated for death for quite some time now. With the F150 continuing to get more and more fuel efficient, the Ranger’s role is becoming less necessary. Despite meeting with the Governor and the recent tax breaks, Ford continues to say they plan to shutter the plant. The date of closing has not been given though neither has the death date of the Ranger. I am betting those two dates will be somewhat close to each other when revealed in the future. It has been said numerous times that the new larger Ranger that will be sold around the world will not be sold in North America.
At the MAMA spring rally I had the opportunity to take the new Ford F150 Raptor with the new 6.2 liter V8 off roading. This was not the ridiculously awesome off roading this beast was made for. We were not flying over sand dunes or even flying through the mud. We were going slowly over muddy trails, up and down steep grades, and through the woods to grandmothers house we pretended. Needless to say other then scraping a running board on a rock (sorry Ford) the new Raptor 6.2 handled everything as if it was child’s play.
Notes about the video – This was my first time through the course so I was unfamiliar with it. I let the guides tell me when and where to throw it into first gear and also when to lock the rear differential. The guides in the green shirts on the trail were representatives from Land Rover. They set up the course at Road America Raceway. Last but not least, the man to my right taking the video was Thomas Bey. The man in the back of the truck you sometimes hear talking was a Ford Raptor representative.
After taking time to digest everything I wanted to share some experiences from the MAMA spring rally. MAMA is the Midwest Automotive Media Association, a non-profit group that brings automotive journalists and public relations people together. A quick recap: the spring rally was a two day event spanning a Wednesday and Thursday.
Getting right into it, we were first unleashed onto the track at Road America Raceway on Wednesday morning after a quick breakfast and safety seminar. During breakfast the various manufactures in attendance gave quick speeches about what they had brought with them for the rally.
Once we were unleashed we had choices; cars were lined up and each car had a sticker on the windshield stating either “road” or “track”. If a car had a track sticker we were allowed to take it on either the public roads or the track. Cars with road stickers were not permitted on the track.
Some things to note about the day: we were asked to keep stability control on at all times in the cars. They were trying to avoid people over-reaching their abilities and wanted to minimize any damage or injury that might occur and while this most likely hindered some people’s lap times and severely hindered some autocross times, it was fine because part no major incidents occurred.
I focused much of my attention on the track in the early morning. I drove everything from the Mazda RX8, Audi S4 and Mercedes Benz C63 to the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T R-Spec. I instantly found the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0t R-Spec underwhelming. I was not in love with the manual, it felt slightly mushy and the shifts were not clean and crisp. The engine needed to stay high in the revs to keep going around the course. When I asked the Hyundai rep about this he admitted that this was too much track for the car and went on to state that the car is better in shorter track scenarios. I can easily believe that.
The new 2010 Audi S4 was just tackled the track. I set all the settings to dynamic mode and took off. I loved the six speed manual transmission in that car. Through the corners, the car felt much more neutral then the last generation with the heavy V8, though I will admit I do miss the V8 exhaust from the previous generation S4. The car pulled itself through the corners pushing power to different wheels with the sport differential in the rear.
I did not take the time to properly set up the Mercedes Benz C63 or the E63 before hitting the track and this hindered some of the fun. I did not tinker with all the settings, thus the car was not to my liking. The paddles did not seem to do what I wanted them to do, the steering was not how I predicted through the corners, and the E63 was just simply hard to place in the corners. You really need to play with the settings to get these cars to your liking and I did not take the time.
For the road portion I took out the upcoming Suzuki Kizashi Sport with the CVT transmission. The paddles responded nicely and overall, the car was very nice. The slightly more aggressive exterior body kit is welcomed and the larger wheels and tires looked great. This was no barn burner but it went well enough.
