So I've reached a tentative final point on my build! I've always had "fun cars", mostly turbo hatches and sedans, Saab's, Subaru's, both Focus and Fiesta ST, etc. I decided I didn't want to keep dumping money modifying vehicles though, and switched to my Colorado and a motorcycle... That part addiction avoidance lasted for 3 years!
With all of our newfound free time, I decided I wanted to autocross the truck. Unfortunately, stock these are way out of spec for the height vs track width requirement per regulation, with a height of 70.7 vs a 62.4 track width.
I didn't want to dramatically impact driveability, usability, or go for any extremely custom or non-reversible modifications either. Thankfully I was able to make this work in a pretty reasonable way, with only one thing I need to review still.
So I started thinking about if it would actually be possible, what would be involved, and how much it would actually cost to make it happen. I ended up going with a Belltech 3/4 lowering kit (which ended up actually give ~4inch overall drop), Flowmaster Delta CAI, AFE Rebel Series catback, Hellwig rear sway bar on the stiffer setting, Trifecta tune, KMC KM717 17 wheels, and Nitto NT555 G2 255/45/17.
So that's a 4 inch shorter tire, or 13.6%. As I didn't want to go custom for lowering kit/hitting the extreme end of part limits, this seemed like an easy and easily reversed way to get an extra 2 inches of drop. It also means I can actually get fun tires now! The final gap was made through the KMC KM717 wheels, which were one of the lighter 17 inch wheels I could find in the stupid 6x120 bolt pattern these trucks have, and the change from a +33 to a 0 offset gave me an extra 2.6 inches of track width to get me to a wider track vs height at 65 inch track width and ~64.7 vehicle height, so I slipped in just under the limit! Plus as a nice side effect, my effective final drive ratio went from the stock 3.42 to a 3.95! It did put my 2nd->3rd shift before 60mph, but it's a lot of fun throughout the range at this ratio. It could probably go a little further and still stay very driveable. And of course with the crazy 8th gear ratio of 0.66, I could still "technically" go 218 mph vs the 247 stock gearing!
A few notes and thoughts.
- The wheel well opening is a little excessive. Since this was function over form I don't care too much, but it definitely could use a smaller opening. The squared off look doesn't help. I've gotten used to it and don't even notice already, but it does look off when you see it at first.
- The truck also doesn't look very low since the frame rails are a lot lower and hard to see vs the bottom of the cab, but my lowest non airdam height is just about 4.5 inches. I have a Curt trailer hitch, which has the chain loops pointing down, and I have hit a significant amount of things on the airdam and on those loops. I'm either going to wait until enough wears off to stop hitting, or maybe trip the dam and have a shop cut and weld the loops sideways.
- When these tires wear out, I'll probably go for the 275/40/17 Nitto's. It's pretty close in size, but almost another inch wider. I didn't this time because I didn't want to go too wide on the wheel at 8.5 width, but I think it would be a little grippier fit. at 10 inches wide I can break them lose decently easy (which of course can be fun).
- I will say I may need to change the muffler on the exhaust. This has been the only complaint I have with my changes, it's not a good drone inside the truck so far, hopefully it settles or I swap for better. I love the side exit look, but it's super droning at any RPM, not just my new normal ranges. I may be out of luck since the exit is much closer to the cab but I'm gonna at least look at options to try to help it.
- The factory jack just barely fits under the frame rail. That was a nice surprise since it is a bottle jack and I don't have much room underneath anymore.
- Finally, with my changes my gas mileage improved significantly. I did the tires and lowering kit first, so I am going to attribute it to the tires. What was normally ~17-20 mpg has now jumped to ~22-26 in the same driving, which is a nice unexpected bonus. I had the speedometer corrected too, so it's not a case of the reporting being significantly off from actual travel.
I'm tempted to look into another inch of drop via a spacer or helper spring in the rear, since the axle flip will inverse any lifting solutions, but I would need to find custom springs for the front. For now I'm just going to leave it. ~3.5 inches of clearance will also start to severely limit usability. If anyone knows the length, spring rate, and internal diameter of the stock springs on this gen Colorado I would love the info! I've been unable to find it so far.
Finally, just for funsies I bought an antenna mount for a GoPro Max. I ordered an extension so I get a little more forward visibility, but it should lead to some fun footage! And of course just a little bit of obnoxious looking mudflaps!
Fingers crossed I'll get to try it out here in Austin at the end of this month! I don't expect to do well, but it'll be fun and probably the only new midsize I'll see running!
