| Author | Message | ||
     Whistler |
Bought my first new Chevy last week. Had a used Chevy back in the early seventies but this is the first new one. It's also the first new truck I've bought since '94, a V8 Dakota still running and running well but getting tired and showing its age, still my daily beater. A mid-sized truck suits me. This new purchase is a V6 Z71. Have to say, I am favorably impressed with the vehicle, well thought out, well executed. At this early point I am very pleased with the buy, worth the delivery wait. | ||
| Doz |
Good luck on your new truck I'm in the market for a new(er) truck as my k-3500 dually is giving me problems. No, not the truck- but DOT is becoming a real PIA. I've found frequent fluid changes are the best way to get 300K miles out of a typical chevy. What kind of mileage are you getting? | ||
| Froggy |
I really hope they come out with a sport/ZQ8 variant of the Colorado, I really want to trade my 2012 Canyonrado in for it. | ||
| Whistler |
Doz - I only have about 600 miles on the clock but so far am averaging about 27 miles per gallon. | ||
| Court |
I've got a Colorado and it does a number of things nicely . . . I'll bet you enjoy it. I've got the 4 door crew cab and it's so full of tools and equipment . . it's a 1-person vehicle. I slit the carbon and mounted 3 Ram-Mount flanges on the floor an d have an iPad, Motorola 2-Way radio and Garmin Oregon GPS on the floor . . . IPnone 6+ mounted on the dash and a Canon G12 and Bushnell Laser Rangefinder on the windshield. It works very well for what I am using it for. | ||
| Xb9er |
next year there will be a 4 cylinder turbo diesel for the canyon/colorado | ||
| Etennuly |
I am going to take a look at that new Dodge 1500 diesel. At 28 MPG it looks interesting. I am a Chevy guy, but I had a new '98 Dodge diesel dually for a few years.....the only new vehicle that I have had that never had any warranty work done. It frequently did 21~22 mpg. I checked out Colorado trucks a couple years back.....are the new ones as much larger as they look on their advertisements? | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Vern the Dodge 1500 diesel is a VM Motori engine, a wholly owned subsidiary of FIAT Powertrains. I've had a few VM lumps over the years & they've been terrific. All reports I've had on the 3.0 V6 have been very positive. | ||
| Froggy |
They are in the same ballpark in size as the last gen, except you can now get a crew cab with the long bed. I'd have to look up the specs again, but it was quite a bit longer than my 2012 extended cab long box. | ||
| Mike13 |
Not to thread jack but I have the ram eco diesel and I love it. Picked it up late october and have a little over 5k miles on it. Mileage is great! I have a crew cab short bed 4x4 with 3.92 gear set and average 24-25 mpg during my daily commute of mixed driving. On the hwy flat ground I get 27-29 mpg at 70-80 mph. Power is good but it doesn't put it down like an equivalent v8. Plenty of torque for towing and decent towing economy from what I hear. Haven't had a chance to confirm that. I had a 2012 2500 cummins before this one so I'm a little disappointed with the power but that's apples and oranges. I really like the new colorado though. Congrats on the new truck! If I was in the market for a mid size thats what I would get. Can't wait to see how the turbo diesel 4 does in it. | ||
| Gschuette |
Nice! I got the old one, new in 2004 and it is still going strong. Great trucks, I am very jealous as those new ones look pretty good. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
I owned one of the first Colorado Crew Cabs in 2004, then got another one loaded with Leather and Sunroof in 2008. Traded it in on my first full size Sierra in 2012. I test drove the crew cab long box Canyon before buying my 2015 Sierra this past week. That Canyon/Colorado is an amazing truck. There is no wonder it is winning awards right now. They were smart by releasing the long box first. It makes it's first impression look much larger than it is. When I looked at the short box crew cab, it was almost identical dimension to my 2004 and 2008. With the new engine, better options etc, etc, it will sell well. Especially with the Ranger off the market. A person can get an identically configured Canyon for about $10K less than the Sierra. And you can get it with all the options. I still went Sierra just for the fact that some of the things I tow will be better with the larger vehicle. Back in my Colorado days, I had a smaller boat and only two sleds. Toys grow, truck has to grow. Good luck with your Colorado, you will love it! | ||
| Blks1l |
I saw Rangers at the SEMA show in November, are they not going into production? | ||
| Sifo |
Ranger is supposed to be coming back. I just got my 2WD Sonoma lift done and got some actual truck tires on yesterday. Now it seems like a real truck to me. I just didn't like it slammed low with passenger car tires. Now I can't wait for a decent snow to see how it does with some more aggressive tires on it. Hopefully it will do more than just slide around like the old tires. Great size truck for my needs. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The ecodiesel in the ram is the same 3.0 as my grand Cherokee - had mine for a year, 10k miles, awesome engine. Zero issues, good mpg, great power. Not as torquey as my 01 Cummins, but its half the displacement and fifty times quieter! | ||
| Dwardo |
I just put some Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires on my Mercury Grandma Marquis. It is really light in the back and Ford's traction control is pretty lame so I wasn't expecting much. I cannot believe how well those tires stick. It's amazing! Snow tire technology has come a long way. Only down side is they will prolly wear out in 15K and the sidewalls seem very flexible because the car sways a lot more than it did. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
