2009 Chevrolet Roush Silverado

Don’t be fooled into thinking what you see here is just another personalized pickup. Notice the Roush banner hiding in the tint strip at the top of the windshield, and look closely at the sides of the bulge in this truck’s hood, where it says “Roushcharged,” which is corporate lingo for “Roush supercharger equipped.”

 

Roush has long been known for its partnership with Ford, which has given us a string of supercharged Mustangs and F-150s—and namesake Jack Roush a fair bit of success in NASCAR—but the company announced in May 2007 that it would begin offering performance-enhancing parts for GM cars and trucks and was working on a supercharger for the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup trucks.

 

Although no specifics are known yet, the engine in the truck seen here is most likely the 6.0-liter Vortec V-8, which makes 367 horsepower and 375 pound-feet stock but is said to be amped up to 500 on both counts with the supercharger.

 

Nobody currently makes a factory performance pickup like Ford’s departed Lightning or the late Dodge Ram SRT10, so we’re hoping the existence of this truck, plus the proliferation of Ford pickups available with 450-hp Saleen-built supercharged V-8s—the Harley-Davidson F-150, the Foose F-150, the Saleen S331 Supercharged—will inspire Dodge to resurrect the Ram SRT10 using the now 600-hp V-10 from the 2008 Viper. We asked Chrysler president Tom LaSorda about whispered work by Eaton on a supercharger for the new Ram, but he played dumb.

 

Pickup trucks will never make great high-performance platforms, but for a select audience—the handyman in a hurry, speed addicts who like to travel with their pet cattle—the hi-po pickup almost makes sense. Besides, there is no recipe for tire smoke quite like an unladen pickup bed with 500-plus pound-feet of torque headed its way.