The Rolls Royce Ghost was another trip all together, hitting near illegal speeds in no time. The interior of the new Rolls Royce Ghost is just plush. Everything is made of quality materials. I determined if I can ever afford a house with carpet as nice as the floor mats in the Ghost, I have made it. The umbrellas in the doors have ventilation ducts that dry them, giving the ability to put away the umbrellas wet (coming in quite handy when Jeeves picks you up at the gallery opening). Speaking of Jeeves, this car is much smaller then the Phantom (though still quite large) and many owners may prefer drive it themselves instead of having a chauffeur. Sorry Jeeves, you’ll be taking the other car.
I also took the new Ford F150 Raptor with the 6.2 liter V8 out on the roads. This big truck finally seems to have the much needed motivation to move like it should.
You know what they say, it’s not a party until a tree falls on an Aston Martin Rapide. If nothing else, many people will remember this from the 2010 MAMA spring rally. Upon getting back to our hotels (tired and stinky from being in the sun all day) it started to downpour and I mean a torrential downpour. Within minutes of the rain hitting, hail rolled through. The chunks of hail were about the size of a pea. Of course, my thoughts quickly rolled to the millions of dollars worth of cars sitting outside of the hotel and the track. Once the storm passed, I walked to dinner. As I was walking everyone was heading to the parking lot. I asked why and they only could utter something about a tree and the Aston Martin. Uh oh, that is not good. To my (and everyone else’s) horror, a pine tree had fallen on the Aston Martin Rapide. We lifted the tree off as they backed the car out from under it. Upon closer inspection, the passenger side mirror was gone, the hood was dented, the windshield broken and the worst part was that wood had gone through the windshield and into the dashboard, more then likely ruining the dashboard. Not good.
Thursday morning we had an autocross course set up next to the track. The Ford Fiesta was a ton of fun due to its handling. The new 2011 Ford Mustang V6 was much better then I anticipated. The Mercedes Benz C63 was a beast though the E63 was a boat through the course, mainly due to it’s size. Its power was what pushed it through.
The rest of the morning was spent off roading in everything from Range Rovers to the Ford F150 Raptor 6.2. The Raptor 6.2 was my first vehicle I took off road and its size made it a handful. The course was somewhat tight in some areas and I had to back up to make some corners. The truck handled everything like the beast that it is. After going through the course in the Raptor, I decided to go for something a bit smaller. The new 2010 Range Rover Sport was next up and this thing was ridiculously nice. Something crazy to note is that the Range Rover Sport was also labeled Wednesday as a track car. This vehicle was put through its paces both on the track and off road. Not many vehicles can be pushed through the track one morning and then stuck onto an off road trail the next. I was curious as to how the stock 20 inch wheels and tires would handle the off road portion seeing as they had been used on the track the morning before. To my surprise, the Range Rover Sport (I should not have been surprised) was an off road machine, shrugging off everything I threw at it. Driving the Range Rover next was a very cool experience. The all digital gauge cluster is really useful. Being able to change what is displayed based on what you are doing comes in handy when off road.
The entire experience gave me the opportunity to drive many different cars in varying situations throughout a two day period. The track portion was a blast, as was everything else. The people were friendly and inviting. Sitting and having lunch with two gentlemen from Consumer Reports lead to quite an interesting conversation. Everyone from freelancers to Cars.com writers were in attendance. Overall it was a great first experience and I look forward to whatever the next MAMA rallies should bring.
The Silverado is a nameplate that goes back generations. People’s grandfathers and their grandfathers drove these pick up trucks while working the land. They are every worker’s friend and seem to always be there. Over the years, as we have evolved, so has the Silverado. The pickup of yore were smaller and less powerful, not to mention much less luxurious. Though things have changed, the underlying characteristics that makes the Silverado, the character has not.
In 2007 the Silverado went under the knife for a major refresh. In the first commercials Chevrolet had a clay Malibu and then showed designers reshaping the vehicle into the new Silverado. This was to try and tie the sharp styling of these two vehicles together and connect the Chevrolet brand. Without question, the outside of this truck is sharp. The front has the headlights stacked vertically and the hood has two small power bulges on the sides. The fender flares are over-sized and shaped nicely, though the side of the truck, specifically the cab is plain and rather slab sided. The windshield has a steeper rake then the previous generation Silverado and the panel gaps are tightened up. This all leads to better aerodynamics. Overall, the look is sharp on the exterior, though I would like to see more done with the cab styling.
