F-Mark LT Power Steps

When looking for versalite ruggedness, the top choice for most car/truck enthusiasts is the Chevy Avalanche. It successfully blends the comfort and passenger capacity of an SUV with the cargo flexibility of a pickup truck. And while these features do not distinguish the Chevy Avalanche from other SUVs in the market today, its unique fold-down midgate does. Okay, so what is a midgate really?

The term "midgate" refers to the removable wall that separates the cabin from the bed. On the Avalanche, the rear window and the wall separating the cabin from the bed can be opened up, either in part (by flipping down the midgate wall so a pass-through is created) or in whole (by also removing the rear window). The result? Well, this this rig morphes from a six-passenger crew cab pickup with a 5-foot, 3-inch cargo box to a three-passenger pickup with an approximate 8-foot cargo box is straightforward. And the transformation takes only a minute or two.

This is not the first time the Chevy Avalanche has been launched in the market. In fact, its debut was way back in 2001 as a four-door, six-seat sport utility truck. Now considered as a second generation SUV, this year's Avalanche has been improved with more powerful and fuel-efficient engines, additional luxury and safety features, sleeker exterior styling, a sharper and more precise driving feel, increased interior refinement and reduced levels of wind and road noise. In its normal configuration, it can seat up to six passengers and carry material in its enclosable short cargo bed. The truck's special foldable midgate allows the rear seats to be lowered and the cargo area to be expanded to the length of a long bed on a normal pickup.

Chevy’s truck is available in three main trim levels: Avalanche LS, Avalanche LT and Avalanche LTZ. LS models are reasonably well equipped. LT provides additional features in three available tiers (LT1, LT2 and LT3). The LTZ is the top-of-the-line model and comes standard with almost all of the other trim's options. All models are equipped with a 5.3-liter V8 and a four-speed automatic transmission. On trucks with two-wheel drive, the engine is rated for 320 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque. It also has a cylinder deactivation feature that slightly improves fuel economy. Four-wheel-drive Avalanche trucks have a slightly different version of this V8 rated at 310 hp and 335 lb-ft of torque.