First Look: 2022 Chevrolet Silverado adds ZR2, new interior, power tweaks

Burly off-road variant and top-tier Super Cruise are but two highlights

Matthew Guy

Sep 09, 2021 • September 10, 2021 • 5 minute read • Join the conversation

(l to r) The 2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country, ZR2 and LT

In the brutally competitive half-ton pickup truck segment, life comes at you fast. It’s a constant game of one-upmanship amongst the major players, all of whom are locked in a perpetual “anything you can do, I can do better” competition. For 2022, Chevy is bringing the goods in the form of a substantially revised interior, more power, and a dandy new off-road variant.

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A Look Inside

2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country
2022 Chevrolet Silverado LT
2022 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

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We’ll start in the cabin, a place in which GM faltered when the new-for-’19 models dropped a couple of years ago. Gone is the old-school infotainment screen and acres of plastic, replaced with a 13.4-inch jumbotron in the centre stack, sticking upward like the frond on a particularly leafy fern. This is not a complaint. It is perched atop straightforward ventilation controls, and it’ll have not escaped your notice the models shown in these images all have bucket seats. This is to show off a new electronic shifter which sprouts from the console like a wild mushroom. Other trims equipped with a bench will retain a column-mounted shifter.

Ahead of the driver is a 12.3-inch digital cluster, binning the old analog gauges and dragging Silverado into the current century. Various and sundry splash graphics are shown spreading across both the gauge and centre clusters, putting an exclamation point on the detail that these two screens will work together to display vehicle information. Vertical elements have been replaced with horizontal lines, exaggerating the cabin’s width both in terms of spaciousness and screen size. It’s a good look, finally.

2022 Chevrolet Silverado LT
2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country
2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country

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High Country models will receive the likes of open-pore wood trim, unique leather seating surfaces with a pattern that looks like your father’s wingtip shoes, and the option of a blue colour scheme. This author welcomes a return to real interior hues. The company’s excellent Super Cruise driver-assistance feature has been cribbed from Cadillac as an option on the High Country, with Chevy engineers figuring out how to make the tech work while hauling a trailer, permitting it to account for the extra length and mass. Lane change functionality of Super Cruise is enabled when the truck is not towing.

It’s worth noting these cabin improvements are for trucks trimmed LT and above, leaving Work Truck (and likely Custom, though GM was unclear) customers with last year’s interior.

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ZR2 Off-Road

2022 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

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Chevrolet has applied learnings from its Colorado ZR2 to create the burly new Silverado ZR2. It’s powered by the hand-of-god 6.2L V8, a mill good for 420 horsepower and an exhaust note that wakes the dead. We see the first application on Silverado of GM’s Multimatic 40mm DSSV spool-valve dampers, which feature a trio of separate spool valves to control damping along with three connected chambers for fluid flow. In plain English, this means the truck will be able to absorb off-road driving with ease but not beat up its passengers on their way home from the trailhead.

Engineers have installed uniquely-tuned springs that, with the Multimatic dampers, are said to increase maximum front and rear suspension travel compared to the Silverado Trail Boss. There are front and rear e-lockers to help ZR2 extricate itself from the rough stuff, plus a Terrain Mode which permits one-pedal rock crawling. Look for ZR2-specific 33-inch off-road Goodyear Wrangler MTs and a unique skid plate package.

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While its front fascia might look like it has something of an overbite, that piece does allow for a 31.8-degree approach angle; plus, its front bumper is designed with removable end caps for easier replacement in the event of close encounters of the rocky kind. And, yes, that’s a so-called ‘flowtie’ on its grille for extra engine cooling.

Styling and Design

2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country
2022 Chevrolet Silverado LT
2022 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

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Speaking of grilles, the aesthetics department has tweaked the Silverado’s nose, eliminating those sideburn-style vents that used to bookend the front bumper. The ‘C’ lights remain as a visual flourish, while the bowtie badge has been brought upwards towards the truck’s hoodline. It’s certainly less busy than the old truck, though your author is probably one of the few who didn’t mind the forward appearance of last year’s model.

While the headlights may look higher thanks to their new relationship with the bowtie logo, GM says they’re actually a bit lower than before. There will be comparisons of its slim headlight shape with what’s found on the Ram 1500 Longhorn and Limited, whether Chevy likes it or not. Any models equipped with fog lamps will now find them in the lower valence area behind a tri-bar screen. The view out back remains familiar.

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Power Tweaks

While there aren’t a raft of powertrain changes, the ones which are on tap remain notable. The 2.7L Turbo engine has been given a rethink, endowed with a new ribbed cylinder block and stiffened crankshaft. There are roughly 10 new part numbers in total, a GM rep said in a presentation, with the new block being a pretty significant change. It all adds up to 420 lb-ft of torque, more than 20 per cent better than last year. Shifting patterns of the eight-speed automatic were fettled as well.

Elsewhere, the 3.0L Duramax diesel remains at its existing power output, but is now configured to take advantage of a Max Tow package, increasing its hauling capacity to 13,300 lbs in two-wheel-drive configuration. Cooling improvements, more suitable suspension springs, plus a new rear differential and gearing are largely responsible for improved towing performance. The pair of V8 options, a 5.3L and 6.2L, retain their existing power ratings.

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Production and Release Dates

(l to r) The 2022 Chevrolet Silverado High Country, ZR2 and LT

Spox for the company are targeting spring 2022 as the calendar point in which these new trucks will appear. When asked, they remain hopeful the current shortage of microchips – and other industry challenges – will not scupper that timeline. Trim levels mentioned as being the ones to receive the updates include LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, ZR2, LTZ, and High Country; as mentioned, WT (and likely Custom) trims keep the old kit.

It’s worth noting that GM’s own fleet order guide also specifies all these trims (including the fancy ones) as available in the 2022 Silverado Limited, which is actually just the existing 2019-2021 truck under a new name. Customers should be aware of this lest they inadvertently show up at a dealership expecting to test drive a 2022 Silverado High Country with all the fancy gadgets and are instead shown a 2022 Silverado Limited High Country with the old interior.

(In fairness, GM is not alone with this approach, since Ram has been hawking both the new and old Ram 1500 side by side for years now. Your author has witnessed a local dealer promote the old Ram as ‘Truck of the Year’, which is an award that applies to the new truck. Dealers, amirite?)

With these improvements – inside and out – for 2022, Chevy seems set to continue the Detroit tradition of truck one-upmanship. We look forward to climbing behind the wheel.