Gotta love all the arm chair quarter backing that goes on in these threads. I am not here to do that but I will give some experience I have had regarding the virtues of the baby Duramax. We bought an LT trimmed crew cab long bed as a do everything vehicle to replace my wife's Outback. She wanted a Tacoma and we checked those out too but we came away more impressed by the Colorado for a bunch of the reasons previously posted. The diesel is great, we get 30-32mpg on the two lane highways around our area easily, about 23 in town. Last month we saw 37.5mpg on a 100 mile stretch with my wife driving, no lie. That was exceptional and out of the ordinary. The ride is tight, the comfort is good, the ergonomics, and driving dynamics better than the Tacoma. We have a 3/4 ton Suburban we bought to tow our 23' camper that we use for mountain bike trips. We started pulling it with the Colorado and have been stoked. Where as the Burb wouldn't see 10mpg with the camper, we were getting 15-16 with the Colorado liadecwith our family of four, bikes and gears and a high profile camper in tow. On top of that, the Duramax tows easier than the 6.0 in the Suburban. They both produce the same peak torque but the Suburban produces the 370 at 4,000 Rpms where as the Colorado at 2k. The Colorado just cruised along seemingly with less drama or downshifts and the exhaust brake is awesome too for long grades. It is a great workhorse of a truck. We initially had some emissions related issues with the NOx sensors but were replaced with an updated version and have had no issues since. The early trucks had issues with those sensors which seem to be more or less addressed now. The engine in these is not a new design but has been in service for years and upgraded along the way. What is new is the emissions systems used in the states. I did a trip across the Atacama desert of Chile with a Chevy Luv with an earlier version of this engine about 10 years ago and lived it then so was pretty stoked to see them bring this to the US. The Holden version of this current truck has been available in other markets prior to the US arrival and you see them in use in NewZealand and Australia pretty frequently. An interesting aside, the Duramax isn't really pokey, it feels quite powerful, at half throttle, problem is if you mat it, the transmission programming takes it up way beyond where the torque falls off. Half throttle actually gives way more thrust because the shift points are lower, essentially short shifting, kind of bizarre but makes for effortless, quiet passing. I respect the ZR2 but haven't driven one yet. As an out of the box good at everything offroad vehicle it's hard to beat but I think a long bed Z71 or LT might be better suited for long distance travel due to the better payload and towing capacities as well as the bed length/cab length options. I personally find pickups with 5 foot beds pretty useless. Additionally, the auto locker on these things seems to work pretty well and smoothly versus say the G80 in our 2500 Suburban which is rather abrupt in engagement and requires a bit of an aggressive driving technique to get it to engage. Overall I think this truck is the most useful all around vehicle you can get in NA. Best overland rig? Probably not if you are looking to travel internationally, no ULSD vehicle is as ultra low sulfur diesel isn't available in many countries yet. One other unmentioned point here, price. Try negotiating with a Toyota dealer on a Tacoma. You can get a smoking deal on a Colorado. Ours retailed for 41k and we got our Duramax for 10k off plus zero percent for 5 years, plus they threw in weather tech floor mats and some other stuff. So from a value perspective it wasn't even a contest. The Tacoma is a great vehicle, a safe choice for sure and I am not bashing it. I like Toyotas, I have had a Land Cruiser continuously for the past 21 years, sometimes several along with Tundras and an FJ Cruiser. I was an early member of Land Cruiser forums from the early days, Spector Offroad forum which basically migrated into IH8 Mud. Any brand specific forum has so much insestous parting in the back that you get a bit of a false sense of reality. Yes Toyota has had great build quality and reliability over the years but it all breaks. I have had mechanical failures and been stranded at least once in all three Land Cruisers I have owned, especially my 80 series that I have had over 15 years now. Toyota has history of making long running stuff, but so has Chevy. Look at the mileage that Suburbans rack up, and usually poorly taken care of, suddenly all those high mileage Land Cruisers don't look so unique. So, before everyone takes another pull from the Kool Aid, take a step back and realize perception isn't always what it seems. And, dear Toyota, myself and other Toyota enthusiasts have been begging you for years to bring a diesel small truck or Land Cruiser to the states for years. Many of us have even written you letters, for which you claim there is no demand or market.... bravo to GM to take a risk and do just that, bring in one f their foreign market diesels. I vote with my dollars. I live my Land Cruiser but I give props where it is due. Maybe my tune will change in 100,000 mikes but we will see. Friends with the previous model Colorado as unloved as it seems to be have had good reliability with them. These newer ones are built to a much higher standard it feels. So yeah, that's been my take. Looking forward to some upcoming, growing aftermarket options like the AEV kit for when we start using this truck for remote travel more.
