2018 Chevy Colorado Z71

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great08

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Fuel Economy Test #2 Complete: Air Dam Removed

OK. Obviously this test was done a few weeks apart from the first test. The weather has cooled slightly. On this particular test I did run into a 5-10mph head wind... with heavy rain for one of the 50mi legs. Which made my fuel mileage plummet for that leg. Had one mini traffic jam as well for around 20min so it was not too bad.

Sadly the gas station was not open for the final refuel! I will do another 100mi tomorrow and get the refuel there for the actual calculations. I still stopped in their parking lot and took a pic of my dash.

I am keeping the air dam off! I can say that without it my truck is totally more sensitive to a head wind. My fuel economy now hovers ~22mpg when cruising @ 70mph compared to the ~24 reading I got with the air dam on.

I just don't spend any time at those speeds. Not enough to matter. I am betting that If I throw on some full underside skids... that the economy may even go back up a little on the hwy. I can actually slide under the front of my truck without the air dam. So I like that too... lol

Side - by - Side results below...

Test #1: Air Dam ON

IMG_0520.JPG

Test #2: Air Dam OFF

IMG_0641.JPG

EDIT: My truck will break the 10,000mi mark by Friday I bet... she is getting some miles on her fast. lol
 
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JCWages

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Nicely done!

I think your results jive with mine and what auto magazines and GM concluded. The air dam is worth around 1mpg at highway speeds but now worth anything at city speeds.

Because I spend 60% of my time at 65mph-75mph I like having it on for long trips but I take it off when just commuting although my commute is 10+ miles at 70mph.
 
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great08

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JCWages said:
Nicely done!

I think your results jive with mine and what auto magazines and GM concluded. The air dam is worth around 1mpg at highway speeds but now worth anything at city speeds.

Because I spend 60% of my time at 65mph-75mph I like having it on for long trips but I take it off when just commuting although my commute is 10+ miles at 70mph.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

It is good to know that... with the driving that I am doing... I can just leave it off. A clear mind means a lot to me so I had to do a test for... me.

I will just reverse the anchor nuts for the air dam and slide them back onto the truck. Then when I do a cross-country tow I will throw the air dam back on. A power screwdriver should be able to put it on in just about 2 to 3 min. (I will be setting the clutch to slip on 1 to 2 in-lbs)
 
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madcratebuilder

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For me the most impressive part of the trifecta tune is the new behavior of the transmission. In ECO mode the shift points are quick, the down shifts do not take a lot of throttle, mpg is up 10%. In sport mode the trans holds each gear to a higher rpm, you can feel the increase in under the curve power.

One common complaint on the 8l45 is the way it upshifts and downshifts. Many have bought the Pedal Commander to correct this.

This tune does much the same while increasing TQ and HP.
 
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madcratebuilder said:
For me the most impressive part of the trifecta tune is the new behavior of the transmission. In ECO mode the shift points are quick, the down shifts do not take a lot of throttle, mpg is up 10%. In sport mode the trans holds each gear to a higher rpm, you can feel the increase in under the curve power.

One common complaint on the 8l45 is the way it upshifts and downshifts. Many have bought the Pedal Commander to correct this.

This tune does much the same while increasing TQ and HP.
Click to expand...
Is that mpg gain reflected in hand calculations? Trifecta and others claimed big mpg gains but when people did the hand calculations they found the display read 2-3mpg higher than it should be. That's way more than the factory error when factored over multiple tanks.
 
great08

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Fuel Economy Test #2 Complete:


IMG_0643.JPG

Topped the truck back off @ the same pump @ the same gas station & did two clicks.

Gallons used... 16.616

418.9mi / 16.616 = 25.21064mpg

For my particular commute... this truck gets some great economy! Not bad for a 4x4 Truck with 308hp.

EDIT: What is really cool is that the computer was estimating that I had around 100mi left to that tank. That is some pretty decent range. Another gallon or two and I would only have to fill up once per week in this truck.

My prior truck was an 05' Colorado with the 2.8 4cyl and 2WD Automatic. Got about the same fuel economy. No Joke!
 
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great08

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Here is a link to a video of a pretty decently rough road out in Baja.

Pretty much any 4WD (with Low Rang/Xfer case) could easily make it through here. You just need to armor the underside of your vehicle. I do love this YouTube channel.

At min 12:30 you can see the damage the vehicles received. Pretty much none.

 
great08

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Here is a Vid of the TFLTruck guys crawling over one of the new Bison Colorados that will be coming out.

I watched it just to check out the new parts I will be able to buy from GM. lol

I will be able to buy a cool looking "Chevrolet" front grill (Assume all grills like this were inspired by the Raptor). I like mine with the black bow tie though so I will keep what I have.

The front/rear bumpers look great and should function really well.

However, I was REALLY paying attention to the skids. It will be coming with 5 Boron Steel skids. You can see them in a shot of the undercarriage @ around min 1:08. They look like they have built in bars... or super steep/strong ribs. I like! Even a skid for the fuel tank will be there. I will at least be getting that one!

This may be the truck to get that is factory ready to slide across boulders or forge deep waterholes on a daily basis.

I am betting these days will be remembered as the glory days for trucks much like the Hot Rod days were back in the 70's.

EDIT: @ Minute 2:14... you can see the rear diff skid plate that will be available as well!! I may one of those was well. With all of that armor... I wonder if that rear prop shaft will still be aluminum.

 
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great08

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Power Steering:

This truck has Electric Power Steering.

I assumed that it meant that my steering column was not physically connected to the steering gear box. Wrong. I just went out and saw that there is indeed a steering column that extends all the way down to the gearbox. The gearbox itself has an electric motor to help you turn the steering wheel when moving at slow speeds. So there is no longer a power steering pump. If the electric motor fails some day many years from now... I will still be able to drive. So that eases my mind!

Good News!
 
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LGZ 3.6L V6 Build Details:

This post will be updated several times. So be sure to check it out a few times to see if I add anything new.

Time to go over the details of the internals of my engine's design. I always find it helpful when understanding your vehicle's capabilities.

1st:
A link to a video of the build of this engine. This is a video of the Cadillac (GM) LGX engine. It is essentially the car variant of the exact same engine. The car variant has more peak HP and less TQ. While the truck is tuned for more base TQ. (Which is why you can buy a tuner that adds 30HP) My oil filter is remote-located/ not directly on my engine either... which will be a good thing once I put on some skid plates.

Video...
https://players.brightcove.net/1050888044001/ByziG8mfx_default/index.html?directedMigration=true&videoId=4122000330001&

I hit the stop/rewind/play on that video a lot of times and was actually able to learn a decent amount from watching that CAD animation. Every time I watch it I see more. It has been a few days since I watched it. Here are some of the things that stuck around in my mind...

a- The dual stage oil pump that is inside the oil pan is still mechanically driven (thank goodness). I saw a shaft in the vid that runs forward to the front timing chain system. It does indeed look like I should be able to change the timing chain @ 200,000mi and not have to drop the oil pan. That is assuming the engineers left enough room to slip the chain over it's sprocket. So I will have to look into it. When I changed the chain on my 05' Colorado a little ways past 200k mi... all of the sprockets looked like they were still new. So I kept them and took the new ones back. The new sprockets on this engine are supposed to be even lower friction. I wonder if I will ever need to change the chain.

b- You can see the pieces for the Dual Stage PCV vent and where it is attached to the motor. Pretty neat.

c- I have not re-built a modern engine before(just old V8s)... but the built-in rigidity design for clamping down the crankshaft on this engine looks insanely strong in design.

