On the road, the lowered Colorado feels much like a car. Ride height is closer to that of a sedan than of a half-ton pickup, as is the low 16.6-in. step-in height. If its inherently American growl doesn't catch your attention at startup, the V-8 will make its presence known the second you merge into traffic. Getting to speed isn't just quick -- it's fun.
You'll find excuses to floor it ("oh, that Mazda may look like it's a mile away, but that car has some power. It could close that gap. Better drop the hammer just to be sure") and will love the effortless flow of power. It handles better than a typical truck, too, making it easy to forget that with all of this carlike entertainment also comes a 1250-lb payload capacity and 6000-lb towing capacity.
No surprise, it also performed quite well at the track, reaching 60 mph in 6.9 sec, finishing the quarter mile in 15.2 sec at 90.6 mph, and providing an impressive 3.8-sec time when accelerating from 45 to 65 mph. For reference, a 4WD 3.5L (first-gen I-5) Colorado we tested took 9.6 sec to get to 60 and completed the quarter mile in 16.7 at 82.6 mph. The specially tuned suspension also improved things in the Motor Trend figure eight, where the Colorado's numbers went from 30.3 sec at 0.51 g to 27.7 sec at 0.61 g, which is Mazda3 and Acura TSX territory. The Colorado also excelled when stopping from 60.
For 2009, all Colorados benefit from braking upgrades, including four-channel ABS with yaw control, and this new truck shaved 27 ft off the previous 3.5L's 153-ft stopping distance. We know that isn't a completely fair comparison, as they aren't identically equipped, but you still get the basic idea that there has been a significant improvement.