Now that we've had some time to digest what we learned during our First Drive of the all-new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, we have a few requests (complaints?). We stand by our position that this truck will be a game-changing pickup for GM and the half-ton class, but there's always room for improvement. So below we share the top five things we think Chevy overlooked.
More Juice
Good grief, it needs a larger fuel-tank option. The 26-gallon tank is the industry standard for the class, but there are so many things people do with their pickups that require a larger tank option. We understand the value of weight-savings and its resulting benefits, but, dang, even the model the 2019 is replacing had a 34-gallon option, as do competitors. If you expect buyers to do any towing or remote exploring, you need to give them more fuel capacity.
More Drama
The interior upgrades and redesign of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is nice, but this class requires drama similar to what the 2019 Ram 1500 delivered. With that said, if we hear another car guy talk about how conservative the Chevy Silverado interior is, we think we're going to puke. No doubt there is a group of pickup buyers interested in glitzy and shiny (with a bigger, Tesla-like navigation screen, of course). They want their top-of-the-line trim level to have it all — certainly that's what Ford discovered with the F-150. Still, Chevy also has GM sibling GMC to think about; GMC traditionally has been pretty good about delivering what those customers want. We'll see soon; our First Drive of the 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 will publish Monday.
More In-Cabin Information
Why in the world would a truckmaker go to the trouble of loading its new pickup with a high-tech fuel-management system featuring sophisticated cylinder deactivation and not offer access to that information via the in-cabin multimedia system display screen? Even the last-generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Hybrid had a screen to let people know what direction and how much of the power was flowing. We get that some advanced technology probably should be invisible, but this doesn't fall into that category.
More Street
GM engineers deserve a lot of credit for putting together a factory lift kit , but there's no question that even the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Trail Boss trims are likely to see more pavement in their lifetimes than serious 4×4 trails. Why not offer a street-performance package to get the center-of-gravity a little lower with a set of Corvette tires? Of course, Chevy would need to do that without losing any payload or towing capacity.
More Skylight
One of the defining features of a modern-day half-ton pickup truck is how versatile it must be in terms of the type of work and play it does. We're hearing that to meet those demands, a big truck's interior must be less of a closed box. Lately, that's been defined as offering a sliding or drop rear window and a massive moonroof so passengers don't feel closed in. And it should be more than just a standard single-panel sliding moonroof; ideally, it's a huge piece of glass that brings the outdoors inside.
Cars.com photos by Evan Sears
