2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel review: Road warrior

If you’re in the market for a new diesel-powered full-size pick-up in Canada, you’re looking at it. Ford discontinued its diesel F-150 in 2021, and Ram followed suit on the Ram 1500 in 2023. That leaves the subject of this 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel review — as well as its upmarket sibling, the GMC Sierra 1500 — as the only full-size pick-ups available with a diesel engine.

But Chevy has good reason to keep this engine alive. For road warriors, the Silverado Diesel’s estimated range of 900 kilometres and GM’s Super Cruise hands-free highway driving technology are a seriously potent combination. That doesn’t mean this truck is for everyone, but it does mean it serves its niche market exceptionally well. We’ll take a spin through the ups and downs of the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel below.

We tested the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel in its High Country trim, provided on loan for our road trip to Moncton, New Brunswick, by Chevrolet Canada. Have questions about the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel? Ask the automotive experts in our Facebook community!

2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel pros and cons

2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel pros

• Diesel and Super Cruise make clocking klicks easy
• Excellent infotainment
• High Country comes with premium finishes

2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel cons

• Diesel engine is noisy
• Second row lacks amenities
• Trucks with Super Cruise are expensive

What competes with the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel?

The only full-size pick-up that competes directly with the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel is the 2025 GMC Sierra Diesel. It’s fundamentally the same truck as the Silverado but with more upscale features and finishes. No manufacturer other than General Motors offers a diesel engine in a half-ton pick-up truck in 2025.

If you’re not attached to a diesel powertrain, alternates to consider are the Ford F-150, Ram 1500, and Toyota Tundra. Both Toyota and Ford offer hybrid powertrains in their trucks, but the Ram 1500 eTorque is just as efficient, at least on paper. The only other truck manufacturer that offers a hands-free driving system on par with Super Cruise is Ford, which offers BlueCruise in most F-150 trims.

Size and exterior design

The Chevrolet Silverado is available in a wide variety of configurations. These include a regular cab with a single row, available with a standard or long bed — only the Silverado, GMC Sierra, and Ford F-150 still offer a regular cab — as well as a double cab with a standard bed and a crew cab with a short or standard bed. The rear doors on the Chevrolet Silverado double cab hinge from the front like standard doors, so the main benefit of the crew cab is access to higher trim levels and more rear leg room.

Full-size truck proportions are all roughly equivalent these days (and arguably too large for how most drivers use them, but that’s another article). The Silverado stands out on the road with its distinct C-shaped LED running lights and tall, flat grille. Most versions come with a body-colour strip that crosses the grille and lands just below the headlamps on either side. The High Country grille has a classier look, especially with the Midnight Edition black finish shown here.

Interior design

General Motors interiors, and Chevy Silverado interiors in particular, have come a long way over the past few years. Less than a decade ago, we were pointing out hard plastics and lacklustre fit and finish. There’s still some plastic in the Silverado High Country, but you won’t interact with it as often.

Meanwhile, the leather is supple, the stitching is tight, and the wood grain finishes lend an upscale touch. Lower-trim trucks won’t meet this high standard, of course, but it can compete against the best Ford, Ram, and Toyota have to offer (although Ram is still tops in this regard in our opinion).

More importantly, the Silverado’s interior remains user-friendly. Its shifter is low-profile but still uses manual action, and there are plenty of clearly labeled buttons and dials for managing climate control functions.

How much interior storage does the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado have?

Interior storage in the 2025 Chevy Silverado is average. There’s a centre console bin that’s large enough for a small to medium-sized handbag. Another cubby in dashboard in front of the passenger looks bigger from the outside than it is. The cover is large, but the cubby itself is closer to a dashboard shelf. It’s the right size for holding a wallet, a phone, and a packet of gum. The two cup holders up front are well-sized and out of the driver’s way.

Storage-wise, there are fewer amenities in the second row. There are no cup holders or storage bins accessible at the back of the centre console, and you’ll need to pay for the Interior Convenience Package to get under-seat storage.

Seat comfort

A truck designed for road warriors needs to have comfortable seats. Ergonomically, the driver’s seat in the Silverado is great: there are level places to rest your elbows, which is comfortable even when driving hands-free with Super Cruise. The front seat cushions could be a little more compliant, though, and the rear seats doubly so, though at least these are heated in the ZR2 and High Country trims.

In the front row, heating can be activated just on the back or on the entire seat, which offers some appreciated flexibility. However, the Silverado 1500 doesn’t offer massaging seats, which would be very helpful here. For that plus diesel and Super Cruise, you’ll need to invest in a GMC Sierra Ultimate Denali.

