15 mpg/city – 22 mpg/highway

Model year tested: 2007

There's not a lot of opportunity to test pickup trucks where I live–in the suburbs outside of New York City–so I decided to pack the kids in the Silverado and go skiing in Vermont. I still wouldn't be hauling logs or pulling out stumps, but a trip to the mountains on two-lane roads is what East Coasters consider rugged.

Everybody who follows the auto industry knows that for General Motors, the stakes riding on this truck and its sibling, the GMC Sierra, are huge. GM has been losing turf in virtually every category. Its strongest products, big SUVs, have fallen out of favor with consumers suddenly seeking better fuel economy. Ford and Dodge have always built tough trucks on a par with the Silverado. Nissan has joined the pack with the Titan. And this year, Toyota debuts its new Tundra pickup, built in Texas. The pressure is on for the Silverado, a perennial top-seller, to hold its ground.

It will. Chevy is smart enough not to have fiddled with the truck's basic formula–offer unpretentious, ground-level utility, with a full slate of bells and whistles for those who want to gussy it up–while refining the core product.

Unlike the Titan and Tundra, which are aggressively chiseled sculptures that shout, "Manhood!" the Silverado has confident, traditional styling. And that's the way it behaves on the road. The highway ride was stable, but more telling was the truck's adept performance on winding mountain roads.

It wasn't exactly nimble, but for a 5,000-pound vehicle, it displayed a mix of steering, braking, and cornering that was comforting, compared with some runaway trucks that feel as if they must continually be muscled under control on curves. The 315-horsepower V-8, the largest of three available gas engines, provided plenty of smooth power. The few times I left solid pavement–mostly onto snow–the Silverado made easy work of the slippery surface, gripping and grabbing with little effort.

I had the good fortune to drive the upscale LTZ model, with lavish options that pushed the price to about $45,000. The Silverado comes in numerous configurations, beginning with a stripped-down version with no back seat, much smaller tires, lower ground clearance, and few luxuries. So my experience in the truck is hardly typical. But it was delightful.

The crew cab on my Silverado includes a full-size back and as much interior space as a large sedan. My kids were far too comfortable to be riding in a truck–a DVD player? In a pickup?–but then again, I was, too. The big padded seats and deep storage spaces handled me and all my miscellaneous gear. Bigger items we just tossed into the pickup bed. And the leather upholstery, remote vehicle starter, and heated seats proved indispensable–I barely even got cold. If this is roughing it, the Silverado is for me.