So, you're a US pick-up hater. Have you driven a 2025 Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150 or Toyota Tundra? | Opinion

I get it. The Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and soon to arrive Toyota Tundra are eff off big trucks. In many situations, arguably too big for Aussie conditions.

Navigating even vaguely crowded city streets? Forget it.

Thinking about grabbing a spot in the shopping centre car park? Think again.

Intending to house it in a standard home garage? You’re dreaming.  

Then, over and above size-related issues are concerns about safety, particularly for pedestrians. Even in the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has its eye on the ever-increasing popularity of ‘multipurpose passenger vehicles’ as the likely catalyst for a steep (57 per cent) increase in pedestrian road fatalities between 2013 and 2022.

And how about prodigious fossil fuel consumption and consequent emissions? Even the amount of raw materials it takes to manufacture a roughly 6.0-metre long, 2.5-tonne, dual cab behemoth?

There are compelling, alternate points of view on all these factors, but let’s agree Blind Freddy could see full-size US pick-ups are not the most loved vehicles on Australian roads.

So, the recent opportunity to steer a Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 was interesting.

It had been some time since I’d driven a big truck, the most recent being a Ram 2500, complete with 6.7-litre Cummins in-line six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine delivering a dainty 1152Nm (at 1700rpm) to the rear wheels. Enough to tow an 8000kg trailer.

2025 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

Fitting it in the CarsGuide garage called for colleague Tom White standing to one side assessing the gap between the 2.0m-plus tall Ram’s turret and an ominously unforgiving concrete roof.

At one stage I opened the sunroof to check proximity to the next sprinkler head which was microns away.

The Silverado ZR2 is powered by a 6.2L (313kW/624Nm) naturally aspirated petrol V8 and, amazingly, is the smaller sibling to the super-size 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel V8 HD LTZ.

But it still looked imposing enough in Tullamarine airport’s valet area, ready to transport batches of journalists to an overnight hotel stop prior to the launch of the 2025 Corvette line-up at Sandown Raceway.

Making a swift move for the keys I had all the negatives swirling around in my head — it’s too big, it drinks like a fish, it chugs out the CO2 and NOx, it’s soooo wasteful of human resources.

And then I started driving it. 

Sure enough, it feels immense initially, a cozy fit in the lane, towering above everything other than the Kenworths and Macks rattling down the freeway next to us.

2025 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

But the goodness rapidly overwhelms all that.

It’s so smooth and so quiet and so effortless. Squeeze the throttle and while barely tapping this beast’s immense reserves of pulling power you’re surging ahead with satisfying ease.

The steering is surprisingly responsive and accurate. I swear you have a good feel for what the front tyres are up to.

And comfortable is an understatement. With cushy seats, a borderline luxury standard spec and enough space for five people to breath (very) easily you can feel yourself relaxing as the kays waft by.

But pesky reality gets in the way as we enter the hotel car park. Yes, it fits, but progress is slow and uncomfortably tight. And once we find some open space the ZR2 occupies one and a half spaces length-wise. Not exactly convenient.

But I’m going to say it. In the right place, at the right time, typically with something humungous attached to the back of it, the Silverado, and its big pick-up brethren are perfectly fit for purpose and… my oversize (not so) guilty automotive pleasure.