Test Drive Chevrolet Colorado Standard Cabs since 2009 Pickup
Picapland. New Chevrolet Colorado in the country of pickups
What do you know about Thailand? Paradise landscapes, famous Soup Toms and colorful Buddhist temples? Thai massage, mysterious transvestites and boxing moitai? In this number of symbols of the country of smiles, you can safely put another phenomenon of pickups. This is the national Thai vehicle, and Thailand itself is one of the largest markets for the markets of Pickups in the world.
The Thai Department of General Motors opened in 1993 and today consists of a head office in Bangkok, automotive production in the Rayong (operating since 2000), the plant for assembling engines in the same place (works since 2011) and 92 dealers throughout the country. In total, these divisions of General Motors give work about 4,600 inhabitants of Thailand
When you go beyond the spurious poverty of the capital Bangkok at the same time (we went to the northern cities of Chiang May and Chiang Paradise), then there are actual two types of vehicles on the roads. If the Tharata does not have to carry goods and people, then this is a motorbike (that is, a scooter), and otherwise a pickup. Open body workers are performed here a variety of tasks: farmers will carry products, building materials, family and friends, lovers of active recreation are transporting surfs, hydrocycles and yachts, and the rest are simply because it is familiar to the local places and in generally stylishly.
One of the first tests for Colorado was last year's flood in Thailand. New pickups worked in the flooded areas of the country. According to GM, Colorado water is almost not afraid. True, we did not report anything about the depth of overcome
Of course, the Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, Nissan, as well as the General Motors concern together with Japanese Isuzu, mainly owned in Thailand's automotive market. Therefore, there is nothing surprising that Thailand became actually the birthplace of the new Chevrolet Colorado, developed by the American manufacturer from scratch. To do this, in the same re-equipment of production facilities in Thailand, General Motors concern has invested over $ 500 million there appeared new presses, assembly conveyor, as well as production of diesel engines.
In Chevrolet, they declare that in the entire 101-year history, the brand did not have a pickup, which would be developed with such a clean sheet and such global efforts. The international team of developers, which was based on the representatives of the Brazilian branch General Motors, moved during the creation of a new Colorado in Thailand and worked there for five years! In total, about 2 billion US dollars was spent on the development, and during testing the car ran 2.5 million kilometers to 5 continents (everything except Africa). What happened to the jeemists as a result of such painstaking work?
The gamma engines for Colorado consists of a pair of four-cylinder Duramax turbodiesels (produced on a new Motor-Building Enterprise General Motors in Thailand) and two gasoline units. The 2,5-liter diesel engine produces 150 forces and 350 N ∙ M, and a more voluminous 2.8-liter has a power of 180 horses and a craving in 470 N ∙ M (440 with mechanics). Gasoline motors: four-cylinder volume of 2.4 liters (150 hp / 229 N ∙ M) and V6 volume of 3.6 liters (235 hp / 329 N ∙ M)
Colorado Classic pickup, which is based on a powerful frame, front suspension on double transverse levers with two-pipe shock absorbers and rear suspension with leaf springs. In various markets, the car will be offered in a variety of options: with connected full or rear-wheel drive, in a wide and narrow body configuration, with a single, one-hour or double cab, low or high fit, with diesel engines and gasoline engines, with mechanics (5 steps) and automatic (6 steps), in three levels of configuration. In total, there are as many as 26 combinations of parameters!
In the design of the new pickup, it is impossible to allocate any dominant: it is not too brutalen, not particularly glamorous and does not quote anyone. In general, moderately original, recognizable and pretty. Why does the new Colorado look exactly so averaged universally? It's all about global model: the car should like people in all countries and approach all typical tasks that get up before pickup. For coarse force in the appearance of Colorado, bloated wheels arches, a powerful front bumper with a ski lining and a large radiator grille, and the stylish component is the delicate intensities of small headlights and rising to the stern of the subcast line. All together it looks harmonious and practical quite at the level of competitors in Ford Ranger / Mazda BT-50, Volkswagen Amarok and others.
