REVIEW: 2017 Holden Colorado LTZ ute

As handy as they might be, there was some resistance to taking receivership of a long-term Holden Colorado ute. Or truck, whatever you want to call it.

Quite simply, because everyone has one. They're like the automotive equivalent of the iPhone, and not everyone wants to conform to trends.

But in many ways the idea of a car that can blitz the mid-week slug and happily play family commuter or weekend warrior makes sense. Which is why we decided it was time to see what the fuss was about in the form of living with one for a few months.

So, why the Colorado? Well, while the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger have steamrolled the opposition from a sales sense, there is plenty of merit in spending more time in Holden’s newly updated offering.

Bearing the fruit of an extensive engineering overhaul which included Australian input, the Colorado now features improved dynamics, added comfort and refinement and a vastly better infotainment system. The changes have brought seismic change to the Colorado, for the better.

The white number driven here is the popular 4×4 LTZ model, squeezing into the middle of Holden’s dual cab portfolio at $50,490 (plus on-road costs). The six-speed automatic fitted adds a further $2200, making for one pretty hefty price tag by traditional ‘ute’ standards.

The vehicle is very much new when we pick it up, with only 920km on its digital speedo. However, it undergoes a baptism of fire in the first four weeks as we pile on a further 3250km of our own. That’s before we even begin to make extensive use of its 3500kg towing capacity and 1029kg payload.

Outside the dealership test drive

There are some hidden details, good and bad, that weren’t readily present during our initial launch drive and road test reviews.

Elements of the Colorado’s cabin and outside paint treatment leave mixed feelings.  Look beyond the dual cab’s bristling new front exterior treatment and you’ll pick up poorly finished paintwork on panels inside in the gap between the cabin and the tray.

Inside, there’s a sharp edge to the plastic lip at the top of the dashboard centre fascia, and some of the cabin plastics still bear an inherent Tupperware feel.

The driving position, especially during our first initial kilometres, feels dreadful – perched too high, arms stretched right forward – but the seats are decidedly comfier than before, offering decent support during our extensive seat time, and the new US-feeling dashboard is clean and functional.

The Colorado’s generous door pockets comfortably consume various bottles and clutter, though the slightly obscured middle cupholders are partially blocked by the centre console lid, meaning you can fit one bottle but not two. The nifty cupholders that formerly slid out from under the outer air vents are also deleted as part of the update.

Rear seaters are moderately well accommodated courtesy of well-proportioned rear. Most passengers commended the head and knee proportions and softly-padded bench, but took issue with the lack of rear air vents and hard plastic door sleeves.

Up to spec, finally

Turning over the Colorado’s carry-over 2.8-litre engine elicits a typical diesel clutter that seems especially prominent when cold, but hardly disconcerting. That said, the changes made during the latest update have improved the Colorado exponentially. In short, this is the ‘truck’ the Colorado always should have been.

Of most note is the car’s new electrically-assisted steering, which is eons better than the predecessor’s hydraulic set-up. The tiller is now light at low speeds, is devoid of unwanted surface feedback and possesses decent weighting and feedback for a 5.3m slugger.

It’s worth mentioning that this is all contextually speaking, of course – it is still a ladder frame ute, but it’s an improved one with decent vision and an inherent ease of use.

The long-running 2.8-litre engine with 147kW/470Nm still possesses an agricultural bent, and you have to commend Holden on the updated auto and the part it plays in allowing the engine to ply down its power via 18-inch wheels.

Adopting a new centrifugal pendulum absorber (CPA) that dampens driveline vibration, the auto exhibits much better throttle response and refinement, and moves the Colorado closer to class leaders in this regard.

That said, the automatic is far from perfect, often holding gears too long or hesitating when more superior units wouldn’t.

Another one of the remaining quirks of the six-speed is a grade braking function that becomes active on any semblance of a descent. It sends the transmission into a frenzy, dropping down gears at a rate of knots and engulfing the cabin with a raucous diesel soundtrack.

It’s not that the grade braking function doesn’t deserve its place – it assists the Colorado’s mediocre rear drum brakes in arresting speed – but it’s way too aggressive in its interventions. One suggestion would be to offer a couple of different settings; because at the moment, I’m taking matters into my own hands and flicking the auto over to its manual gate instead.

With top cog engaged, and smoother surfaces ahead, the Colorado feels right at home. Road noise and engine noise are well insulated from inside and the car feels settled with speed – even when unladen. Barely bothering 2000rpm, the Colorado eases along, enriching the experience with its vastly-improved infotainment suite, which now includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

While we haven’t yet tested it in a tow-carrying capacity other than a few hundred kilos in the tray, the Colorado’s initial suspension tuning feels strong across all surfaces. It is still busy as you would expect, but it is a big improvement on before. Likewise on corrugated dirt roads, the dual-cab feels in control, resisting the temptation to skip over bumps.

Fuel watch

Completing so many kilometres in our first month, it was always going to be interesting to see how the Colorado fared against its official 8.7L/100km claim. But I was startled when the digital instrument cluster read 8.8L/100km upon the first month’s completion.

We managed about 850km to a tank pretty comfortably across a mix of surfaces and speeds. The car’s trip computer, which includes predictive range and digital speedometer, was also reliable in its readouts.

Similarly, the suite of new driver aids is on the money, reinforcing the Colorado’s five-star safety appeal. The forward collision alert, which sounds when the computer feels you are getting too close to the car in front, is nicely calibrated and not overly cautious, while the stability control aids are thoughtfully measured in their interventions, even on the dirt.

Night vision

One more nagging gripe: driving the Colorado at night highlighted some other hidden factors. For example, the centre fascia lights reflect onto the rear windscreen and straight into the rear-view mirror, interrupting the driver’s line of sight and harking back to Commodores of the 1990s. The clarity of the reversing camera is also affected with loss of light.

But after a month with the updated Holden, the general sentiment is strong. The Colorado might not possess the same cult-appeal of the HiLux or Ranger, but it starts to nudge their abilities on a dynamic sense and even betters them in some areas, including infotainment.

As we move forward, the plan is to make more use of the Colorado’s below-average tray dimensions and to test its off-road ability, particularly given the fitment of a limited slip differential in the place of a lockable unit.

We will also re-visit whether the Colorado is hypothetically enough to lure your correspondent over to the dual-cab brigade. As much as I hate to admit it, it is making a compelling case.

2017 Holden Colorado LTZ