2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD First Drive Review

Half-tons may be the hottest-selling trucks out there, but it’s their heavy-duty (HD) siblings where the pickup wars are truly waged.

It’s here that automakers push the limits of what they can get their trucks to do, with enormous towing and payload capacities, and seemingly endless increases in engine output. That’s where the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD enters the chat, with an available 8.3L motor under the hood that puts the rest of the industry on notice — at least for now.

Unleash the Mongoose

It’s only a matter of time before Ford or Ram try their best to outdo General Motors (GM) with more stout versions of their own HD trucks. Until then, the all-new eight-cylinder diesel engine offered in the Silverado HD — as well as the closely related GMC Sierra HD — delivers more horsepower and torque than anything else in the segment.

With a massive turbocharger forcing more air into the engine, the so-called Mongoose motor makes 555 hp and a whopping 1,230 lb-ft of torque. It comes to life with a familiar roar before settling into the same clattering idle as its predecessor; however, what’s decidedly different is how effortlessly authoritative it feels when accelerating.

Make no mistake: the outgoing 6.6L diesel is more than adequate in this regard. What’s different this time around is the way the extra 255 lb-ft of torque this bigger motor is packing feels under your foot. Redline remains hilariously low at just 4,000 rpm, but until that point it manages to accomplish a kind of quickness when unladen that used to be reserved for the aftermarket.

It also means the Silverado HD can tow and haul more than before, with the ability to pull as much as 9,072 kg (20,000 lb) conventionally, and a whopping 17,237 kg (38,000 lb) with a gooseneck trailer hooked up to the back. Again, those are enormous numbers, although they apply to very specific configurations.

Moving a few different trailers during a media drive event in and around Tucson, Ariz. — including one that weighed roughly 7,257 kg (16,000 lb) — felt like easy work for the Silverado 2500, the first in the HD lineup to go into production at plants in Oshawa, Ont., and Flint, Mich., later this year. (The Silverado 3500 will follow at a later date, according to GM spokespeople.)

Goodbye, Worm Gear

It’s about as astonishing to write this as it surely is to read, but the big diesel isn’t the most impactful change made to the Silverado HD. No, it’s the steering system that stands out most, with the recirculating ball setup from before replaced by a rack-and-pinion electric power steering system that’s quieter and more precise.

Surely there will be dissenting voices, particularly amongst diehards, but the proof is in the execution of the new system, which is outstanding. It’s more cooperative than before, responding more quickly to less input. While the previous execution wasn’t exactly a chore to operate, this one is less burdensome still.

Picking lines along a rocky off-road trail east of Tucson meant more time focused on the task at hand and less on the implement in it. There’s benefit to the system’s newfound quietness, too, with none of the whirring, whining, and hissing from before to worry about thanks to its electric nature. (Think about it the next time you turn down the stereo so you can see better.)

Less heralded but no less important is the new electronically-boosted braking system. Think of it like a byproduct of the steering system; with the elimination of hydraulic pumps and lines shared with the steering comes a more consistent braking system that clamps 371-mm (14.6-in) front rotors to bring the Silverado HD — and whatever it’s towing or hauling — to a halt in a hurry.

As Serious as Before

Don’t let any of that stuff fool you into thinking this feels like any less of a serious machine than its predecessor. In fact, those benefits sort of fade into the background of the drive in the best ways possible, with the 2027 Silverado HD feeling more precise than ever before. Put another way, sharpening your meat cleaver doesn’t make it worse at what it’s designed to do.

Unlike its half-ton sibling, the Silverado HD doesn’t benefit from many changes you can see, for better or worse. In fact, the design is identical to the before both inside and out, which makes the cabin look and feel dated — especially in comparison to that of the updated 2027 Silverado 1500. But then there’s a simplicity to the assortment of buttons for just about everything inside.

That includes the full complement of climate controls, and drivetrain-specific functions like the transfer case (located near the driver’s left knee), as well as the classic column-mounted gear selector, all of which is the same as it was. It might make this truck seem a little dated, but those upgrading from an older truck will benefit from the familiarity.

And not all of it carries over unchanged, with a new trail-specific drive mode included in the Silverado 2500 HD ZR2. As with the half-ton truck in the same trim — which, for what it’s worth, benefits from even more off-road equipment — the setting works in both high- and low-range gearing, enabling one-pedal driving on technical terrain.

The system effectively takes the brake pedal out of the equation in most circumstances so you can focus on modulating the throttle instead. In conjunction with the lighter and more precise steering, it makes negotiating obstacles easier than ever. Big-bodied though it might be, the Silverado HD has what it needs to adventure effectively.

Final Thoughts

All that remains to be seen — at least as of this writing — is how much the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD will cost, which is likely to be more than before. How much that increase will be is anyone’s guess, but it shouldn’t be entirely unreasonable considering how much of this truck carries over from last year.

What’s been changed is the stuff that matters. While the oversized 8.3L engine — as well as the class-leading numbers that come with it — will get the headlines, the revised steering and braking systems deserve just as much praise. Better still, they apply to every version of this truck, from gas to diesel, and three-quarter ton to one-ton dually.