I really do like the US version of the Colorado in comparison to the one we get. It has some features I do really like and importantly it has the aesthetics to please.

I believe the diesel Colorado has a damn good chance of taking out the title. For several reason;

1. A smaller pickup in diesel,

2. Economical,

3. Styling and refinement,

4. Ability to challenge the half ton segment for capability, and

5. Affordability.

It's a pity those crazy EPA/CAFE regulations are detracting from an important aspect of the modern pickup, that is those front ends that droop down so low it affects off roading.

I prefer the diesel Colorado over any Taco and Nissan will not even rate in this.

GM with the diesel mid sizer has taken a far better gamble than Frod with the aluminium F-150 and have turned a reasonable pickup into a fine pickup.

Don't forget there are four variations of the Colorado globally. The version I do like best is the Izuzu Dmax. I was following one towing an empty horse float up through what we call the New England Tablelands yesterday in NSW. He sat on 110-115 up mountains. It was towing faster than I could of imagined. But it has the Izuzu diesel and Aisin gearbox. A combination that works really well, apparently from what I have read and now witnessed.

Everyone will give the baby Duramax a bunch of applause. Just remember the Fiat EcoDeisel beat the new Duramax and the new Cummins according to WardsAuto. Take that for what its worth.

Problem is the EcoDiesel is built for mpg and not work. The Colorado/Canyon as well as the XD have better payload ratings. The XD with the Cummins tows rings around the EcoDiesel. Heck the only area the 2.7L EcoBoost got beat in was mpg when they compared the two. The EcoDiesel makes a great car and SUV engine, not so much a truck engine.

KeithCT,
Most every pickup nowadays are built as an alternative car/SUV. So your comment is really not worthy.

75% of all pickup sold are not working vehicles. They just are driven mainly with an empty bed and very occasionally tow the average 5 000lb trailer, go to Home Depot to collect 10 bags of mulch for the garden and half a dozen 4" nails.

That is the pickup of today. You speak of pickups as if you are still living in the 50s, when a pickup was mainly used for commercial purposes.

Does it really matter if a pickup has a 1 500lb or 1 800lb payload? Especially when it mostly carries a driver and a half a tank of gas? How many people buy CUVs and load them up beyond what is acceptable?

I'd say more SUVs and CUVs are overloaded than pickups.

So, again, your comment is quite uneducated with little knowledge of the pickup segment.

Well Keith, if you compare a Ram 1500 4x4 quad cab (because it only has less than 1" less of legroom when compared to the Colorado crew cab, because if you compared the crew cab Colorado to the crew cab RAM it would be not even close, so crew Colorado to quad cab Ram gives a bit less legroom for the Ram, but more shoulder room, and head room.

Then, if you cared about payload, you could get the Tradesman/Express/SLT Ram without the heavy stuff like a console, a Ram box, 17" not heavy 20" wheels, & the fact a crew weighs about 60 or more pounds over a quad cab.

You would have about the same payload, vs a Chevy 4x4 Colorado diesel that has a 6.5 foot bed. Or you could get the worthless 5.5 bed, for 75 pounds less, 75 pounds more payload.

They mostly do these reviews with heaviest Ram with all the stuff that takes away payload, 140 pounds for Ram boxes, about 60-75 pounds of 20" wheels, fancy Laramie Limited interior, side steps, double electric seats, 100 pounds of air suspension.

Don't get me wrong, they should raise payload ratings to make them all have atleast 1300/1400 minimum, but it's not like the Colorado is so far ahead on payload.

But hey, regular cab eco diesels are available, if you really want to do some work.

But the good thing is, with most of those tests being done with the Ecodiesel being a loaded up model, yet it still gets its advertised mileage. Motor Trend, Diesel Power, Consumer Reports, Edmunds, they get the rated mileage, and then some. Diesel Power got 19.46 mpg towing 7,000 pounds @ 60 mph in California. That's well over 15 miles to the gallon even if you went 75 mile per hour, I would bet.

Meanwhile, the Colorado diesel got less mileage than the Ram in every Canadian Truck Challenge test.

Even this site itself had said that a Colorado towing a fairly decent size trailer was a little bit of a challenge.

I can't tell you if the current 2.8 GM (it's really a VM Motori, lol, baby Duramax) still needs to have its timing belt changed out at a 100,000 miles like they had to do for the 05 Jeep Liberty CRD. But the Jeep needed it then, so I would want to see if the current Colorado, or if the current RAM needs that at a 100,000 miles.

That would make a big part of my buying decision. 801$ in parts at only 100,000 miles....

Reminds me of all the work needed to get one of those Volkswagen diesels down the road, they are a handful with an auto trans!

