The High Country – Living life large and luxurious

A Texan’s dream – a Review of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado High Country

The High Country is no pun directed toward Colorado and their newly legalized plants. No, the High Country is the newest branding out of the Chevrolet stables set to compete with luxury trucks like the Ford F-150 King Ranch, Ram Laramie Longhorn, and the new Toyota 1794. We’re getting into this truck right on the heels of reviewing a pretty well spec’d out Silverado Z71, so I was immediately interested to see how much this would differ, if at all, from the truck we just reviewed. The High Country package is another step up from the Z71, and is Chevrolet’s highest trim level available on the 1500 today.

On the outside, not much changes with this truck. You do get a unique slatted grille, which I think does give the truck a more upscale overall look. You also get the chrome side moldings, door handles, and side mirrors. To round out the whole package, the High Country comes with unique 20-inch chrome wheels. I’m not a huge fan of slapping chrome all over a vehicle, but when matched up with our White Diamond Tricoat paint, it really looked good.

Inside is a whole other ball game. The High Country’s premium perforated leather was laid throughout the cabin. This is by far the nicest and most luxurious Chevrolet product I’ve ever driven. Pretty much everything you’d endeavor to touch is wrapped in leather with nice contrasting stitching. The steering wheel felt beefy and nice to grip. Another special touch inside this truck was the premium Bose performance audio system. This is great as it offers a more premium touch as well as a noise cancellation system. This truck also offers 12-way power-adjustable seats, front and rear park assist, upgraded suspension, remote keyless entry, a power-sliding rear window, and an 8-inch MyLink system.

Under the hood, we had the new Ecotec3 6.2-liter V8 pushing 420-horsepower and 460-lb.-ft of torque. This was more than enough engine for this truck and with it’s cylinder deactivation technology, it was able to spit out decent enough fuel economy numbers, too. The EPA rates this truck at 14-mpg city and 20-mpg highway with a combined rating of 17-mpg. During our time with the truck, we averaged just over 17-mpg so those numbers are pretty spot on. We didn’t do any heavy towing with this truck, but it’s rated at 9,500-lbs. We did, however, haul a washer and dryer as well as a large refrigerator in the bed. I’m not sure how much weight that is, but this truck didn’t miss a beat with all that weight in the bed.

Overall, the thing that surprised me the most and really put this truck toward the top of my list was the ride and drive. This is one of the smoothest and quietest trucks you can buy. The drive matched up nicely with the luxury you get all around and I just didn’t feel that with the more off-road focused Z71. If I was buying a Chevrolet truck, it would have to be the High Country. But would I buy it over any of the other big luxury trucks? Maybe. The F-150 King Ranch is still at the top of my list, and the Laramie Longhorn is a great truck, but this truck really surprised me and it felt good to be surprised.