2015 Holden Colorado LTZ

19 March, 2015   By: Alex Forrest

The Holden Colorado came of age when it achieved a 5-star ANCAP safety rating in July 2012.

With electronic stability control, driver and front passenger airbags and full length curtain airbags standard across the range, this was an excellent result in a vehicle category where safety had been and still is, patchy.

Since then, the Colorado has had some significant upgrades. Most notable of those is the redesigned Duramax diesel engine, which is up in both power and torque. There’s also now a six-speed manual gearbox, replacing the previous five-speeder.

The four cylinder, 2.8-litre turbo diesel powerplant now has 147kW (up from 138kW). In vehicles like this though, which are likely to be put to work carrying and towing heavy loads and going off road, torque is the from the all-important factor. 

Torque in the auto versions is a very healthy 500Nm, but for the manuals that output has been reeled back to 440Nm.

The Colorado has a class-leading towing capacity of 3,500kg for a braked trailer (750kg unbraked), and given that’s one of the Colorado’s key selling points, there’s a good chance all that torque will be put to use.

Load carrying capacity in the tray back is also good, at 1028kg, though it’s approximately 100kg less than that of the Mazda BT50 and Ford Ranger.

The 2.8-litre diesel isn’t the smoothest diesel on the road. Though it sounds and feels more agricultural compared to other diesels in the twin cab ute category, its fuel efficiency is good given its performance.

By comparison, the 3.2-litre, five-cylinder Ford Ranger 4x4 manual uses 9.4 L/100km, where a similarly specified Colorado sips 8.1L/100km. 

Customers looking at twin cab utes generally aren’t expecting to get interiors with the quality and refinement of a Rolls Royce, but work utes like the Volkswagen Amarok have definitely raised the bar in terms of what to expect.

The Colorado’s interior does still have plenty of hard plastics, but for a vehicle which is likely to see some heavy wear and tear in its time, an interior which can be wiped clean with a Chux isn’t all bad.