LAST HURRAH
MANY ASSUME THE 2012-2020 HOLDEN COLORADO IS JUST A REBADGED ISUZU D-MAX, BUT THEY WOULD BE WRONG
YOU may not be able to buy a new Holden Colorado anymore, but second-hand examples of the Colorado that first arrived here in 2012 aren’t too hard to come by. Just as the Ford Ranger and the Mazda BT-50 that arrived the year before flipped the product-provider product-receiver relationship, the 2012 Colorado was a General Motors product through and through and not just a rebadged Isuzu as was the original Colorado ute (confusingly), and all the Rodeo utes before that. Like Ford, General Motors saw the growing importance of the global ute market and was keen to give it its – own – best shot.
The Colorado came with a VM Motori-sourced (GM owned 50 per cent of VM Motori at the time) 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel mated to either a five-speed manual or a six-speed automatic, both GM designs. In 2014, the manual ’box gained an extra gear and the engine gained more power and torque, up to a then classleading 500Nm with the auto ’box.
The Colorado employed part-time 4x4, the default system in the class, but somewhat unusually, didn’t come with a driverswitched rear locker on any variant; although, it did come with a rear limited-slip diff, which was also unusual. The limited-slipper was fitted in addition to the ETC, but was more of an on-road aid rather than an off-road aid.
Crucially, the Colorado is a mid-field runner in terms of wheel travel, not up with Ranger or Amarok but better than the Nissan Navara D23 and the 2015-to-current Triton. With only moderate wheel travel, no rear locker and an ETC calibrated more for on-road use (although still useful off-road), the earlier iterations of the Colorado aren’t standout off-road performers. The manual, with its moon-shot final drive gearing, was especially compromised off-road and needed low-four even in easy off-road conditions where competitor utes were happy in high-four.
Things, however, took a big turn for the better when a bottom-to-top re-engineering of the Colorado announced in late 2016 came to fruition in the 2017 model. Most significantly, the ETC was completely recalibrated and went from being mildly useful off-road to very effective. Gnarly climbs that would stop the earlier Colorado could now be conquered thanks to the upgraded ETC, even if the Colorado still had to work hard to get there. The manual also gained a much shorter final-drive ratio (4.1:1 vs 3.73:1), so no longer required low range at the first hint of off-road driving.
A raft of other changes to the engine, auto gearbox, chassis and body also did much to improve the previously poor NVH, while new suspension springs and dampers and the introduction of very nicely calibrated electric power steering also did much to improve the general driving experience. Put simply, if you’re after a used Colorado, the 2017 and later models are worth the extra coin. The Colorado-derived HSV Sportscat with its reinforced front spring towers, bespoke suspension and wheel-tyre package, is both better off-road and better on-road than a stock Colorado. HSV Sportscat+ models add serious brakes and auto-decoupling rear swaybar.