Interior refinements
FOR RELEASE: February 6, 20022003 Silverado, Sierra Offer Up Major New Features
The 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will include over 40 new features and enhancements designed to reinforce their position as the industry’s premier full-size pickups.
“The goal in redesigning the 2003 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra was simple: sustain our leadership by raising the bar several notches higher,” said Gary White, GM’s vehicle line executive for full-size trucks. “We want our rivals, domestic and import, to know that we are serious about continuing to offer the best trucks in the world.”
Among the significant improvements for 2003 are: a passenger-sensing air bag system, advanced electrical architecture, modified instrument panel including a new driver information center, new redundant steering wheel controls, new center console, the first industry application of a Bose audio system in a full-size pickup truck, a new rear-seat DVD entertainment system, manual and fully automatic dual-zone climate control systems, and the expanded availability of Quadrasteer four-wheel steering system.
The new Silverado and Sierra also sport redesigned exteriors. The Silverado design is bolder and more expressive than its predecessor, while providing a more unified family appearance for Chevrolet’s truck lineup. The Sierra’s refreshed design supports the GMC brand’s design direction, a look that conveys the professional-grade capabilities of GMC trucks.
Interior refinements
Interior refinements in the 2003 Silverado and Sierra are designed to enhance comfort and enjoyment, while providing additional vehicle information … and doing so more conveniently. “We redesigned the instrument panel and cluster to accommodate the many new and upgraded features made possible by our advanced new electrical system,” said White.
The center bottom of the instrument panel cluster provides a standard new driver information center that is shared by all the pickups/chassis cabs. It reports on the status of up to 34 vehicle functions (nearly twice as many as the previous driver message center) — depending on the truck’s equipment content — and uses an easy-to-read, one-line, 22-character vacuum fluorescent display.
Switch controls, such as those used for the four-wheel-drive selection and Quadrasteer’s four-wheel-steer system, also have a new look, using International Standardization Organization (ISO) symbols in place of previous text.
Exclusive to Sierra Denali is a distinctive instrument panel cluster with a black background, blue backlighting and white pointers, accentuating Denali’s upscale appearance. Other Silverado and Sierra models use a black background, with white backlighting and orange pointers in their cluster.
Dual-zone HVAC
The 2003 Silverado and Sierra feature a lineup of new HVAC systems. Standard on extended cabs and optional in regular and crew cab models is a new dual-zone manual control. This system allows the driver and front passenger to adjust the temperature to their individualized comfort levels, using manual controls on the instrument panel. They include a sliding up-and-down control for temperature adjustment.
For the ultimate in “set it and forget it” convenience, Silverado and Sierra offer a new dual-zone automatic climate control, standard on Sierra Denali and optional on other models. This system automatically controls air delivery, fan speed, air temperature and recirculating/outside air to provide fast warm-ups and cool-downs and up to 30 degrees of individualized front-seat comfort.
Steering wheel controls
The 2003 Silverado and Sierra feature newly available steering wheel controls that provide nine control buttons for calculating trip and fuel data and for programming vehicle functions. They also include redundant audio controls and controls for initiating the voice-recognition system in vehicles with the OnStar system. The 2003 Sierra will be equipped with a new steering wheel that accentuates its professional-grade design direction.
New console
Models with bucket seats receive a standard center console that flows up into the instrument panel and has a seamlessly integrated, single-piece design. The console includes a storage compartment and a power outlet at the rear. The power outlet augments the standard, dash-mounted left-side (cigarette lighter) and right-side power points on all models. On crew cabs and extended cabs, the rear of the console also provides second-row passengers with separate airflow direction controls for personalized comfort.
Quadrasteer
Quadrasteer was first introduced this year on the Sierra Denali and expanded to include the Silverado and Sierra extended cab pickups. For 2003, Quadrasteer will also be available on the Silverado and Sierra 1500 HD 2WD and 4WD short box pickups — making them the industry’s first full-size crew cabs to offer this revolutionary control and handling technology. Quadrasteer is an electromechanical system that turns the vehicle’s rear wheels (up to 12 degrees) in relation to the front wheels, resulting in unprecedented low-speed maneuverability and high-speed stability.
At lower speeds, Quadrasteer reduces the 1500 HD models’ curb-to-curb turning diameter by up to 21 percent, to 39.2 feet, comparable to the 37.1-feet turning radius of a Saturn S-Series compact car. At higher speeds, Quadrasteer reduces the vehicle’s “yaw,” or rotational motion, for better control during lane changes and when being passed by a large truck.
Quadrasteer also provides significant benefits to customers who trailer, enabling drivers to change lanes with more confidence and with less trailer sway. During low-speed towing maneuvers, such as backing into a boat launch or parking a camper, four-wheel steering greatly improves the trailer response to steering input.
Automatic passenger-sensing system
Recognizing that today’s trucks often transport family as well as cargo, all 2003 Silverado and Sierra 1500 Series models feature an automatic passenger-sensing air bag system. It automatically deactivates the passenger-side air bag, based on the weight and position of the passenger seat occupant, to help protect children and small adults from air-bag induced injury.
Silverado and Sierra also continue to provide a passenger air bag cutoff switch on vehicles that previously offered it. The on/off switch allows occupants to manually deactivate (or activate) the passenger-side air bag. An air bag status indicator on the inside rear view mirror assembly notifies occupants whether the right-side air bag has been deactivated.
Dual-level air bags
Further enhancing occupant safety and protection are dual-level frontal air bags for the driver and front passenger. The system senses whether a crash has occurred, and its severity, to determine whether the air bags should be deployed. If deployment is called for, the system further calculates whether to deploy at full inflation level (for more severe crashes) or at a less-than-full level (for more moderate crashes).