Pickup This type of body in which it is almost impossible to draw unusual feed. In Chevrolet, we decided to stand out with optional LED lamps that few of the competitors can boast. True, their visibility, for example, in dust conditions, turned out to be a little higher than that of ordinary halogen light. But beautiful and fashionable
Interior cocktail made of passenger and cargo solutions. The powerful central console divides the salon into two cockpit, climate control blocks and radio tape recorders were developed by the designer, not a man with a ruler and a circulation, and the tidy with two wells of the wrong form was generally made based on the Camaro Sportskup! But the plastic is quite rigid, efforts on all cargo control bodies are rough, and the interior assembly is not distinguished by the accuracy of Audi. Well, let the main thing that the interior materials are easy to wash, and the additional intra-alone handle is not only on the passenger stand of the windshield, but also on the driver's office.
Colorado is equipped not only by driver and passenger safety pillows, a trauma-safe steering column and thick bars in side doors, but also by modern electronics: ABS systems and maintenance of coursework, anti-duct system and electronic braking assistants.
Particular attention in the development of Colorado paid the strength of the frame of the Jeimovtsy declare that it is able to withstand not only hard driving on off-road, but even jumping from the lungs. The latter is not stated. On the forums of Picolaubs sometimes there are even large sections where the owners who believed in the unhappiness of their trucks shall share the problems of the frames of the frames. The rigidity in Colorado is achieved due to eight additional transverse reinforcing elements of the frame in all-wheel drive modifications.
Under the bottom of Colorado lacks the protection of the dispensing box and elements of the release during operation on a harsh off-road such tuning will be necessary in the first place. Although the aggregates themselves look sweaturated and made on the conscience
The motto for the novelty was elected simple: to drag anything and go anywhere. What, check behind the wheel! For the right, by the way, the steering wheel. But if the combination of the right steering wheel and the mechanical gearbox does not cause any questions even in those who have never traveled so much, then here go to the left strip in a couple of days, as it turned out to be completely used to the end. We got exclusively all-wheel drive cars with a two-time or double cab, with the most powerful 180-strong diesel engine and high fit. In such machines, the clearance is 210 mm. 198 At low, this is achieved including at the expense of the spring, located not under the rear axle, like non-liquefied versions, and above it. And in the richest configuration of LTZ due to 18-inch wheels, the road clearance is generally 217 mm.
The cup holders are extremely successful in the heat of drinks will always be cold. Causes for trifles in the cabin as if in some minivan: with a single cabin of them 16, with one and a half 19, and with double as many as 30
In the cabin, everything is convenient in its places, visibility in the side mirrors is excellent. But the lack of adjustment of the steering wheel on the departure upset I would like to drown a ramp just deeper into the panel. We get a 4-cylinder diesel engine with a volume of 2.8 liters and wonder the motor does not work in a cargo delicately. No wonder the jeemmen on the presentation was advised to pay attention to the softness and silent of the diesel engine according to the measures of such machines the engine and the truth seems like a modest intellectual. But it does not press gas yet. The torque is so much that the tape wheels of the three-ton truck are broken into the beams on the hot Thai asphalt even with a rough switching from 2 to 3 transmission! And if you lower the transmission before turning the transmission, to set into the furnace of the diesel fuel, the negative Colorado from 440 N ∙ M on the rear axle is easily turning at least in Nissan Silvia.
But, justice for the sake of, such a hooliganism is possible not only due to the abilities of an excellent engine, but also due to frankly weak tires. Bridgestone Dueller is not capable of managing themselves on off-road, but at the same time weak and on asphalt. A little sharp clicked on the brake and stay under the screech of tires and the strokes of the ABS system, a little faster went into the turn (and in Thailand there are excellent serpentines with profiled virages) and float the nose to the outside of the same plaintive screech. And on the tires, even those who did not try to hooligan behind the wheel of Colorado were complained. But, fortunately, the rubber is not an engine, and changes quickly.
Colorado's drawing capabilities depend on the modification of the pickup: the load capacity varies within 1-1.4 tons, and the mass of the trailer can be up to 3 tons with a 2.5-liter diesel engine and up to 3.5 tons with a 2.8 liter engine
The engine itself at the expense of the volume is better coping with the work below, rather than it succeeds in the two-liter Volkswagen AMAROKU to touch on Colorado 2.8 easier. But the turboodizel is bloated not as smoothly, as a two-binary unit of a German wolf, because of the entire supercharger, the moment of reducing is felt much more clearly, and it happens at higher revolutions. On the one hand, it is convenient (you can save fuel, without arguing the tachometer arrow to the threshold of the boost), but, on the other hand, the uniform smooth thrust of the German pickup in the entire revolutions range, except for the varnisses, is better predicted and perceived by the driver easier.
