The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD is one of the largest pickups offered in Australia that can be driven on public roads with a regular car licence.
With its 4.5-tonne braked towing capacity, and the availability of an almost 1.4-tonne payload capacity, the Silverado 2500 HD packs some serious capability straight out of the box.
For the 2024 model year (MY24), Chevrolet introduced a new, higher-tech interior layout reminiscent of what the smaller Silverado 1500 received with its update. There’s a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 13.4-inch touchscreen, and a repositioned wireless phone charger, among other tweaks.
The Silverado 2500 HD’s iconic 6.6-litre Duramax V8 turbo-diesel engine now also makes 18kW and 88Nm more than the outgoing model. Outputs are a whopping 350kW of power and 1322Nm of torque.
Chevrolet claims its engineers improved low-end torque by 25 per cent, which improves performance on hills and towing ability. After all, this isn’t a toy or a ute for lifestyle-oriented weekenders; it’s designed to be the ultimate heavy hauler for people who live life with a massive load hitched to the back of their cars.
That is a tough job, and the buyers are seriously demanding. Does the Silverado 2500 HD have what it takes?
How much does the Chevrolet Silverado HD cost?
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD is only available in a single trim level in Australia, like the pre-update model.
It’s technically available in two different configurations, however – NB1 and NB2 – which are priced the same, but offer different payload and gross vehicle mass (GVM) figures.
The NB1 Category version has a reduced payload and GVM figures, and just slides under the threshold of being able to be driven with a car licence in Australia.
The full-fat NB2 Category version has a GVM over 4.5 tonnes, and therefore requires a heavy vehicle licence. Pricing is the same for both.
- 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD LTZ Premium: $163,000
Price excludes on-road costs
To see how the Silverado HD compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool.
What is the Chevrolet Silverado HD like on the inside?
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD has an extremely dominant presence. This ute, or should I call it a truck, is huge and definitely attracts eyeballs wherever you drive.
You almost need a step ladder to get up into the pickup because it’s a fair climb. Thankfully there is a large fixed black side step, as well as a chunky grab handles.
Once you’re inside you’re presented with big seats finished in black leather. Both the front seats have 10 ways of electric adjustment which allows you to dial in your preferred seating position. There’s also two-position memory for the driver’s seat.
The front seats also both offer heating and ventilation. The latter was a godsend when I hopping back into the pickup after it was sitting around in the Queensland heat.
The driver’s seat in particular is comfortable and squishy, though it feels very American in the sense it’s wide and doesn’t offer a heap of side support. Thankfully there’s oodles of thigh support.
Ahead of the driver is a leather-wrapped steering wheel that’s typical GM in style and is nice to hold. All the buttons on it are clicky and logically labelled. There are also sneaky buttons behind the steering wheel (like a Jeep) that alter the volume and track.
Unlike the smaller Silverado 1500 which has a centre console-mounted gear selector, the Silverado 2500 HD receives a full blown steering column-mounted gear selector. This takes a little bit to get used to if you’re unfamiliar with how it works, but it doesn’t take long to acquaint yourself.
As part of the update the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD now gets a revised instrument cluster and infotainment system setup. It’s virtually identical to what the Silverado 1500 got last year with its update.
There’s now a proper 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that’s bright and appears to be high-resolution. It offers plenty of configuration that allows you to set it up to show as much or as little information as you desire.
On top of the dash is a head-up display projected directly onto the windscreen. It’s bright enough and can be seen with polarised sunglasses on.
The information shown on the head-up display is rather minimal, but it tells you all you really need to know. There are views showing how close you are the vehicle in front (in seconds), an off-road view with inclinations, as well as a minimal digital speedometer view.
Moving across there’s now a large 13.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system that finally feels proper and substantial. The pre-facelift model had an 8.0-inch unit that looked a little puny given how large the dashboard is on this vehicle.
While the new infotainment system looks high-resolution and has an intuitive interface, it can be a little hard to reach the far corners of the touchscreen from the driver’s seat.
It appears the touchscreen infotainment system has enough processing power. This means it turns on quickly when you start the pickup and new pages load snappily. I didn’t experience any moments where the display froze or bugged out.
