View Photos of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

There's no disputing the full-size pickup truck's place at the top of the vehicle-sales food chain. Together, Ford, General Motors, and Ram sold about 2.2 million of the things in the U.S. last year. Also-rans Nissan and Toyota added just shy of 170,000 more to that count, making it so that full-size trucks now account for almost 14 percent of the U.S. vehicle market. What is in dispute-and it's a hot dispute, one waged almost incessantly in TV commercials and on discourteous bumper stickers-is which truck is the best truck, King of Kings, Lord of the Contractor, Protector of the Suburban Man with Something to Prove.

One of the chief criticisms of the outgoing truck was that it looked too much like its predecessor, to the extent that even the truck-savvy couldn't tell the two apart. Perhaps Chevy had taken the whole "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing a little too far. So Chevy stamps the new truck's sheetmetal with sleeker lines in the hood and around the wheel wells, and a multilevel headlight array modernizes the Silverado's face.

Non-cosmetic tweaks to the exterior had a more positive effect. Chevy claims short-bed variants of the V-8 Silverado lose 450 pounds compared with the last generation, largely due to a new manufacturing strategy that allows GM to construct the body and frame from several different grades of steel and the doors, hood, and tailgate from aluminum.

The new Silverado is bigger yet lighter than the outgoing model.

Starting at $45,995, an all-wheel-drive crew-cab RST leaves a lot of amenities on the table. Our example included options such as dual-zone ­climate control; heated front seats and steering wheel; two USB ports in the second row; a trailering package with a beefier rear axle, a radiator with more cooling capacity, and revised shock tuning; and active-safety items, such as front and rear parking sensors and blind-spot monitoring.

Our $56,875 truck felt like anything but a bargain, with interi­or trim materials that fail to justify such a price tag.

One of the Silverado's neat features is a small storage nook incorporated in the rear seatback. Happily, it doesn't affect seat comfort.

While climbing the foothills around Wyoming's Tetons above 6000 feet, the 355-hp 5.3-liter failed to express its full power, and the eight-speed automatic sometimes lagged when going uphill at part throttle, downshifting several seconds after a human would have. Back in our flatland home, however, our RST model sprang to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds.

Between the diet, the DFM system, and the forthcoming ­diesel and four-cylinder engines, the Silverado is on track to match the F-150's fuel economy, and GM expects to undercut Ford in manufacturing costs.

The Silverado's transmission lineup is now nearly as diverse as its engine roster. The standard 4.3-liter V-6 and the 5.3-liter V-8 with AFM still pair with a six-speed automatic, while the 5.3 equipped with the new DFM technology uses an eight-speed auto, as will the four-cylinder when it becomes available.

The entry-level 4.3-liter V-6 is unchanged, but there are two new engines: a 3.0-liter turbo-diesel, coming early next year, and a 310-hp turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four, due in showrooms in December.

Both existing V-8s now feature Chevy's new Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM) technology, which improves on the Active Fuel Management (AFM) cylinder-deactivation system by employing 17 different firing modes and shutting down as many as six cylinders depending on the driver's demand for torque.

The RST trim level is new for 2019 and is essentially a performance-appearance package with black bow-tie badges; LED head-, fog-, and taillights; and body-colored moldings in place of the showy chrome that adorns LTZ and High Country models.

Varying the thickness of steel over different parts of the frame makes the Silverado lighter without relying on an expensive aluminum-intensive construction, as Ford does.

The Silverado may not be quicker or more comfortable than the F-150, but its bigger bed and increased tow ratings will make some customers notice.

Payload and tow ratings are up by a few hundred pounds for some models, and the Silverado's new bed is constructed in three pieces, which allows the wheel wells to be stamped differently, increasing cargo volume to 63 cubic feet in short-bed models.