by Cheryl Eldridge and wire reports
Special, Elite and Adventurous! An epitome of the words that came to mind when I learned that I was in the pool of “first” journalists to test drive the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado.
The Colorado is definitely a Chevy with attitude and is new in its class of pickup trucks.
The 2015 Chevrolet Colorado is an all-new model suitable for hauling, family outings, off-road excitement and going to the beach.
Everything about the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado is new, from those fully boxed frames to the enlarged cabs that sit atop them to every button, knob and stitch inside. But the most transformative changes are concealed under the hood.
Now according to Edmunds, General Motors is re-entering the midsize pickup segment with the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado.
Gone are the tepid 2.9-liter four-cylinder and the loathsome 3.7-liter straight-5 engine. They’ve been replaced with smaller motors that are simultaneously more powerful and less thirsty, thanks to the efficiency of direct fuel injection and variable valve timing.
The standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder now makes 200 horsepower (up from 185) and delivers 191 pound-feet of torque, 90 percent of which is available at just 2,000 rpm. But the optional 3.6-liter V6 is the one that really transforms this truck. It makes 305 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque, a huge jump from the 242 of each made by the retired five-cylinder.
What’s more, both engines now come paired with a six-speed automatic instead of the last generation’s four-speed automatic. Fleet customers and bargain hunters can get their hands on a six-speed manual at the low end of the price scale, however.
The basic suspension layout is similar to the competition and isn’t much of a surprise. The front end rides on double wishbones and coil springs, while the back half sits atop the usual solid axle and leaf springs.
But there’s still something new underneath. More efficient electronic rack-and-pinion power steering replaces the hydraulically boosted steering of old. And the rear brakes are now discs instead of drums, which makes the standard stability control, traction control and antilock braking systems that much more effective.
Chevrolet offers the new Colorado in four trim levels. In all cases the 2.5-liter four-cylinder is the standard offering unless you buy a crew cab short bed 4×4 or any crew cab with the long bed. The V6 comes standard on these configurations.
The rubber floor mat special (vinyl, but who’s counting) goes by the name Base. It’s only available in two-wheel drive with the extended cab, the 2.5-liter four and the six-speed manual gearbox. And it only seats two because the usual rear side-facing jump seats are deleted.
Next up is the Work Truck, which is offered in all three cab and bed configurations. It can be upgraded to four-wheel drive, and the V6 is optional on those versions that don’t have it as standard equipment. The six-speed automatic is essentially standard unless you get the two-wheel-drive extended-cab configuration that mimics the Base truck.
The volume-selling LT sits one notch higher, and at this point the six-speed automatic is universal. It rides on 17-inch tires and alloy wheels, with 18-inch wheels and tires available as an option. Keyless entry comes standard here, as does the Chevy MyLink 8-inch touchscreen audio system and its extra USB port and Sirius/XM radio.
The steering wheel gets a grippy leather covering, telescoping adjustment and control buttons for the audio system and cruise control. Class-exclusive systems like lane departure warning and forward collision alert can be added as part of a Safety package, and the Convenience and Luxury packages bring heated seats, automatic climate control and a host of other goodies.
My tester, the Z71 sits atop the pile, having grown into a trim level unto itself instead of just an off-road package. Most of the contents of the Convenience and Luxury packages come standard, but the Safety package is not available. The 18-inch tires and wheels have been banished, too, in favor of the taller sidewalls of 17-inch rubber with an all-terrain tread. Four-wheel drive is not a prerequisite here because the Z71 also comes as a two-wheel-drive truck.
The smoothness of the powertrain is evident as soon as you fire the engine. There simply isn’t much idle vibration. It’s infinitely more refined than the old five-cylinder and it seems to have the edge on the Frontier and Tacoma.
The steering feels steady going straight ahead and the truck bends reassuringly into turns accurately and with not much body lean.
What Is the Interior like?
Apart from the seats, which look as inviting as they feel, the cab of the new Colorado is a revelation, moving or not. The bargain-basement feel of the old truck has been wiped away, replaced instead with a downsized version of the handsome interior of the Silverado 1500.
Easy-to-read gauges adorn the instrument panel, and the 8-inch MyLink touchscreen and its attendant controls fit well in the middle of the dash. The available $495 navigation upgrade utilizes the same screen and doesn’t compromise usability one bit.
The climate controls occupy a nicely arranged pod of their own just below, and the amply sized air vents they control are well positioned to spray cool air all around the enlarged cabin.
That’s a good thing because the back half of the crew cab gains the most from the makeover. A full 35.8 inches of rear legroom gives the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado crew cab a 2.2-inch advantage over the Frontier and a 3.2-inch surplus relative to the Tacoma. Throughout, the look and feel of the materials in the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado have been brought up a couple of pegs. More than anything, the upgraded interior of the new Colorado makes the Tacoma and Frontier feel long in the tooth.
The 4×4 version of the Colorado features a two-speed, low-range transfer case that’s electronically controlled by a switch on the dash. It’s a part-time system that lacks a center differential, so it’s not intended for use on paved surfaces. No surprise there.
Z71 models come with an automatic locking rear differential as standard equipment, and the “G80” option will add the same functionality to any Colorado all the way down to the Work Truck level.
What About Cargo and Towing?
The bed of the Colorado is distinctive in that it looks so tall, and indeed GM says the cargo box is 2 inches deeper than the competition. It looks every bit of that, but the real advantage may be that a taller bed equals a longer tailgate.
And so 8-foot lumber doesn’t overhang the folded-down tailgate of the 6-foot-2-inch box. Dirt bikes look more at home back there, too. And Chevrolet has numerous bed hardware accessories available to tie it all down.
The numbers aren’t bad, either. Its maximum tow rating of 7,000 pounds gives the Colorado a 500-pound advantage on that front. And the towing numbers are directly comparable because, like Toyota, GM followed SAE J2807 tow-test guidelines.
It takes the Z82 Trailering package (receiver hitch and integrated seven-pin wiring), the V6 engine and the locking differential to get to this level, but there’s no optional axle ratio to buy. All V6 Colorados utilize the same 3.42 final-drive gears, which means the maximum tow rating and the rated fuel economy can be achieved by the same truck. If only the full-size truck market were this transparent and straightforward.
What’s more, the power and torque are there, and past experience with other GM six-speed truck transmissions show that the calibration team knows what it’s doing when it comes to towing. And yes, they’ve provided a Tow/Haul mode switch here, too.
This is the part where people expect the rug to get pulled out from under them, but that’s not going to happen here. The 2015 Chevrolet Colorado V6 4×2 with 63 extra horses and 7,000 pounds of towing capacity is rated at 21 mpg combined (18 city/26 highway). The old 242-hp five-cylinder it replaces was good for 19 mpg combined (17 city/23 highway).
What’s more, this makes the new 305-hp 3.6-liter V6 fractionally more fuel-efficient than the old 2.9-liter four-cylinder that was the old truck’s 185-hp base engine. That one was rated at 21 combined (18 city/25 highway) when paired with an automatic. Direct injection, variable valve timing and two extra cogs in the transmission are worth their weight in gasoline, it would seem.
You don’t need excessive towing and hauling capability, but you want the flexibility of a pickup truck. Or you simply want a truck that won’t fill up your entire garage and is easy to park. Either way, the Colorado delivers on both fronts and does so with much of the same refinement as its bigger brother.
The cost of this week’s tester – $36,535.
Until next week, drive safe, buckle up and please don’t text and drive
