Chevy Colorado crowned Motor Trend Truck of the Year, beats Ford F-150

[Zane]

By Zane Merva

Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com

12/3/2014

Grabbing the title away from the all new Ford F-150, the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado has won the coveted title of Motor Trend's "2015 Truck of the Year".

After the magazine's "most comprehensive truck evaluation in history", Motor Trend editors were impressed. The new Chevy Colorado gained universal praise while beating out seven other models among ten total vehicles tested.

The vehicles tested for the title were:

• Chevrolet Colorado WT and Colorado Z71
• Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD
• Ford F150 2.7L EcoBoost and 3.5L EcoBoost
• Ford F-450


• Ford Transit 350 HR and Transit 150 MR


• GMC Canyon SLT


• GMC Sierra Denali 2500 HD

Also read: Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 concept marks return of legendary moniker

Beating out the Ford's all new F-150 is a huge win for Chevrolet, as Truck of the Year winners typically use the award as leverage for marketing to consumers. Plan on seeing the Motor Trend Golden Calipers alongside the Colorado alot this year.

How did the Editors of MT make their decision? Chevrolet says testing regimen went down like this:

To determine which truck deserved top honors, the MOTOR TREND test team subjected all of the contenders to numerous instrumented and real-world road tests. First up was standard MOTOR TREND testing, which included: 0-60 mph and 1/4-mile acceleration, 60-0 mph braking, and maximum lateral grip - all without payload or trailered loads.

A specific payload was then added to each truck and van, and the vehicles were then driven more than 250 miles to the Arizona/Nevada border to evaluate ride quality and loaded fuel economy. The vehicles were driven up and down the famed Davis Dam in Bullhead City, Ariz., for further assessment, including an instrumented test designed to simulate a passing situation while carrying a load.

The team then moved to a world-class automotive proving grounds for instrumented acceleration tests with nominal weight trailers. Truck and trailer were also driven through a short handling course to evaluate acceleration, braking, maneuverability and outward visibility. The final phase of evaluation involved a 21-mile road loop through hills of Arizona's Hualapai Mountains.

Following the team's intensive evaluation, the trucks were shipped to MOTOR TREND headquarters in El Segundo to undergo proprietary "Real MPG" fuel-economy testing. Using advanced exhaust gas and flow-rate analyzers, Real MPG measures tailpipe emissions every second during a three-hour, 88-mile drive around the Los Angeles area to record accurate real-world fuel economy.

Once testing was completed, select MOTOR TREND editors convened to determine which truck would be crowed Truck of the Year.

"When it came down to it, after over a week's worth of testing, we sat down, we hashed it all out. All the judges are asked to write down their top 3 picks - and third place was the Ford F-150; second place was Ford Transit, and by unanimous vote was the Chevrolet Colorado"

Edward Loh, Editor-In-Chief of Motor Trend

Read Motor Trend's Article on the 2015 Colorado here

Motor Trend Editor-In-Chief Edward Loh (left) presents General Motors CEO Mary Barra with the 2015 Motor Trend Truck of the Year Award for the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado. Motor Trend makes the announcement Wednesday, December 3, 2014, noting the 2015 Colorado emerged as Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year by a rare unanimous vote. The editors were impressed with Colorado’s clean-sheet design, “right-sized” package, excellent handling, and overall capability. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Chevrolet)

Motor Trend Detroit Editor Scott Burgess (l to r) presents the Motor Trend 2015 Truck of the Year award to General Motors Vice President Global Product Programs Doug Parks, Executive Chief Engineer Full and Midsize Truck Jeff Luke, Vehicle Chief Engineer Anita Burke, and Executive Vice President Global Product Development Purchasing and Supply Chain Mark Reuss at a special event Wednesday, December 3, 2014 in Warren, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Chevrolet)

[SnakeEyeSS]

Just saw this on MT. I have a feeling that Ford's lack of MPG gains are the biggest factor.

 

Now here comes the fun part, all the people who trash MT for now giving the calipers on past vehicles saying they are biased or anti GM truck will say how good MT is for this.

 

Nah, they just sent the advertising check early this time.

