New Chevy Colorado mega-thread

I'll tell you what looks like an old mans truck, the current Tacoma, inside, outside and mechanically which has not changed much of anything since 2005. To me that's an old mans truck.

Certainly not a GM fanboy but I'm not a Toyota fanboy either. When I buy something new (which won't be for awhile as I keep my vehicles for a long time) it will be a rational choice - whoever offers the best options, reliability, fuel economy, crash safety etc. If that's Toyota then great but if another manufacturer offers that then that's the way it is. I'm not going to buy something just because it has a certain company logo on it. That sounds really high school to me.

Toyota is not a dumb company, I think they will realize the Colorado for what it is, that being the biggest threat in sales to the Tacoma in many years.

 

Toyota responds to new Colorado by offering most fuel-efficient pickup truck in America:

 

LOL

 

What

The

Fuck

?????

 

The Ranger and the Colorado are both available in Thailand. I live their 1/2 the time and have test driven the new Chevy. Its a nice ride. Sadly its under powered and if they toss in a 2.8liter diesel here it will be even worse. I am not a power freak but it should make at least 200hp+ to be an effective truck.

The Toyota Hilux Vigo 3.0 is a far better truck and is the #1 seller in Thailand. I will buy one next year.

 

Rise of the 4-luggers

 

http://articles.sae.org/12607/

Article in the SAE magazine about the new Colorado. Some details not widely reported elsewhere:

• Aluminum hood
• Aluminum front spindles
• Aluminum driveshaft
• 2.8L Duramax diesel coming in 2016 will be built in Thailand
• 6700 lb towing capacity is per SAE J2807. This supports my suspicion the 7500 lb towing capacity advertised for the global Colorado is full of hot air.

 

I don't see this Colorado selling well in the state of Colorado. Those inboard mounted shocks are a killer. Who wants those for offroading? Nobody. Who wants shocks hanging there to get picked off by a rock. The inboard shocks killed the Ranger sales, and it will kill the Colorado sales. All you see in the state of Colorado is Jeeps and Tacomas because they don't leave components hanging there to get picked off by rocks.

 

hmm

 

Ever seen a 1st gen Tacoma?

 

Y'all don't be hatin on the first gens now

 

That has to be top ten most ridiculous myths I have ever heard describing why a car/truck won't sell. Are you that self conscious you have to make up something that petty? I bet many members here don't pay attention to shock position when they bought their truck, probably only realized it after they decided to give it a little lift. I can imagine only a decimal percent look under a car/truck prior to buying and can find anything that would deam it not purchasable. Maybe a total of 5 people? The ranger died because it was outdated and not selling like it used to. Ditto with the colorado, shock location was a non factor.

News flash, the tacoma shocks hang down below the axle too. They are still susceptible to being "picked off" rather easily if you slide off a rock. Have you seen how far down the wrangler shocks hang? The Powerwagon, ZR2, Frontier, Xterra and many others all have shocks mounted in board and others out board but low hanging. Moot point...

I bet Toyota didn't mount the shocks outwards for off roading but for ride and stability when hauling loads and trailering (similar to the f150) since the new Taco's are larger to better cope with being civil and normal truck duties...

Gonna be awesome to see what Toyota does to rebuttle this new entrant. I heard the GMC Canyon is getting a denali version for those that want luxury and there could be a return of the ZR2.

Tyler

 

+1

 

ZR2 - previous branding from the S10 days for the off-road package that is now labeled Z71. Of course, I'd be happy if GM did more (e.g. front and rear lockers like the H3T).

 

+1

Quote possibly the dumbest thing I've heard a fan boy say.

 

No, no, no. He has it right. I just read on Wikipedia (so you know it's legit) that during the development of Gen 2 Tacoma's, Toyota was tipped off by a struggling asphalt importer about the lack of paved roads in Colorado. In an effort to help those traveling the mysterious inbound shock mount consuming roads Toyota decided to relocate the shock mounts outboard. Geologically speaking, Colorado rocks only form shock mount strike groupings about 6-10" left and right of the differential. Unfortunately for Ford, the inclusion of an unauthorized "Coors Edition" trim package in 1968 F-100 Rangers forced Ford to originate all future sales of trucks badged as "Ranger" from within Colorado. Yep. Every Ranger you see outside of Colorado had to brave those treacherous roads to get out. Weird, right? And there were so many that never made it out. Heaps of twisted carcasses, their fate determined upon an unfortunate rock strike to the shock mount, lie in shallow mass-graves just north of Rifle, CO. Naturally, sales suffered. The dagger through the heart for Ford was the 72 million inboard shock mount rear axle assemblies already in inventory. Faced with the (rocky) uphill battle to compete in such a destructive market they decided to re-wrap the chassis in lame body work and sell the surplus in other markets.

Viva El Ranger.

 

Outboard-mounted shocks, being closer to the wheel, are somewhat less likely to be damaged. The Wrangler has outboard-mounted shocks, and that's the most crawling-oriented production vehicle today.

 

I don't know, but it seems these new trucks are getting bigger and bigger, pricier and pricier, more and more car-like. I'm a bit of a pick-up purist, so if I want a car, I'll buy a car. Anyway, there's getting to be less of a difference between full-size and mid-size trucks. I'm sure the Canyon/Colorado will be good trucks, but I'll be surprised if they ever engender the passion and loyalty that the Tacoma enjoys.

 

My buddy has a 2000s model ZR2 and even though I basically hate the s10, those were some really good looking trucks. If I had to get a small truck other than a Tacoma, it would be one of those.

 

^