I-5

Thanks for the update Bob, I've been looking at the Colorado Z71's and wondering about that I-5 under the hood. I'm an 8-cylinder guy and the thought of driving something with less than 8 pistons makes me shudder, BUT the Colorado is a damn fine looking truck and would suit my needs nicely.

Maybe it's time for a test drive eh?

If they put the baby 8 (4.8L) under the hood of one of those things I'd already own one (maybe two as the wife really likes em' too).

Doc

Now the Z-71 version is a mighty fine looking truck They remembered to build that one with a little ground clearance.

How is the gas mileage? I like Doc's idea of a 4.8 in a Colorado, but I am wondering how fuel efficient the new I-4, I-5, and I-6 are.

I average about 19 mpg (give or take 1 mpg) with a 4.8 / 5-speed silverado and around 16-17 with a ZR2 Blazer and an automatic, though the Blazer has only 1300 miles on it, so it is too earlier to see what it will do once broken in.

Bryan

I haven't really measure mileage, but I don't think it is any better than that. I checked it on one tank and I got about 18, but I was pulling a boat for a hundred and fifty miles or so of that.

Someone told me that the Colorado doesn't have as much head room as an S-10, is this true? They also said the engine is noisy during acceleration and sounds like a 4 cylinder and has lack of power at anything over 80 mph compared to a 4.3 Liter. I haven't had the chance to test drive one yet. Waiting to see what problems people will have with theirs before I even consider buying one. My neighbors all drive Chrysler Pacifica's, BMW, Lexus. They work for the big three or have other high paying jobs, and here I just prefer my Silverado and S-10 and my girlfriends grand prix.

Can never go wrong with an I engine in my opinion, a work horse plain and simple.

GMC Gremlin

Head room seems ok to me. I am 5'11".

The power is hard to figure becasue it doesn't jump like a 4.3, but it has the power. I pull a 16' Waco jon boat with outboard, fuel, three batteries, and lots of gear. Maybe 1000 or 1200 lbs total. It doesn't leap like the

6.0 in my Silverado, but it pulls it in high gear at 65 mph without shifting a lot on small grades like my S-10 with 4.3L.

It does have a funny sounding idle. I would not confuse it for an inline 4. The only thing that bothers me is it sounds rough when you are crankying it for that split second from when the first cylinder fires until it is running on its own. Maybe only for a half a second. The ones I started on the dealer lot sounded the same way.

What I think makes it seem to not have as much power is the computer. It is programmed for soft shifts. If you don't watch the tach you harldy notice when it shifts at all. I think it is also tuned to not allow hard acceleration. It has plenty of get up and go for passing, but it doesn't have that sudden slam of a V-8 or a lightly loaded V-6 when you stomp on the peddle. Basically it feels like the computer won't allow that to happen. It doesn't feel like it won't do it. I say this because it will surprise you. Pulling the boat I mentioned earlier,a nd with some extra gear in the bed I was decided to pass a line of boats on the way home from a torunament. I put the peddle down and pulled out to pass. It shifted down, and it just kept winding up and I kept gaining speed. I just stayed on the throttle until I was past the line of trucks and boat. That's when it hit the rev limitier at about 100MPH. Oops. Not bad considering it had a heavy load. It was so smooth and pulled so steady throught he entire run that I would have guessed my speed at about 85 until I looked at the speedo when it stumbled on the rev limit. I think the computer just keeps it very tame and well mannered.

They have the larger engines castrated, I don't see why they wouldn't do it to the smaller ones. I love how the liberal retards of the world hold car companies accountable for their own stupidity. Why don't we just teach people not to rev their engine to the moon, not to do brake stands??? DUH.....

GMC Gremlin

I just love the story about the guy that bought a Dodge Viper, got drunk, went out and hit someone, this person, or their family, (cant remember) is now sueing Dodge for making a car with "too much HP"

I can see limiting HP in lower gears to avoid spinning the tires with low traction, but regulating down acceleration it just lame.

You know, I didnt really pay attention to how the colorado accelerated, although it wasnt g-force acceleration, I thought it was compareable with my

4.3 in my S-10. My Silverado shit's and gets, I havent driven a full size 4x4 pickup other than the Dodge 1/2 ton with a hemi. I like the feeling when I stomp on a vehicle and it throws me into the seat. I am starting to like the inline family more and more, and I'm considering either buying a Colorado, Caynon, or a trailblazer or possibly even a Envoy. But I'll need to test drive the Envoy/Trailblazer with the 5.3 Liter before i can make my final decision. One more thing i hated about the colorado was the plastic dash, it was foamy. Plastic scratches to easily

Correction, it wasn't foamy, from what I can remember anyway, my memory stinks.

Too bad the drunk didn't take them all out of the gene pool.

I can't. Regulate it yerself you lazy bastard - I can. :-)

GMC Gremlin