2006 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew Cab Lt3 Diesel on 2040-cars

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2016 Chevy Colorado grabs Motor Trend Truck of the Year award

It's not an easy feat to win Motor Trend Truck of the Year twice in a row, but the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado managed to do just that. Thanks to the introduction of the 2.8-liter Duramax four-cylinder diesel, the magazine decided to bring the pickup back to defend the title. In more good news for the Bowtie brand, the 2016 Camaro earned the magazine's Car of the Year award. The Colorado beat a tough group of finalists to earn the nod this year, including its GMC Canyon sibling. The Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra also made this year's list. The Nissan Titan XD and latest Toyota Tacoma rounded out the challengers. A model had to shine in six criteria to earn the title: advancement in design, engineering excellence, safety, efficiency, value, and performance of intended function. Like it did with the Camaro, Motor Trend posted a story online that explained the rationale for picking the Colorado again. They praised the diesel profusely and lauded the whole platform as quite a capable hauler. This year's Motor Trend SUV of the Year honor went to the Volvo XC90. The Swedish 'ute had to win against an initial group of 16 candidates that the magazine eventually whittled down to finalists that consisted of the Honda Pilot, Lincoln MKX, the combined Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class and GLE Coupe, and Nissan Murano. "Seven-passenger people movers aren't supposed to drive like this," senior features editor Jonny Lieberman said about the Volvo in the announcement of the champions. The Honda CR-V won last year. In the explanation online, the judges applauded the XC90's new modular platform, and they loved both the T6 twin-charged engine and T8 hybrid version. The SUV's key enamored the writers, too. Related Video: MOTOR TREND Announces 2016 "Of The Year" Winners Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, SUV of the Year, and Person of the Year announced during live ceremony and webcast in Los Angeles LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, for the first time in the brand's 66-year history, MOTOR TREND announced winners of the Golden Calipers for Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, SUV of the Year, and Person of the Year at a red-carpet gala in front of an audience of industry insiders and celebrity guests. The awards show was also streamed live on the MOTOR TREND Channel on YouTube, with 3.5 million subscribers the world's largest automotive video channel, and on MOTOR TREND OnDemand, the brand's new subscription video on demand (SVOD) channel.

GM reportedly developing 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder

General Motors is allocating a massive amount of resources to developing electric technology, but it's not forgetting about the gasoline-powered cars that make up the bulk of its sales. It's reportedly designing a new 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine based on its 2.7. Citing "sources familiar with the matter," enthusiast website GM Authority wrote that the 2.5-liter four is "in [the] final stages of development," meaning it should be announced sooner rather than later (assuming the report is accurate). Technical details are few and far between as of writing. The publication learned that the 2.5 will be part of the Cylinder Set Strategy (CSS) family of engines and that it will be mechanically related to the 2.7-liter currently found in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, among several other models. It will feature dual overhead camshafts. It's too early to tell which models the 2.5-liter four-cylinder will end up in, or how much power it will generate. The output will likely depend on the application. For context, the 2.7 delivers 310 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 348 pound-feet of torque between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm in the Silverado. In the smaller Colorado, it provides anywhere between 237 and 310 horsepower depending on the trim level selected. While this is pure speculation, our crystal ball tells us the engine will end up powering crossovers. It's an easy deduction to make. We can't imagine it will be offered in the Silverado, and seeing it in the Colorado is unlikely because its entry-level engine develops 237 horsepower; there's likely not much of a market for a midsize truck with 200 or so horsepower. Putting it in the Corvette wouldn't make sense and the Camaro has nearly reached the end of its life cycle without a successor planned. This leaves us with Chevrolet's range of crossovers, like the Equinox, as well as their GMC-, Buick-, and Cadillac-branded counterparts. We're not discounting the possibility that the cars set to receive the 2.5 haven't been unveiled, but those are likely crossovers, too; the odds of seeing another big Chevy sedan are very, very low. General Motors hasn't commented on the report, and it hasn't publicly announced plans to expand its CSS family of engines. If the report is accurate, we should learn more about the new turbocharged, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine in the not-too-distant future. Featured Gallery 2022 Chevrolet Equinox RS View 56 Photos Buick Chevrolet GM GMC

Silverado HD, Touareg V10 TDI face off in diesel tug-of-war

A couple weeks ago, we watched a Chevrolet Silverado get dominated by a Dodge Ram Heavy Duty in a fullsize pickup tug-of-war, but in that truck's defense, Chevy's Vortec gas engine was no match for the torquey Cummins turbo diesel. For our next round of vehicular tug-of-war, a Duramax-powered Silverado HD takes on Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI.
Now, on paper, putting the Duramax V8's 365 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque up against the V10's 310 hp and 553 lb-ft looks like an easy win for the Bowtie, but unfortunately, this battle has a similar result as the Dodge versus Chevy video, with the Silverado smoking its tires trying to move forward as it gets pulled backwards. Put another way: YouTube 2, Chevy Silverado 0.
It just goes to show, though, that big tires, bolt-on fender flares and goofy smoke stacks don't improve your towing abilities. Besides, what did the Silverado driver expect when the Touareg V10 TDI has towed a Boeing 747 in the past?