2015 Chevrolet Colorado
By Steve Kursar –
The Chevrolet Colorado is back! This is indeed great news and a reason to celebrate. After an absence of three model years, General Motors has brought back this mid-size pickup truck for buyers who don’t need or want a full-size pickup. They did such a good job that the new Colorado just won the highly prized Motor Trend 2015 Truck of the Year award, beating out the all-new aluminum body 2015 Ford F-150. This new, smaller Chevy truck is awesome.
There was a time when the only people who drove pickup trucks were construction workers, ranchers and Texans. Back in the big 1990s, Americans across this land ours discovered that pickups were mighty fun to drive, and so all of the big automakers had both a large, highly capable, full-size truck, as well as a smaller but much less capable mid-size truck in their lineup. However, when gas hit four dollars a gallon back a decade ago, casual truck buyers abandoned their pickups, and mid-size pickups lost their appeal and their market share. So, Chevrolet went back to the drawing board and came back with the new Colorado, their mid-size entry, and it’s a beaut.
The new Colorado comes in two body styles, extended cab and crew cab with a more streamlined design than its big brother, the full-size Chevy Silverado, with the hope of attracting buyers more interested in driving to the Galleria than construction sites. That said, this new truck is still highly capable for its size. Like the Silverado, the Colorado has a fully-boxed perimeter frame, engineered for strength and for a smoother, quieter ride. And, coupled with the available V-6 engine and heavy-duty towing package, the new Colorado delivers a 7,000 pound trailering rating, the highest in its segment.
Two new engines are offered, both mated to a six-speed transmission. The base two wheel drive model, with an MSRP of $20,120, has a 200 hp, 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine that will get EPA estimated fuel economy numbers of 20 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway. If you need the extra horsepower, the 305 hp, V6 engine is available with only a minor drop in fuel economy: 18 mpg city and 26 mpg highway.
If you like having the utility of a pickup but don’t need the size and capability of a full-size truck, then the mid-size 2015 Chevrolet Colorado has to be at the top of your list.
Follow Steve Kursur at KursarOnCars.blogspot.com.