As standard the touchscreen infotainment system offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It looks high-resolution on the touchscreen, though unfortunately the window only covers two thirds of the display.
The third of the touchscreen is taken up by a placeholder widget. You can select from an analogue clock, media select page, as well as a blank page.
While these touchscreen widgets help with functionality, it would be nice to have the smartphone mirroring take over the entire 13.4-inch display.
The wireless Apple CarPlay connection with my iPhone 15 Pro Max was great during my time with the pickup. It connected up quickly upon startup and I didn’t experience any dropouts whatsoever.
The wireless phone charger’s location has been revised with the update. It’s now located near the centre console box. You insert your phone into the wireless phone charger rather than placing it on a mat.
Surprisingly the wireless phone charger actually charged my phone. It’s common for wireless phone chargers in cars to not properly work with my large phone as the charging coils don’t align properly.
The touchscreen infotainment system offers a range of functions and menus dedicated to towing. You can set up profiles for your trailers, perform a trailer light check, see a pre-departure checklist, and set maintenance reminders, among other functions.
A number of these towing-related infotainment functions are particularly handy for those who are new to towing or don’t do it very often.
There’s also a section of the infotainment that allows you to bring up to 14 camera views that can be cycled through. Notable ones include a hitch view, surround view, as well as a trailer blind-spot view and transparent trailer view. Some of the views require a camera to be installed on the back of the trailer.
A notable absence in the Silverado 2500 HD is built-in satellite navigation. This isn’t the end of the world as you can easily do Google Maps via smartphone mirroring instead, although it won’t be much use if you’re deep in the outback with no reception.
Underneath the touchscreen is a row of physical piano key-style buttons toggling functions like exhaust brake, lane-keep assist, power tailgate, traction control and hill-descent control, among others. These are nice and large, and can be pushed by people with large fingers or gloves on.
The same can be said for the dual-zone climate control setup which has physical buttons or knobs for every single function. A quirk with this setup is you can exclusively heat the seat backrest without the base.
It can a little bit hard to see where the four-wheel drive and drive mode selectors are at first as they’re tucked behind the steering wheel near the push-button start button and the head-up display controls. The trailer brake controls are also in the same general spot.
Looking around the cabin it’s genuinely hard to tell this vehicle has been converted from left- to right-hand drive. The conversion process continues to be carried out by Walkinshaw in Melbourne.
Like the smaller Chevrolet Silverado 1500, there’s a vast amount of interior space in the Silverado 2500 HD. You’ll struggle to reach the other side of the cabin and the front passengers are separated by a massive centre console box which is both wide and incredibly deep.
There are a good amount of soft touch points, particularly the armrests and the padded finishes directly in front of you. Despite this there are still some harder plastics in some sections, as well as piano black finishes around the digital instrument cluster and touchscreen.
Even though the cabin feels vast, you can make it feel even airier with the sunroof. The glass sunroof tilts and opens electrically, though the panel cover is manual.
Moving to the second row there’s so much space that you won’t know what to do with it. The three-row bench seat will fit three adults easily, though it’s a little flat which means you may slide around corners.
Second-row amenities include heated outboard seats, centre console-mounted air vents, USB ports, as well as a fold-down armrest with cupholders. There’s also a sliding rear window which helps vent smelly… cargo from the cabin.
At the back of the Silverado 2500 HD is its massive tub. It officially measures in at 2089mm long, 1814mm wide (1317mm wide between the wheel arches) and 533mm deep. GMSV also quotes cargo volume at 1968 litres.
Thankfully there’s a power opening and closing tailgate but this doesn’t help the fact loading items into the tub takes a bit of muscle because it’s so high.
On each side of the Silverado 2500 HD are large steps which help make getting access to the tub a bit easier. There are also other steps that are integrated into the rear bumper like the Ford Ranger.
Tub-related amenities are few are far between but as standard there’s a spray-in bed liner, as well as 12 fixed tie-down points.
What’s under the bonnet?
