Holden Colorado

The interiors are lined up with vinyl covered floors, hard-wearing fabric seats and hard and bulky plastics. There are manual controls for air-conditioning, a little outdated touch screen 7.0-inch media system, a six-speaker stereo allowing audio streaming and Bluetooth phone, support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cloth seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, a muscular styled dashboard, USB charge point, a digital speedometer and a multi-feature trip computer which is not available in most rivals. Second row provides comfortable seating with enough leg space and can be folded to increase room for cargo. The seats also allow storing of tools or other items underneath them. The tray dimensions are good enough with a width of 1534mm, depth of  466mm and 1484mm length.

The LSX shows off with its black fender flares, a soft tonneau cover, 18-inch Arsenal dark grey wheels, tailgate with Colorado decal, LED DRLs and halogen headlights, a gloss black grille, a tailgate lock and a black extended sports bar. The LSX gives off more aggressive vibes than the LS. The LTZ carries a folding soft tonneau, a soft-drop tailgate, grey 18-inch alloys, underbody protection, roof rails, embroidery, decals and a sailplane styled sports bar.

The Colorado is a comparatively quicker ute than rivals. Its gearbox and suspension work hand in hand to allow comfortable treading on Australian roads. The rear is loaded with a limited-slip helical differential, which might not be able to outperform a locking differential, but promises a composed ride while the driveline takes in the generated torque although at high values (500 Nm) the force is quite comprehensible. Well controlled traction with enough ground clearance and and an effectively designed underbody guarantees a pretty satisfactory handling of the vehicle.

The Holden Colorado is powered by a 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo Duramax heart running on diesel, which is wedded to a six-speed gearbox with options for both manual and automatic. The engine can produce a torque of 500 Nm (Manual transmission produces 440 Nm) at 2000 rpm and generate power around 197 horsepower at 3600 rpm. It also has a transfer case (low range) with a part-time 4X4 system. The engine provides a fuel economy of about 100 km at 8.6 litres although 9.5 litres would be a safer claim to bank on.

When it comes to safety the Colorado fails to meet modern standards and thus lags behind competitors like the utes of Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Mercedes. It does not have an active lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, auto emergency braking (AEB) and rear cross-traffic alert. The safety attributes available with the Colorado are hill descent control, hill-start assist, traction control, electronic stability control, rear parking sensors, dual ISOFIX child seat attachments, a reversing camera, trailer sway control, seven airbags that are present as dual front, curtain (full-length), front side and at driver’s knee and also three child seat top-tether restraints. Lane departure warning and Forward collision warning can only be found in higher models.

A little outdated media/infotainment system, noisy engine and inability to battle speed bumps as comfortably, while carrying heavy payloads, as close rivals are a few of the Colorado’s shortcomings. Whereas on the other hand the ute’s well engineered transmission and low-down torque ensures off-roading capability and a good engine accompanied by a dependable suspension places the Colorado, maybe not at the top, but among the top five of most ute rankings.