The suspension seems to be a rigid, but this feature of many pickups, while they do not have enough cargo in the body. But in the case of Colorado, this rigidity concerns not only vertical movements, but also rolls in turns here is already nice! The pickup does not fall into the ablosions of the side, not swinging on the bumps and generally behaves on the asphalt at the level of the middle crossover, which, of course, needs to be read as a compliment. To completely relax the driver does not give a steering wheel, which at low speeds viscously resists the rotation, accompanying it with parasitic trembling somewhere in the depths of the steering mechanism. But on a similar car, this is not a lack of just a feature. But 3.8 Baranki turnover from one extreme position to another this is already busting, constantly forcing the driver is overly wound on the steering wheel.
In the front suspension of Colorado, a thick transverse stability stabilizer is applied, which improves the behavior on the asphalt
The gearbox managed to try both (it is 5-speed mechanics and automatic on 6 steps). The old good stirrer is quite familiar on such a utilitarian car, but the accuracy of the moves of the lever, effort and vibration on it correspond to the coarse steering. So we do not advise you to buy on the fashionable LED lighting of the interior, we are driving the hardships. What on the highway, that on off-road, for such a car, I would choose the machine. It has one transmission more, and the main engine in such a version gives an additional 30 N ∙ M of the Tights of Total 470. Talking about asphalt impressions by finish on noise insulation and brakes. At Colorado, they simply have: they do not think about the ears of excessive pressure on the ears or the difficulty of deceleration. And the larger utilitarian car is not necessary.
Last year, the concern General Motors sold 15,000 cars in Thailand, and in this due to the new truck it is expected to increase to 55,000
But rather about smooth highways, we are on the frame all-wheel drive all-terrain! Looking forward, I will say that a complete impression of the abilities of Colorado outside asphalt is failed to make up. In the mountainous Northern Thailand in the cities of Chiang May and Chiang Paradise, where only sophisticated tourists get, off-road. But tell about this guys from the Ryazan Club of UAZODODs or Siberian jeusers, they only grinned, correcting their snorkels and veterinals. Typical Thai Offroud is a steep mountain lift, roller coats and cracks of the desiccious soil, and the storms of small rivers with hard bottom. Therefore, the main role is played there by the Power Aggregate and good body geometry.
On the broken mining primers, the first thing made himself felt the suspension. But not a rumble and shaking, and you can not slow down the stroke and not afraid of the rigament on Coldinami and not afraid that the shock absorber looks out of the hood on the next landing, and a trace of bolts stretches for the car. Of course, we tormented Colorado for a short time, but the Chevrolet team assures that 2.5 million resource kilometers were rolled in vain. A huge plus outside the asphalt is an evil reduced transmission in a handout. Even on very steep lifting with non-rigid soil, it allows you to touch without violence over the machine and not allowing the destructive slip, and on the descents it is an indispensable alternative to the brake pedal. Hill Descent Control, Speak? Even if it was done for Colorado, the electronics would remain without work. Colorado confidently and very consistently crawl down on a low first (on the machine it can be enabled forced). Bravo!
The reduced gear is turned on with a twist on the central tunnel (the gearbox should be neutral). The stabilization system is completely disconnected.
In addition to Colorado, a new TRAILBLAZER SUV, which is built on one platform with a pickup, has been shown on the presentation. Ride, however, did not give. It was possible only to learn about the car a little technical information and closer to the cabin. Most of the aggregates of these cars are generally, therefore, much, said about Colorado, will also be true about TrailBlazer. Of course, the SUV will offer more luxurious options for finishing a seven-bed salon, a five-stage rear suspension and more options. It even seemed to be subjectively that the interior of the presentation trailblaster was collected somewhat careful than a similar Salon workers Colorado. The seats of the third row were quite comfortable. Engines are the most powerful diesel and gasoline, and the transmission can be both mechanical and automatic. The start of sales in Russia is scheduled to end 2012 early 2013.
But Colorado we will have no first half of the next year. Interestingly, how many ammars, Rainholders and other pickups will sell from us for a year with a little? About the specifications of cars for our market is known for now: Previously, there will be pickups with a double cab, diesel engines and one or two gasoline engines. The Russian price for Colorado is not identified in many respects that will depend on this will depend on the popularity of the new Chevrolet.
Text: Dmitry Laskov
Photo by Chevrolet and author
A source: AUTO.Mail.Ru.