[newdude]

GM HAS to run hard with this. They beat the beer can...

['01LS1]

MT does peculiar things. But how pissed is Ford at the moment?

Their new global Mustang beat for car of the year by VW Golf & now their F150 beat by a mid size truck. Wow.

[SnakeEyeSS]

Woah, read the MT article.

.

The Colorado is rated to tow 7,000 pounds with a V-6 and towing package, which we did not sample. The 2.5-liter is rated for 3,500 pounds, but Chevy doesn't sell a hitch on 2.5-liter models, so we put one on and towed a 3,000-pound trailer. Acceleration to 60 mph slowed from 9.3 to 17.4 seconds -- slowing just slightly more as a percentage than its GMC sibling Canyon 3.6 V-6 did with the same trailer (7.7-13.3 seconds). Our Z71 model did not include a hitch.

The $36,000 Z71 top of the line did not come with a HITCH(last sentence). What the.....

 

I hope that was a pre production accident. Not sending a truck with a hitch to TOTY testing is a glaring error or a bad omen.

[newdude]

Woah, read the MT article.

The $36,000 Z71 top of the line did not come with a HITCH(last sentence). What the.....

 

I hope that was a pre production accident. Not sending a truck with a hitch to TOTY testing is a glaring error or a bad omen.

 

I'd hope so. Trailer package is optional across the board, so hopefully they sent in error. That said, I don't think it would have swayed their choice.

[1950chevy]

_{So does this mean Ford and Dodge now has to create new truck commercials?}

 

_{I can just hear the mad scrambling and back pedaling in their marketing offices as we speak.}

[MikeNH]

_{So does this mean Ford and Dodge now has to create new truck commercials?}

 

_{I can just hear the mad scrambling and back pedaling in their marketing offices as we speak.}

No. Ram won the award in 2013/14. This is 2015. Ram can still claim back to back wins, but it'd be hollow at this point.

[hzl6cm]

_{So does this mean Ford and Dodge now has to create new truck commercials?}

 

_{I can just hear the mad scrambling and back pedaling in their marketing offices as we speak.}

They will just keep running the old commercials but just add fine print disclaimer to the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the commercial saying what years the commercial is referring to, even though the commercial will imply the current year.

[kstruckcountry]

"Let me tell you something about my Chevy Coloraydo"

[Chris]

Dodge can still claim the only back to back winner

[galliher_nc]

Dodge can still claim the only back to back winner

They can also claim to be the least reliable of the big three. If you still consider them a member of the big three.

 

http://raycomgroup.worldnow.com/story/27055103/consumer-reports-most-and-least-reliable-cars

 

Congratulations to Chevrolet.

[1950chevy]

And to think I was close to moving over to Dodge Ram two years ago.

Somebody kick me.

 

I've only ever owned Chevy pickups... except for that brief stint with that '71 el Camino, and the micro bus back in the 60's

[Cheby1]

All I can say is WOW..... Is this a JOKE??? Did anyone else notice there wasn't a Dodge in the mix (truck or van), or a Toyota or what about a Nissan NV if your going to test the transit??? And why did they not test a Silverado 1500? I'm confussed what in the hell were they trying to accomplish in their testing. Well I did notice they were all in last years testing so maybe they wanted a different mix of vehicles, but why wouldn't they give the Dodge a chance to defend their title. It doesn't seem right and to match a mid size, to a full size hd doesn't seem right either. Just my .02.......

['01LS1]

All I can say is WOW..... Is this a JOKE??? Did anyone else notice there wasn't a Dodge in the mix (truck or van), or a Toyota or what about a Nissan NV if your going to test the transit??? And why did they not test a Silverado 1500? I'm confussed what in the hell were they trying to accomplish in their testing. Well I did notice they were all in last years testing so maybe they wanted a different mix of vehicles, but why wouldn't they give the Dodge a chance to defend their title. It doesn't seem right and to match a mid size, to a full size hd doesn't seem right either. Just my .02.......

 

They only test what is new for the model year. Ram had the first diesel available in a half ton last year, otherwise it would not have even been considered.