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD is only available with one powertrain and transmission combination. For 2024 the 6.6-litre Duramax V8 turbo-diesel engine now produces 350kW and 1322Nm, up 18kW and 88Nm on the outgoing model.
| Model | Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD |
|---|---|
| Engine | 6.6-litre V8 turbo-diesel |
| Power | 350kW |
| Torque | 1322Nm |
| Transmission | 10-speed auto |
| Driven wheels | Four-wheel drive (2H, Auto, 4H, 4L) |
| Kerb weight | 3762kg |
| Payload (NB1 category) | 733kg |
| Payload (NB2 category) | 1386kg |
| Braked towing capacity (50mm ball) | 3500kg |
| Braked towing capacity (70mm ball) | 4500kg |
| Unbraked towing capacity | 750kg |
| Gross vehicle mass (NB1 category) | 4495kg |
| Gross vehicle mass (NB2 category) | 5148kg |
| Gross combination mass | 12,474kg |
| Fuel economy (observed) | 15L/100km (unladen mixed driving) |
| Fuel economy (observed) | 24L/100km (towing 3100kg caravan) |
| Fuel economy (observed) | 12L/100km (unladen highway driving) |
| Fuel tank size | 136L |
| AdBlue tank size | 26.5L |
To see how the Silverado HD compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool.
How does the Chevrolet Silverado HD drive?
Unlocking the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD you’re provided with a very cool lighting animation that causes the LED daytime running lights swoosh twice. At night all the lights illuminate which makes this already large pickup stand out even more.
Starting up this vehicle is made easy by pressing a button on the dash. Once you’ve pressed the button you’ll know you’ve awoken the beast as the 6.6-litre Duramax V8 turbo-diesel engine roars to life.
This huge engine has a grumbly diesel idle that’s loud, given how large the exhaust outlet is at the rear. Once the engine has warmed up it idles and chugs away at an incredibly low 600rpm.
When you’re ready to take off it’s best to acquaint yourself with the column shifter because it’s not overly intuitive for Australians used to centre console-mounted selectors. It can take a bit of muscle to move from ‘Park’ to ‘Reverse’, and unless you’re feeling the clicks in the shifter you could accidentally select ‘Low’ gearing instead of ‘Drive’.
Be prepared to use the column shifter a fair bit though if you drive or live in the city as you’ll certainly be doing a fair few three-point turns and intricate manoeuvres.
On the move there’s oodles of power and torque to get this 3.7-tonne pickup moving. For 2024 the Silverado 2500 HD’s 6.6-litre V8 turbo-diesel engine received an extra 18kW and 88Nm, bringing outputs to 350kW of power and a stonking 1322Nm of torque.
That amount of power and torque is nothing to sneeze at, but the way it is delivered makes the driving experience effortless and smooth.
From standstill there’s a bit of noticeable turbo lag regardless of which mode you’re in, but once peak torque comes on tap you feel like you’re defying physics.
If you give the accelerator a boot in two-wheel drive mode from a standstill or at low speeds you’ll likely experience some form of rear wheel slip, especially on wetter sealed surfaces due to the all-terrain light truck tyres.
Thankfully you can negate this by utilising the pickup’s ‘Auto’ mode with its full-time four-wheel drive system that automatically engages the front wheels when additional traction is needed.
It’s nice to have the confidence and reassurance of full-time four-wheel drive in this type of vehicle, especially because it allows all-wheel drive on sealed surfaces. Vehicles with part-time four-wheel drive systems can only engage 4H or 4L on unsealed surfaces.
The Silverado 2500 HD comes with a 10-speed Allison automatic transmission that feels properly heavy duty and robust. Gear shifts often go unnoticed as there are so ratios many ratios to choose from. It allows the engine to keep the revs within its torque band during acceleration and down low when cruising.
Although the rev counter on the instrument cluster goes all the way up to 6000rpm (redline is around 4500rpm), the engine never revs above 3000rpm even with full throttle. This is smart, because peak power is delivered at a very low 2800rpm.
Driving around in urban environments and in the city is where the Silverado 2500 HD feels most out of its depth, though that doesn’t stop buyers of these types of vehicles doing it. As I mentioned before, you’ll be doing a fair few three-point turns as the pickup’s turning circle is absolutely humongous.
