New Chevy Colorado mega-thread

GM would be nothing without fleet sales, municipal purchases and international sales in markets (where safety and quality standards are lax). GM is a jobs program. Toyota is a car/truck company. That won't change.

Colorado will get some sales. But after recalls and quality issues, it will go away. Nissan is a bigger threat due to quality construction. But I don't think Nissan, as a brand, has the same "feel" as Toyota.

But, as always, Toyota will benefit from competition to keep them sharp.

 

As soon as some manufacturer offers a mid sized pickup that honestly gets good fuel mileage and it is proven reliable for a few years they will own the market. The small diesel in the chevy colorado is a step in the right direction. I love my Tacoma, but 16 MPG is bullshit! I traded in a full size 2wd GMC that got better fuel mileage in town and on the highway with a 5.3 liter V8. Surely Toyota can milk a few more mpg out of the gas motor. I would give upo a few HP for increased mpg, but the 2.7L in anything but the lightest Tacoma just doesn't have the powerband I want.

 

True, but you don't see a lot steam-powered cars running around anymore...

 

LOL, I know, maybe in 75 years they'll be back? We all know steam is the superior gas, its just a matter of harnessing it.

Anyway, back on topic. The Colorado is terrible until proven otherwise. It was one of the most if not the most regrettable purchases according to polls taken by consumer reports mag. People in 01 V8 Mercedes' are laughing at Colorado owners, "what an idiot, can't believe he bought that"

 

You can't compare mpg from 2wd trucks to 4wd trucks. A 2wd will almost always get better mpg even with a much bigger engine. A v8 2wd truck will probably get the same or better mpg than most 4cy and v6 4x4.

A 2wd double cab tundra with the 5.7 get 13 city/18 highway. A 4x4 double cab Tacoma with 4.0 gets 16/21. That's only a 3 mpg difference which is small since the tundra is like 2 times the size of the Tacoma and has a much bigger engine.

 

Desert Drift is right...16 mpg is bullshit. Toyota definitely has room to improve there. But Colorados aren't going to replace Tacos.

 

The Taco will lose market share rapidly if they don't bring out a diesel. A tow packaged Taco is good for 6500 lbs, and what did Nissan say about their diesel? Something like 7000? That is some serious tow capability. Tongue weight will have to match that so the frame will have to be beefed up. Midsize trucks look odd towing a full front camper, but a Turbo Diesel 7 or 8 speed Taco? You damn right I am trading. Push that baby up close to, or even over 30 mpg's too.

 

No midsize will tow 9500.

That's what the V8 Titan pulls.

3.0 diesels midsize usually pull around 7500-8000.

Even the Ram 3.0 diesel is only 9200.

 

7500 lbs towing is a good & doable goal. The perfect amount for me. That extra 1000 lbs would make a huge difference in flexibility.

 

I love my 2011 Tacoma but wish leather or an upgraded stereo package had been an option. Perhaps a little competition will get Toyota to step up the game. Would trade in for a V8 in a minute

 

THIS ^^^^

Who said a midsize would pull 9500?

I'd just take better mpg and comfy seats

 

I've laughed on here for years at all the diesel threads. Hell, for the first solid year of ownership / 3905325 hours of browsing TW, I too was excited about the idea of diesel. Then I started noticing thread dates from when I was still in high school, an abundance of people just shouting "IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, STOP MAKING THESE THREADS", "Oh this again?", etc.

And now, with some friendly help from competition.... maybe we'll all live to see a diesel option in North American Toyotas. It's a shame that they wouldn't have come up with the idea on their own, or paid any mind to the abundance of Toyota fanboys dreaming of diesel (hell, it litters every Toyota message board on the internet). In their defense, they are more prone to consider the average driver's needs... but surely they could have thought to themselves, "Most people want better fuel economy".

Then again, Toyota doesn't seem to be very keen on innovating and trying to make one of their existing diesel engines work for an American market with strict emission requirements is a huge financial undertaking. Here's to hoping they develop a new diesel engine from the ground up with the emissions requirements incorporated from day one. While diesel prices do appear to fluctuate more than gas, it doesn't have to be that way and I think that if America gravitates more toward diesel at any pace, refineries will have to recognize this and the price will eventually become more static.