One thing to note is the pedals are not adjustable in the Silverado 1500. General Motors has not offered adjustable pedals in its light-duty trucks since the 2019 model year. There’s also a significant height difference between the gas and brake pedals, which some drivers may find hard on the calves. But if you’ll be driving this truck as intended — that being long stretches of hands-free highway cruising — this may not matter as much.

How many car seats fit in the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado?

Two LATCH-equipped car seats will fit in the outboard positions in the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado 1500’s second row. You can also install a single car seat in the centre rear position using the provided rear tether and the two inner LATCH connectors from the outer seats. It may be possible to fit three seats in the second row, but all three would need to be specifically designed for this purpose and the seat in the middle position will need to be attached with a seat belt.

Note the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says the Silverado’s child seat anchors are Marginal, citing them as being too hard to find and mounted too deep within the seat. The Institute also suggests there’s hardware within the seat cushions that could be mistaken for the LATCH anchors, so pay close attention while installing child seats to ensure it’s done correctly.

How much cargo space is in the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado?

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado comes with three available bed lengths, though not all are available with all trims, powertrains, or cab configurations. The short bed is 1,776 millimetres (69.92 inches) and holds 1,781 litres of cargo. This length is offered exclusively with the crew cab and is the only bed available on all trims.

The standard bed is 2,018 mm (79.44 inches) and holds up to 2,030 litres of cargo. The long bed, which is offered with the regular cab only, is 2,494 mm (98.18 inches) and has 2,523 litres of cargo capacity.

The Silverado High Country’s tailgate comes with some helpful features including a partial-open function with a built-in step, power up and down, power locking, and easy lift assist.

Storage at the rear of the 2025 Chevy Silverado is otherwise limited. General Motors doesn’t offer an equivalent to the Ram 1500’s RamBox, which adds lockable storage to the sides of the truck separate from the bed.

Infotainment and technology features

General Motors has some of the best infotainment setups in the automotive industry. In this case, it’s a 13.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Google built-in, which is standard on the Silverado beginning at the LT trim. Unlike GM’s EVs, gas-powered vehicles like the Silverado still get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and here both are wireless by default. Controls are intuitive and easy to execute while driving without becoming distracted.

The wireless charging pad, standard starting at the LTZ grade and available on lower trims, is an angled setup that sits just ahead of the centre console lid. This has two benefits: the phone connects flawlessly every time, and the screen is kept tucked away so the driver isn’t tempted to interact with it.

The 2025 Silverado comes with both USB-A and USB-C ports. You’ll find one of each next to the climate controls on the dashboard, another set inside the centre console bin, and a third set at back of centre console for rear passengers.

How much power does the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel have?

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado 1500’s available Duramax 3.0-litre inline-six-cylinder turbodiesel engine produces 305 hp and 495 lb-ft of torque.

Of the four powertrains available in the Silverado — there’s also a 2.7-litre turbo four-cylinder, a 5.3-litre V8, and a 6.2-litre V8 — the diesel delivers the most torque. It’s also the most fuel-efficient engine offered in a 2025 Silverado.

How fuel-efficient is the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel?

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel is rated by Natural Resources Canada at 10.7 litres per 100 kilometres in the city, 9.3 highway, and 10.1 combined when equipped with 4WD. Versions with 2WD are rated at 9.3 L/100 km combined, while those with Sport mode burn 9.9 L/100 km combined and mud terrain tires raise the combined figure to 10.6 L/100 km. The ZR2 Diesel has a combined fuel economy rating of 11.1 L/100 km.

We observed 10.7 L/100 km combined during our test drive. This makes sense since we did a lot of city driving while we were in Moncton and encountered some traffic related to the Atlantic Nationals car show. When the Silverado Diesel is driven as intended for long stretches of highway driving, it will return much better fuel consumption figures.

Relative to other Silverado powertrains, the diesel is the clear fuel economy leader. The base four-cylinder returns between 12.5 and 14.3 L/100 km depending on equipment, while the 5.3-litre V8 consumes between 13.2 and 14.5 L/100 km on standard fuel and the 6.2-litre V8 burns between 14.1 and 15.7 L/100 km (the latter being the rating on the ZR2).

The only other full-size pick-ups that compete with the Silverado Diesel on fuel economy are the Toyota Tundra Hybrid, which is rated between 11.7 and 12.3 L/100 km combined (but is only slightly better than the standard Tundra), the Ford F-150 Hybrid at 10.7 L/100 km combined (but which has been panned for poor reliability by Consumer Reports), and the GMC Sierra Diesel, which uses the same engine and is therefore roughly equivalent in fuel economy (but is a more expensive truck overall).

