PRICE RANGE: $30,965-45,000
Pricing and Options

CONFIGURATION: 5.3 liter, 285 hp V8 or 8.1 liter, 340 hp V8, Front Engine/Rear and 4 Wheel Drive

FUEL ECONOMY: 14 mpg city, 18 mpg highway

SAFETY FEATURES: Driver,passenger and side airbags; ABS, standard

IMPRESSION: Chevrolet takes the best features of a minivan, a pickup, a sport ute and invents a few more. Add to that a ² ton heavy hauler and a North Face relationship, and most needs are addressed.

Our lifestyles are allowing us more leisure, more variety in our pursuits and more flexibility in our cars. Too often we have had to have multiple vehicles or compromise the ones we own to take care of our needs. Now, Chevy has taken the new crop of crossover vehicles to new extremes with a truck that works as a car, and can carry just about any combination of people and things that a normal family will think of, plus solve a lot of abnormal requests.

The Avalanche team demonstrated this by filling a fleet of vehicles with tools, construction materials and paraphernalia for a Ronald McDonald camp for children with cancer and their families, and not only did this include heavy loads, but awkward and large items. Only with the biggest packaging were the back seats encumbered, and generous room for four or five people is part of the Avalanche's make up.

At the heart of the Avalanche is the exclusive Convert-a-Cab System, featuring the Midgate design, which makes it the only vehicle currently available that can reconfigure from six-passenger seating to a vehicle with a protected eight-foot cargo box. "Avalanche's innovative design allows it to provide the roominess of Suburban-style first- and second-row seating with the practicality of a Silverado-style cargo box," Chevrolet General Manager Kurt Ritter explains. "It can be reconfigured to function as either a pickup or an SUV or both at the same time.

Avalanche is built on Suburban bits and uses over 80% of its parts, but has some restructuring to make it even stiffer despite the open back end. There is a sturdy diagonal bar under the sail area's cladding, allowing that angle over the rear bed to be doubled as a tie down point. There are eight other tie downs in the bed, and handholds used to aid climbing aboard that can also serve, so you can secure anything with the possible exception of a Tasmanian devil.

Along with the grab handles at the rear corners, there are slip resistant steps built into the bumpers. The tail gate is easily removable, and all load areas are finished with dent, scuff and wear resistant heavy duty plastic that is likely to put the bed coating business into chapter 11. The cargo box features a standard, heavy, one-piece rubber mat to help protect the floor. Since the mat is not affixed to the floor, it may be easily removed for cleaning. And the bed can be segmented by 2X wood boards to form different levels or dividers for a variety of loads. Also, the hard cover can support all but the heaviest people, with a 250' load rating, and with roof racks and trailers, we looked like a refugee caravan on the way up the mountain to the wilderness camp.

And the defining feature is the Midgate that flips and folds the divider between the back seats (including the rear window) to allow up to ten foot items to be carried without a warning flag. It only takes one person to reconfigure the vehicle, and all its removable components can be stored on board. The Midgate permits a pass-through between the cab and the cargo box. It is constructed of GM's PRO-TEC composite material, making it lightweight, yet durable and strong. When the Midgate is in place, the vehicle offers a five-foot, three-inch long protected cargo box and can be expanded to carry any 4X8 item, completely inside, protected and dry.