Chevrolet Trucks Blog

The 2008 Chevy Colorado lineup will have some significant changes, including two new and more powerful engines. It will also retain  the versatility the customers have come to expect from this lineup of capable trucks.

Colorado is available in regular cab, extended cab and crew cab configurations, as well as 2WD and 4WD. The base engine in all but 4WD crew cabs is a powerful, 2.9L DOHC four-cylinder with variable valve timing (VVT) that delivers 185 horsepower (138 kW) and 190 lb.-ft. of torque (258 Nm).

Colorado ’s various body styles and powertrain combinations are available in WT, LS and LT trims. LS models come with a color-keyed appearance for a sporty appearance.

Colorado can seat up to six while offering much higher levels of ride comfort, handling, quietness and interior space than many other midsize trucks. Standard features include rack-and-pinion steering, intermittent wipers, air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, cruise control and folding outside mirrors.

Some optional equipments are the remote keyless entry, traction assist (2WD models), XM Satellite Radio, fog lamps, self-dimming inside rearview mirror, power, heated leather seating, high-back bucket seats, a rear sliding window and power-operated outside rearview mirrors.

According to some car critics, Colorado ’s instrument panel has large, easy-to-read analog gauges, with switches and controls designed for easy operation with gloves. Crew cab models offer a 60/40-split/folding rear seat capable of accommodating three adults. Extended cab versions have four doors, and its two folding rear seats face forward.

Regular and extended cab models have a 6-foot 1-inch (1.85 m) pickup bed with taller sides than many competitors, providing best-in-class volume for deeper storage and higher overall payload. Crew cab bed lengths are 5-foot 1-inch (1.55 m). Both beds offer two-tier cargo loading and tailgates that are both lockable and easily removable. The crew cab box offers a standard lock.

There are two suspension systems available on Colorado : the rugged Z85 suspension, which is standard on 2WD or 4WD models, and the Z71 off-road suspension, which is available on both 2WD and 4WD models.

People often mistakes the upcoming version of the Chevrolet Camaro as a 2008 model, but it actually goes into production in 2008 and will not be available until 2009. It seems as this new Camaro is going to embrace the future by giving the interior a futuristic look, will that is if the concept is anything to go by but the interior will possible be the first thing that gets changed.

Way back in 2002 Chevrolet decided to mothball the name Camaro after 40 years of huge sales which then slowly dwindled to small numbers. But Chevrolet have decided to bring the good name back, and all true Americans will be proud to go to work one morning in 2008 to start producing the 2009 Camaro, and if that was not good enough there will be a convertible model due in 2010.

It is evident that the styling of the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro  has been passed on to the 2009 Camaro. The new Camaro is slightly larger than previous models.

The concept of the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro shows that  the engine configuration could at a 6.0-liter V-8, hopefully producing around 400hp, although there could be other engines of choice like a 3.9-liter V-6 engine with produces 250 horsepower.

The 2009 Camaro will be rear wheel drive. There are plans for at least 100,000 units to be produced every year.

Reports have come out that the best way to describe Chevrolet’s entry at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) was more models, more emotions. At the IAA (September 13 - 23, 2007), the bow-tie brand celebrates one world and four European premieres.

The Chevrolet hostesses on the stand also deserve particular attention. They will be wearing exclusive uniforms designed and manufactured by fashion students of the renowned Private Modeschule Düsseldorf. This project was part of the pan-European “Young Creative? Chevrolet!”
contest. This competition for art school students was inaugurated in Geneva in March with eight European countries participating. “Young? Creative? Chevrolet!” covers five artistic fields: visual arts, photography, video, interior design and fashion.

Highlights on the Chevrolet stand in Hall 8 include three creative Mini concepts called Beat, Groove, and Trax. They demonstrate just how much creativity can be put into a Mini and combine energy, diversity and the excitement of urban life.

One top salesman in a Chevrolet dealer in Torrance, California said that he hasn’t had much luck selling mid-sized Chevrolets against Toyota’s Camry. Although he is very optimistic about the arrival of the new Malibu this November.

“It’s been difficult for a while,” said the salesman, whose dealership near Los Angeles is in the middle of a market that’s a Japanese stronghold. “We look forward to the battle, actually, with a product that we feel is going to be strongly competitive with their vehicle.”

The sleek-looking Malibu is critical for General Motors as U.S. automakers try to woo back customers they lost by neglecting the mid-sized car category and focusing on high-profit trucks and sport utility vehicles. The Malibu and the new 2008 Honda Accord are signs of renewed competition in the largest segment of the U.S. car market.

That means consumers will see more standard features, higher quality cars, stable if not falling prices, and models coming out at a faster pace, said Erich Merkle, vice president of forecasting for auto consultant IRN in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“They’re all trying to pack them with features,” he said. “It’s incredibly competitive. That competition is just providing greater value to the consumer. Over the next two years, you’re going to be getting more for less.”

To Merkle and others, the Malibu is Detroit’s best shot at wresting control of the mid-sized segment from Toyota and Honda. The new car has a modern, rounded look and an array of engines and transmissions GM says are far smoother than the Camry’s with comparable or better fuel economy. Merkle says the fit and finish, as well as the interior, are gorgeous.

“We simply see it as the best chance we’ve had in years to take on the two dominant Asian players,” said Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman of global product development, in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “It’s the best mid-market front-wheel-drive we’ve ever done.”

The Chevrolet Camaro is one of the most popular vehicles Chevrolet has produced. A report regarding a hybrid Chevrolet Camaro is not impossible according to a GM source. Incorporating Chevrolet’s legendary small-block V8 engine to General Motors’ advanced new hybrid system, isn’t on the drawing board yet, but it is feasible.

“The Camaro is Chevrolet and GM’s halo car,” said Joe Phillippi, principal of AutoTrends Consulting, in Short Hills, N.J. “It projects an image that reflects on the whole corporation. To offer all the performance aspects of a classic Camaro and still be environmentally friendly … that’s a real plus from an image point of view.”

“A hybrid Camaro, it could go a long way toward changing the perception of General Motors and Chevrolet,” he said, particularly if the car won the seal of approval of Consumer Reports magazine or some other respected third party.

Even Chris Paine, director of the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” which took GM to task for halting the EV1 electric car in the 1990s, would be very please with such a project.

“The word hybrid is really starting to mean something at GM; they deserve another look from people,” Paine said. “Anything that saves fuel and gives equivalent power is going to be exciting to the consumer.”

“Every automaker is going to have to have a hybrid version of almost every model they build,” said Tony Swan, senior editor at Car and Driver magazine. “It’s a smart thing to do for marketing.”

The new hybrid system combines the cylinder deactivation system that helped the Chevrolet Silverado achieve the highest fuel economy rating of any big pickup. It’s a system called the “two-mode” hybrid. It recaptures energy used in braking to charge its batteries and shuts the engine off when the vehicle is idling or puttering along at neighborhood speeds. The system boosts fuel economy in city driving as much as 45% and improves highway fuel economy by a smaller amount, according to engineers working on the GM-BMW-Mercedes joint development program.