As standard there are front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera. These do help with parking this almost 6.4-metre behemoth in tight multi-storey urban carparks.
The pickup does take up a majority of the lane and you’ll be double checking to see whether you’ll mount the kerb when turning a corner. Thankfully there are large side mirrors with a regular mirrored section and a lower convex mirror section that shows exactly where the rear wheels are.
The Silverado 2500 HD’s steering is on the lighter side at lower speeds, which makes it a devoid of feeling and numb. Certain bumps will be felt through the suspension and not through the steering wheel, which doesn’t quite feel right. Despite this the steering is still direct, and ramping up speed firms up the steering.
Around town the unladen ride is generally pretty good and compliant, but definitely not standout. This isn’t surprising given the pickup has rear leaf suspension that’s geared towards heavy payloads and towing.
Normal road lumps and bumps don’t affect the front passengers of large pickup too much because it has independent front suspension, though speed bumps do make things a little bouncy.
Building up the speed in the Silverado 2500 HD is incredibly easy. The 6.6-litre V8 turbo-diesel won’t even bat an eyelid as you’re accelerating up to higher speeds. Punch it and you’ll get an incredibly satisfying V8 soundtrack that’s not overly loud but very addictive.
It’s safe to say this type of vehicle isn’t incredibly dynamic. There’s plenty of body roll which is synonymous with its soft suspension tune. At some points the pickup can feel a ungainly from a passenger seat perspective which will make you want to yell out to the driver to slow down a bit.
Once you’re at a cruising speed on the highway or freeway the pickup starts to feel like it’s getting into its element. The overall size of this vehicle is still very much front of mind, but with familiarity it gets easier.
During unladen highway driving pretty much all the bumps, including larger and harsher ones, are soaked up.
You’ve waited long enough, it’s time to get into the towing. During the media launch for the updated Silverado 2500 HD we had the opportunity to tow a Titanium Hardcore caravan that weighed around 3100kg.
With the caravan hooked up to the Silverado 2500 HD it was apparent this is what this vehicle is made for. The engine didn’t break a sweat whatsoever and it barely felt like anything was attached to the rear.
One of the few times you’re aware of how much mass the pickup and caravan have is when slowing down. Naturally you needed to allow for longer braking areas, but it still felt like it took a bit to bring the beast to a standstill.
A cool feature in the Silverado 2500 HD is the exhaust brake that helps leverage engine braking to slow down more aggressively. It’s a feature that you’d typically see in trucks, and is incredibly handy when towing downhill.
The exhaust brake needs to be turned on by pressing a button on the dash every time you start up the vehicle. When activated it’s nowhere near as loud as a truck’s exhaust brake, but if you listen carefully you can hear its distinctive grumble in the background.
While the ride while unladen is largely fine, when a heavy trailer is hooked up the front end gets quite bouncy and floaty. It feels under damped, where the rear leaf suspension is stiffer and more geared for heavy hauling.
Another cool towing-related feature in the Silverado 2500 HD is its ability to show a blind-spot camera view on the infotainment display when the indicator is turned on. It also shows a visualisation of where the trailer you’re towing would go if you changed lanes.
You’re able to add an auxiliary rear-facing camera to your trailer which can be viewed through the native infotainment system. It also unlocks a special ‘Transparent Trailer’ view that allows the driver to virtually see through the trailer.
During the media launch we also had a brief experience of driving the Silverado 2500 HD off-road, though it was essentially just on gravel roads as some of the harder tracks had unfortunately been washed out.
This pickup does come with an ‘Off-Road’ driving mode, as well as a two-speed transfer case and an automatically locking rear differential, so it’s got all the bells and whistles you would expect from a four-wheel drive.
The only thing holding it back is its overall heft, plus the long wheelbase and fixed sidesteps means it has a poor break over angle of 19 degrees. Approach and departure angles are 28.5 degrees and 23.6 degrees, respectively.
On the safety front the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD now comes with adaptive cruise control which is very helpful when travelling along highways and freeways. It also works when a trailer is connected, which isn’t a given in this type of vehicle.
