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Chevrolet took the wrapper off the new Silverado today, dispatching the chrome grille and headlight surrounds for paint-coated pieces on the refreshed model.
The face of the Z71, shown in this photo released by General Motors, sports a body-colored grille, bulging hood and two strips of LED lights. (Also 90’s-esque headlamp covers, according to our Managing Editor Mark Stevenson.)
According to Chevrolet, the 2016 Silverado will also feature “expanded use” of the 8-speed transmission, which is only available for 2015 on the 6.2-liter V8 engine.
According to the statement announcing the 2016 Silverado, Chevrolet added that the new truck would use Apple’s Car Play and Android Auto in addition to “safety technologies.”
Chevrolet said it will make available more details about the Silverado in coming months before the truck’s public debut.
Sales of the Silverado and GMC Sierra have steadily risen this year, climbing 14.6 percent and 8.2 percent respectively from 2014.
Aw, jeez… must we have LED sparkle-eyes on *everything* today?
GM is marketing to the 8-year-old girl demographic. They will inherit these trucks when they turn 16.
Looks more like a couple crows feet were added either side, to make sure you know this model is aging.
Much better.
Looks much better.
I am not going to say its ugly because its not however I dont think I have seen that many cut lines in a front end in a long time.
Looks like it was backhanded by Wolverine.
then don’t look at a New Tundra, cause the silverado looks like it has 1 line compared to the tundra
Has anyone removed that skaggy front spoiler from this model? Just a few screws? Is the bumper edge that would expose still sealed against water?
Willing to be corrected if I’m wrong, but I thought the el cheapo looking aero cover below the front bumper on the Silverado was designed on purpose to be removed easily/quickly and not look like butt once removed if you wanted to. However the penalty for removal is a sacrifice at the altar of MPG, incremental.
I hope you’re right. I know a couple of people with 2015s I could ask to let me poke around underneath it and look. For as little and as tamely as I drive, MPG is a false god.
I think we a Silverado in the fleet right now and I should be getting it in a few weeks.
I accidentally a Silverado in the fleet.
The owner’s manual advises that removing it will degrade engine cooling,for what that’s worth. I haven’t tried removing the spoiler on my ’15 Sierra to find out.
Extremely easy to remove. Something like 18 bolts and u-nuts. It’s also relatively cheap to replace if you end up breaking it. I cant can’t confirm the difference in fuel mileage due to removing it within hours of buying.
Yea I’ve seen several pictures and 1-2 trucks in person without the snow plow. It’s still Very low, but significantly better looking even so.
My main issue with the GMC/Chevy twins are their fenders. Their bulges are way too exaggerated, and their wheel openings too large. When 20″ wheels look undersized on a truck, you’ve got a design problem.
They’re especially egregious surrounding SQUARE WHEEL WELLS.
That’s how you know IT’S FOR MEN, those wheel wells! Same reason the Terrain is FOR MEN but the Equinox is for girly sissies.
The Terrain should be for no one.
I love an expensive Denali with standard 4-cyl at $40K! Great value!
Yeah RideHeight, but GM has had square wheel wells since about 1972, and it didn’t matter until around 2010, when they started with these overblown side bulges.
I guess I’m not connected to fullsize truck land, because beyond some extra creases in the hoods and lots of sparkly LEDs – I don’t see anything different.
Meh.
You guys are so kind. By comparison, my first thought was “Holy hell that’s ugly!”.
BULGED FOR HER PLEASURE
IS THAT A V8 OR ARE YOU HAPPY TO SEE ME
CHEVY TRUCKS… LIKE A C…ROCK.
I’m not a truck guy so maybe that disqualifies me from commenting.
But I like the fact that while this thing does still look massive, it doesn’t have an acre of plastic faux chrome on the front end.
That is probably just due to the trim level shown though. I’m sure certain trims will have the bumper, headlight/grille surrounds and grille bar all chromed out like in the current truck.
Each maker seems to reserve the less-chrome treatment for specific equipment combinations. For Chevy, it’s the Z71 package. For Ford, it’s the Sport Appearance option for XLT and Lariat trims. For Dodge, er, Ram, it’s the relatively low-content Express and Sport versions.
If I needed a pickup, I’d go far out of my way to buy the one with the least chrome possible.
This generation of Silverado and Sierra, I like the way the Sierra look, but the “totally square” look of the Silverado with the stacked headlights looked way too “butch truck caricature”. I know the Sierra is still pretty butch, but the headlights being shorter than the grill gave it some contour.
This new Silverado face, blingy LEDs aside, looks much less square and butch, so to my eye its an improvement. In fact, I quite like the one pictured.
This one isn’t for me. It’s just too busy. Perhaps I’ll like a different trim level more.
Does this mean the GMC Sierra is getting an update too? I’ve always liked it’s styling more than Chevy’s.
My BBQ grill has better aerodynamics
ONLY (feminine epithets) BOW TO AERODYNAMICS
REAL MEN PUNCH THROUGH THE AIR LIKE BRICKS WITH PARACHUTES
It’s alright, like the chrome one better. This would be good as a sport version of the current truck, maybe a Silverado SS.