Gm being sued for changing tow ratings. Payload and tow capacity is important in a lot of the us. Everybody has a camper or outdoor fun trailer full of tows in there driveway. Problem is most people don't care what there payload or towing is cause they think they have a truck they can tow whatever without a concern about the rating.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/12/general-motors-sued-inflating-truck-tow-ratings/#more-1251689

The Colorado may win. It may not.

But let's face it most car guys don't know a lot about trucks. I don't want a diesel that's slower, not as fun to drive, more expensive to buy, more expensive to run and saddled by emissions standards.

But it's always nice to have options. I'll stick with the F-150 with Sync 3 for the best of 2016.

This award just shows their and BAFO's extreme ignorance if they pick the Colorado again.

Dave Z,
Here's your comment;
"But let's face it most car guys don't know a lot about trucks. I don't want a diesel that's slower,"

Then you are not a true truck guy.

A truck uses a diesel for economy vs output. You obviously want a fast accelerating vehicle ......... a car with a bed.

Scott,
I do think your comment is a massive overstatement. Pushing that "tow" mantra.

People do use pickups to tow. But as has been illustrated the average trailer towed by a pickup weighs no more than 5 000lbs.

This kind of weight can be towed by most any full chassis vehicle and some not with a full chassis.

If you believe in your comment, then you also believe the the Titan XD will be a great seller, because it will out tow any 1/2 ton pickup and tow as well as many lighter F-250 SUV horse float haulers.

TRX-4 Tom,
I agree with you that single cab trucks are more the work trucks.

It's like that here in Australia. Most pickups are that small that the amount of material they can carry at most will keep a tradesman and his offsider busy for a day.

A twin or dual cab might offer more space for 5 workers, but you must be able to have work for them once you get to the work site. You might as well have a car in many instances.

The basic single cab pickup is the true working pickup. The other variations like Xtra, King, Space, etc cabs were initially designed for a "Sports" type pickup for the recreational user. The dual cab was initially designed for the family type person who also wants the utility.

At the moment I do believe the VM diesel Ram offers the best working pickup.

@ AL, holy crap I actually agree with you, must be snowing in Rio......yes these trucks are mainly crossover/suv type and people do not really use them, so it surprising to hear people always say I went with this truck or that truck because it says it can tow 10K pounds, even though I wont tow more than 1K

Back in the day, we towed our 1956 20ft Century Speed boat with our Ford Country Squire with a 6 cylinder engine loaded down with 4 kids and all our gear an had no problems. Like Al said most 1/2 tons are not even used close to their potential.

Scott, Keith, Dave Z or whatever your name is,
You don't know what you are talking about. You will not beat a GM truck or a diesel for work, towing and hauling loads.

Everyone,
Unfortunately our Frod friends appear to be mesmerised by the F150 and EcoThirst engines and tend to brush over their truck and engines' biggest shortcomings. That is their terrible fuel economy.

Even this 2016 diesel Colorado has shown that a diesel is far, far better than a gasoline engine for FE and work, whilst maintaining a relatively good level of performance.

Well, Frod needs to fix up the Frod F1Thrist and EcoThirst FE issues ASAP.

What a idiot.

Fuel economy reports from reviewers have been horrible for a small diesel with 12k tow capacity

If the pickup in question is not available, then it should NOT be considered for best pickup. It remains to be seen if ANY 2.8L diesels will be available to the general public by show time. You stated the North American International Auto Show runs from Jan. 12th,2015 through Jan. 24th, seeing as the line that is building the baby diesels will be on X-mas break until the 19th, I do not see how any will be available. Check out some of the forums. Guys would ordered them and put down a deposit are STILL waiting. The earliest that I have read about says he ordered 8-4-2015. Still no pickup.
As of right now this engine you are thinking as a contender for best pickup is a unicorn. It does not exist. GM has been extremely tight lipped as to why, but it doesn't matter. Whatever the holdup is, it should not be considered for the award until it is actually HERE. Awards aren't/shouldn't be given for intentions, but instead for actions. GM has not delivered the goods, yet. Automotive writer 'loaners' don't/shouldn't count. Those are not line vehicles anyway. They are prototypes, esentially hand buildt, and are NOT representative of what consumers will recieve.
We would like to believe otherwise, but.
I think pickuptrucks.com is putting the cart before the horse.

Ty,
The poorer showing by GM with it's midsizers last month might have something to do with GM hanging onto the diesel's until they are given the all clear.

I'm wonder if GM will release them this month? I have read may people have paid deposits on many diesel Colorados months ago and have yet to receive them.

GM should start to expiate some decision making on when to release these pickups.

Most every pickup nowadays are built as an alternative car/SUV. So your comment is really not worthy.

