Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ v RAM 1500 Express Crew 2020 Comparison

For years the Walkinshaw Group’s Melbourne facility was the go-to shop for tyre-screeching, Holden-based muscle-cars, but now it’s become the place for the conversion of big load-lugging, American pick-up trucks.

Walkinshaw currently re-engineers a range of full-size dual-cab 4x4 utes including the ASV-badged RAM 1500 and 2500 and the HSV Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500.

Once confined to farms and construction sites, the extra-large US four-door pick-ups with their 4500kg-plus tow ratings are gaining favour with Australian recreational and family buyers.

In short, their longer wheelbases, heftier kerb weights and more powerful engines make them safer propositions than the smaller breed of 3500kg tow-rated 4x4 utes and SUVs when it comes to towing heavy caravans or trailer boats – particularly over longer distances.

But which of the more affordable, full-size pick-up options is better for big towing jobs? To find out, we grabbed a just-arrived HSV Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ and a mid-spec ASV RAM 1500 Express Crew and hitched them both up to caravans weighing just shy of three tonnes.

As close competitors in their home market, the RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 are remarkably alike in many aspects. The five-seat, four-door utes are very close when it comes to things like size, kerb weight, payload, and towing capacity.

Both run dual-range four-wheel drive and automatic transmissions. And both cram big petrol V8s under their hefty bonnets – although the RAM 1500 is also available with a pricier turbo-diesel option.

However, when it comes to the vehicles on test here, pricing and specification are a lot further apart.

Our ASV RAM 1500 is based on the previous-generation DS-series RAM 1500, which Walkinshaw has been converting to right-hand drive since 2018. ASV isn’t expected to offer the latest DT-series RAM 1500 until later this year.

For full transparency, a different local conversion of the new-generation RAM is already available from importers like Brisbane-based SCD American Vehicles.

In comparison, the right-hand drive HSV is a latest-gen Silverado 1500; subsequently jam-packed with the latest technology and comfort features but priced accordingly.

As a result there’s a $24,000 price difference between the ASV RAM 1500 Express Crew and HSV Silverado 1500 LTZ. That’s a lot of fuel money.

Introduced in early 2020 and priced from $89,950, the mid-spec RAM 1500 Express Crew 4x4 pick-up delivers a relatively bareboned equipment list but does get some top-spec RAM 1500 Laramie features like the larger cabin (but shorter tub length), 8.4-inch touch-screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and dual-zone climate control.

Released around the same time, the HSV Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is currently offered in only a single V8 LTZ 4x4 dual-cab variant.

Priced from $113,990, it delivers a more modern, passenger car feel, plus more standard kit including remote start, dual-zone climate control, leather trim, 10-way adjustable heated and ventilated front seats (including driver memory), heated outboard rear seats, wireless smartphone charging, and MyLink infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Both pick-ups look the part, but the RAM 1500 Express Crew’s styling is more understated with a black accent package that includes matte-black side steps, side mirrors and matching 20-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, with contrasting limited-edition Bright White exterior paint.

The Silverado 1500 delivers more ‘bling’ thanks to lots of shiny chrome around the grille and front and rear bumpers, polished side steps and stylish 20-inch polished alloys. The striking Cajun Red paint is a $1250 option.

Both come with a protective spray-in bed liner, while the RAM’s optional RamBox Cargo Management System (two large, fixed lockable storage compartments running along both sides of the tray), along with a tri-fold soft tonneau cover and removable tray dividers, add around $4500 to the price.

The Chev gets a few extra extras like integrated rear bumper steps, power sunroof, sliding rear window and power-operated lift-gate – none of which are essential for touring or towing but are nice nonetheless if you’re spending a lot of time in and around the vehicle.

Both the Chevrolet and RAM are backed by three-year/100,000km local warranties with roadside assistance.

As the most advanced full-size American pick-up on the market, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ is packed with the latest driver assistance technology.

The suite includes low-speed (8-80km/h) autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, front pedestrian detection, proactive roll avoidance, hill descent control and hill start assist.

There’s also a bunch of (seat buzzing) alerts – lane change, side blind zone, rear cross traffic and forward collision.