2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel driving impressions

You’ll often see reviewers comment “this isn’t your daddy’s diesel” when talking about modern diesels because they tend to be smoother and quieter than those choppy and noisy engines of old. That’s not the case here; put bluntly, this is kind of like your Daddy’s diesel.

It’s loud and rough enough to be heard in the cabin, even in this top High Country trim, and the throttle isn’t as easy to modulate as with its gas-powered contemporaries. This makes the surround-view camera, which GM calls HD Surround Vision, all but essential to help you gauge space and distances in tight confines. It’s standard beginning at the LTZ trim and available all the way down to LT.

GM’s Super Cruise keeps getting better

But you won’t mind the chugging quite as much if you use the diesel in combination with GM’s Super Cruise. This driving assistance technology lets you navigate hands-free on more than 350,000 kilometres of mapped highways across North America. In theory, you could drive all the way from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver without ever touching the steering wheel once, apart from a short stretch in rural Quebec (which will be added within the next couple of years).

Super Cruise is also more pleasant than it used to be. I used it on a road trip to Prince Edward Island in a Cadillac XT6 back in 2022, and back then I found it tended to see-saw in long curves to the point where I preferred to turn it off. The technology has improved since, and its current performance is much smoother. Pair that with the diesel, and you can drive for roughly 900 kilometres at a time hands-free without needing to touch the steering wheel or stop for fuel.

This combination isn’t for everyone, though. Diesel engines need frequent long drives to stay in top shape and require more upkeep than gas engines do, including the use of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which is legally required across Canada. Plus, Super Cruise is currently only available on the Silverado High Country, which is the most expensive trim, and it adds $2,495 to the invoice as of this writing and also requires a subscription. If you regularly do the kind of driving where this will benefit you, you may find it’s worthwhile. If not, you may prefer to consider other options.

What is the towing capacity on the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel?

The peak towing capacity for the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel is 6,032 kilograms (13,300 pounds) when properly equipped. Exact tow ratings on the Silverado vary based on cab, bed length, drivetrain, and engine selection.

Safety features

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado comes with the Chevy Safety Assist suite as standard equipment. This includes forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, a following distance indicator, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, and automatic high beams. The mandatory rear-view camera is also standard, along with a buckle to drive system and GM’s Teen Driver feature, which allows you to assign set limits for young drivers to a dedicated key fob. GM’s OnStar connected services are available by subscription on all trims.

Available features include blind spot monitoring with trailering, rear cross-traffic braking, front and rear park assist, hitch guidance, an in-vehicle trailering app, a surround-view camera, and an auxiliary trailer camera. Chevrolet also offers an integrated trailer brake controller, power-adjustable trailering mirrors, and several towing packages. However, its best features don’t match Ford’s top-tier offerings such as Pro Trailer Backup Assist and Pro Trailer Hitch Assist.

An additional note on safety: the IIHS gives the 2025 Silverado some of the worst scores we’ve seen in recent years. The updated moderate overlap test and headlights receive a Poor rating, while the small overlap front test is rated as Marginal and the side test and forward collision mitigation system receive an Acceptable rating.

How much is the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel in Canada?

The 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel starts in Canada at $71,778 for the double-cab LT, including a $2,600 destination charge and other fees, and tops out at $91,434 fees-in for the Silverado ZR2 Diesel. Our test unit, a High Country Diesel with the standard bed and numerous add-ons such as the Midnight Edition Package, High Country Premium Package, Technology Package, and Super Cruise, has a final manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) including fees of $103,533.

Is the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel worth buying?

If you’re reading this review, chances are you already suspect you’d benefit from this truck and you’re just looking for confirmation. If so — and if you already know what’s involved in properly maintaining a diesel truck — then go for it. This specific truck is only right for a handful of people, and if you’re one of them, you’ll likely love it and consider it worth the investment.

On the other hand, at close to $90,000 before options, a diesel Silverado with Super Cruise is essentially a luxury purchase. While lower-trim Silverados are your only option if you’re looking for an affordable diesel truck in 2025, they don’t come with the added convenience Super Cruise offers. That said, the current-generation Chevrolet Silverado has a lot more to recommend it than GM trucks of old. Even though it’s your only option apart from a more expensive GMC Sierra, the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel is a good choice if you know a diesel is right for you.

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