75% of all pickup sold are not working vehicles. They just are driven mainly with an empty bed and very occasionally tow the average 5 000lb trailer, go to Home Depot to collect 10 bags of mulch for the garden and half a dozen 4" nails.

That is the pickup of today. You speak of pickups as if you are still living in the 50s, when a pickup was mainly used for commercial purposes.

Does it really matter if a pickup has a 1 500lb or 1 800lb payload? Especially when it mostly carries a driver and a half a tank of gas? How many people buy CUVs and load them up beyond what is acceptable?

I'd say more SUVs and CUVs are overloaded than pickups.

So, again, your comment is quite uneducated with little knowledge of the pickup segment.

Posted by: Big Al from Oz | Dec 29, 2015 1:26:58 PM

So lets see the proof of this BS you keep stating. You have yet to actually prove any of your babble yet. So lets see the source of this survey you speak of that offers these numbers.

Ty makes the obvious point. If GM states they are not available for purchase and don’t wante to release them, for many months possibly, why include it? Not wanting to release them says they may be scared of them not being as good as they claim.

MT had to change the rules and do all kinds of twists and contorsions to get a Ram to win one year, eventhough it wouldn't be for sale first week of January like they always said it had to be in the past, don't be like them and rig the award.

I won't go as far as to say PUTC and cars.com are rigging the award, but what are the rules? Cars.com should follow its rules.

If one of them is it has to be for sale, then stick to it. No changing of the rules unless it is done ahead of time without a specific truck in mind. It doesn't matter if this engine is 'the most fuel efficient', follow the rules.

http://www.tfltruck.com/2015/12/what-is-the-delay-with-the-2016-chevy-colorado-duramax/

The Duramax Colorado is good, but how good is it really?

The price point it high for the average consumer.

What does my truck do mostly? It just hauls air.

When I have my fishing gear, I need my truck, but besides that, it hardly gets put to use.

The price premium of the diesel doesn't make sense to me, and therefore it shouldn't make sense to anyone else.

@Scott: Here, refresh yourself of Ford's own charades about towing #'s.
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/the-stupidity-of-best-in-class-claims-retold-as-a-cour-1612936095

@Scott: Here, refresh yourself of Ford's own charades about towing #'s.
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/the-stupidity-of-best-in-class-claims-retold-as-a-cour-1612936095

Posted by: GMSRGREAT | Dec 29, 2015 4:37:01 PM

Did you actually read this or did you just post it like you did when you tried comparing the F150 to Silverado. You know the article where the F150 beat out the 6.2L Chubby? FYI I did just read it and not sure why you even posted it.

Gmsgreat
Did you read the article you posted.... Seems they all have the same charade going on.....

Gmsgreat
Did you read the article you posted.... Seems they all have the same charade going on.....

Posted by: Scott | Dec 29, 2015 5:47:38 PM

I don't think he does. It appears he will use google but not actually read the article. Only assumes what is in there.

I totally agree with Big Al
The pickups made today are not designed to be the work horse like they used to be.
The new pickups are a luxury vehicle for occasional light hauling and towing.
The crew cab started out as a heavy duty construction truck designed to carry the construction workers to the work site where it evolved to a family vehicle.
Plus everybody has a 4x4 pickup where they have no need for 4x4, in the old days everybody had a 2 wheel drive and always was hauling weight in the bed to improve rear wheel traction.
Also the automatic transmissions made today are not good enough to pull around the heavy weight of hauling and towing.
Now the big truck makers are planning on using CVT transmissions
Take a look at the repair records of the 2015 Colorado with major transmission problems.
That diesel in the Colorado sounds great but match all that torque to the same generic transmission the gas engine uses will make it a disaster.

FINALLY 30 mpg in a "truck"... but it will cost you an arm and a leg (for what you get). Outside of the mileage you still have a truck made for young men and old men both with money to burn and little or no work to do. The Ram ED is a MUCH better alternative and honestly in most instances a half ton gas V6 is also a better choice for anyone with enough work to justify owning a truck. Statistically its a good move for CAFE though for GM, and when fuel prices do rise it puts them ready for some sales. If you got 7K to tow more than once a year you need a full size truck.

TRX4, good luck finding the EcoDiesel in an Tradesman. They don't even offer it in the Express. So you pretty much invalidated your own argument. Fact is the EcoDiesel has payload ratings closer to the Colorado than the other 1500s. The 3.0L was not made to be in a truck. The testing has proven it. Once you gear it to do work go try and get 30mpg.