The aesthetics are subjective but the increased availability of the 8-speed AT is good news.
I do like the direction that Chev has taken with the Silverado. More can be done.
The breaking of the little tackle grille is a positive, but more can be done by delivering a better aerodynamically shaped front end with a realistic size grille. I can’t believe those retro Ford Louiville grilles on little trucks with engines as small as 2.7 litres.
I do think the change is good enough to allow the Silverado 1500 to continue outselling the 1/2 ton F-150 aluminium wonder truck in the foreseeable future.
GM have really done a far better job so far with the lineup of pickups than the other manufacturer’s.
Actually the F-150 is within spitting distance (a few hundred trucks) of catching the Silverado 1500, which it hasn’t done since ’04 iirc. This with the F-150’s handicapped production most of the year, plus release glitches.
But doesn’t matter what pickups look like, for the most part. Around half will hate it, no matter what.
GM knows their new generation Silverado/Sierra won’t hold off the competition for very long. This refresh and another all-new generation a couple years after, is just GM scrambling.
Me Gusta
Maybe they can increase the availability of the 6.2, I can’t see the point in the 5.3 other than for fleets with the efficiency of the 6.2 any longer.
As the owner of a 6.2, I can tell you that the point of the 5.3 is that it runs on 87 octane gasoline, rather than 91 octane. If you don’t need the extra power, you can save some money on fuel. That said, the 5.3 with the current 6-speed is a dog. If they start shipping it with the 8-speed, then I think it would be worth a look if you’re not planning on doing heavy towing.
The hardware isn’t the problem, the 5.3 makes excellent power on the dyno and the 6L80 is a solid transmission. It’s the lazy drive by wire tune that GM puts on everything that isn’t explicitly a performance vehicle.
GM can, and almost certainly will, tune all of the responsiveness out of an 8 speed too.
@Dan – that is what I’ve heard too. The 5.3 seems bagged and upshifts quickly and stays there most likely to save mpg. It up and hauls if you mash the pedal to the floor. My friend did say that when towing his 24 ft camper it does fine but does need to be revved.
This snout looks like they trimmed some plastic off of the top of the Sierra grill and but the Chevy “bar” through the middle. It looks nice. I am surprised that they did a face lift so quickly. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the previous grill.
I’d like to see GM come up with a two tone paint scheme for their trucks.
CAFE.
When this generation of GM pickups debuted a few year ago, I really thought their very small increment of change vs the previous one left them vulnerable to some serious market share erosion.
So far they’ve done pretty well. I guess the brand loyalty is deep. $2.40 gasoline helps everybody so it’s a bigger market to play in also.
I’m not a truck guy myself… But this looks rather cheap/chintzy to me. I think I much prefer the chrome grill on the current one.
This looks overly plastic-y… Like the first Yukon Denali kinda thing. And the LED strips also look chintzy. The kinda thing you could buy at Auto Zone.
I have no doubt that some will have chrome and some will have bodycolor. And the WT will have black.
The WT is the best looking Silverado, except in black. No goofy cateyez projectors either. There’s a monochrome/color keyed Midknight edition or something that looks good too, for $60K iirc. The black WT is by far the best looking ‘bang’ for the your Silvy buck.
I would prefer the FM antenna delete option with a dual, symmetrical satellite antenna array in a Devil’s horn style and a mild tilt to the headlights to add a snake-eye effect… At least for an unwarranted SS edition.
Is the belt-line higher than prior generations? It looks a bit higher too me. The mirrors are too small. The satellite antenna seems too far forward forward.
Having run nearly 6000 miles in my ’15 Sierra 6.2, the only complaint I have (apparently not being remedied next year) is that the headlights are pretty pathetic in doing what headlights are supposed to do. The F150’s optional LED headlights are . . . . um . . . light years ahead.
Well-let’s see….They went from having a front end that looked like a tribute to the 1966 Ford Galaxie to one that reminds me of a picture of a fat guy with a double chin wearing a turtleneck. I guess they gotta out-ugly the F150.
Looks to me like a waist wearing really low pants.
Having driven plenty of pick-ups on construction sites, I will say that the front blind spot on this thing worries me greatly. Safety starts with visibility and it doesn’t look like there’s much of it. At least Ford slopes the hood a little bit!
I wonder if at some point we’ll start moving away from pickups in commercial construction. They’re already too tall for easy access to the bed and not ergonomic enough for the aging superintendents who get the larger and newer trucks in the fleet. It feels like they’ve been designed for someone else.
I like it, and I hope that ugly, flat-black plastic grille has been eliminated from the W/T model as well.
To me, NOTHING looks worse on a truck than those el-cheapo basic black grilles used on all base model trucks, regardless of OEM. At least make them all gray or silver.
It’s the white WTs that scream of El Cheapo. Mom got the base stripper Tundra RCSB with black glossy grill, bumpers and trim, except it’s a dark blue metallic, almost black. Looks really good actually, plus I tinted the back window.
The almost retro (see 1985 Chevy K20 Silverado) front end is actually quite nice, with just the right amount of chrome.
Personally, I think the primary headlights would have looked better on the low-side vs the upper grill.
It does feel a big Dodge-ish though.