“A massive improvement” would be the best way to describe the revised Colorado ute and Colorado 7 SUV. And it was an improvement that needed to happen too.
When it was launched the Colorado was, well, underwhelming. Holden had taken aim at the venerable Toyota Hilux and while it had made a better ute than the Hilux, the game had moved on significantly in the meantime. The VW Amarok had already given the ute segment a serious fright and then the Ford Ranger/Mazda BT50 twins absolutely tore it apart.
This left the poor old – or rather, new – Colorado looking particularly second-rate by comparison. Down on technology and suffering from poor build quality and cheap materials the Colorado was most definitely at a massive disadvantage in the sales race against the hugely good Ford in particular.
And this has shown in the sales figures too, with customers staying away in their droves.
Now Holden have released an upgraded version that addresses a lot of our (and many other peoples’) criticisms. We head to Melbourne to take a look.
What is it?
Holden’s entry into the booming ute segment was too little, too late when the new one was launched 18 months ago, so this is a do-over if you like. Try again boys, can’t be any worse than last time…
And you know what? It’s actually a lot better.
The MY14 Colorado gets an increase in engine power and torque (for the auto), with the manual getting 147kW and 440Nm (up from 130kW/440Nm), while the automatic can now boast 147kW and a fat 500Nm (up from 130kW/470Nm).
The manual ute now gets a six-speed transmission, instead of the elderly five-speed unit, while LX, LT and LTZ spec wellsides get rear parking sensors. The LTZ well side also scores a rear camera as standard, while it is available as an option of the LX and LT versions.
Hill start assist is also added to all models, along with trailer sway control and hill descent control (not available on DX), while all models aside from the bench-seat DX get side airbags.
Holden’s MyLink entertainment unit now comes standard on LX, LT and LTZ and includes a 7-inch touch screen, full-size USB input and the brilliant MyLink interface that allows access to radio and navigation apps on a smartphone.
The Colorado 7 SUV also gets the same upgrades across the range, but also gains a new storage box in the cargo area.
What’s it like?
The extensively revised engine is noticeably more powerful than the old model, with a more tractable character across the rev range. The bump in torque in the automatic models is a blessing both on and off the road, with a nice fat chunk of it available right where you need it in both situations.
Although it wasn’t mentioned as one of the many improvements, engine noise also seemed to be far better in the new model over the old one.
The six-speed manual transmission is a massive improvement over the five-speeder, but is still a pretty agricultural unit (unsurprisingly…), however it does its job well and is easy, albeit a bit rubbery, to use.
Holden’s MyLink system is a damn fine piece of kit in everything it has been put in and its use in the Colorado is no exception. The iOS navigation app BringGo is a genius idea the uses the phones GPS to bring a low-cost navigation option into the Holden. The maps are downloaded onto the phone, so mobile data is not used. Otherwise it would not be quite so low-cost…
Again, while it wasn’t touched on as an improvement, build quality seems to be massively improved over the old Colorado, with a noticeable lack of rattles far tidied panel gaps inside the interior.
What’s not so good? There is still an awful lot of cheap, hard plastic in the interior and, while build quality definitely has been improved, it is probably only a matter of time before the rattles sneak in.
The on-road ride is still a bit grim and old-school ute in comparison to the Ranger and BT50, while the BringGo navigation app did suffer a wee bit of a meltdown when it told us to go one way and showed us a totally different way on the screen. We followed the screen. It was wrong. Still, it quickly corrected itself and was fine for the rest of the day.
What’s good about it?
The engine is strong and feels noticeably more bulky through the mid-range torque band. MyLink is a wonderful piece of kit and works well in the workhorse. It still looks good, like a proper ute. Improved build quality. Thoroughly excellent off road.
What’s not so good?
The interior is still not up to the competition. Ride quality is still pretty unsophisticated and rugged. You might be a bit pissed off if you just bought one…
First impressions?
While it is still not up there with the Ranger, BT50 and Amarok in terms of on-road ability and refinement, the improvements made to the Colorado now at least make it competitive. It’s off-road ability is still impressively prodigious and the extra power and technology are welcome additions everywhere.
While it may not be able to match the class leaders on the road, heading off it is another story altogether.
We have never had any complaints about the Colorado’s off-road ability anyway, but the extra torque now makes it just that much better again. The addition of an extra cog to the manual transmission also makes a difference and we preferred to use first and second for slow descents, as opposed to the new hill descent control system, which was still good, but the gearing was better.
The clearly improved build quality and brilliant MyLink entertainment unit were both nice “icing on the cake” touches to what has gone from an also-ran to a truly competitive option in the ute segment.
Specifications
Models/prices
$44,490 to $61,990 – for a full specification list, click here: Holden Colorado Specifications
You must be logged in to post a comment.