Also part of the Chev’s safety pack are four-wheel disc brakes, six airbags, front and rear park assist, a reversing camera, and intelligent high-beam LED headlights.

The much cheaper RAM 1500 Express Crew misses out on most of this, with safety features extending to disc brakes all-round, six airbags, reversing camera, rear park assist, tyre pressure monitoring, hill start assist and cruise control.

Neither of the US-market vehicles have been ANCAP crash-tested. Both feature standard stability and traction control.

The RAM and the Chevrolet are each set up for 4500kg towing with a heavy-duty tow bar, 12-pin trailer plug, integrated trailer brakes and Trailer Sway Control.

However, the Chev also gets ‘hitch guidance’ with ‘hitch view’ features via the reversing camera and a trailering app that includes a towing checklist, maintenance reminders, electrical diagnostics, remote light checking, and even saves different trailer profiles.

As far as towing aids go, the RAM 1500 Express Crew largely makes do with a driver-selectable tow/haul mode for the automatic transmission (to sharpen-up gearshift response when towing). The RAM’s also lets you know via the instrument panel when the trailer brakes are connected and the level of brake controller ‘gain’ when towing.

While the RAM’s digital trip computer covers the basics, the Chev’s multi-layered digital screen menus deliver a wealth of information, from a tilt meter to a log of engine hours.

The adage ‘no replacement for displacement’ applies here. The 313kW/624Nm 6.2-litre petrol V8 in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, while the 291kW/556Nm 5.7-litre Hemi petrol V8 in the RAM 1500 Express Crew hooks up to an eight-speed auto.

While never sluggish, both need to work hard to get their respective 2.6-tonne unladen weight up to speed, and it shows in the fuel economy.

Officially, the RAM sits at 12.2L/100km (ADR Combined) – almost lineball with Chev’s 12.3L/100km.

It’s neck and neck in the real world too, with both clocking around 14-14.5L/100km driving solo around town.

Hitched up to similar size and weight (2800kg) caravans, fuel use jumped to 25.1L/100km (Chev) and 25.2L/100km (RAM), towing over a mix of hilly, windy roads and 100km/h freeways.

That’s about 4L/100km more than we’ve got towing a similar weight caravan with a $100,000 V8 turbo-diesel Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series.

You’ll stop more for fuel in the Chev though, with its 91-litre fuel tank on the small side compared to the 121-litre tank in the RAM.

Thanks partly due to its smoother-shifting 10-speed auto and additional 68Nm of torque, which makes the Chev more relaxed climbing twisty hills than the busier RAM.

It also cruises at slightly lower revs at 100km/h on the highway. Both settle down nicely under 2000rpm on flat freeways and both have buttons (on the right indicator stalk in the Chev) for manual shifting if required.

Both big utes provide a stable, level platform for towing; both dipping only slightly at the rear when hitched up with around 250-280kg on the towball.

However, the Silverado felt more steady and composed at speeds of 100km/h or above; the RAM was getting twitchy around 100km/h, although that may have been partly due to the different caravan set-up.

It’s worth noting that both vehicles’ maximum payload (830kg in the RAM and 712kg in the Chev) is dramatically reduced when towing the maximum 4500kg. Indeed, based on GCM calculations it’s down below 100kg of payload in both cases!

This is an important consideration if you intend to tow and carry a full complement of passengers and gear. [For your own calculations the RAM is quoted at 2620kg kerb weight, 3450kg GVM and 7237kg GCM; with the Silverado at 2588kg kerb, 3300kg GVM and 7160kg GCM.]

Towing over broken bitumen and lightly corrugated dirt roads, the RAM’s long-travel coil suspension soaked up the bumps slightly better than the stiffer, Z71 all-coil set-up in the Chev.

However, the latter’s on-demand four-wheel drive system with auto, rear-drive, 4WD high and 4WD low modes, is a more user-friendly ‘set and forget’ system than the RAM’s part-time 4x4 set-up with 2WD, 4WD Lock and 4WD Low.

While both deliver decent off-road geometry, neither will go too far off the bitumen with their long wheelbases and rear overhangs. The Chev’s underbody protection, locking rear diff and grippier Goodyear Wrangler Trail Runner all-terrain tyres (compared to the Hankook Dynapro highway rubber on the RAM) should make it more sure-footed in loose conditions.

