we're here in Southern California where we've been given a chance to drive the
new 2015 chevy colorado and we want to find out after waiting two years for
this vehicle to come out whether this is going to light a fire in the segment or
if it's just going to be another midsize pickup truck competitor
let's take a closer look the 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine is available on all
configurations 200-horsepower a hundred ninety-one foot-pounds of torque and
fuel economy the automatic transmission two-wheel-drive 20 miles per gallon in
the city
27 miles per gallon on the highway for a 22 combined number how the manual
transmission which typically gives you the better fuel economy numbers for
$YEAR 4 cylinder pickup trucks is just the opposite here with these 19 in the
city
26 on the highway but also has a combined 22 miles per gallon some of the
cool features with this engine a lot of heat dissipation technology here around
the exhaust manifold and also on the intake side a huge resonator to muffle
as much of that typical buzzy four-cylinder engine noise we get with a
lot of these midsize pickup trucks one of the issues we think some
four-cylinder customers are going to have with this engine combination is how
far they have to reach in to the dipstick and the oil filler cap as far
as how well this four-cylinder drives we cannot talk about it enough way better
than the competition in this segment maybe even better than some of the v6 is
that are out there as well off the line if you put your foot in it it's going to
respond very very smart transmission and the standard ringing pinion gears for
ten so you're going to get that jump but there is an optional 342 so if you want
to get great fuel economy out of your pickup truck
this might be the package it's pretty easy to visually distinguish between the
v6
and the straight four-cylinder engines on the v6 big huge plastic covering to
help dissipate heat better and also protect people inside the cab for many
random engine noises there's no big huge resonator like there is on the
four-cylinder engine but the engine itself is still mounted back in the
engine compartment so that the center line is over the front wheels for better
ride and handling one of the things that we do like better on the v6 and the
four-cylinder it's quite a bit easier to get to the dipstick and the oil filler
cap are driving impressions behind the wheel of the v6 very impressive
in fact this has got to be the segment leader from now on
mainly because of the refinement refinement is the key word with this new
truck very smooth around town but doesn't mind being pushed as well to
there's some kind of shift logic inside the transmission we keep coming back to
this transmission that figures out kind of what you want to do whether it's
stretch out some fuel economy numbers or get really playful at the stop signs are
at the stop lights were very impressed
we also had a chance to talk a good-sized boat and some watercraft and
found the v6 plenty strong enough to halt without any problems but be warned
the 7,000 pound max towing capacity requires the trailer package
otherwise the trucks rating is 3500 pounds as far as the interior the word
of the day is refinement how one surface area molds into the next how the the
gauge cluster all works together and it's very easy to read from the driver's
seat also how much storage there is both in the doors in the center console and
how comfortable and how sporty the transmission shifter feels whether
you're just in drive or whether in manual position that all of this is
working together much better than it ever has before and dare I say much
better than anything else in this segment
on extended cab versions driver and passenger front seats the seatbelts are
incorporated right in to the rear door that means nobody and back gets out
until front passenger's remove their seatbelts and open all the doors also
the rear door only opens 90 degrees that's a little disappointing
rear passenger space isn't that bad even for an adult as long as you have the
front seats moved all the way forward
it's relatively comfortable crew cab models come in two different wheelbases
to accommodate a six-and-a-half or five and a half foot bed but as you can see
the rear seats in a crew cab much better than the extended cap and a lot of
attention to detail both for power outlets and storage one thing that
everybody interested in pickup trucks will appreciate about this truck is that
Chevy engineers of stuff everything they learned about the chevy silverado
half-ton pickup bed technology into the smaller truck not the least of which the
soft rock tailgate the corner bed step and 17 different locations around the
bed for tie-downs so that's our impression after our first drive
opportunity with the chevy colorado there is a lot to like about this truck
both in the four-cylinder version and in the v6 very impressive truck but let's
be honest the bar is not set very high in this segment in fact for any of the
competitors nothing significant has been done for almost 10 years maybe this is
the push these are the products that are needed in order to generate a little
excitement and get a little investment from the other midsize pickup truck
players so for right now for different trim levels base work truck
LT and z71 ranging in price from 21,000 on up to 35,000 but if you want more
details and more dr impressions from us go to pick up trucks . com
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