The 2015 Colorado Z71's standard(and only) interior trim is supposed to be: "jet black/dark galvanized cloth/leather appointments" But my dealer sez they are only building them with: "jet black,cloth/leatherette" on the Z71 platform Anybody know anything more about that? I really like the galvanized interior and blue tinged carbon fiber look,but apparently if I order one,I won't get "that" interior . WTF   | ||
| Whistler |
Have not had a chance to drive it again since the first post but last Friday night I did a 400 mile run and was again impressed. Night driving is a good test of a vehicle for me, as I've aged my night driving skills have diminished. However the Colorado is a safe solid driving platform and it gave me a sense of confidence. It is comfortable, has intuitive controls, good economy, and power when you need it. Really like this truck. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Whistler,does your Z71 have the interior trim as in my above post? | ||
| Whistler |
Zip, my Z71 interior is as the photograph you posted above. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Thank you Whistler......  | ||
| Court |
My Colorado is a "beater" (i.e. I drive it off road at least 15 miles a day through some rough stuff) and I must say it's filled the bill nicely, The size of the truck allows me to take it places an F250 would be tough. I get about 17mpg (no clue what motor is in it) combined on and off road. Tat's not too bad considering that I have half a dozen Ram mounts bolted in the floor and dash and an inverter running loads of electronics from comm to navigation. Not what I'd buy for a daily driver . . . but I confess I am impressed and being able to buy one for only $36K makes it all that much sweeter in the day of the $60K F series pickup | ||
| Biffdotorg |
That's about what I got with my '04 and '08 Colorado Z71 Crew Cabs. They both had the inline 5 cylinder engine. At 240hp, it was just about right, but I lusted for the very limited run units with the V8 engine. The 2015's have a great V6 which puts out over 300hp from what I hear. I thought it felt a bit doggy for that much hp, but the one I drove had just rolled off the truck too. The Z71 suspension and wheel flares on the Colorado of that vintage did make that truck look a lot larger than it was. The wheels were much larger than the standard options. The new version looks even better. It's obvious that I fit into the category of owning it for it's size and being a bit different. As the mileage is actually better on my full sized Sierra. I was able to get by XB12s in the shortbed of the crew cab and still close the tailgate! Ratchet straps helped to compress the front suspension a bit. I did bring my new XB12xt home in the back as well. Just had to remove the saddlebags. (Sorry, wasn't able to drive it home from the dealer) | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Uhh! I hate floor shift for an auto tranny. It's one of my least favorite aspects of most modern cars. If I had a mass of extra money I was tripping over, I would definitely get one of those fiat/ram 1500 trucks. I love my 2004 Ram 1500 in terms of utility and ease of use but the fuel economy is pretty horrid at low speeds. On a long trip it will get near 20 though. | ||
| Whistler |
My venerable '94 V8 Dakota has always been thirsty but after 350,000 miles I do not complain. This last 400 miles trip in the new Colorado however got my attention. The trip involved back roads, lots of small towns, and Texas speed limits. The truck averaged a little over 24 MPH. Like a friend said, "when you only buy a new truck every twenty years you shouldn't be overly surprised to be pleased with the purchase." I don't disagree with his statement and I know it is early but this new Colorado does seem to be extraordinary. | ||
| Kev_m |
Whistler - is that a 2wd or the 4wd that you've gotten 27 mpg on??? I've been looking at them, and the Ram 1500 (which is probably too big, too thirsty, and too expensive for what I'm thinking). I may also consider the redesigned Taco. But I'll probably just say screw it and buy a Jeep Wrangler anyway. Still, the comfort and efficiency of the Colorado/Canyon is tempted. | ||
| Whistler |
Kev- 2wd. My Dakota is 4wd and a 5 speed stick but when I thought about how often I used all four wheels in drive and where I live I went with the 2wd. Sometimes I wish I had done the 4wd anyhow. I had started my search with the Taco and figured that was the way to go until stumbling on the Chevy. I had a 4wd V8 Jeep Cherokee for 17 years until my son totaled it (rolled her, he crawled out without a scratch) two years ago. That was a good strong running piece of equipment. | ||
| Kev_m |
Yeah, that was my guess with that number. Still that's impressive. That's the EPA highway rating right (27)? We've got a 2012 Jeep GC (WK2) with the Pentastar V6. It's a great vehicle. Wife loves it and we use it as the family hauler. It CAN do surprisingly well on fuel for a 2.5 ton vehicle (we've SEEN as high as 26 mpg on a long distance round-trip, keeping the speed down to maybe 65-70). But generally it gets closer to 23-24. I like 4wd or awd living in the north east. Plus we've got a HUGE state forest with tons of trails so a 4x4 can be fun too. If you're looking to transport the occasional bike in the back the Taco doesn't have the best reputation (supposedly the tailgate is only rated at 200# and many report it bending upon loading). Anyway, I like the Colorado/Canyon. It looks like a decent platform (that has performed well in other countries before it was released here). | ||
| Kev_m |
Pretty nice edition...  | ||
| Just_ziptab |
So yeah,I ordered and got a Z71 Colorado SS with nearly everything on it except the 'Gear on' crap and 4WD. Damned nice. love it..but lots of oddities.  |
