Chevy’s engineers have done an outstanding job of matching the motor to the transmission as well, as it always seems to be in exactly the right gear for the moment’s needs. The operative word for the motor is smooth - smooth torque delivery, smooth acceleration, smooth highway cruising. Acceleration is immediate as well - no turbo lag like you get in older diesels - and comes with a big diesel-truck roar that is never intrusive. It’s certainly no slouch, however, with plenty of thrust to propel the Colorado into traffic with ease and confidence. You’d think that extra torque would make for snappier launches, but it comes with roughly another 300 pounds of weight attached, thanks to extra equipment and diesel-related gear like a diesel exhaust fluid tank and associated hardware. Compared with the optional 3.6-liter gasoline V-6, it makes less horsepower (181 hp versus 305 hp for the V-6), but a lot more torque (369 pounds-feet versus the V-6’s 269 pounds-feet). It’s mated only to the six-speed automatic transmission and available only on the crew-cab versions of the LT and Z71 trim levels (although you can still specify a long or short bed and two- or four-wheel drive). The meat of the matter is the new 2.8-liter Duramax diesel four-cylinder engine under the hood. It certainly looks the part of the tough off-road rig, but the sharp-looking Colorado never really needed much help looking good. It adds unique wheels and trim, a bed-mounted sport bar and LED spotlights that strangely seem to be aimed more at the roof of the cab than the way forward. If you want to get a bit of a custom off-road look, however, Chevy offers a Trail Boss version of the Z71 off-road package. The 2016’s exterior is unchanged, and the diesel version isn’t differentiated at all aside from a badge on the door. We spent two days driving, hauling, towing and off-roading in it through the ranchlands north of Santa Barbara, Calif., to see if the diesel version of Chevy’s hit pickup was worth the wait.
Well, the wait is over, and the Chevrolet Colorado Duramax is here. When Chevrolet said that it was going to offer a four-cylinder diesel engine a year after the truck’s introduction, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it (compare the diesel 2016 model with the top gasoline 2015 truck here, and see our evaluation of the gas models here).
The 2015 Chevrolet Colorado won our Best Pickup of 2015 award, and deservedly so - it’s a fantastic combination of big-truck ability, useful interior technology and decent fuel economy all wrapped up in a reasonably sized rig that’s easy to park. With the addition of the powerful, efficient, beautifully integrated Duramax diesel powertrain, the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado becomes quite possibly the world’s perfect pickup truck.
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