Road tripping thru the aussie outback

The hypnotic Painted Desert, a unique landscape formed from the remains of a dried-up ocean 80 million years ago, is the perfect background for the Chevy Colorado, which proved itself as a capable ride that could tackle some of the toughest terrains of the Australian outback.

Photos by Charles E. Buban

There must be a superb reason why just last week, I was in the middle of nowhere—the Australian outback to be exact—driving the new Chevy Colorado for hundreds of kilometers.

The place is so desolate and featureless that if your concentration drifts for just a bit, you will surely find yourself spinning off the road as the loose and gravelly track constantly tests your pickup’s all-wheel drive system to its limit.

Yet, it’s this exigent environment that attracts not only adventure seekers but also automakers: If they want to prove something, this is one of that places that could validate their work.

In the case of the Chevy Colorado, known as Holden Colorado in the Australian market, numerous engineering refinements have enabled the pickup to weather even the most challenging jaunt through one of the most unforgiving places on the planet.

(Just to give one an idea of how vast this place is, the South Australian outback region is about three times the size of the Philippines.)

The Chevy Colorado did not disappoint.

Pride

“We take pride in our work with the Colorado. General Motors marshaled its global resources to design a compact pickup from the ground up, with Australian Holden engineers being instrumental in numerous aspects that include tweaking the additional noise, vibration, and harshness or NVH measures (the new springs, dampers and sway bar at the front, and new springs and dampers at the rear), as well as upgrading the automatic gearbox and manual gearing,” Brett Vivian, GM Holden and GM Southeast Asia executive director for Engineering, explained after he welcomed motoring journalists from Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines at its highly secretive Engineering Proving Ground located in the town of Lang Lang, Victoria, Australia.

The Chevy Colorado handles well the drive on gravel and dirt. It was able to cope with the constantly changing surfaces with ease with the 4WD system keeping the pickup in check and the driver in control at all times.

The GM Holden Engineering team complements GM Technical Centers across Asia Pacific in India, Thailand and Korea.

Vivian said that Australian engineers had always played a critical role in vehicle development for Holden and GM globally since 1946, and in fact, his team spends over $87 million (P4.7 billion) annually on automotive research and development at its operations base in Australia.

Excellent driving manners

For the Chevy Colorado, the result is very evident in the pickup’s excellent driving manners: steering is light and direct; feel is very confident and composed even during those long triple-digit speed runs; and the front-to-rear suspension match is well sorted out and doesn’t feel jittery over the famous Oodnadatta Track’s corrugated gravel trails, despite the fact we were only carrying a spare tire on the pickup bed.

The motoring media contingent from the Philippines was accompanied by Jona Loren Atienza, Chevrolet Philippines-The Covenant Car Company Marketing Services manager, seen at left.

During those high-speed drives through the Australian outback’s gravel and dirt, the Chevy Colorado’s all-wheel drive system had little trouble dealing with low-grip situations.

Holden Communications director Sean Poppitt said he just loves to show everyone how easy it is to drive a Colorado on such roads.

“Thanks to advanced driver assistance technology, not all vehicles feel as connected or as safe and sure-footed as the Colorado,” he said.

This is important because this type of vehicle is mainly used by professionals, the kind of people who depend on their vehicle, day in and day out.

That said, extensive engineering effort has improved the Chevy Colorado to the point where it is now one of the more enjoyable pickups to drive.

Indeed, the Chevy Colorado engineers and designers have taken consistent steps toward satisfying would-be SUV or crossover buyers by replicating the sensations and amenities found in a normal passenger car.