Colorado? No.
The only engine with which you can get the AutoTrac transfer case is the slow diesel.
http://gmpowertrain.com/images/product_images/engines/2016_R_CAN_Dura28L_TurboDiesel%28LWN%29.jpg
The diesel may take 10 years to financially break even.

The GMC Canyon version, okay, even though it would be much better with GM 8 speed automatic: 8L45 & highly revised LGX engine. {maybe next year}
http://gmpowertrain.com/images/product_images/engines/2016_LGX_36LV6VVT_CAM_061715.jpg

@Scott & LMAO: Yes, I did read the article, that's why I posted it. But seriously, the heading mentions stupidity with a picture of a Ford, did I really have to read any further. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!.......LMAO!

GMSNOTSOGREAT, if you would have read the article your tune would have been different. Very very funny.

I still can't get over the 3rd paragraph starting out. Astute readers. Lmfao.

Some interesting links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_truck

IH had one of the first manufactured crew cab pickups in 1957 with a 3 door crew cab and then a 4 door crew cab in 1961.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester_Travelette

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester

Happy NEW YEARS!

@LouDC your comments confuse me--the automatic transmissions being made today are better than all previous generations of autos, in my opinion.

I am a stick shift guy, so I've got no dog in this hunt, apart from the fact that you can hardly find one these days.

Regarding the diesel GM midsize, let's see how well they sell. Either GM hits a home run with this--or it becomes an embarrassment. I am sorry that the General can't seem to develop a diesel these days without taking the whole thing offshore (Italy, Japan) but maybe there's hope.

@papa jim--I prefer manuals as well but they are a dying breed. Most of today's automatic transmissions can handle towing and a heavy load. Some of the newer automatics are having some problems but that could be because they are relatively new. Some of the automatics could also be loaded with so much technology that a bad microchip could cause failure.

@papa jim--I prefer manuals as well but they are a dying breed. Most of today's automatic transmissions can handle towing and a heavy load. Some of the newer automatics are having some problems but that could be because they are relatively new. Some of the automatics could also be loaded with so much technology that a bad microchip could cause failure.

Posted by: Jeff S | Dec 31, 2015 7:08:32 PM

If you have noticed in the case of the Fiat, their manual transmission is only rated for the lowest diesel torque calibration. It seems in the case of the light duty trucks automatics handle more torque and towing than manuals do.

@LMAO Agree re manuals. Today's trucks with a stick are usually the base powertrain, just a few exceptions.

The only trucks that come with a manual are the base Colorado/Canyon, Tacoma, Frontier, and the HD Ram. I could live with the base Colorado/Canyon with a manual but it comes only in the extended cab I4 without 4 wheel drive and in very limited colors and options--still a nice truck with power windows, power driver's seat, and rear backup camera. Still like my 99 S-10 with the 5 speed manual and crank windows.

Jeff,

I have often wondered why a manual is offered in a vehicle line like the GM baby twins but with only a certain engine. They already invested in the R&D for a manual and the necessary parts to build it. I cannot believe it is engine choice because most engine lines in the same company uses the same bell housing pattern. So if you are catering to a person that wants to row their own, might as well offer all the other options available for those that decided that is what they want. I know the percentage of drivers that want a manual is small but if you offer it might as well give the customer everything they want.

@LMAO--I couldn't agree with you more. Many of us faithful manual transmission fans would like to add some more options such as 4 wheel drive and getting a V-6 with a 6 speed manual. I don't know if some of this has to do with the EPA testing and certification and/or just the manufacturers trying to just get everyone use to buying an automatic. Don't get me wrong, I like automatics and have a newer truck and a 2013 CRV with autos but I enjoy driving a manual and like having the control that a manual gives me. There are pros and cons of automatics and of manuals. I do think that anyone learning to drive needs to have experience driving a manual, but then that is my opinion.

@Jeff S and @LMAO

there's a bigger factor re Auto VS Stick shift to consider apart from product development or design--dealer acceptance.

Nissan presently offers a Frontier with a six-speed manual box and a V6. I bet the take rate is super low.

Very low. I bet dealers only order them on a special order basis.

They don't want a $35k truck on the lot for six months waiting for PapaJim or Jeff S to buy it.

Back when auto's were a fairly sloppy 3 speed or 4 speed option, the ratio was about 10 to 1 autos to manuals, and that's before autos became computer-controlled and multi gear affairs. Today's ratio is probably more like 20 to 1.

Just a business decision. Like Jeff, I appreciate the new technology but I miss my old stick shift Ranger 4 cylinder sometimes.

The Colorado needs a CD Player!!!

Sign this petition to get GM to add a CD Player to the Colorado: https://www.change.org/p/general-motors-petition-gm-for-a-cd-player-in-the-chevrolet-colorado?recruiter=491385622&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink