2015 Chevrolet Colorado's #TechnologyAndStuff

2015 chevy colorado ・ Photo by General Motors

Poor Rikk Wilde. It’s hard when you’re in front of all of those lights, cameras, Madison Bumgarner the World Series MVP, and all of those glittering trophies—tasked with doing an all-new product justice in one minute or less. Just as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet are integral to the American way, every now and then somebody looks bad on television. Clearly it was Rikk’s turn.

To help him out, here’s Autobytel’s brief rundown of the #TechnologyAndStuff underpinning the all-new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado.

Comfort And Convenience: #TechnologyandStuff

On the comfort and convenience front, Colorado features Chevrolet MyLink for connectivity #TechnologyandStuff. MyLink includes text message support and Siri Eyes Free. With text message support, the driver can be alerted to new messages and have them read aloud, as well as view and respond to them. Siri Eyes Free enables iPhone 4S, 5, 5S and 6 users to access Siri via the Colorado’s steering wheel controls to check calendar entries, have text messages read—and respond to them, as well as place calls or call up music.

Additional MyLink features include:

• Hands-free voice control system powered by Nuance, which allows simple voice commands to initiate phone calls and select radio stations or media from portable MP3 players and smart phones
• Pandora Internet radio to create personalized radio stations based on favorite artists or genres. MyLink integrates control of the Pandora smartphone app.
• Gracenote identifies the music collection on the driver’s USB device, MP3 player, or smartphone and presents artist names, music genres, and album cover art on the MyLink screen.
• USB connectivity adds the ability to play music files directly from flash memory devices, and enables updating MyLink with future enhancements.

Powertrain: #TechnologyandStuff

Colorado’s 2.5-liter and 3.6-liter engines are based on designs found in Chevrolet’s cars, but tuned for truck duty to produce more torque at lower- and mid-range rpm levels. This comes into play when the Colorado is heavily laden or pulling a trailer.

The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine produces 200 horsepower and 191 ft-lbs of torque, with about 90 percent of that torque available between 2,000 and 6,200 rpm. The 3.6-liter V6 makes 305-horsepower and 269 ft-lbs of torque. For durability, both engines feature forged-steel crankshafts. Efficiency is assured by dual-overhead camshafts with variable valve timing, direct injection, and jet-spray piston cooling #TechnologyandStuff.

A six-speed automatic transmission is teamed with either engine choice and is fitted with auto grade braking and a tow/haul mode #TechnologyandStuff, to make hauling and trailering easier and more comfortable for the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado. Naturally the truck can be had with either rear- or four-wheel drive. A six-speed manual transmission is also offered for the 2.5-liter engine when mated to rear-wheel drive and an extended cab.

Safety: #TechnologyandStuff

Chevy’s Colorado is the first pickup in its segment to offer Forward Collision Alert and Lane Departure Warning, both of which use camera-based #TechnologyandStuff to warn drivers of potential crash threats. When the Colorado senses its driver is about run it into say, a wall of television cameras, an alarm is sounded to let the driver know there is an imminent danger of a collision.

Similarly, the Colorado has the ability to read the lines on the highway. Whenever the truck gets close to one of the lines without the appropriate turn signal activated, a warning is sounded letting the driver know they’re about to leave their lane of travel, giving the driver an opportunity to correct. That is German luxury car levels of #TechnologyandStuff in an American truck. Those are German luxury car levels of #TechnologyandStuff in an American truck.

Other safety #TechnologyandStuff includes Chevrolet’s StabiliTrak stability control system with rollover mitigation technology, trailer sway control, hill start assist, and hill descent control. Colorado also features six airbags and a standard rear-vision camera.

#TechnologyandStuff Summary

Long story short, Rikk was dead on the mark when he said Colorado features lots of #TechnologyandStuff. In fact, Colorado is quite possible the most technologically advanced pickup truck Chevrolet has ever offered. Available in four-door extended- or crew-cab models, Colorado also offers highway fuel economy of up to 27 mpg with the four-cylinder and 26 mpg with the V6. Further, the Colorado is capable of towing 7,000 pounds with the V6 engine and a heavy-duty towing package. Plus, it looks pretty sharp on television.

Here is Rikk's #technologyandstuff presentation. And stuff.