d- It is neat to see the oil spray/piston/jug coolers

e- I think I now understand why GM (and other mfrs) are moving towards integrating the exhaust manifold into their engine blocks!
- The exhaust manifold is the hottest part of the exhaust(can glow red). Since it is integrated into the engine block GM was able to integrate some massive water/coolant jackets through there.
- What are the side effects? An engine that warms up DRASTICALLY faster than any engine I have ever owned.
- What does that rapid heating cause?
1. An increase in fuel economy(fuel puddles or does not atomize as well on a cold surface)
2. Increased Engine Life (Most of the wear an engine receives during it's life is just after startup. Once and engine reaches 190deg F the wear drastically decreases.)
3. Better Emissions

f- The entire engine is made of Aluminum(Block, Heads, and Oil Pan even). Aluminum can transfer heat Rapidly. Therefore can handle higher HP.

g- The Oil pan is extremely heavy gauge aluminum and attributes to a stronger engine. However, the very bottom of the oil pan is steel. Which I like because I can crush it a little on a rock and it will only bend instead of shattering like aluminum would. The oil pump inside has a bit of a gap as well from the bottom of the pan it looked like.



More to come soon... I will put it into a separate post since this one ended up being twice as big as I though it would be! lol
 
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madcratebuilder

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The Colorado and Camaro share pretty much the same engine, different intake I think. The turbo caddy has more forged parts and different alloys.
 
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More Parts Coming By AEV (American Expedition Vehicles):

I just saw a post over on coloradofans.com talking about a comment they saw AEV make under the YouTube vid I posted up earlier. Stating that AEV actually makes all of those parts and that they will be available on their website this next Spring! So I did some digging of my own. It is true... they make the parts. I bet they will be available soon! Bumpers, skids, and all...

Here are some quotes from the article in the link below...

"this most extreme Colorado yet pushes the boundaries of Chevrolet off-road ability with features that optimize the rock crawling and overlanding capabilities already present on the Z71 and ZR2 models."

"More and more enthusiasts are discovering that Colorado is ideal for off-roading, especially overland travel,” said Sandor Piszar"

  • Winch-compatible, stamped-steel Front Bumper with integrated fog lights.
  • Five hot-stamped Boron steel underbody skid plates protecting the front end, engine oil pan, transfer case, gas tank, and rear differential. (Front diff gets covered by one of the large skids)
  • Stamped-steel Rear Bumper with robust A356-T6 cast-aluminum recovery points and chassis-mounted tubular corner protection.
  • Bison-specific injection molded fender flares for additional tire coverage and an aggressive look.
  • AEV-designed, Bison-specific cast-aluminum wheels.
  • Interior and exterior AEV branding package.
  • Optional AEV snorkel available directly from AEV or GM dealerships.

Article Link...
https://www.aev-conversions.com/zr2-bison/

More Pics...




 
great08

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I just found one of those rare Z71 Off-road videos. The guy doing the filming is in his Z71 with a large group of ZR2s out in the Silver Lake Sand dunes.

The Z71 did not appear to be struggling at all getting up the hills.

@ around min 7 the Z71 did fine in a deep water crossing as well.



EDIT:
Just found one more of a series of water crossings in a Z71. I will be doing some every now and again in my truck when my 52mi commute gets flooded out. We will see. Never know... lol

 
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great08

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Deep water crossing pics...

Just found a few good pics of the Z71 and ZR2 doing some water crossings. Nothing big. Deep enough to get the electric power steering assist motor under water (with no reported issues) and a good 1.5' to 2' of fording depth left in the pic of the Blue Z71 and around 1' to 1.5' of fording depth left for the ZR2.

So about that much further/deeper and they would be risking getting water into the fluid in the diffs, xfer case, transmission, fuel tank, and engine intake. I say these trucks are gtg from the factory.

Looking @ the ZR2 pic made me think of the time I had to do the 50+ mile drive into work after lots of flooding(In my old 05' 2WD Colorado). The water on the street was that deep in a lot of sections. Passed by a lot of hydro-locked vehicles and flooded out vehicles. I had a 20ft long tree branch get stuck to my undercarriage for a 1/4mi section of deep water. Came off before I got out of it though. So that made it easy. lol It is all about speed control in the deep stuff. My low 2WD truck was passing flooded out Jeeps even. So their vehicle was not their limiting factor. Just driver experience.



 
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