2014 Holden Colorado Review

The 2014 Holden Colorado has been updated with an uprated engine and transmission lineup as well as improved safety and infotainment systems to better take on its fierce competition.

Do the updates make it best in class? No. The MY14 Holden Colorado still largely carries over the same issues as the previous model. Poor ride and handling, cheap and plastic interior and truck-live driving dynamics in a time when its competition has well and truly moved on.

The redesigned 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine is coupled to either a remapped six-speed automatic gearbox or a six-speed manual (which replaces a five-speed). In the manual’s case, power has lifted 132kW to 147kW while torque remains the same (though the availability of the torque across the rev range has been heavily modified for better towing) while the automatic gets the additional power and sees torque rise from 470Nm to 500Nm.

The improved power and torque figures for the automatic make the Holden Colorado ute unbeatable for grunt in the four-cylinder segment. The 3,500kg towing capacity is also best in class and a big selling point for the Holden.

The previous model’s automatic transmission spent a lot of time hunting gears below 60km/h, but the new revamped system with the additional power and torque tends to play it better. Finding the right gear more often, with power delivery massively improved as a result.

Behind the wheel the Holden Colorado still drives just like it did before. While the Ford Ranger/Mazda BT-50 twins and the Volkswagen Amarok have taken a more car-like approach when it comes to driving dynamics, the Colorado remains a generation behind.

Compared to its competition, ride comfort is mediocre at best. As is steering and handling. As part of our review Holden put us through a drive program that consisted primarily of highways and a large bumpy off-road component that showed the Colorado’s poor suspension calibration.

If you’re looking for a refined city-friendly ute that still has off-roading ability, the Colorado isn’t it. While it can easily climb hills and conquer mountains, where it’s likely to spend the majority of its time â€" suburbia â€" it leans into bends and bounces around far more than it should.

During our extended drive program along Victorian highways, we got to accustom ourselves with the new MyLink infotainment system that is now standard across the Colorado range (except for the absolute base model Colorado DX).

Like all new cars launched by Holden, the Colorado gets MyLink as part of general motor’s commitment to improving in-car technology.

So far as in-car systems go, MyLink is pretty damn good. The seven-inch touch screen is bright, crisp and the ability to connect to your smartphone for music and navigation is brilliant. It also allows for a reversing camera to be fitted for just $360 (standard on the top spec).

There are bugs, of course. For example the BringGo navigation system (which has to be purchased on your iPhone or Android device for about $60) cuts the music entirely (with a two second pause on each end of the spoke instruction) to give the next command. This is extremely annoying and simply unnecessary as most other systems simply drop the music volume by about three decibels while the navigation is speaking.

Then there’s the constant “connection lost” to your iPhone error that shows up mid way through Pandora, the music streaming service. Speaking of which, if you don’t have the Pandora app already up and running on your iPhone, it won’t work with MyLink.

The satellite navigation itself isn’t exactly brilliant. The spoken instructions are at times difficult to understand as words are spoken with unnatural tones and spacing. The three physical buttons below the screen are also overly sensitive and poorly positioned and on many occasions we found ourselves accidently pressing them when trying to use the touchscreen.

But despite its shortcomings, MyLink is still the best in class infotainment system (which goes to show you just how far behind the rest are). It just happens that when you begin to include apps and make your smartphone the driver of information, things are bound to get a little buggy.

The Bluetooth audio and telephone connectivity work well and cabin noise has been improved so you can actually hold a conversation using the in-built microphone.

Where the Colorado package starts to look dated is the interior. The cheap grey plastics and the overall fit and finish is not up to its competitors’ standards and regardless of its slightly cheaper price, it’s hard to justify. The MyLink system certainly helps lift the cabin ambience, but it’s not enough.

Holden will at some stage, potentially with the facelift in a few years time, improve the interior quality but until that happens, the Colorado will continue to suffer.

On the safety front, there are now front seat side airbags for all models except those with a rear bench seat. Rear parking sensors have also become standard kit for all variants while a vinyl floor has been fitted to LX single and crew cabs.

Pricing for the Holden Colorado has remained unchanged except for a $200 price hike on automatic models.

As Holden’s third best selling model, the Colorado remains in the bottom half of the ute segment for ride comfort, interior quality and refinement. The improvements to the 2014 model have gone a long way to fix some of the initial drivetrain issues but not far enough to bring it up to Ranger, BT-50 and Amarok standards.

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