The current Silverado rides on the GMT900 platform, a truck chassis adapted from the current Tahoe and Suburban. The frame is fully boxed and that helps not only the payload and towing specs, but also the ride. Engineers commented at the launch of the 2007 Silverado about how they wanted to keep high capacities but strived to hit a good mix for ride and handling, both when the truck was under load and when it was empty. It rides nice all the same.
I formed strong opinions about my experience with the truck and little things struck me. For instance, the Silverado I had was an extended cab. The rear half doors swung open on unique hinges a full 180 degrees. This is not only impressive but also quite handy. The truck also was equipped with the Z71 package which among other things, on the interior gave a unique gauge cluster background which resembled carbon fiber. I personally liked the gauge cluster in the Silverado. I found it easy to read and had all the necessary gauges a truck owner using his vehicle might need. I found the leather seats to be very comfortable and the leather seemed to be good quality. The sound system was the base unit and sounded decent at best. It got muddy with the lows, while not the worst system I would definitely opt for the upgraded unit. The USB port was hidden in what you would assume to be a power outlet but it was easy to reach and quickly connected with my iPhone using a little white cable. The biggest down fall of the interior, and this is a huge downfall, is the plastics. The entire dash is made of hard plastic that does not even look that great. The door panels are all cheap plastic except for the touch points. While this used to be fine in the pick up segment the competition (Ram and Ford F150) have all upgraded their interior cabin material significantly recently and that makes the Silverado look dated. All was not lost for I did like the electronic climate control interface. Though the gauge cluster, terrific 180 degree extended cab doors and electronic climate control interface cannot fully make up for the cheap interior plastics.
The 5.3L V8 in this Silverado pumped out 315 hp and 335 ft-lb pushed to the rear wheels though it had four wheel drive. A six speed automatic handled the power and was programmed quite well. It seemed to be in the correct gear and never seemed lazy. The mileage is rated at 15/21 which is definitely competitive and right along the lines of other full size pick ups. I averaged 14.8 throughout the week. The way this particular Silverado was equipped it was rated to tow a maximum of 10,400 lbs and the maximum payload is rated at 1714 lbs. Neither of these numbers was I able to confirm as I did not have a Bobcat lying around to tow. Though I can only assume it would tow a boat or trailer quite easily.
The Silverado I had was a 1500 4WD extended cab LT. With many packages tacked on this LT was not stripped. The optional packages included the interior plus package, exterior plus package, power pack plus package, off road suspension package, Z71 appearance package and the 40/20/40 split bench seat. Among these packages features such as the dual automatic climate control, Bluetooth, chrome exterior bits, remote start, and much more were added. The total sticker price rang up to $37,775. The package I wanted to take a moment to focus on was the power pack plus package. This upgraded the engine to the LTZ trim levels 5.3L V8 with active fuel management. That engine gives a few more horsepower and ft-lb but the real addition is the six speed automatic ditching the four speed transmission. I am a bit shocked this engine is not the standard V8 and transmission combination on the Silverado line. What is the exact reason for offering the 4.8L V8 and four speed automatic transmission on the base LT models. Make with the standard six speed transmissions already.
The reality is simple when it comes to the three American made trucks, you are not going to buy a bad truck. Really, I know you are about to blast me and that is because everyone has an opinion on this topic. The reality of it is these trucks are all very capable when it comes to working hard they are worlds nicer, stronger and more power then they used to be. At the end of the day would I recommend a Silverado to someone? Absolutely. Now ask me if it would be my first choice and I would say no. I really do like the Silverado but I would have to be honest and say both the new F150 and Ram 1500 are more competitive in their own rights. The interiors have been heavily upgraded and the innovative features are endless. The Silverado is not a bad truck, it simply is not currently the best truck. A complete refresh is coming around the 2013-2014 time frame (possibly sooner) and we shall see how the chips fall at that point.
Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors
