Considering a Colorado

[04silveradomykk]

I am being considered by a company to work in Communications. It would require a great deal of traveling, especially by car.

Since my Silverado is paid for, and my baby. I see no reason to trade it in. So I'm looking to pick up a commuter to keep the miles off the Silverado. Plus I'd imagine the Colorado can get alot better MPG than the Silverado. That way I could also gut the Silvy, build a nice powerplant and use the commuter as the DD.

http://trucks.about.com/library/graphics/col_reg_2.jpg

I love the look of the Colorados, more so than the Canyons.(even though the only difference I can see is the bar thru the grill) If I could find a used 2004+ Colorado (I prefer the rounded wheel wells) in between $8k-$12k (depending on condition & milage) I will seek financing and jump on it. A few questions:

Are the Colorados offered with the I5 in the regular cab? I like the look of the Reg cab, sporty. And with 220fwhp / 225fwtq of the I5 in a truck with a curb weight of only 3117lbs it could be alot of fun. However I will need a Auto. Manual trans will be more fun, but this will be a road trip machine. 2WD also, I will lower it. I'm not a 4WD kind of person.

Is there alot of aftermarket support for the I5? besides intakes and exhaust. I'm speaking of computer tunes (flashable I assume) and cams, etc. Or even just the hand held tuners.

If you own a reg cab colorado, do you see any downsides? Any unforseen problems? I understand the lack of interior room, I'm used to that with my reg cab short bed Silverado. Is the I5 riddled with bugs? Or is it stout and reliable? I already understand the problems with 4L60E's & G80's.

Any feedback would be appreciated

Cheers ~Mykk

[Dogsofjune]

I looked into the Colorado's myself. All I5's come with an auto. It was rumored the the "extreme" could be had with a stick, but I never found it. The I4 options the stick. Seems a shame.

There seems to be some decent room in the standard cabs, at least compared to an S-10. Compared to a Silverado, may seem smaller than you are used to.
I have a buddy that has a yellow one with the I5 like you have pictured above. Seemed comfortable to ride in. Have a bit more room in the cab. Had some pep. Will have more after I tune it. hehe

You can get the gamut of bolt on crap for the Rado. I know HPTuners supports it. Powerdyne has a kit for it, nitrous kits for it. blah, blah.
It's been around long enough to have a market.

They are a pain to lower, and expensive to bag, at least compared to an S-10.

There was a place somewhere on the net with an I5 turboed pushin 500-600 hp. Never really heard anyone complain about the I5, but just little stuff about the interior. Handles break, little stuff that GM owners should be used to by now.

[Tink]

We had an 04, reg cab, I5, 4wd manual... actually it looked almost exactly like the picture you posted... traded it in on a 2500HD cause we needed a tow rig.

Anyhow the interior room wasn't horrible... you could shove quite a bit behind the seats. The only think I didn't like about the truck didn't have anything to do with the interior... the tires were garbage, and the manual was like a sports car manual with that I5, you had to rev the piss out of it and drive it like you hated it to get anything out of it.

Some of the early I5s had weak exhaust valve springs. The "fix" is to replace all the exhaust springs but usually it causes burned valves and seats. Warranty pays 20 hours to replace the head, you have to remove the engine and completely disassemble it from the oil pan up.

Important: The bulletin may apply to vehicles with a VIN breakpoint of 58261313 or lower. If the last 8 of the VIN is lower than 58261313, the engine unit number (shown in SI # 889181) will have to be inspected to determine if the bulletin applies. If the engine unit number is lower than 050880001, the bulletin applies to the vehicle. If the engine unit number is 050880001 or greater, the engine already contains the updated valve seals and springs that are mentioned in this bulletin, so the bulletin does not apply.

[Dogsofjune]

We had an 04, reg cab, I5, 4wd manual...

I hadn't even considered looking at a 4x4. I guess all the two wheel drive Rado's with the I5 are auto?

[boxcarracer963]

My brother bought a 05 colorado z71 2wd with the I5 Auto back in november of 04' he put about 60k on it in 2 1/2 years and nothing whatsoever was ever wrong with the engine he was good about oil changes and used synthetic, but at about 55k the tranny on occasion would jump into second gear. The thing would outrun my truck everytime even with 32" bfg all terrains and steel 50's style chevy truck rims, and it rode smooth. But anyways, his dumbass missed like 5 payments in a row(don't know why) and it got repoed along with my amp in it. lmao now he drives a little red 91 celica gt 5-speed convertible.

[04silveradomykk]

isn't z71 universal across all GM trucks for 4WD?

So far I'm liking what I'm finding. Just from online searches, most used Colorados are out of my price range. But I'll keep looking. And a regular cab 2wd I5 is a tough find!

The only thing I don't like about the colorado is rear drums. I'd be happier if it were 4 wheel disc, looks better with rims

[boxcarracer963]

well for the colorado's i know the 2wd has a torsion bar up front and i think another leaf its about 3 inches higher front and back and has 265/75/15 tires i think, you can tell cuz the z71 4wd has a 4X4 logo on the sticker on the bed the 2wd just says z71 by itself. Not sure about other chevy's...

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

yeah, I'd seen some of the Z71 2wd colorados, too. I thought it was weird but not was weird as a 2wd ZR2.

[Hammer Head]

Is it gonna be that color yellow? IDK.. yellow's a pretty nasty color.

[Dogsofjune]

Aww it's not so bad, tint the windows and it looks alright.

[Hammer Head]

..pssst.. what color is my truck again? haha

[Dogsofjune]

<shrugs> I dunno....never looked I guess, or remember if I have looked. :p

Did ya tint the windows?

[Hammer Head]

Nah.. just what the factory gave me. I don't feel like having another vehicle get a ticket for tinted windows. Chicago doesn't really like them.. & for good reason w/ all the guns & **** floatin around here.

[04silveradomykk]

Actually I was thinking Red, and the Colorado Extreme is growing on me... but since I'm in the market for aused one. I suppose I can't be picky

[BlazinLow_inORE]

You can get the gamut of bolt on crap for the Rado. I know HPTuners supports it. Powerdyne has a kit for it, nitrous kits for it. blah, blah.
It's been around long enough to have a market.

There is tons of bolt on stuff for the Colorado.. intake, exhaust, your typical mods... lights, etc. Powerdyne does have a kit for the Colorado... RkSport also does(through powerdyne).

Hptuners would be the route to go for tuning... with a good tune you can open up some good horsepower and get rid of that damn 98MPH governor.

The market is open... but no huge.. there is still tons of demand but nobody to supply.

StreetBeatcustoms is one of the major suppliers for colorado/canyon stuff.. same with Stylin Trucks

They are a pain to lower, and expensive to bag, at least compared to an S-10.

Pain to lower? how so? 2/3 drop is either 2" coils and 3" blocks or 2" drop balljoints and 3"blocks. To get anything bigger than that it would be smart to invest in the DJM coilovers. 80% of the guys that have 4/5 or 3/4 drops use them... and swear by them.

Dropping isn't hard... Bagging is a *****. Lots of money.. lots of time.

There was a place somewhere on the net with an I5 turboed pushin 500-600 hp. Never really heard anyone complain about the I5, but just little stuff about the interior. Handles break, little stuff that GM owners should be used to by now.

never seen the 500-600hp colorado.. BUT there is a few out there that are turbo'd/SC'd running 390-450... here is one

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/811544

you can also find tons of videos on streetfire,youtube, etc of the guys that just drop the LSX engines in and kick the **** out of the hemi's :shrug:



The only thing I don't like about the colorado is rear drums. I'd be happier if it were 4 wheel disc, looks better with rims

Alot of us are dissapointed with this... however, spending $3500 for the rear disk conversion through SSBC is out of the question for most. I have only seen 2-3 Rado's with the setup. Looks sweet though.


Actually I was thinking Red, and the Colorado Extreme is growing on me... but since I'm in the market for aused one. I suppose I can't be picky

If you are going for the 2wd, I would say Xtreme... but I am bias (cuz i own one). Stock height is already 2" lower than the Z85's and sits perfect(if u are ok with that...).

Keep an eye out though for the Xtremes.. you can find some good deals on Craigslist on them.

If you were local, I would tell you to meet me somewhere because I have a buddy of mine selling his white xtreme for $16k.

Like i said, people are looking to get rid of them.. you shouldbe able to find an Xtreme for 16-19k depending on the options (sunroof, heated leather, etc)


if you have more questions.. feel free to stop by our site and browse. There is tons of information there to help you choose the right one for you.

[BlazinLow_inORE]

also.. here are some pics of the local Xtremes we have...

http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5403.JPG

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q313/05XtremeGMTF/11-10-07%20meet/11-10-07010.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q313/05XtremeGMTF/11-10-07%20meet/11-10-07015.jpg


This guy did a 2/3 drop on his xtreme with 20's...
http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5392.JPG

Mine is stock height with 22's
http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5393.JPG

http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5597.JPG

Here is the white one that is for sale locally... I know its not red.. or a RC... but still... $16k for a CC Xtreme with sunroof is cheap.


http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5530.JPG

http://turboej.com/Pictures/355nation/pdxmeet111007/IMG_5545.JPG

[White-V-6-S-Ten]

I had been looking into them as well but i would be interested in the 08 model since it has the option for the v-8 but would only really get one if i could get it with the 5.3 xtreem and a 5 speed.... I am not sure if they will offer that....

