Room for two flagship Colorados: Holden
BY TUNG NGUYEN | 17th Sep 2018
HOLDEN’S new Colorado Z71 Xtreme hero pick-up will not encroach on the high-end territory already established by its HSV-modified SportsCat cousin as both target different demographics, according to the Lion-badged brand.
Speaking to GoAuto in Coober Pedy at the launch of the new Colorado flagship, Holden general manager of light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) Andre Scott said there is space in the market for both high-grade Colorados as they both take aim at different performance aspects.
“HSV has done a great job of defining a niche in the sports performance market,” he said. “It’s definitely still a legitimate top-end option for HSV dealers, which is around 60-odd dealers of our network, but again they’re niche is within sports performance, and they’ve made suspension upgrades and disc brake changes accordingly. This (Z71 Xtreme) is purely top-end but off road.”
HSV equips the SportsCat with 30mm-wider track, sports suspension with increased ride height, a bodykit, a red-stitched interior, new-look front grille and tubular side steps, while the SportsCat+ adds larger AP Racing brakes and a rear de-coupling anti-roll bar.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Z71 Xtreme comes with all-terrain tyres, a 2.5mm-thick bash plate, a winch bar with an integrated winch, revised front springs, tubular side steps, fender flares, a bonnet bulge, a rear steel step and a roof tray – all Holden dealer accessories fitted in at the showroom.
The SportsCat is priced at $60,790 before on-roads for the manual, while the SportsCat+ starts at $66,790. An automatic transmission adds $2200 to the asking price of either version.
The Colorado Z71 Xtreme is priced at $69,990 driveaway and is available exclusively with a six-speed automatic transmission.
However, both top-spec Colorados are powered by a carryover 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine that produces 147kW of power and 500Nm of torque in automatic form.
When questioned by GoAuto if an existing engine with the same outputs as the rest of the Colorado range suits a so-called “hero” variant, Mr Scott said the 2.8-litre powerplant is still competitive against its rivals.
“When something’s good enough, you don’t need to mess with it, and when you look at our 2.8, that’s becoming large in the segment. The torque and output are solid, acceleration, handling, feel … are not to be outdone as well,” he said.
“There’s no need to touch that. What we were trying to do was provide that off-road-ready package on top of that to create a true hero for off road.”
Compared to other off-road-focused pick-ups, the Colorado Z71 Xtreme outclasses its Toyota HiLux Rugged X’s 130kW/450Nm 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine, but falls short in power to Ford’s 157kW/500Nm twin-turbo-diesel 2.0-litre Ranger Raptor.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz X-Class X350d and Volkswagen Amarok still sit at the top of the pick-up tree with turbo-diesel V6 engines outputting 190kW/550Nm and 190kW/580Nm respectively.
Mr Scott would not be drawn on if a different engine, such as a petrol V8 or larger diesel, could be slotted under the Colorado’s bonnet, but said he is currently happy with the current 2.8-litre engine.
“For us we’re focused on (2.8-litre) Duramax, it’s capability, it’s our global diesel option supported globally by GM. Output is strong, torque is solid, power is solid, performance around the vehicle is excellent, so I think we’ll just focus on what’s working for us right now,” he said.
