Officially launched in Australia late last year, the new right-hand-drive Chevy Silverado HD was intensively tested on Australian soil prior to its introduction into the country.
General Motors has just shared details on the teste phase of the RHD Chevy Silverado HD for its launch in Australia and New Zealand, where the company added the heavy-duty variant following the strong commercial performance of the Silverado 1500. In addition to the right-hand-drive conversion process at the Dandenong line in Victoria, GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) conducted intensive validation testing of the Silverado HD on Australian territory.
In particular, the company detailed that the new RHD 2024 Chevy Silverado HD underwent an extensive and rigorous testing program by GMSV’s remanufacturing partner, Premoso Engineering. The testing process had several stages and included long validation trips, such as a continuous 7,800 km or 4,847-mile round trip from Melbourne to Cairns, while checking the performance of the truck and its components in multiple local conditions.
“New model certification testing includes 15,500 km of Accelerated Rough Track Durability and an additional In-Country Validation Test Trip including maximum towing conditions of approximately 15,000 km involving two vehicles,” said Chief Engineer at Premoso Australia, Trevor Barallon. “All up, more than 10 vehicles were involved in the Engineering Development Fleet and the cumulative mileage exceeded 150,000 km,” he added.
The Chevy Silverado HD validation tests in Australia, overseen by joint engineers from GMSV and Premoso, verified the performance of the RHD pilot truck compared to the original left-hand-drive model on-road, off-road, towing, as well as AdBlue consumption on Australian-market diesel fuel. They also tested multiple feature calibrations that have unique settings or software for RHD.
“Proof of the success of Chevrolet Silverado is evident in the sales figures. Since launch in late 2020 to the end of Q2 this year, more than 10,600 new Silverado 1500 and Silverado 2500 models have found homes in Australia and New Zealand,” said Managing Director of GM Australia and New Zealand, Jess Bala. “And they will continue to find new fans who need a full-size truck to cater for work and leisure needs,” she finished.
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Comments
Why would an HD Chevy truck require such extensive testing just because they moved the steering wheel to the right side? Or would that be to the wrong side?
To ensure the new parts required for RHD are up to standard with no contact with other parts or vibration damage.
GM done the same testing when designing the LHD Silverado.