2017 Chevy Colorado

[Nine17]

I've been trying to decide whether a Cayenne or "used" Cayenne Diesel (if they ever sell the 1500 hold-backs) or a Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon is the right truck for my needs. I've been looking for a vehicle to tow a trailer with my factory-built 2001 Porsche GT3 RS/R race car (2001 British GT Championship/2004 Rolex 24 at Daytona history), so I was cross-shopping everything from the $85K Porsche Cayenne S to the $25K Nissan Frontier. I've never purchased an American car or truck (if you don't count a Cologne-built '77 Ford Fiesta S), so I'm probably the customer onto whose forehead GM would love to put their laser-dot. The 2WD Chevy Colorado V6 can be found fully-optioned for about a third the price of a Cayenne S.

The more I read about the Colorado/Canyon on the Inter-webs, the more it appealed to me. However, the GM trucks and cars that I've rented from Hertz before the re-structuring were pretty craptastic, and I wanted to see and drive the truck before I put down my money. I'm incredibly busy these days, and Chevy and GMC pulled out of my town 10 years ago, so I wasn't able to get around to actually seeing one up close. I decided that a 2WD truck makes the most sense for my needs -- I owned '88 and '94 Nissan Pathfinder SE's, and in my part of California I almost never put them into 4-high -- when I did, it was usually on ice, when it might as well have been no-wheel-drive. Most of the nearby dealers only had 4x4's, and I wanted to try a 2WD truck. I searched on the Chevy website, and Boardwalk Chevrolet in Redwood City had a couple of '16's to test drive. I also noticed that the '17's would upgrade from a 6-speed to an 8-speed Hydra-matic, and the 8-speed seemed like it might be a good option for towing, but the dealer folks didn't think that the '17's would arrive until late-December or early-January. A '17 shown in the Chevy pipeline was spec'd perfectly for my needs, though. Cyber Gray, 2WD Z71 Crew-Cab Short Box, 8-speed, towing package, 8" Connect, Bose audio, bed-liner, black bow-ties, mud flaps.

Last Sunday we had some down-time, so I invited my wife to take a drive to see if we liked the Colorado, figuring that a '16 LT would be a good test-drive, even without the Z71 suspension and with only the 6-speed and older-generation V6. We drove the '16, and it was clear that the Colorado was the right truck for our needs. I told the salesman that he should give me a call when the '17 came in, and he looked online to get the VIN. Then he hesitated -- "this truck has a stock number -- hang on a minute." He went in back, and when he returned he informed us that the perfectly spec-d '17 had been unloaded late Friday or early Saturday and might even be ready for delivery. They didn't even know that they had '17's in stock. He made me a very good offer -- GM is offering several spiffs that could be combined, and I told him to start writing. We did the paperwork before I had even seen the truck! Crazy? I hoped not...

I live in Santa Cruz, about 45 miles from Redwood City by freeway and then over a winding mountain highway. Fortunately, we hadn't driven my '88 Porsche Carrera, and my wife could drive the other car home (she refuses to drive the Porsche). My first drive in a '17 Colorado was driving my new truck off the lot. By now, the suspense must be killing you, but let me assure you I was blown-away. After I crossed the Santa Cruz Summit, I Siri'd my wife: "This thing drives like a Cadillac!" Little did I know...

...it IS a Cadillac. I forgot what had I read in Car and Driver: the LGX V6/8L45 Hydra-Matic 8-speed drivetrain was developed by Cadillac for the new CTS. The GM engineers wanted a refined, powerful, and efficient drivetrain for the Standard of the World. The new all-aluminum V6 was the subject of several patents, and the transmission is full of magnesium and titanium components. The '17 Colorado V6 8-speed is by far the most refined truck I've ever driven -- easily a match for Porsche's base Cayenne or Macan on a smooth road (leaf springs and a live axle are great for payloads, not gymkhanas). No V6 moan -- the engine sounds like it's in a different county from the driver's seat.

I've driven 200 miles now, and I'm still just blown-away. Now, we'll have to see how she tows -- the Trailering Package includes a bunch of electronics in "Trailering Mode" that are supposed to hold gears, engine-brake, and use the electronic LSD and Stabili-Trak anti-sway to keep the drama down. I figure that 308 hp and 275 ft-lb should be adequate over the rattly 4-cyl turbo-diesel that Chevy offers only in 4-WD for way more money. We'll see...

