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mad_machine
mad_machine MegaDork
9/29/15 3:39 p.m.
Slippery wrote: I never heard a 5 cylinder that sounded good. Even Vipers with side exhausts sound like crap.

Volvo I5s sound good.. but that is neither here nor there...

Nice trucks, hope they do well by you

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
9/29/15 4:12 p.m.
Toyman01 wrote:
ultraclyde wrote:
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Appleseed: I'm tempted to dump my F350 and the Samurai and pick up a 4 door, 4WD Colorado. I'm pretty impressed so far.
You know they made a unicorn model with 4 doors, 4wd and the 5.3 V8, right? I have yet to see one, but I'm told they exist....

It's not a unicorn. I found one for sale in ebay with 3.2 minutes of searching.

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
9/29/15 4:13 p.m.

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

You're not helping.

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la...

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
9/29/15 4:15 p.m.
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Fueled by Caffeine: You're not helping. La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la...

I wanted one until I tried to fit three kids in the back seat and knew it wasn't going to happen.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UltimaDork
9/29/15 4:33 p.m.
Bobzilla wrote:
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: The 3.5 I5 with the auto is rated at 18 city and 23 highway. I haven't checked it yet. I probably won't need fuel for another day or so. The 2.8 I4 gets 21 and 27 with the manual. I'm not going to drive a MT service truck 50K a year in traffic. I'd rather take the hit on the fuel economy. Compared to the 12-15 mpg I was getting with the vans...
I'm still just shocked that a "midsize" truck with a small engine can't achieve fullsize V8 truck economy. Seems counterintuitive.

It's called "4-Speed Automatic"

Bobzilla
Bobzilla UltimaDork
9/29/15 5:01 p.m.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:
Bobzilla wrote:
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: The 3.5 I5 with the auto is rated at 18 city and 23 highway. I haven't checked it yet. I probably won't need fuel for another day or so. The 2.8 I4 gets 21 and 27 with the manual. I'm not going to drive a MT service truck 50K a year in traffic. I'd rather take the hit on the fuel economy. Compared to the 12-15 mpg I was getting with the vans...
I'm still just shocked that a "midsize" truck with a small engine can't achieve fullsize V8 truck economy. Seems counterintuitive.
It's called "4-Speed Automatic"

You mean the same 4-spd automatic that the trcuk runs?

Iusedtobefast
Iusedtobefast Reader
9/29/15 7:19 p.m.

In reply to Ranger50: You have hit the nail on the head, those rotors are a beast to replace. Also mileage is horrible, highway I almost never get more than middle teens to upper teens. I have 4 wheel drive, 3.5, 4 doors z71 package. Watch those leaf springs too, they like to crack. Other than that, I really like the Coly, just the right size. Oh and about that rust, mine is an '05 and I have two tiny spots on the right rear door near the window and the middle of the front edge of the hood has an area starting to pop from under the paint. Still clean under the flares.

G_Body_Man
G_Body_Man Dork
9/29/15 7:32 p.m.
ultraclyde wrote:
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Appleseed: I'm tempted to dump my F350 and the Samurai and pick up a 4 door, 4WD Colorado. I'm pretty impressed so far.
You know they made a unicorn model with 4 doors, 4wd and the 5.3 V8, right? I have yet to see one, but I'm told they exist....

There's one even rarer. A RWD, 5.3 sport truck model.

Pbw
Pbw New Reader
9/29/15 7:52 p.m.
Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof PowerDork
9/30/15 10:41 a.m.
Toyman01 wrote: Oh, and a thanks to Zomby Wolf for reminding me these existed.

Well, since you're the only one ever to take my advice, let's hope it doesn't bite you in the ass too bad.

I don't care for the front brake design either, but I've put a combined 400,000 km on mine and never even replaced front pads, so the brakes last a long time. I'm assuming these are work trucks, so you won't be tweaking them, but if you are inclined to take any other advice, get your arss over to 355nation, look up the big tuning guy there (can't recall his name) and get yourself a mail order tune. My buddy tuned mine for me, and it was a night and day difference. Totally different truck with a tune, and apparently the auto trucks benefit far more. Glad you like the trucks. Mine have been perfectly reliable.

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/2/15 3:41 p.m.

Well, I am 1000 miles and 7 days into it. So far, so good. Overall I still like the truck, but it does have a couple of quirks.

The door arm rests are too low and the window ledge is too narrow. I like having a arm rest and this doesn't have one.

The software controlling the transmission was written by a bipolar schizophrenic. It's pretty easily confused and inconsistent. It's not horrible, but it's close.

