Chevrolet Colorado

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Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon

Manufacturer	General Motors
Production	2004–present
Assembly	Shreveport, Louisiana, United States Rayong, Thailand
Predecessor	Chevrolet S10/GMC Sonoma
Class	Mid-size pickup truck
Body style(s)	2-door 4-door
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel drive/four-wheel drive
Platform	GMT355
Engine(s)	2,770 cc (2.77 L; 169 cu in) LK5 I4 2,923 cc (2.923 L; 178.4 cu in) LLV I4 3,460 cc (3.46 L; 211 cu in) L52 I5 3,653 cc (3.653 L; 222.9 cu in) LLR I5 5,328 cc (5.328 L; 325.1 cu in) LH8 V8
Transmission(s)	5-speed manual 4-speed automatic
Wheelbase	Regular cab 111.2 in (2824 mm) Extended cab 126 in (3200.4 mm)
Length	Regular cab 192 in (4877 mm) Extended cab 207.1 in (5260 mm)
Width	68 in (1727.2 mm)
Height	65 in (1651 mm)
Related	Isuzu i-Series Holden Rodeo Isuzu D-Max Hummer H3 Hummer H3T

The Chevrolet Colorado and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are General Motors' mid-size pickup trucks introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC Sonoma. Isuzu, which participated in the design of the truck, began selling its own version in late 2005, named the "i-Series". The Chevrolet Colorado was jointly designed by GM's North American operations, GM's Brazil operations, and Isuzu, based on the GMT355, itself the basis for the GMT 345-based Hummer H3. The vehicles are manufactured and produced at a GM plant in Rayong, Thailand, and in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Chevrolet Colorado regular cab

Chevrolet Colorado Xtreme extended cab

The Colorado/Canyon offer both manual and automatic transmissions. GM also offers either a rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive drivetrain with standard, extended, and four-door crew cab bodystyles. Most models come with the 2,770 cc (2.77 L; 169 cu in) LK5 I4 engine as standard, but a more powerful 3,460 cc (3.46 L; 211 cu in) L52 Straight-5 comes with the Z71 package on 4-door versions and is optional on all others. The 4-door Z71s also get the 4-speed automatic transmission standard. This package was later dropped in favor of LT2 and LT3.

A ZQ8 edition is available with a lower and more road-tuned "sport" suspension than the standard Z85 and comes with 17 inch wheels, color-matched bumper and grille, and low profile fender flares. There is also a Xtreme edition of the ZQ8 which has a different front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts, fender flares, grille, headlights, and 18 inch wheels. The Xtreme edition is basically a continuation of a trim package from its predecessor, the Chevrolet S-10.

For 2007, Colorado/Canyon was facelifted and offered new engines, which include the 2,923 cc (2.923 L; 178.4 cu in) LLV I4 and 3,653 cc (3.653 L; 222.9 cu in) L5R I5, new colors — Deep Ruby (Sonoma Red for the Canyon), Pace Blue (Sport Blue for the Canyon) and Imperial Blue (Midnight Blue for the Canyon), and new tires and wheels. Minor changes to the grille and interior for the LT and LTZ models; the LS models kept the same pre-facelift look, similar to the facelift of the TrailBlazer in 2005. For model year 2009, a 5,328 cc (5.328 L; 325.1 cu in) LH8 V8 is offered, producing 300 hp (224 kW) and 320 lb·ft (434 N·m).

Colorado/Canyon U.S. sales peaked in 2005 at 163,204 units, surpassing the perennial segment leader, the Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier, by almost 35% and just 3.3% behind the new best-seller, the Toyota Tacoma. In 2006, however, while still leading the Ford pickup by 27.5%, Colorado/Canyon's sales lagged their Toyota competitor's by almost 34%.

Despite crew cabs being limited to LT trims which most other Chevrolet vehicles only offer front bucket seating with the trim; the LT crew cabs are the only trims of the Colorado to have 6-passenger seating (i.e. with front bench seating).

Future

For the 2011 or 2012 model year, the Colorado and Canyon are expected to be completely redesigned and reengineered. The direct-injected base engines found in the new Equinox and Traverse (2.4 L LAF I4 and 3.6 L LLT V6) are expected to replace the aged Atlas 2.9 I4 and 3.7 I5 models with the promise of better fuel economy. The new engines are rated at 182 hp (136 kW) and 281 hp (210 kW), respectively. The 5.3 Vortec V8 is still expected to be an option and a six-speed transmission may also be viable with all three engines in the near future, promising even better fuel economy. It will be built on the new GMT-700 platform, possibly being developed on a global platform in Thailand or Brazil.

Engines

Chevrolet Colorado being used by Police in Olympia, Washington

Safety

In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's frontal offset test the Colorado is given a "Good" overall score.^[3] In the side impact test of the Colorado without optional side airbags resulted in a "Poor" overall rating. The vehicle has yet to be tested with the optional side airbags however the structure is rated "Poor".^[4]

Yearly American sales

References

External links

• Chevy Official site
• GMC Official site