Despite weighing nearly 6,000 pounds, the Avalanche launches nicely from a stop, though don’t confuse that with sprightly performance. The truck isn’t fast, but power builds quickly and the throaty V8 sounds richer as the revs climb. Mid-range can be a little tricky, with a roll of the throttle at moderate speeds resulting in a noticeable delay before the ponies start stirring or the transmission drops a gear or two; put the hammer down and the response is more immediate. As a package, the powertrain turns the Avalanche into a nice cruiser, which is probably why we unintentionally went pretty easy on the go pedal. Even so, we averaged only 14 mpg, dipping into the 13s when limited to city driving.