Sunday, October 12th, 2008
The Chevrolet Colorado was introduced in the market in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S10 and the GMC Sonoma model of mid-sized pick-ups manufactured by General Motors. This is a product of collaboration with Isuzu trucks, the company that helped in designing this versatile truck. The Japanese car-maker began selling its own version of the truck in the last quarter of 2005 as its I-series of trucks.
Chevy Colorado is based on the GMT355 platform designed by General Motors of North America, General Motors Brazil and Isuzu. GMT355 was also used as the basis for the Hummer H3’s GMT345 platform.
The patriots camped at the General Motors assembly plants must be thinking of a non-conventional strategy to beat their Japanese rivals. Getting the support of their rival’s own rivals - does that make a sense? Good thinking! But don’t be caught with a spy in your bed. Show them you’ve got that loyalty badge from the patriots - a blue-topped keychain designed just for Colorado owners.
Colorado is available in both manual and automatic transmissions and in either two wheel-drive or four wheel-drive variants. Standard models are powered with a 2.8L LK514 engines, but a power packed variant sports a 3.5L L52 I5 engine - known as Z71 or the 4-door version of both Chevy and General Motors Corporation model (the Canyon). The Z71 later evolved as the LT2 and LT3. There is a ZQ8 edition featuring a lower and road-tunes sport suspension, which sports 17-inch wheels and beautifully designed bumper. So-called Xtreme editions of the ZQ8 have 18-inch wheels.
The US sales of the Colorado and the Canyon peaked in 2005 at 163,204 units, surpassing the Ford Ranger by almost 35% and just 3.3% behind the new best-seller Toyota Tacoma. In 2006, however, while still leading the Ford pickup truck for sale by 27.5%, Colorado and Canyon’s sales lagged their Toyota competitor’s by almost 34%.
So Colorado owners, get your Chevy Colorado Keychains to show them you are riding on a non-conventional truck, a secret warfare designed to steal technology from the land of the rising sun. Priced at $6.99, designs are available in Circular Chrome plates, Leather topped with Silver, Leather topped with Gold and an Oval Metal variant. All designs feature a blue crystallite dome embossed printed in faint gold scripts bearing the Chevy logo and model name “Colorado”.
The 2008 Colorado maintained its original hardworking stance. A regular cab, extended cab and crew cab variants are available. The 4×4 pickup trucks for sale models are equipped with the Insta-Trac, an automated system where you can easily shift from 2WD, 4×4 low to 4×4 high with just a touch of a button conveniently located at the panel board. As a standard on Z71 variants, the powerful, efficient and durable Vortec 3.7L I-5 engines truly lives on Colorado’s “Work Harder, Play Harder” marketing tag.
The hardworking features of the Chevrolet Colorado trucks are balanced with a powerful Radio Data System compatible radio and music entertainment platform with an in-dash 6-disc CD change. Your remote keyless entry control replaces the key in your elegant keychain this time.
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Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
To get the highest towing capacity possible, a special towing package usually has to be installed on the pickup truck. This could include heavy-duty cooling components to reduce the risk of overheating, heavy-duty brakes, a transmission oil cooler and a heavy-duty suspension. Automatic transmissions on heavy-duty trucks often include a Tow/Haul mode, which alters the shift pattern for greater efficiency when pulling a trailer or boat. Ford’s F-Series Super Duty trucks now offer a Tow Command System, which includes an integrated electric trailer-brake controller. All large trailers must have their own brakes, which are typically actuated by the driver using a separate control unit. Ford claims that its integrated system works with a “special trailer-brake strategy” when the antilock braking system detects poor traction.
Certain versions of GM’s full-size pickups can be equipped with Quadrasteer four-wheel steering, which can make highway maneuvers easier and safer, especially under high wind conditions. Quadrasteer also makes it easier to back up and take corners with a trailer under tow. Once you’ve tried Quadrasteer, there’s a good chance you won’t be satisfied with a pickup that doesn’t have it. In February 2005, however, Automotive News reported that GM will drop Quadrasteer as an option after the 2005 model year, citing slow sales. Compact pickups have lower towing capacities — not specifically due to their size, but because they can’t hold the biggest and most-powerful engines. Like their larger siblings, these pickups have a variety of towing-capacity ratings depending on their powertrains, cab style and bed length.