-- David

[swbstudios]

Those new Colorado's are fantastic trucks. Hard to believe how good they are and how far GM has come in a few years. Congrats on the purchase.

[911TES]

That's good to hear. I'd like to see the American car/truck on par with the other world market cars. I've never bought a new American car. Generally, it was the "fit and finish" of the American cars that didn't agree with me. It's better now, but has a different "style" for the interior/exterior finishing. I think the've become very good value.

[swbstudios]

That's good to hear. I'd like to see the American car/truck on par with the other world market cars. I've never bought a new American car. Generally, it was the "fit and finish" of the American cars that didn't agree with me. It's better now, but has a different "style" for the interior/exterior finishing. I think the've become very good value.

Well, to be fair, American full sized trucks have been the best in the world for decades.

[Nine17]

I'm not shilling for GM, but let me expand a bit on the thought-process that moved me from considering a Cayenne to buying a Colorado:

For decades, American cars have fallen down on both fit and finish, and it's why I spent months agonizing over spending huge money on a Cayenne. Ironically, the interior styling was one of the hold-ups along with the crazy cost -- I find the silver accents, especially the vent-surrounds, to be positively Baroque.

The new, post-re-org, Chevrolet Colorado is almost unrecognizable as an American car. The panel-gaps are tight and even. The door-handles operate precisely and the doors swing open smoothly and without any tinny resonance. They close with a solid "thunk" on triple seals. The plastic is higher-quality in surface, sheen, and feel than I've seen in the E90 or F30 BMW's. There is nothing Rubbermaid about the interior. The Z71 uses a nice faux carbon-fiber trim and the touch-screen surround and other bright trim replaces the silver in lesser Colorados with a nice flat bronze-gray that's much more tasteful than the silver in the Cayenne. The seats are supportive and adjustable -- not 14-way but you can easily find a nice height and rake and the adjustable lumbar is very effective. I also like that the seat heat can be full-seat or back-only. The steering-wheel is a chunky leather-covered piece and the buttons are simple and well-thought-out. The shift lever is on the console and is placed close to the driver, where it "falls easily to hand" with an intuitive manual-shift mode using a thumb-toggle. The folding rear seats operate easily and positively, and the interior is free from rattles (at this point). Both the MyLink and Apple CarPlay offer effective voice-controls from the steering wheel and you can display the nav on the dash in a configurable display, so you don't need to look at the large touch screen if you'd prefer to be scanning for knuckle-heads. The only interior demerits so far are a smallish passenger footwell due to a single tunnel stamping for both 2WD and 4WD; useless door pockets (are they pen holders?); no dead-pedal.

Under the hood, the first thing that I noticed is that the all-aluminum DOHC, VVT, DFI 3.8-liter Cadillac 60-degree V6 with cylinder-deactivation is set back fully behind the front wheel center-line. The weight-distribution of the 2WD short-box crew-cab is almost front-mid-engine at 56/44 percent. The motor was designed for refinement, and it's easily as quiet and vibration-free as a BMW straight-6. Passengers mention how striking it is at highway speeds to hear the nuance of music played through the Bose sound system using iTunes excellent compression algorithms. The engine, wind, and road noise are exceptionally isolated -- it sounds like hyperbole, but we're talking Mercedes-Benz sedan levels. The new 8L45 Hydra-Matic 8-speed transmission developed for the LGX V6 is equally outstanding. It's undetectable under most conditions, but the right gear is always a throttle-squeeze away. I haven't even used the kick-down yet. It does give some engine-braking on declines, and the manual mode is easily engaged with a dash display to indicate the maximum gear allowed by the driver. The Z71 also uses GM's electronic locking differential, but I haven't discerned it working yet. The fuel economy has been surprising -- I was commuting in heavy traffic due to the heavy rains in the Santa Cruz Mountains this week, and still got nearly 21 mpg. A weekend run down to Monterey showed about 24 mpg -- on a green engine.

Time will tell how it holds up and especially how it tows. I had a very busy week, so I've only got a couple of photos that I snapped after I got home for the dealer.

-- David

[setho]

Congrats on your purchase. I recently drove a GMC Canyon diesel and was impressed.