New Chevy Colorado mega-thread

I don't get it. okay GM made a "new" Colorado. the old one was a complete piece of shit...

 

I work at a Chevy dealer and you are correct about the timing chain issue. It seems to have been resolved, however, we still get oil leaks and head gasket failures and I doubt when these engines have 100,000 miles on them, that they will be as good as our 4.0 v6.

 

a regular cab 2wd s10 vs a dblb 4x4 fully armored tacoma? since the 4.0 puts out about 20% more power than the 4.3? i cant see that happening in similarly equipt trucks. last i checked the 4.3 was right around 198 hp or something like that, i dont remember the tq numbers but i imagine it would be similarly inferior to the tacoma. plus i bet the s-10 doesnt have a 3.73 rear-end, but i could be wrong about that.

 

The last colorado i drove felt like it was going to disentegrate around me. Everything was sloppy and loose and rattling... it did have high miles, 160 or so if i remember? but i didnt like it. Convinced the guy to upgrade to a 02 Taco and he couldnt stop bitching about the gas mileage long enough to actually enjoy the truck...

 

Someone in that thread said mid 7s 0-60.

So, that means my double cab long bed Tacoma has a good shot at taking one. Lighter weight and truck-like gearing goes a long way for acceleration!

 

My reg cab might do it down hill, maybe. It's not an issue though. If I want to go fast I'll buy a sports car.

 

The Taco is also a wee bit faster in the 1/4 mile:

The timeslip shows his best run to be 16.0 sec @ 88 mph.
Car and Driver's tested Tacomas at 15.6-15.9 sec @ 87 mph.

The Colorado in DCLB config weighs about 4400 lb. Compared to 4200 lb for the Taco. So once again lighter weight slightly trumps more power... no different than previously with the Frontier.

 

I agree that the 3.6 is somewhat car oriented but so is the 4.0. Actually I bet the two feel similar to drive: The 3.6 has 305 hp way up at 6800 rpm, while the 4.0 has 236 @ 5200. So, the 3.6 is probably producing right about what the 4.0 is at 5200, maybe a little more. As evidence, look at the torque ratings: 266 lb-ft @ 4000 for the 4.0 and 269 @ 4000 for the 3.6. With a trailer behind them you would probably not be able to tell one from the other.

I agree that the first-gen Colorado didn't age well and got raggedy with high mileage.

The S10 did have a 3.73 with the 4.3, that was pretty common (I had one) but the torque of the 4.3 is what defines it. My 2003 had 250 lb-ft @ 2800. The 4.0 peaks out slightly higher (266 lb-ft) but way up at 4000. That low-end torque makes a huge difference. So no, it's not "similarly inferior" - it's actually a truck engine, unlike the 4.0 or the 3.6. But it's 90 degrees so it's not too refined, and not great maximum power. They're still making it for boats. The current-gen 4.3 in the Silverado is unrelated.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__tzPkZywdE

 

its funny bc chevy is gayyyyy

 

Not too surprised. The Tacoma is pretty quick.

I bet 3.73 gears help, too. Not great for gas mileage, but if you're actually using it like a truck they're good for that.

 

That's hilarious.

 

Yup . I always laugh at GM because they came out publicly and said Ford was "going down a slippery slope" using Ecoboost "car engines" in there trucks. Next thing you know the Colorado gets a car engine. GM is the bestest for sure.

It's not about the block or displacement. I think most of us are just used to our truck engines being built and tuned for great low end torque for pulling which usually gives a set of final HP and torque numbers where HP<Torque. Maybe that's going to disappear now. From the sounds of it this 300 HP engine isn't any faster/stronger in the Colorado than the 1 GF-RE is in the Tacoma despite it's better numbers. I guess we shall see.

 

Well from the specs of the 4.0 vs. the 3.6 it seems that the "car engine" ship has pretty much already sailed for Toyota too.

The issue is, Joe "average buyer" compares horsepower alone and concludes that the most horsepower is better, so you get revvy engines that produce a lot of horsepower when they're screaming, meaning a 305 horsepower Colorado that won't tow as well as a 190 hp S10.

As far as Ford EcoBoost, I sort of brushed off the 3.5 because I figure it doesn't get much better economy than a lot of V8s, but the new 2.7 is a force to be reckoned with. And the real clincher is that the 2.7 EcoBoost is only a $795 option in the '15 F150. And for that you get 325 hp and 27 mpg. Hard to beat.

 

Agreed. I was just referencing GM's opinion there. I thought it was funny they didn't choose to develop a new engine for the Colorado after the comments they've made about Ford.

Ecoboost has it's haters and there have definately been some issues but the one's we've had at work have been great. We haven't had one fail yet. So much more low end torque in that 3.5L over a 5.7 Hemi or 5.3 Chevy. Maybe it's the way it's geared but there's no better 1/2 ton engine when it comes to towing IMHO.

 

They say they have beefed up the EcoBoost to have similar durability to a diesel. I have driven one but never towed with an EcoBoost, but I certainly believe you given the specs.

 

Most of the negatives im hearing is from my buddies who are current gen 1 Colorado owners and from the 355nation forum I used to be a part of when I had my 05 Colorado. Heres some of the things those guys are saying,

"this is why chevy will never ever be better than toyota in this segment, these guys are waaaayyyy to over their head with "economy this, fuel economy that, comfort.. blah blah"... reality is, it has a crappy front driveshaft, with a weak aluminum front diff, and more plastic and electric crap than any serious offroader would ever want their to be"

"I was happy when I saw the coils then I looked at the front driveshaft and saw 2 cv's then the aluminum housing on the diff and instantly all hope failed. I was at a dealership the other day and a loaded white z71 long bed was $38,600 with the v6. No thanks."


As for the 3.5 going into the Tacoma, I'm not a fan. I like truck engines and I hope they don't go the same route as Gm did with the Colorado and taking a readily available car engine, detune and drop it in.

 

I got my 4x4 Tacoma regular cab 5-speed a few months ago for $22,000, and it's exactly what I wanted. I have heard the same - the only way to get a 4x4 Colorado is to spend a lot more and be forced to buy stuff you don't want, plus no manual transmission available in the 4x4 at all. I really don't understand their strategy because the whole point was to offer a small truck with a significantly lower price point than the Silverado.

 

3.6L V6 is Chevy's current bread and butter 6 cylinder. Kind of odd to hear bad things about it.

 

Here's some irony. My Chevy dealer sold a 3.6 engine today for a Traverse…to the local Toyota dealer. In all fairness, GM paid for the engine. It was under warranty.