A major benefit of the dual-level frontal air bag system may be realized in lower-speed crashes, where the single-stage inflation will help minimize the risk of injury to smaller occupants who may be sitting close to the air bag when it deploys. Dual-level air bags are standard in all GM full-size pickup models for 2003, excluding Sierra and Silverado HD models.
Improved brake systems
To help drivers avoid collisions, 2003 Sierra and Silverado light-duty pickup and chassis cabs incorporate an improved brake system. The new system provides enhanced stopping power for high deceleration stops and improved antilock brake performance. This enhanced brake system requires less maximum pedal force during high deceleration stops.
Should a failure or malfunction in the braking system occur, the system sounds warning chimes through the radio speakers, alerting drivers of the failure and the need to get it repaired. The chimes are activated whenever the red BRAKE or amber ABS telltale is illuminated.
Infotainment
The 2003 Silverado and Sierra will offer an unprecedented level of infotainment in full-size pickups, including a Bose audio system, Radio Data System and XM capability, and a rear-seat entertainment system.
Silverado and Sierra will be the first full-size pickup trucks in the industry to offer a high-quality Bose audio system. Taking a “clean sheet” approach to engineering automotive sound, Bose and GM engineers developed an audio system that was specifically tailored to the trucks’ unique acoustic environments.
To provide lifelike sound, the Bose audio system features an amplifier and a 5¼” Richbass woofer — both housed in the center console. The Richbass woofer provides enough bass to fill a large vehicle cabin, yet is compact enough to fit into the limited space of a truck cabin. The Bose audio system will be available on Silverado and Sierra models equipped with bucket seats and the center console.
All radio systems (excluding fleet) feature Radio Data System capability, which enables the radio to receive and display any number of text descriptions, including read-outs for traffic information, construction updates, station format, station call letters, song and artist information. Newly available is XM (for U.S. customers) or DAB (for Canadian customers) satellite radio subscription. Satellite radio enables customers to receive over 100 commercial-free stations, with nationwide programming.
To help keep rear passengers entertained, 2003 Silverado and Sierra crew cab models offer an available rear-seat entertainment system that includes a DVD player with flip-down screen and is capable of playing high-quality audio and video in both CD-audio and DVD formats.
For private listening pleasure, two standard sets of wireless (infrared) headphones are provided. Each set allows independent program volume adjustment via a local volume control in the earpiece. Additional jacks also enable two other rear passengers to listen to a program through wired headphones. The volume is common between the two wired headphones. The audio may also be heard throughout the vehicle’s entire speaker system.
The DVD player is extremely flexible. It can play all discs manufactured for wide or standard screen formats, as well as CD audio discs, with high-quality images and sound.
Advanced electrical system
While many new Silverado and Sierra features will capture the consumers’ eyes, it’s the new advanced electrical system that makes them possible. “We like to call what we’ve done ‘modern alchemy’ – changing copper into silicon,” White said. “This highly sophisticated electrical architecture is the enabler for the many segment-leading features that we will offer on our full-size pickups.”
The advanced new electrical architecture takes the use of multiplexing to a new level. Multiplexing uses a common wire to send information between modules. The new Silverado and Sierra use it to integrate the entire electrical system. The system is highly integrated — with distributed computing and numerous zone modules all connected by a serial data network. By replacing copper wires with integrated circuit boards at every opportunity, GM engineers significantly increased processing power to support the trucks’ increased electrical and “smart” content.
The new architecture also enables them to greatly reduce wires, splices and connectors for improved quality. Additional diagnostic capability designed into the electronic control modules will provide quicker, easier and less costly servicing and reduced warranty costs.
Exterior mirrors
Uplevel Silverado and Sierra models offer more safety and convenience with new, standard, power exterior rearview mirrors and newly available power-adjustable camper mirrors.
Enhancements from the previous model include a power folding feature that facilitates parking in narrow spaces. The mirrors, standard on uplevel models, also feature turn signals in the mirror glass and an optional memory feature.
For those owners who regularly tow campers, Silverado and Sierra offer uplevel power camper mirrors. These new mirrors are large (60 square inches), power adjustable and power extendable. As is the case with the standard uplevel mirrors, the available camper mirrors include a heating element to clear away snow and ice and in-glass turn signals.
Powertrains
The Silverado and Sierra are powered by some of the industry’s most powerful, most efficient engines. For 2003, these engines get more efficient oxygen sensors.
For those who require the performance of a V8 and the economy of a V6, Silverado and Sierra base models offer the Vortec 4300. The 4.3L V6 delivers 200 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. Those customers who require greater performance will find it in the 4.8L Vortec 4800 V8 engine. This small-block V8 produces 270 horsepower and 285 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm.
Producing 285 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque is the Vortec 5300 engine. On light-duty Silverado and Sierra 2WD/4WD models, this 5.3L V8 can be specially ordered to run on varying blends of ethanol and gasoline – from 100 percent gasoline up to a maximum 85 percent ethanol.
For Silverado and Sierra customers hungry for still more power, there’s the awesome 6.0-liter Vortec 6000 V8 engine. It produces 300 horsepower at 4400 rpm and 360 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm in Silverado 2500 HD and Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 models. Sierra Denali customers, meanwhile, are rewarded with 325 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 370 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm.
And for GM full-size pickup customers who need the ultimate powerplant on their heavy duty models, the 6.6-liter Duramax diesel engine delivers 300 horsepower at 3000 rpm and 520 lb-ft of torque at 1800 rpm, while the 8.1-liter big block V8 powerplant produces 340 horsepower at 4200 rpm and 455 lb-ft of torque at 3200 rpm. Either engine can be mated to the Allison 1000 Series five-speed automatic transmission.