The adaptive cruise control system likes to leave a big gap ahead of the vehicle in front. This gap is made even larger when a trailer is connected. While this is generally fine on freeways with less traffic, when cars merge in front of you in built-up freeway sections, this will cause the car to slam its brakes on.
Lastly, the Silverado 2500 HD does have a lane departure and lane-keep assist though the latter is brake based and not as sophisticated as one that electrically corrects your steering back into the lane. They both work as intended and aren’t overly intrusive like some can be.
What do you get?
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD is available in a single LTZ Premium trim level, like the pre-update model.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD highlights:
Exterior
- 20-inch high-gloss black wheels
- LT275/65R20 Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner AT tyres
- Z71 off-road suspension with Rancho twin tube shock absorbers
- Rear multi-leaf spring suspension
- Automatic LED reflector headlights
- Automatic high-beam
- LED daytime running lights
- LED fog lights
- LED tail lights
- Rain-sensing wipers
- Power-folding and extending vertical trailering mirrors
- Z71 skid plates
- Front frame recovery hooks
- 4.0-inch black tubular side steps
- Side bedstep
- Rear bumper corner step
- Power tailgate
- Power sunroof
- Privacy glass
- Spray-on bedliner
- 12 fixed tub tie-down points
Interior
- 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
- 13.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Wireless phone charger
- 7-speaker Bose premium sound system
- Front and rear USB ports
- Dual-zone climate control
- Rear air vents
- Digital rear-view mirror
- Power sliding rear window
- Proximity entry and push-button start
- Heated leather-wrapped steering wheel
- Leather-appointed upholstery
- 10-way front seat electric adjustment
- Driver seat memory
- Heated and ventilated front seats
- Heated outboard rear seats
- Carpet floor mats
Is the Chevrolet Silverado HD safe?
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD hasn’t been crash tested by ANCAP.
Standard safety equipment is as follows:
- Six airbags
- Forward collision alert
- Low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Lane change alert
- Lane departure warning
- Adaptive cruise control (available with trailer)
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Surround-view camera
- Teen driver alert
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
How much does the Chevrolet Silverado HD cost to run?
GMSV covers the Chevrolet Silverado HD with a three-year/100,000km warranty. It also provides three years of roadside assistance.
Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 12,000km, whichever comes first. GMSV doesn’t offer capped price servicing, with pricing varying by dealer due to labour rates and transactional parts pricing.
During our prescribed drive loop around the Sunshine Coast in the Silverado 2500 HD we achieved an average fuel economy figure of 15L/100km, which is common for this kind of vehicle. It also grew to 24L/100km when towing the 3.1-tonne caravan which although is a large fuel economy figure is relatively good for the segment.
Lastly the lowest fuel economy figure I saw in the Silverado 2500 HD was an average 12L/100km on a freeway run from Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.
CarExpert’s Take
The Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD is vehicle that has a particular time and place. It’s not the kind of vehicle that makes sense in urban or built-up areas, but is a proper towing machine for the open road that laughs in the face of smaller dual-cab utes.
There’s no denying this locally converted full-size American pickup is incredibly capable with its 4.5-tonne braked towing capacity and the availability of an almost 1.4-tonne payload capacity. There aren’t any utes currently on the local market that offer this level of capability, save for its rival from Ram.
This latest update to the Silverado 2500 HD may be subtle from the outside, but it’s good to finally get a modern infotainment display setup reflective of its hefty six-figure asking price. More power and torque from the iconic 6.6-litre Duramax V8 turbo-diesel engine doesn’t go astray either.
Oh, and any person with a regular car licence in Australia can technically hop in the NB1 Category version of this 3.7-tonne pickup and legally drive it.
If the 733kg of payload in the NB1 Category version isn’t enough however, you’re forced to opt for the NB2 Category version which has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) over 4.5-tonnes and by law is required to be driven by someone with a heavy vehicle licence.
This is a car designed to do a specific job. If it suits your lifestyle from a towing and capacity perspective it’s very capable, but it’s not a poser designed to flex on Rangers – for better, mostly.
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