Founded by NHRA racer John Lingenfelter, the tuner known as Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has come up with a Colorado with a supercharged engine. The Chevy pickup doesn’t feature the 3.6-liter High Feature V6 but a small-block V8, namely the 6.2-liter LT4 of the Camaro ZL1, Corvette Z06, and Cadillac CTS-V.
The LT4-swapped ‘Rado is not listed on the Lingenfelter website at the time of writing. Only the supercharged 3.6 is available for 2017 through 2020 trucks, priced at $6,995 including installation. In addition to the 720-horsepower engine, the Colorado in the following video and photo gallery further boasts an eight-speed transmission.
The body control module, engine, and torque-converter automatic were all calibrated to suit the off-road warrior, just as you would expect from a serious tuning company. At the rear wheels, the ‘Rado with the almighty LT4 lays down 534 horsepower and 526 pound-feet of torque.
Let those numbers sink in for a minute, then remember what kind of output ratings we’re expecting from the Ram 1500 Rebel TRX. The 707-horsepower Helltruck is certainly a thriller on paper, but then again, the Colorado with the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is lighter and smaller. As Lingenfelter describes the newcomer on YouTube, “this thing rips!”
It’s hard to tell if the truck started out life as a dual-cab Colorado or a dual-cab Colorado ZR2, but the exterior design does resemble the latter of the two models. Chunky tires, beadlock wheels, and tinted side windows are featured as well, yet the plastic fender flares that come standard on the Colorado ZR2 are nowhere to be seen.
As for the LT4, we all know the crate engine develops a little less than 720 horsepower. The secrets to this bump in output are the tuner’s supercharger drive damper pulley, fasteners, belt, crankshaft bolt, 100-millimeter idler kit, low-restriction air filter, and the software calibration mention a few paragraphs before.
If you’re also planning on swapping your Colorado’s engine with a supercharged small-block, the wet-sump LT4 can be had for close to $15,000 including shipping while the dry-sump costs more than $16,000.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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