A Colorado with a Duramax is Damn-Near Perfect
Have you ever just sat and thought about what would make the perfect vehicle? I get to drive a new set of wheels every week thanks to this wild job, and I find fault with basically everything I drive. I live on a small farm and have a lot of animals to take care of so I need something that can handle light off-roading, it needs to be easy to clean, and it has to have room for me to fill it with chicken feed, hay, and the occasional pile of parts for a motorcycle or lawnmower. That means that a lot of fun things like Corvettes and Cadillacs are out of the question.
I have a horse trailer and a pair of four-legged beasts to drop inside of it, so the 5,000 lb average tow rating of most SUVs and crossovers won’t cut it. So I’m left with trucks.
But I live 20 miles outside of town, down small narrow roads and some of the gates are my farm are pretty narrow as well. A big 2500 or similar just can’t cut the mustard when it comes to fuel economy, and they are just too large and cumbersome for most everyday use. I was basically stuck compromising somewhere, be that space, economy, or usability.
But then the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado rolled into my driveway, equipped with the exciting new Duramax diesel engine. Nearly 4 tons of towing ability, seating for five, and if you are easy on the pedal you can squeeze 30 mpg out of it. Plus its relatively modest size in comparison to most modern trucks meant it would be much easier to bounce around the farm or park in town. On paper it was basically perfect, but I had to make sure it could live up to a life of use and abuse.
I spent a week with a decked and spec’d Z71 version of the Colorado with leather seats, navigation and more, but none of the frivolous extras mattered to me. This was a work truck, through and through, and I was on a mission to prove its worth or break it trying.
The mission was simple. I would beat on it like I would any full size truck. I took it on a late-night hay run, an off-road trail excursion and spent some time in a mud bog. I also loaded it well past its recommended payload capacity, fought the mundane task of the daily commute, and spent an entire day seeing just how high I could push the MPG meter in the dash.
Let’s start with that late-night hay run to test payload. I need to feed my horses, and my barn will hold around 50 bales of hay. So I decided to stack the Colorado as high as I possibly could with square bales to see how it handled it. Fast forward to 39 bales later, and I have nearly 3,200 pounds sitting in the back of a truck with a rated payload in the 1500 pound range. It made the 10 mile trek home without so much as a single bounce, wiggle or complaint. I could tell I was loaded down, but the truck didn’t seem to mind being pushed to more than twice its rated capacity.
From there I called up a friend who is big into off-roading and asked him to point me at some trails and a bit of mud. What followed was a fun and slightly hilarious trip through water crossings, way too much mud, and after I got a little overzealous, a small bit of time stuck waiting for a winch. The Colorado may be a great truck, but the road tires leave a little to be desired when it comes to mud traction.
As for that all important fuel economy number, I was able to push the truck to nearly 37 mpg when I was really trying. After my full week of abuse and mayhem, I was still sitting at 25 mpg combined. If you cut out the payload testing and off-road excursions, and it would have easily been 27 mpg sitting on that dash. That is impressive no matter how you cut it.
After a week, there was only one thing I could find wrong with this truck, and that was the price tag. This particular model was $42,205. That is eye watering. If you want to cut some options to save money, you certainly can, but the cheapest you can snag a Duramax for is about $35,000, and I could easily argue that price is about $5000 too high.
If Chevy cuts the window sticker, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t buy this truck. When compared to an average family sedan, it is nearly as comfortable, almost as fuel efficient, and its way more capable. This is the first truck I would ever feel comfortable recommending as a daily driver for normal people, and it’s a no brainer for anyone who has constant need of a truck, but doesn’t pull around a 15k pound trailer.
In short, the 2016 Colorado Diesel is the best overall truck I have ever driven. It’s the perfect mix of size and capability for the modern owner, and it doesn’t get upset if you beat the shit out of it either. The fact that my dog loves it is just a bonus.
