Set to go on sale from early September, Holden’s 2017 restyled and improved Colorado was co-developed by Holden engineers in collaboration with their international counterparts.

While the company’s Aussie engineers were the one steering most of the significant engineering and development changes on the 2017 Colorado, they received plenty of help from both GM Brazil and GM Thailand.

The result is a vehicle capable of handling Australia’s particular driving conditions as well as its typical customer requirements.

“The variety of roads in Australia and the variety of ways in which Australians use trucks means the 2017 Colorado has to be versatile enough to handle everything thrown at it,” explained Lead Development Engineer, Amelinda Watt.

“We know customers like to drive their Colorado off-road or on unsealed roads, but we also know they spend a lot of time on the bitumen. We’ve focused on improving refinement and driveability with a range of chassis changes, including electric power steering as well as engine and transmission noise and vibration refinements.”

“We’ve also had the benefit of international experience, as the Colorado program was a co-development project between GM Brazil, GM Thailand and Holden – a great example of the type of engineering work Holden will be responsible for in the future.”

Through this international experience, Holden engineers took part in numerous development activities and drive events in Brazil, in addition to critical local testing at their own Lang Lang Proving Ground and on the public roads around Victoria.

Before signing off on the truck, the 2017 Colorado was sent to tackle a wide variety of terrains. According to Holden, local testing meant that more than 100,000 km (62,137 miles) were accumulated on inner-city and suburban roads, rural country roads and 4×4 tracks in state forests.

“It’s also been beneficial to hold the final development drive in Australia and have colleagues from Brazil ,Thailand, India, USA and Europe visit and see first-hand the type of terrain our customers drive on,” added Ms. Watt.

As for drivability, the 2017 Colorado’s revised steering calibration and faster steering rack (from 41 mm/rev to 48mm/rev), plus its lower lock-to-lock turn numbers (from 3.9 to 3.29), are said to deliver a car-like feel and “a more precise response.”

The suspension, co-developed by Holden with the assistance of GM Brazil, features digressive front and rear shocks and an increase in size of the front stabilizer bar (29/31 mm to 34 mm), as well as revised spring rates.

Other key chassis developments include a revised set of engine, transmission and body mounts, plus a new final drive ratio on manual transmission models, which will improve drive quality while towing.

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