The better pickup is the one that's most useful.

You can get all caught up in the latest and greatest truck technology, but the reality is that the best full-size pickup is the one that best fulfills your specific criteria.

That's why choice is a fundamental starting point in the search for your next pickup. And the 2010 Chevy Silverado 1500 lineup gives you a remarkable range, from a V6-powered Regular Cab, to a Crew Cab with the most powerful light-duty pickup engine currently available - the 403 horsepower Vortec 6.2L V8.*

You can also choose from a selection of transmissions, suspensions, box sizes, load capacities, as well as trim levels. This allows you to make a choice based precisely on how it answers your day-to-day needs.

A closer look places Silverado in an even more flattering light.

Take a feature like the Autotrac™ 4x4 transfer case that's standard on LT and LTZ 4x4 models. It includes an Auto 4x4 setting that adjusts for good traction and can also sense wheelspin and automatically transfer power between the front and rear wheels. In other words, better traction on demand, and a 2HI mode for better fuel efficiency when 4WD isn't required.

Or how about something as simple as the design of the pickup box? Silverado offers a significantly lower lift-in and lift-over height than Ford. No wonder Ford offers a box side step and tailgate ladder at a substantial added cost - because you're going to need them.

As for technology, Silverado includes the gamut of systems to help you get more out of your pickup - better fuel efficiency from Active Fuel Management® that shuts down four of eight engine cylinders and torque-boosting Variable Valve Timing (VVT), to the standard StabiliTrak® electronic stability control system that has been proven to reduce the risk of a single-vehicle crash by a remarkable 63 percent.**

Just shows how Silverado can go beyond being useful - to becoming indispensable.

Is a heavy-duty pickup a beefed-up half-ton, or a beast of its own?

There are two ways of looking at heavy-duty pickups. You can either take half-ton pickup components and simply beef them up, or you can engineer components to specifically answer the increased demands that a heavier load places on them.

Chevy Silverado 2500HD three-quarter ton and 3500HD one-ton pickups are solidly placed in the second camp. And if you're thinking - hey, if it does the job, what difference does it make? Well, if you've ever driven up a steep road with a loaded trailer in tow, you already know the answer.

Silverado HD pickups have the power needed for even the most formidable loads. The available Duramax® 6.6L V8 Turbo Diesel generates a whopping class-leading 660 lb.-ft. of torque† and is engineered specifically for eye-opening hauling capabilities -fifth-wheel trailering capacities go up to 7484 kg (16,500 lb.).

The transmission helps separate the men from the boys.

A heavy duty six-speed Hydra-Matic comes standard with the Vortec 6.0L V8 - that's one more gear than Dodge or Ford, and with it an extra overdrive gear for better fuel efficiency. The Duramax gets the Allison® 1000 six-speed automatic that is closer to a medium-duty truck transmission than a light-duty. It also features engine grade braking - just what you need when you're hauling a big load down a big slope. So instead of trying to stretch the performance limits of a less rugged transmission, Allison is engineered from the get-go for heavy-duty punishment.

Just goes to show - there are no shortcuts to a harder working heavy-duty pickup.

* Competitive information based on GM Large Pickup segment and latest published information available at time of printing. Excludes other GM vehicles.

** According to information published by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, July 2007.

† Competitive information based on 2009 GM Large Pickup segment and latest published information available at time of printing. Excludes other GM vehicles.