Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
Nissan has thoroughly redesigned the Frontier, leaving the Ford Motor Company and General Motors with the oldest pickups in the segment. Both of them are currently testing next-generation trucks, but only the Blue Oval has made a case for brand-new ladder-frame architecture.
Spied just outside the Milford Proving Grounds, the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado was intended to feature the 32xx platform. At some point during the initial stages of development, GM made a 180-degree turn, choosing to update the GMT 31xx platform of the current Colorado and GMC Canyon.
This development explains the similar proportions to the outgoing truck, resulting from the engineering and physical constraints that simply can’t be adjusted. To whom it may concern, car designers call these hardpoints.
Equipped with makeshift headlights, no rocker panels, six lug nuts for each of the four steelies, Goodyear rubber, and a single-tipped exhaust system, the crew-cabbed prototype further sweetens the deal with a forward-facing camera located right behind the rearview mirror. That’s for the AEB system, a safety feature that has been already proven in the full-size Silverado.
The short-bed prototype also flaunts chiseled quarter panels, a welcomed change over the doughy forms of the outgoing truck. Expected to launch in Q3 2022 at the latest, the Colorado and its swankier brother will reportedly drop the 2.5-, 3.6-, and 2.8-liter powertrain options for a force-fed engine.
Instead of the EcoTec, High Feature, and Duramax, the largest automaker in America is expected to adopt the Tripower four-cylinder turbo from the Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500. General Motors dubs this motor the Tripower, a.k.a. L3B for the regular production order code. From 2.7 liters of displacement, the cast-aluminum engine develops 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet (473 Nm) from just 1,500 revs with the help of a BorgWarner-developed turbo that spools up to 22 pounds per square inch.
The Tripower is also perfect for the ZR2 off-road variant, especially if you remember that Cadillac utilizes a more potent L3B in the CT4-V sports sedan. In that application, the 2.7-liter motor cranks out 325 horsepower and 380 pound-feet (515 Nm) of torque, more than enough for the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 to fend off the next-gen Ranger Raptor for the U.S. market.
This development explains the similar proportions to the outgoing truck, resulting from the engineering and physical constraints that simply can’t be adjusted. To whom it may concern, car designers call these hardpoints.
Equipped with makeshift headlights, no rocker panels, six lug nuts for each of the four steelies, Goodyear rubber, and a single-tipped exhaust system, the crew-cabbed prototype further sweetens the deal with a forward-facing camera located right behind the rearview mirror. That’s for the AEB system, a safety feature that has been already proven in the full-size Silverado.
The short-bed prototype also flaunts chiseled quarter panels, a welcomed change over the doughy forms of the outgoing truck. Expected to launch in Q3 2022 at the latest, the Colorado and its swankier brother will reportedly drop the 2.5-, 3.6-, and 2.8-liter powertrain options for a force-fed engine.
Instead of the EcoTec, High Feature, and Duramax, the largest automaker in America is expected to adopt the Tripower four-cylinder turbo from the Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500. General Motors dubs this motor the Tripower, a.k.a. L3B for the regular production order code. From 2.7 liters of displacement, the cast-aluminum engine develops 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet (473 Nm) from just 1,500 revs with the help of a BorgWarner-developed turbo that spools up to 22 pounds per square inch.
The Tripower is also perfect for the ZR2 off-road variant, especially if you remember that Cadillac utilizes a more potent L3B in the CT4-V sports sedan. In that application, the 2.7-liter motor cranks out 325 horsepower and 380 pound-feet (515 Nm) of torque, more than enough for the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 to fend off the next-gen Ranger Raptor for the U.S. market.
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