2015 Colorado front end.
Pickup Trucks are ingrained in American culture like apple pie and baseball. It started off innocently enough in 1925 with the Ford Model T, which offered a Pickup variant of the most popular car in the world and as the world will see, continued the dominance with the F-150 being the bestselling vehicle in the United States for decades. Now the world would see a shift in the way we use and perceived pickups in 1994 with the debut of the Dodge Ram. It wasn’t just some ordinary full size truck, with its massive and imposing front end, comfortable ergonomics and a wide array of engine choices, it turned the pickup world upside down. And began the shift which would ultimately made the ‘modern day pickup’ a viable family car.
The buying public wanted a vehicle that can do the Home Depot runs and take your family out to Sunday Brunch. In all of the hype of making the full size truck the new family car we forgot about the value of the ‘compact’ truck segment. A truck that is big enough to fit your family but also small enough to fit in your garage comfortably. The wheelbase between the Colorado Crew Cab and it’s Silverado cousin is almost an entire foot, which in everyday parking situations or even running around town is enormous. The beauty of the Colorado is that it drives almost exactly like a car. There is no trying to accustom to dramatic differences in braking, handling, parking or even highway merging. You just get in it…and drive. And it drives well, extremely well. It’s quiet, comfortable, powerful and economical with it’s 20 mpg around town and up to 27 mpg on the highway!
On the styling front, the Colorado is a combination of European elegance and American masculinity all rolled into one. Our test model is the Z71 Crew Cab, which is the one to get. It has the same imposing look as those earlier Rams but with the Z71 All terrain tires, beautiful 18 inch wheels and deep chiseled front end, completely transforms this beast.
The interior fit and finish is second to none and yes you just read that right. The quality of the interior is fantastic with its combination of high grade plastics, leather and metallic accents. The infotainment system is one of the best out there, with its huge display, quick responses and one of the cleanest UI out there! There is more than enough room to carry up to 5 people comfortably in this trucks for hours on end.
Our tester came equipped with the 3.7 V6 producing 305 horsepower and 270 ft/lbs of torque. Those numbers may not set your pants on fire but it’s perfectly geared and tuned for this application. It’s smooth, responsive and I cannot stress this enough… 27mpg on the highway! Along with its shift on the fly 4WD and Lo-Range gearbox this truck has everything you’ll ever need. Need to carry 5 people? Get a Colorado. Need to haul stuff? Get a Colorado? Want great gas mileage but don’t want to rid yourself of utility? Get a Colorado! Want great style and want to go off road? GET. A. COLORADO!
