General Motors is introducing a new turbo-diesel Duramax engine to its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks this fall, the cleanest diesel truck engine ever produced by the automaker. But Chevy said it projects fuel economy will top the midsize Colorado’s segment-leading gasoline fuel economy ratings.
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Chevrolet had something in the bag for the 2016 Colorado truck, so guess what: it’s a new diesel engine.
With so much torque, available at just 2,000 rpm, the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado Duramax diesel has a maximum trailering capacity of 7,700 pounds on rear-wheel-drive models and 7,600 pounds for four-wheel-drive models.
The numbers for the long-anticipated 2016 Chevrolet Colorado Duramax diesel and 2016 GMC Canyon Duamax diesel are in. The engine will cost $3,730 more than the V6 (in the U.S.) and go on sale fall 2015.
“A diesel engine was part of the Colorado’s portfolio plan from the very beginning, meaning the chassis, suspension and other elements of its architecture were engineered to support its capability,” Scott Yackley, assistant chief engineer, said in Tuesday’s release.
In addition to the new diesel option, buyers have access to all the features that have made the Colorado and Canyon so popular in their first year, including built-in 4G LTE wi-fi, lane departure warning, forward collision alert, and available Apple CarPlay connectivity.
Power is SAE-certified at 181 horsepower (135 kW) at 3,400 rpm and 369 lb-ft of torque (500 Nm) at 2,000 rpm. It’s designed to cancel out vibration for a more pleasant ride. Part of that success comes from a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system.
To deal with the extra noise and vibrations that come with a diesel engine, GM added something called a Centrifugal Pendulum Vibration Absorber to the six-speed automatic’s torque converter.
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The new Colorado diesel features a standard integrated trailer brake controller along with a diesel exhaust brake which is controllable by the driver. Exhaust brakes use engine compression to slow a vehicle down, saving wear on the mechanical brakes during steep descents with heavy loads. It is a smart system that varies the amount of brakes needed for the vehicle, load and grade.