Larger than a traditional compact truck, Dodge’s Dakota can tow up to 7,150 pounds, while Nissan’s Frontier can be equipped to tow as much as 6,500 pounds. Ford’s compact Ranger has a maximum towing capacity of 5,980 pounds. Toyota’s 2005 Tacoma can be fitted to tow up to 6,500 pounds. Maximum towing capacities for the Chevrolet Colorado and its GMC Canyon cousin are lower, topping out at an even 2 tons with the 3.5-liter inline-five-cylinder and an automatic transmission. When choosing a pickup based on its towing prowess, you need to allow some leeway. If the heaviest trailer you expect to tow weighs 6,000 pounds, it’s wise to select a truck with a capacity somewhere beyond that figure.
Still, it doesn’t pay to buy more truck than you expect to need. Heavier-duty trucks are almost sure to burn more fuel and may be less pleasing to drive during those periods when no trailer is attached. Compact models can be a lot more satisfying for regular driving. If you never intend to pull a fifth-wheel camper trailer, why buy an oversized truck that can handle such a task? And if you’re not going to tow anything heavier than a snowmobile or small utility trailer, a compact pickup might be sufficient. At the other end of the spectrum, if you have to haul a trailer that weighs even more than the one-ton pickups can handle, there are options.
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Thursday, August 14th, 2008
There are 11 compact and not-so-compact pickup truck nameplates in the U.S. for the 2008 model year. The models range from Ford Ranger with regular cab and two-wheel drive, to the top-of-the-line Honda Ridgeline RTL with four-wheel drive. Buyers of the “less-than-full-size” trucks get considerable payload and towing capacity—up to 1,720 and 7,160 pounds, respectively. But they generally pay lower prices than buyers of comparably equipped, large trucks. Some benefits of these smaller trucks are the same as for larger trucks. Compact and midsize trucks ride higher off the pavement than do cars, so drivers and passengers tend to enjoy good views out of their vehicles. Owners have easygoing cargo space in their pickup beds that they can spray down and clean with hoses. And these smaller trucks—smaller being a relative term here—can be more nimble and easier to park than their larger brethren.
Trucks in this segment are offered in 2×4 and 4×4 pickups, with regular, extended and double cabs, and with a variety of engines. For example, the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon are available with a 5-cylinder engine, while the Dodge Dakota can be had with a V8 that can run on E85 ethanol-containing gasoline. Buyers of the modestly sized trucks in this class can get some of the best fuel economy around. For example, the 2008 Ford Ranger Regular Cab with two-wheel drive and 2.3-liter, 4-cylinder engine mated to a manual transmission has a government fuel economy rating as high as that for some cars: 21 miles per gallon in city driving and 26 mpg on the highway. The Ranger and its twin, Mazda B2300 Regular Cab truck in two-wheel drive, rank as the most fuel-efficient pickups in the U.S. for the 2008 model year.
There are plenty of features and amenities in the compact and midsize-truck segment. Honda’s first truck for the U.S.—the midsize Ridgeline—has a lockable trunk set into the floor of the pickup bed. The 2008 Dodge Dakota has a standard, dual-position tailgate that helps carry loads of various lengths. And Nissan’s Frontier can be had with a Long Bed that adds 13 inches to the normal bed length for a total of 73 inches, even at the back of a Crew Cab model. Many of the smallest pickups, which used to be commonly known as “compact trucks,” also have changed and grown noticeably larger. For example, in the 2004 model year, Chevrolet replaced its long-running S-10 small pickup with the Chevy Colorado, and officials immediately called the larger, roomier Colorado a “midsize pickup.”
The Colorado’s twin vehicle—the GMC Canyon, which replaced the GMC Sonoma—also was upgraded in size, style and comfort and referred to as a “midsize pickup.” Both are offered with a 185-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine with 190 lb-ft of torque at 2800 rpm, and a 242-horsepower 5-cylinder engine with 242 lb-ft of torque at 4600 rpm. Dodge’s Dakota pushes the “midsize” label even farther. Its Quad Cab version is the only one in the segment with seating for up to six people. The Dakota’s top engine is a hale and healthy, 302-horsepower 4.7-liter Magnum high-output V8. And Mitsubishi sells a version of the Dakota under the Mitsubishi Raider name.
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