4×4 Chevy Colorado

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The Chevy Colorado was Chevrolet's replacement for the aging S-10 series of small pickups. Introduced in 2004 and co-designed by GM's Brazil and North American teams, along with Isuzu, these trucks are, for the most part, bigger and more powerful than their predecessors. In fact, although the S-10 only offered a choice between a four or six cylinder, the Colorado can be had with a V8 as of 2009.

4x4 Chevy Colorado

The interior of this truck can only really be described as sort of boring. Not that boring is necessarily a bad thing. Some people prefer boring because it generally includes less parts to break and, unless you are worried about hard plastic spontaneously combusting, there are very few worries about trouble with the Colorado's interior. Crew cabs can seat up to six, which is pretty nice for a little truck. Sure, it is a bit snug, but you can still fit six adults in it. How many little trucks can say that?

The 5.3 liter V8 that was introduced in '09 puts out an excellent 300 horsepower. That's right – a small truck with 300 horsepower from the factory. Chevrolet will even customize your suspension for you with different trims, including Z71 off-road package with heavy duty shocks and torsion-bar front suspension. As if you weren't going to modify it anyway, right? Unfortunately, in my opinion anyway, the V8 only comes with an automatic. A 4x4 with an automatic just seems kind of lame to me. For my money, even though the V8 is far more powerful, I just might settle on one of the less powerful engines that offer a manual.

2012 is supposed to see the Colorado redesigned. Will they give us a manual with our 300 horsepower? We shall see.

As with all Chevrolet trucks, aftermarket parts are readily available, and a 2-inch lift kit makes the stock version of the truck look just...wrong. Especially with the V8, this truck will have no problem turning 30-inch wheels over rocks or mud in four wheel drive. I figured they called it the Colorado for a reason – I can't think of the state of Colorado without visualizing nearly impassable rock valleys and mud pits with melting frost on top of them.

A quick search on eBay finds nearly a hundred different Chevrolet Colorado's for sale, and literally thousands of aftermarket parts for modifying everything from the truck's visual appearance to its performance under the hood as well as off the road.