Chevy Colorado with the 2.8L Duramax...

Chris Tobin

Chris Tobin

New member
I just finished driving a Colorado Z71 Diesel CCLB for a week to review. The review will be out in the April/May 2016 issue of Ultimate Diesel Builder's Guide magazine on the newsstand in about two months.

I won't give away any major details here, but put simply it is an impressive lil' truck and the 2.8L diesel engine is very stout. I towed a skid steer on a tandem axle trailer and it did as good as what I would expect from a 1/2-ton gasser towing a heavy load like that. We also did some serious off roading and the small truck impressed in the dirt, water and mud too!! It was also comfortable for regular city driving with the family.

Price is high, but what new vehicles are not these days? If you want/need a truck and like to tow up to 7600/7700 pounds this could be a great truck that will give near 30 MPG on the highway unloaded and upper 20s in the city with a combined MPG around 24 even with heavy towing/off roading and dyno testing mixed in! This could be a great tow rig for a race team with a light weight race car or truck or someone with a smallish RV and probably perfect for someone with a boat less than 25' or so...

BTW it did 152 HP and 330 lbs-ft of torque on the Dynocom Chassis Dyno at Beans Diesel Performance...

Is anyone looking at getting one of these??? I suspect the aftermarket performance support will be extensive for the little 2.8L Duramax shortly!!! There already is support for the Colorado in general.
 
Chris Tobin said:
I just finished driving a Colorado Z71 Diesel CCLB for a week to review. The review will be out in the April/May 2016 issue of Ultimate Diesel Builder's Guide magazine on the newsstand in about two months.

I won't give away any major details here, but put simply it is an impressive lil' truck and the 2.8L diesel engine is very stout. I towed a skid steer on a tandem axle trailer and it did as good as what I would expect from a 1/2-ton gasser towing a heavy load like that. We also did some serious off roading and the small truck impressed in the dirt, water and mud too!! It was also comfortable for regular city driving with the family.

Price is high, but what new vehicles are not these days? If you want/need a truck and like to tow up to 7600/7700 pounds this could be a great truck that will give near 30 MPG on the highway unloaded and upper 20s in the city with a combined MPG around 24 even with heavy towing/off roading and dyno testing mixed in! This could be a great tow rig for a race team with a light weight race car or truck or someone with a smallish RV and probably perfect for someone with a boat less than 25' or so...

BTW it did 152 HP and 330 lbs-ft of torque on the Dynocom Chassis Dyno at Beans Diesel Performance...

Is anyone looking at getting one of these??? I suspect the aftermarket performance support will be extensive for the little 2.8L Duramax shortly!!! There already is support for the Colorado in general.
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Id love to get one of these. I think it was Supreme Diesel Performance that already has a compound kit available for them. I rarely tow so the only reason i have my truck is for a toy. A smaller toy would be a better decision lol.
 
....and IIRC, EFILive will work with the 2.8s ECM. ;)

BTW, how is a Colorado a "1/2 ton" truck? More like "3/8 ton".
 
TheBac said:
....and IIRC, EFILive will work with the 2.8s ECM. ;)

BTW, how is a Colorado a "1/2 ton" truck? More like "3/8 ton".
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I didn't call it a 1/2 ton, I compared it to a 1/2 ton gasser, meaning a 1500 or 150 with a V8...

But I am not sure technically how they come about with the 1/2, 3/4 and 1-ton categories as payload and towing capacity have greatly increased over the years but we still call them 1/2, 3/4 and 1-ton trucks???
 
My brother Picked up his Colorado Diesel Saturday. I am picking up a Gmc Canyon today. We put our order in last October. They are finally starting to make them. Brother has been happy with his for the few days he has had it.
 
I think its Scott at Screamin Diesel Performance that has already fab'd a compound turbo kit for the 2.8. Its also Efi tuned. Cool stuff
 
I test drove a Colorado diesel last Saturday. Having never driven a new Colorado or Canyon before I was not surprised that it was light years ahead of the previous generation in ride, handling, interior quality and styling. The Colorado diesel I drove was a red CCLB 4x4 Z71 with 3.42 axle ratio. It was well equipped, but not loaded and had a price tag of $41,260 including $3905 for the 2.8L Duramax. The engine had good power and worked well with the 6 speed auto transmission but it will not wow you if you're running it like a gasser in the upper rpm range. The little 2.8L Duramax is more impressive in the low and mid rpm range where a diesel engine is suppose to work.
 
Micheal Tomac said:
I test drove a Colorado diesel last Saturday. Having never driven a new Colorado or Canyon before I was not surprised that it was light years ahead of the previous generation in ride, handling, interior quality and styling. The Colorado diesel I drove was a red CCLB 4x4 Z71 with 3.42 axle ratio. It was well equipped, but not loaded and had a price tag of $41,260 including $3905 for the 2.8L Duramax. The engine had good power and worked well with the 6 speed auto transmission but it will not wow you if you're running it like a gasser in the upper rpm range. The little 2.8L Duramax is more impressive in the low and mid rpm range where a diesel engine is suppose to work.
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Damn Michael haven't seen you on here in years, hope all is well. That seems really pricey for a little truck, just can't get my head around paying 11K more for a little truck than I did for my first house.
 
I've been around, just don't post as much.

I priced out a Ram 1500 Trademan quad cab 4x4 with 3.0 Diesel and the sticker was under $42K. That seems like a good deal compared to the Colorado diesel but not if you consider my 2007 crew cab 4x4 LBZ Duramax had a sticker of 42K,
 
Micheal Tomac said:
I test drove a Colorado diesel last Saturday. Having never driven a new Colorado or Canyon before I was not surprised that it was light years ahead of the previous generation in ride, handling, interior quality and styling. The Colorado diesel I drove was a red CCLB 4x4 Z71 with 3.42 axle ratio. It was well equipped, but not loaded and had a price tag of $41,260 including $3905 for the 2.8L Duramax. The engine had good power and worked well with the 6 speed auto transmission but it will not wow you if you're running it like a gasser in the upper rpm range. The little 2.8L Duramax is more impressive in the low and mid rpm range where a diesel engine is suppose to work.
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Hey Mike! Glad to see you back around.

Was that $41260 on the sticker? I wonder how far a dealer may be willing to negotiate down? Last year they were coming 10k off sticker on new 3/4 ton trucks, but demand for a 65k+ truck is not as great as it was before the energy downturn.
 
Just drove diesel Canyon home. I think I will like it. The main thing I noticed was little lag taking off. It said I got 32 mpg on the short trip. I didn't go more than 65 mph.
 
Yes, that was sticker price

Timbeaux38 said:
Hey Mike! Glad to see you back around.

Was that $41260 on the sticker? I wonder how far a dealer may be willing to negotiate down? Last year they were coming 10k off sticker on new 3/4 ton trucks, but demand for a 65k+ truck is not as great as it was before the energy downturn.
Click to expand...
 
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