The traction control is rather abrupt. You don't want to pull out in front of anyone with the TC on. Any wheel spin just shuts it down and it takes what seems like forever to start pulling again. If it's raining, forget about it. I'd rather not have it, but at least there is a switch on the dash to shut it off.

I do love the engine. It still sounds like crap, but once the transmission settles on a gear, she will absolutely haul the freight. Smooth, willing, and gobs of torque; very nice. It's happy at just about any RPM.

I found out they both have limited slip diffs. That's a nice plus.

2002maniac
2002maniac Dork
10/2/15 4:38 p.m.

I would have thought "Base, with no options" would mean a manual trans?

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/2/15 4:46 p.m.

In reply to 2002maniac:

It's got the 3.5L I5, automatic transmission, A/C and a LSD, but that's about it.

bgkast
bgkast UberDork
10/2/15 10:48 p.m.

I had one for work. The window crank would uncomfortably dig into my leg. Other than that it was a fine work vehicle.

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof PowerDork
10/3/15 4:41 a.m.

It's not a base truck, it's an extended cab, and it also has a 3.5 and air. The later ones (09+?) came with air and cruise, in the base reg. cab 4cyl, 5 spd. After 07 you could no longer get the 5cyl. with a manual trans. A decent pair of aftermarket 6.5's in the doors make a big difference. The stock speakers are junk.

neon4891
neon4891 MegaDork
10/3/15 8:04 a.m.

The TC calibration sounds like early(maybe still?) GM abs. Look at the pedel on anything but dry pavement and it kicks in so hard you have no brakes.

But anyway, nice truck.

f6sk
f6sk Reader
10/3/15 2:32 p.m.

Change the timing belt. They bend every singe valve in the head when they pop.

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/3/15 2:35 p.m.

In reply to f6sk:

The Atlas engines don't have a belt. The cams are chain driven.

Knurled
Knurled UltimaDork
10/3/15 3:35 p.m.
Slippery wrote: I never heard a 5 cylinder that sounded good.

This is the only time in the world where a subjective opinion can be flat out wrong.

Of course, the Atlas five doesn't particularly sound nice. It's not bad but it's not exciting. But it's not supposed to be, that isn't its purpose.

Knurled
Knurled UltimaDork
10/3/15 3:39 p.m.

I don't particularly love or hate these trucks - they drive nice, but the fuel economy is shockingly poor for what you get out of them, so it's a wash - but be prepared to have a minor freakout when the front ABS tone rings fall off. It's disturbingly expensive to repair.

For some reason, Isuzu or whoever built it decided it would be a good idea to glue the tone ring to the inside face of the front hub. So it rusts off. There's an updated part, but you pretty much have to replace everything from the knuckle out, including the ABS sensor itself.

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof PowerDork
10/3/15 8:20 p.m.

Mine gets as good or better fuel economy as any mid size, and even small pickup, Ranger included. People are surprised that their loaded four door 4x4, auto trucks aren't good on gas and they shouldn't be. I've been driving them for 10 years and never heard of the abs ring problem.

Knurled
Knurled UltimaDork
10/3/15 8:52 p.m.

The customers I have with them generally get no better than 17mpg. That's good... for a Silverado.

I did over 20mpg with a B4000, towing a flatbed trailer with an RX-7 on top.

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/4/15 6:52 a.m.

In reply to Knurled:

I've filled up three times so far. My worst tank was 20.4, my best was 21.9. That is mixed driving. I'm betting a all highway trip would be in the 23-24 range. I can live with that.

I'll be checking it pretty regularly so we'll see if the trend continues.

Knurled
Knurled UltimaDork
10/4/15 8:33 a.m.
Toyman01 wrote: I've filled up three times so far. My worst tank was 20.4, my best was 21.9. That is mixed driving. I'm betting a all highway trip would be in the 23-24 range.

Next you'll be telling me that they are rated to tow a tandem axle flatbed trailer.

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
10/4/15 9:02 a.m.
Knurled wrote:
Toyman01 wrote: I've filled up three times so far. My worst tank was 20.4, my best was 21.9. That is mixed driving. I'm betting a all highway trip would be in the 23-24 range.
Next you'll be telling me that they are rated to tow a tandem axle flatbed trailer.

The new diesel colorado has a 7000K trailer rating.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2015/10/02/first-drive-chevrolet-colorado-diesel-emissions/73215488/

That reporter says 24 MPG with the full on off road version, highway tires would put it into the 26mpg range me thinks with 370 ft-lb of torque.

I am sufficiently intriqued. If I can fit two boosters and a big seat in the back of the crew cab(haha) I might spring for one in a year.

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