Powertrain First Impressions - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Powertrain First Impressions - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com conducts a long-term test of the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and finds that the 3.6-liter V6 and 6-speed automatic are just okay.

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cracknut

Up shifting mid down shift sounds terrible to me. It should have an 8 speed gearbox.

chol92594

More and more new models seem to have dim-witted automatic transmissions. I know that the LT team has voiced some dislikes with the auto gearbox in the Passat and I can say from experience that it's not the only VW with the chronic upshift issue. My mom's 2013 Tiguan likes to seek out high gear pretty quickly, which is fine when driving around town, but can be frustrating when merging onto a highway. I'd imagine the Colorado behaves similarly. You don't want to have to flatten the accelerator pedal just to wake up the gearbox, but if you don't, you aren't going to be getting anywhere very quickly. I know most auto transmissions nowadays are supposed to be "adaptive" and learn from the driver, so maybe this is a problem that might go away. That being said, with the gamut of driving styles across the LT crew, I don't think it would do much good, since the gearbox isn't going to have data from one specific driver to tailor its operation.

ebeaudoin

Call me old-school, but I like the 4-speed automatic in my 2001 Camry. But I would much rather have a manual, because I can tell it exactly when to upshift or downshift

Automatics these days are puzzling.

allthingshonda

They should do like Honda, Hyundai and others do by simply placing a Eco button on the dash. That way if you want the fuel sipping shifting strategy you can turn it on. My girlfriend's Sonata has this and when it's on the transmission upshifts quickly and only downshifts if you floor it. Turn it off and the transmission responds perfectly. Holds lower gears longer and will snap off a downshifts even if you slightly increase the throttle when climbing hills or bridges. My Acura's old 5-speed auto doesn't have this button but is always in the right gear and still gets 30 mpgs. It will even automatically downshift for engine braking when going down hills if the cruise is engaged or if you touch the brake pedal.

agentorange

Edmunds is in California, so their truck is a CA emissions neutered. Been down this route myself with a 2001 Tahoe that had CA emissions. It had no, and I mean NO, part throttle response. Program in some "trick the EPA" gearbox logic and you get a slug with a Colorado badge.

agentorange

Check out what Edmunds say on their own site. http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/colorado/2015/?sub=&zip=89128 . Oh and I also found this. http://www.gmfleet.com/content/dam/gmfleet/global/master/nscwebsite/en/Home/Resources/01_images/2015-my-planned-emission-certification.pdf If it has more than one emissions code, then it comes in CA strangler or free state modes depending on the order code. GM try to fool you that they are all the same by saying "50 state certified". That is NOT the same as "50 state emissions".

veedubber86

cracknut said:

Up shifting mid down shift sounds terrible to me. It should have an 8 speed gearbox.

Right, then it wouldn't be confused at all...

I've owned 2 Mazdas with manual transmissions, and two VWs with autos. The VW autos were excellent in my opinion, and the only situation that ever confused them was when I was slowing for a red light and almost, but not quite stopped when the light changed and I put my foot on the gas. Sometimes there was indecision about whether to select first or second gear followed by a thud and then back to normal operation. But those were an older VW and a performance-oriented VW, so I doubt their calibration was the same as the ones on the market now. The worst transmission I think I've ever experienced is either the CVTs in Nissans, or the 4-speed auto in my brother's Ford Escape.

rwatson

Sorry to offend, but a pickup truck without a manual transmission option (with traditional cost savings) is nothing more than another soccer mom mobile with a wanna-be "good ol' boy" following. Don't like how the crappy transmission feels? Fine, because as consumers you helped build that trend by blindly accepting $20,000 "work trucks" with Mercedes-Benz amenities and price tags. Enjoy!

mlin32

Do the engineers actually drive the car under normal circumstances in the real world? It wouldn't take long for a programming issue like that to surface. And by "real world" I don't mean just on the streets of suburban Detroit.

allthingshonda

rwatson said:

Sorry to offend, but a pickup truck without a manual transmission option (with traditional cost savings) is nothing more than another soccer mom mobile with a wanna-be "good ol' boy" following. Don't like how the crappy transmission feels? Fine, because as consumers you helped build that trend by blindly accepting $20,000 "work trucks" with Mercedes-Benz amenities and price tags. Enjoy!

News flash but I don't think any one makes a pick up with a manual transmission anymore.

bassracerx

is there a "tow" or "hill" mode? the button it looks like a triangle with a wagon looking thing? on my work Chevy Express full size van as soon as you press that button it will hold gears all the way to redline and it will bang into lower gears when you mash the gas. the transmission calibration when you press that button is very much like driving a corvette which is great when you you are hauling 2,000 pounds of batterys up through the hills of lower Alabama.