Holden Colorado Z71 2019 review

The Colorado is one of the larger and more imposing dual cab utes on this segment, perched 1800mm high and riding on a 3096mm wheelbase, with 5361mm overall length, 1874mm width and 12.7-metre turning circle.

It’s built for hard work or play with a rugged steel ladder-frame chassis, double-wishbone front suspension and leaf spring live rear axle. Like the Ranger, the rack and pinion steering is electrically power-assisted and front discs/rear drums provide ample stopping power.

Our test vehicle fitted with some Genuine Holden Accessories such as a Safari bull bar, and wheel arch flares.

The dashboard has an intuitive and logical layout, sharing the chunky look and feel of its Chevrolet Silverado big brother. There’s generous space for driver and front passenger, with big grab handles on both A pillars to aid entry and exit.

The inside looks and feels like a Chevy Silverado.

There’s no grab handles for rear seat passengers, but they do get one of the roomiest seats in terms of leg room. However, the relatively short height between floor and base cushion results in a high knee position for tall adults, who may also find limited headroom. Like all dual cabs there is seating for three adults, but we would suggest restricting this to two if tackling long trips.

The rear seat base cushion has a 60/40 split and both sides can swing up through 90 degrees and stow in a vertical position for extra cabin storage if required. This also reveals small storage pockets in the floor, with the right side loaded with wheel-changing equipment and the left side available for storing smaller items out of sight.

Rear passengers get one of the roomiest seats in terms of leg room.

Holden’s official combined figure is 8.7L/100km but after our 392km test over a variety of roads with mostly light loads the dash display was showing 10.7, which was close to our own figure of 11.2 calculated from actual fuel bowser and trip meter readings.

We can’t say that is peak efficiency, given that the benchmark 3.0 litre V6 engines in both the VW Amarok (10.7L) and Mercedes-Benz X350d (9.6L) offer superior fuel economy (based on our own road test figures) with more power and torque to boot. Even so, you could expect a useful ‘real world’ driving range of around 680km from its 76-litre tank.

The Z71’s standard kerb weight is 2143kg, but it was higher on our test vehicle given the various accessories fitted. Even so, based on Holden’s figures, the Z71’s 3150kg GVM rating allows for a genuine one tonne-plus payload of 1007kg.

It’s also rated to tow up to the class-benchmark 3500kg of braked trailer, but the maximum payload would have to be reduced by a massive 650kg to avoid exceeding the 6000kg GCM. And that would only leave 357kg of payload capacity, which would be barely enough to cater for a driver and three adult passengers with no luggage (even less with our accessories fitted).

Fact is, most folks don’t need to tow 3.5 tonnes, so our best advice is always to base your maximum braked towing weight on the tow vehicle’s GVM. In this case, the 3500kg threshold drops to a still substantial 2850kg and the payoff is that the Z71’s big 1007kg payload capacity is retained.

The cargo tub, which has four sturdy tie-down points, is 1484mm long and 1534mm wide with 1122mm between the wheel arches, which like most utes is too narrow to take a standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallet. The sports bar’s large ‘sailplane’ shroud adds style and useful shade for rear seat passengers. However, it also extends prominently into the load area, which may restrict the Z71’s utility if tall loads need to be carried.

Cabin storage includes a bottle holder and bin in each front door plus prominent cup holders on each side of the dash, which look like fold-away items but protrude permanently below the air vents on each side. There’s also a shallow storage bin in the centre dash pad, a single glovebox and a centre console offering two more cup holders, small oddments storage and a lidded box which doubles as an elbow rest. There’s also overhead glasses storage.

Both front and rear passengers get a bottle holder in each door.

Rear seat passengers get a bottle holder and small storage bin in each door plus flexible storage pockets on each front seat backrest. However, there are no cup holders to be found anywhere, including the central fold-down arm rest, which is a flaw in terms of passenger comfort and convenience.

Unfortunately, we were prevented from doing our usual GVM test because the front of the Z71’s tonneau cover on our test vehicle was permanently attached with rivets, making it impossible to remove.

Even so, we have previously tested an LTZ Colorado auto with a one tonne-plus payload and it coped with admirable ease on a variety of roads and steep climbs. We have also towed 2.8 tonnes with a similar model and can attest to the Colorado’s all-round load carrying and towing attributes, which are well suited to a myriad of work and play duties.

Five years/unlimited km warranty. Service intervals of 12 months/12,000km whichever occurs first. Capped price for first five scheduled services varies between $299 and $499. Complimentary roadside assistance for up to five years from date of first registration, if serviced by a Holden dealer.