Aug
17
Interesting fact number 1: Although the Colorado is “all new,” that’s really not the case. One percent of the ‘04 model is a carryover from the S-10. The seat frame.
Interesting fact number 2: The Colorado can be fitted with an inline five-cylinder engine, the Vortec 3500, or a four-cylinder, the Vortec 2800. Both of these engines are derived from the Vortec 4200, an in-line six cylinder engine (that’s used in the Chevy TrailBlazer). All of these engines are all aluminum, produced with the lost-foam casting process that helps minimize the necessary machining due to the casting accuracy (to learn more, see: http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/030304.html). They have dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. More, the 3500 and the 2800 share 75% of their components with the Vortec 4200. And if looked at in the context of each other, the 3500 and 2800 share 89% of their components. (The 2.8-liter 2800 provides 175 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 185 lb-ft torque @ 2,800 rpm; the 3.5-liter engine provides 220 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 225 lb-ft torque @ 2,800 rpm).
Interesting fact number 3: The Colorado is being produced in the GM Shreveport, Louisiana, assembly plant. That’s where the S-10 had been built. But the Colorado is being produced in what is essentially a new facility, because when GM was planning on the new truck back in 1999, it announced that it would be making a more than $700-million investment in Shreveport. The truck goes into full production in the fourth quarter of 2003.
