The Chevrolet team is excited to be offering us a new four-cylinder engine in the Silverado pickup truck, but as a shopper, you might want to consider another engine when you buy a new truck.
The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado is offered with a large number of upgrades and improvements compared to the previous model, but this new engine isn’t one of them. While this may be a harsh criticism, the use of a four-cylinder engine in a truck should bring about more fuel mileage when you get behind the wheel and take a drive.
Replacing the V6 a Little Early
When you see the new Silverado with the four-cylinder engine under the hood, you’ll see that it brings you 20 city/23 hwy mpg with a combined fuel mileage rating of 21 mpg. The outgoing 4.3-liter V6 engine was rated at 18 city/24 hwy mpg which is a combined 20 mpg when you drive. The improvement of only one mile per gallon might not be enough to make you want to choose the four-cylinder engine, but the power added could be what you need. The new 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine makes 25 more horsepower and 43 more lb.-ft. of torque than the larger and heavier V6 that was offered in the past.
If you choose the AWD version of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, you’re going to find the same story but a reduction of one mpg compared to the RWD versions of this truck. The four-cylinder version of the Silverado is rated at 7,200 pounds of towing capacity and a payload of 2,280 pounds. These might be competitive stats in the segment of trucks that make use of these smaller engines but makes us wonder whether or not the four-cylinder truck will be the future of our driving enjoyment. Besides, if you still need a bit of size on your vehicle for light towing, but fuel efficiency is an important factor, you would probably want to go with a medium-size SUV like the Equinox. If you’re after a truck, fuel milage is likely not a major factor for you.
Stacking Up with the Competition
The Chevrolet Silverado has to compete directly with the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-150 and that’s where we see this truck having the most trouble. The Ford is offered with a 3.3-liter V6 while the ram is offered with a 3.6-liter V6 engine and both of them are able to give you 25 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg combined. This means you could have more power for the work you need to get done if you avoid the four-cylinder version of the Silverado as the one you want to drive.
A Bit of a Positive in this Chevrolet
Even though the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado is offered with a four-cylinder engine that feels like it could be more powerful and offers us more, it is adequate for most of us. This version of the Silverado will be the least expensive and the most fuel-efficient, which could be exactly what you’re looking for when you drive. It’s worth a drive, but don’t expect there to be a huge improvement when you choose the new four-cylinder engine for the Silverado you want to drive when you head out on the roads on a daily basis.
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