Both the RAM 1500 Express Crew and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ offer plenty of front and rear cabin space. And certainly a lot more stretching-out room, particularly in the back, than your average HiLux.

Both have multi-adjustable, multi-function leather steering wheels, but we found it easier to find the ideal driver’s position using the Chev’s powered, multi-adjustable seats.

You’re also perched up higher on the RAM’s manual adjustable seats, although the cloth upholstery is softer but perhaps not as mud resistant compared to the Chev’s tougher leather.

There’s a more convenient engine start button and park brake in the Chev, compared to the old-school key start and awkwardly positioned foot-operated park brake in the RAM. The RAM’s heated front seats and steering wheel were also welcomed on a chilly Melbourne winter morning.

One thing we preferred in the RAM was its dash-mounted gearshift dial; it’s a lot easier to use than the Chev’s clunky steering wheel stalk shifter.

The Silverado cabin delivers more and bigger storage options overall, with highlights including the large phone charging pad, seven cup-holders (compared to three in the RAM), and a much deeper centre console bin than the RAM’s.

Both V8 dual-cabs are fairly quiet out on the road, although the RAM’s 5.7-litre HEMI delivers a more audible rumble across the rev range and gets more raucous when pushed.

The RAM’s six-speaker stereo is not a patch on the sweet, seven-speaker Bose system in the Silverado, either.

At close to 5.9m long and 2.1m wide, both are a handful in busy traffic and when parking. You need to plan ahead for U-turns, particularly when towing – there’s a 12.1m turning circle quoted for the RAM and 14.1m for the Chev.

Both have decent-size, fold-in side mirrors (heated and powered in the Chev), although when towing wider caravans and boats it would be nice if both were fitted with extendable mirrors like some of the bigger American pick-ups.

The Chev’s multi-view reversing camera also provides a much better picture when backing up to the trailer than the RAM’s lower-resolution display. The latter struggled to deliver a clear view in shady conditions.

Three adults get air-con vents and sufficient space in the rear of both vehicles, although rear passengers get a better deal in the Chev with its more sculpted and heated pews, and additional USB/12V sockets and fold-down armrest.

The RAM’s rear bench folds up to reveal under-seat storage nooks, but there’s more storage room on the flatter floor under the Chev’s split-fold rear seats. The RAM gets two sub-floor storage nooks for hiding valuables, whereas the Chev’s two extra cubby holes are hidden in the rear seatbacks.

Both rear trays beds offer similar dimensions (1712mm x 1295mm RAM and 1776mm x 1286mm Chev), along with bed liners, lockable tailgates, tub lights and tie-down hooks.

While the optional RAM boxes and flexible rear dividers add to storage convenience in the RAM 1500, they do cut into the width available for carrying larger items.

If you’ve got the money, the HSV Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ is the clear winner here. It’s got the edge in towing performance and safety, has the more comfortable and user-friendly cabin, and is light years ahead in terms of tech.

We imagine the story will be a lot different with the arrival in a few months of the latest-gen ASV RAM 1500, which is expected to be much closer in specification and pricing to the HSV Silverado 1500 LTZ.

The Chev also seemed better put together than the RAM, with some noticeable dash panel gaps, unsightly under-seat floor-mounted vents and a recalcitrant foot-operated park brake in our RAM test vehicle.

For those on tighter budgets or those willing to wait, HSV is expected to release a cheaper Silverado 1500 variant at some stage, that could see the entry price dip below $100,000.

For those just after a solid towing platform though, the few-frills RAM 1500 Express Crew (or cheaper-still $79,990 RAM 1500 Express Quad V8) should do the job nicely.

It’s certainly a better -- and not much pricier – option than some of the top-spec, one-tonne dual-cab 4x4 utes or even a LandCruiser 200 Series for 3500kg towing jobs… On the proviso, of course, that you’re prepared to pay a bit more in fuel for the petrol V8.

How much does the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ cost?
Price: $113,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 6.2-litre V8 petrol
Output: 313kW/624Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.32L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 286g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A

How much does the 2020 RAM 1500 Express Crew cost?
Price: $89,950 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 5.7-litre V8 petrol
Output: 291kW/556Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 283g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A