[holsinger17]

Is it gonna be that color yellow? IDK.. yellow's a pretty nasty color.

come on now!!!

[rentedmule]

there was a supercharged one at the shop that was doing my tuning a while ago. I didn't get the details on it but I'll ask next time I'm there

[BlazinLow_inORE]

the 08 models will not even include an Xtreme or ZQ8 package. They are getting rid of the street package for some reason... atleast that is the word from Shevreport.

[bespurcell]

Maybe they figure the v-8 option will make up for it.

[Sparky2263]

The I5 was actually detuned considerably. Made too much power.

How'd they detune it? Just like the Ecotec, small cam and shrink the exhaust port. Port match the exhaust ports to the manifold gasket and horsepower gains around 10-15 will be had. Yes, that much. Add a nice streetable grind, a header and matching exhaust and you'll add an easy 40+ horsepower.

[bespurcell]

The I5 was actually detuned considerably. Made too much power.

How'd they detune it? Just like the Ecotec, small cam and shrink the exhaust port. Port match the exhaust ports to the manifold gasket and horsepower gains around 10-15 will be had. Yes, that much. Add a nice streetable grind, a header and matching exhaust and you'll add an easy 40+ horsepower.

Yeah I did the math and if the 4.2 I-6 made 275 hp the I-5 shold make about 230.

[BlazinLow_inORE]

The I5 was actually detuned considerably. Made too much power.

How'd they detune it? Just like the Ecotec, small cam and shrink the exhaust port. Port match the exhaust ports to the manifold gasket and horsepower gains around 10-15 will be had. Yes, that much. Add a nice streetable grind, a header and matching exhaust and you'll add an easy 40+ horsepower.

You could even save the money on a new header and gut the 1st cat in the manifold... numbers show it adds about 10hp increase with this mod..

[04silveradomykk]

I just test drove a new 2008 Reg cab, I5 Auto, Colorado LS. I was less than impressed, sure it was a smooth ride going down the highway. But give it any throttle and the trans downshifts but you don't go any faster.

And an advertised 18mpg town 20mpg Hwy sounds way low for such a small underpowered vehicle. Plus the lowest the dealership would go was $17,9xx.xx with a sticker price of $19,950.00... with $0 down @ $375. for 72mo. Thats $27,000!! And with $4000.00 down it's $315.00 for 72mo. Thats $26,680. No thanks. Used market it is.

[BlazinLow_inORE]

I just test drove a new 2008 Reg cab, I5 Auto, Colorado LS. I was less than impressed, sure it was a smooth ride going down the highway. But give it any throttle and the trans downshifts but you don't go any faster.

And an advertised 18mpg town 20mpg Hwy sounds way low for such a small underpowered vehicle. Plus the lowest the dealership would go was $17,9xx.xx with a sticker price of $19,950.00... with $0 down @ $375. for 72mo. Thats $27,000!! And with $4000.00 down it's $315.00 for 72mo. Thats $26,680. No thanks. Used market it is.

That is where a tune will help... the stock setup for shifts, acceleration,etc sucks.... once u get a tune on there it is like night and day.

I would say look for used also. You can find them all day long .

[gotswrv]

I've been thinking about swapping out the S-10 for a Rado myself. MC Racing in KC has just finished up a prototype Procharger kit. The one we chose to work out first is the I5 in a 3.5L 4wd truck. After some drive time we will make sure no changes need made and work towards a finished product. More to follow...

Sam

[BlazinLow_inORE]

well keep us updated... there has been other places that have done a powerdyne setup (RKSport) but i think they no longer offer it on their site....

[gotswrv]

I plan on starting a new thread once I get all the info and pics in order. Until then I'll say that we got 264 RWHP at 7 psi. Baseline was about 170 RWHP.:rolleyes:

I really don't know if I'd buy a non-factory lower truck. The main reason for swapping out the S-10 for me would be to get a factory ride back. I spend about 90 miles on the highway to and from work each day. I'm growing tired of the choppy highway combined with a lowered short wheelbase truck. Thinking a crew cab, but I'm not a lifted/4wd, or even base height, guy...
I've noticed some really nice GTOs for cheap too. But I think I have enough cars, and the mileage would suck for havig the cruise on most of the time.
What to do, what to do...:confused:

Sam

[04silveradomykk]

I don't mind the choppy ride, I've lived with a 2"/4" on my silverado (axle hits the frame on bumps) and 40 series tires for a while now

[gotswrv]

Got a 4"/3" on an S... You want? ;)