The 3.0L Ecodiesel in my Ram and in the new Jeep GC's is hindered by the emissions system and a couple of people have already justifiably screamed 'lemon!'. If Toyota really wanted to knock it out of the park, they'd make sure the system was rock solid before releasing it to market. It'd be nice to read in the next few months "Toyota slots new Tacoma/Tundra/* to receive diesel engine by year 20__"... but without that kind of announcement, I think we'll be waiting for many years still.

My intentions were not to add fuel to the diesel fire with this thread. I'm just too sore to move after lifting my truck yesterday and the only parts of my body still functioning normally are my fingers. We should all wish these new trucks the best, from all manufacturers, because Toyota will have to step up their game. When that time comes, I'll be looking to get back in to a Toyota truck.

 

This is kind of out there in left field, but I thought I'd share it anyway. Hemp oil based biodiesel paired with a stable of advanced turbo diesel powered trucks to choose from would probably be an ideal biofuel solution. That's if the money can be invested in the politics to make it a reality. I'd say that with the money being made on cannabis alone in Colorado, an easy case can be made for simple industrial hemp farms to bring regional fuels to market.

Toyota has the money and clout to make this happen if they invested in capitol hill...like every other global corporation that wants to make things happen politically.

 

There's just no way a mid size truck should tow more than 7500 lbs. In a midsized truck at that weight rating the truck better be a long box double cab with 4 wheel disc brakes and should weigh closer to 5000 lbs stock. Without those features towing that weight won't be safe whether the truck is diesel or not.

Just FYI, it's be suicide for any truck manufacturer to build a mid sized truck that tows more than 8000 lbs. That kind of tow rating would blur the lines between the full sized and mid sized trucks and cost them more valuable full sized truck sales.

 

I would counter that Toyota is strictly a manufacturing company, and obviously one of the best in the world at it. But in terms of being a "car/truck" company they are not. Engineering and design consistently lose out against "manufacturability" and "variation reduction."

On the other side, GM and Honda are actually fairly strong at engineering content, but lack the sales/strategy expertise to get the units sold with smart tactics.

 

No one is as pro-hemp as I.
But deadicating cropland to growing fuel in a world full of hungry folks makes me uneasy.
Plus hemp oil is too full of good stuff to simply light on fire.
Using fryer oil, other waste stream adjuncts sure.
But I hate burning food for fuel.
jmho

 

I wouldn't say GM is good at engineering. They have so many examples of awful designs from putting the computer extremely low on some cars to the shit load of recalls recently for the ignition issues.

 

I agree with this; however, there's still lots of land that isn't suitable for much in the way of commercial agriculture for food products, that can (and quite prolifically) support "weeds" just fine. It's all a matter of water rights and social politics at that point to make it happen.

That having been said, I don't think that a purely single source fuel is going to be feasible in most regions anyway. Monoculture is just an unsustainable practice, in my opinion. A more sensible approach is a blend of high energy molecules such as petroleum and hemp combined with processed/converted food production and/or suitable industrial bio waste.

The sheer volume of grease we consume daily as a society should do quite well as a sustainable resource. I just don't see society giving up greasy fast food anytime soon.

The only thing that concerns me about such a setup is the regulatory overhaul needed to establish and ensure standards. You don't want to get diesel with wildy varying characteristics from region to region. Maybe it's just me, but I don't have the greatest confidence in our govt to enact sensible legislation which then results in sensible policy enactment and enforcement. It's usually just a good ole' boys club writ large.

Thanks for the reply!

 

How is toyota not an engineering company? They make stuff that lasts for 200K+ miles, its pretty damn simple, and the tolerances are insane tight when compared to other MFG's. You cant have a crappy engineering group and hit all those parameters.

Toyota needs to shrink the tacoma. Its too big to be a small truck and too small to compete with a full size. Look at the prices of the taco, you might as well buy a half ton truck that can carry more, tow more, has more room inside for slightly more coin. Come out with a truck the size of the 1st gen and go back to the toyota trucks roots, simple, easy to work on, and cheap to operate. Oh yea toss the diesel engine in and the beefed up frames of the overseas hilux's.

 

Have you guys seen the announcement on these today? Colorado 26 mpg hwy, hard for Toyota t compete with that.