2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LT

2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LT - These pieces — the window, the Midgate, and the bed cover — can be removed or folded independently, which makes for several cargo-carrying possibilities. For example, when the rear seats are folded, the Midgate, which is hinged at the floor, can be opened onto the rear seats, thus extending the length of the pickup bed. Drop the Midgate, but leave the rear window and bed cover in place, and you have a rather large, lockable storage compartment. Or you can remove only the bed cover and haul large dirty items without soiling the cab. Or you could remove the rear window — it stows on the inside of the Midgate — to haul especially bulky items. We could go on, but you get the picture.

Thankfully, the tacky plastic body cladding that marred the original won’t be returning, and the new truck is as handsome as the old one was garish. Dimensionally, there’s not much to report. The ’07 truck is fractionally shorter and narrower but a smidge taller, which translates into a bit more interior headroom.

The biggest change, however, is how this nearly three-ton brute goes down the road. It’s still sort of a lumbering beast that feels big and grips the skidpad at only 0.71 g. But a quicker steering ratio added a bit more liveliness, and the improvements in refinement and ride quality are palpable. The front portion of the ladder frame was stiffened so there’s none of the front-end jiggling over washboard surfaces that plagued the old truck, and the ride is now as good as a Cadillac’s.

There is an optional 355-hp, 6.0-liter V-8, but you can only get it in the top-of-the-line LTZ that starts at a heady $40,125 for the two-wheel-drive model. We tested a two-wheel-drive mid-level LT that had few option boxes unchecked and rang in at $39,829.