Orlando Sentinel's view

After years of neglect, there’s finally some movement in the compact-truck market.

The 2004 Chevrolet Colorado and its corporate twin, the GMC Canyon, are all-new replacements for the aged Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma. At the Chicago Auto Show this month, Dodge is unveiling the redesigned 2005 Durango pickup, and Kia, the Korean manufacturer, is showing a concept pickup that it might build. At the Detroit show in January, Nissan debuted its new 2005 Frontier pickup, due later this year.

The Colorado may be the biggest news in small pickups, because the vehicle it replaces, the S-10, has long been one of the top-selling trucks. The Colorado is a little larger than the S-10, and its styling maintains a nice sense of family with its bigger brother, the full-sized Chevrolet Silverado.

The Colorado comes in a full range of models, from regular cab to extended cab, which has smaller rear doors leading to a rear seat, to crew cab, which has four full doors and, with a front bench seat instead of buckets, can seat six people. There are two engine choices: A 2.8-liter, 175-horsepower four-cylinder, and a 3.5-liter, 220-horsepower five-cylinder. The first Colorados to hit the market are five-cylinders.

There have been other recent five-cylinder engines, but they are still rare enough to be considered unusual. This five-cylinder, with its sophisticated double overhead camshafts and electronic engine-management system, has a 30-horsepower advantage over the 4.3-liter V-6 it replaces. The 2.2-liter four-cylinder used in the S-10 had 55 fewer horses than the Colorado’s four-cylinder.

These two new engines are related, derivatives of the 4.2-liter six-cylinder from the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SUV. You can get a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic, and four-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive.

The test Colorado was a fancy crew cab LS, loaded with options including XM satellite radio, leather upholstery and a premium stereo. Base price of $24,720 swelled to $28,195 with shipping and the extra equipment.

If that seems expensive for a rear-wheel-drive pickup, it is. General Motors seems optimistic about its pricing of the Colorado and Canyon. In some models, it’s possible to get a comparably equipped full-sized Silverado at a similar price, or even cheaper, due in part to the fact that there’s currently a $1,000 rebate on a Colorado, and a $2,500 rebate on a Silverado.

I suppose there are some circumstances in which I would want to pay as much for a small truck as a large truck, but I can’t think of any.

That said, the Colorado is a nice pickup, solid and well-mannered on the highway, and sure-footed on winding back roads. The ride was very good on this particular pickup, but I’ve driven some four-wheel-drive Colorados and Canyons, and some rear-drive models with the off-road appearance package, that have a downright punishing ride. Before you buy a Colorado, take a long te st drive and include some bumpy pavement.

I haven’t driven a four-cylinder model enough to comment, but the five-cylinder is smooth and powerful – if not particularly blessed with low-end pulling power. The most you can tow with a properly equipped Colorado is 4,000 pounds, while the S-10 – still sold in crew-cab configuration – can tow 5,200 pounds. That old 4.3-liter V-6 may be long in the tooth, but it’s a proven power plant.

Inside, the Colorado had excellent bucket seats, a great stereo and a logical instrument and control layout. The rear seat is big enough for three adults, but it’d be a tight fit. For kids, it’s fine.

The Colorado is an improvement over the S-10, but given the S-10’s age, not a leaps-and-bounds improvement. It’s true with this Chevrolet Colorado, just as it is with the Ford Ranger and Dodge Durango, that I’d be considerably happier with the full-sized pickups those manufacturers make than the smaller ones. You might not be. But if you use a truck like a truck, more room, more power and more towing capacity are always good things.

Details: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive pickup truck with a 3.5-liter, 220-horsepower five-cylinder engine and a four-speed automatic transmission.