Motor Trend Reports Baby Avalanche A Reality

[Chief]

Motor Trend is reporting on their website that a Sport Trac competing Avalanche style vehicle will be in the Trailblazer lineup for the 2004 model year!

Motor Trend story

It's just a one sentence blurb. I know earlier the word was the XUV by GMC was it - personally I hope the General has had a change of heart and comes out with the smaller version.

 

[txyank1]

They also have a small piece in the latest magazine about Honda deciding not to enter the fullsized pickup market. But instead may have an Odyssy-based Avalanche-type vehicle. Maybe an "Element" with a bed and a mid-gate??

I was wrong...it's Pilot-based, not Odyssy.

 

[Chief]

They also have a small piece about Honda deciding not to enter the fullsized pickup market. But instead may have an Odyssy-based Avalanche-type vehicle. Maybe an "Element" with a bed and a mid-gate??

I find it all pretty amusing. Back in late 2001 Road & Track dismissed the Midgate as "a novelty." Well it's a novelty that Subaru has embraced, Toyota is in advanced development, Ford is asking questions and now Honda. Oh ya, and I heard about this club with over 6,000 members...

 

[gojira-san]

I do see a lot of SportTracs in New England so maybe GM wants to compete better in that space - and what better way to differentiate yourself than with the midgate?

So many people that have asked about the AV say how much sense the midgate makes, so I would not be surprised if it was to provide differentiation against the SportTrac.

(edited to fix stupid spelling mistake )

 

[midlifecrisis]

Yeah - the midgate is a fad and won't last long, will it?

Over the weekend I needed to get some 8' long moulding trim pieces from Home Depot. It was raining cats and dogs. My car won't fit 8' sections, even with the rear seats folded down and utilizing the trunk. Guess what vehicle came to the rescue and who went home with relatively dry lumber that day?

 

[Johnny_D]

From MT:
"2004 Chevrolet Colorado: Co-developed with Isuzu, the all-new pickup is larger than the S-10, Sonoma, and Hombre it will replace. Based on a new platform derived from the midsize sport/ute platform, the trucks will be powered by four- and five-cylinder variants of the Atlas inline engine family, currently used in six-cylinder form in the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy. Colorado styling to draw heavily from the TrailBlazer."
Did they look at the Colorado? More like a Silverado- AV smaller look alike.

"2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer: Line receives exterior update. In spirit of the Avalanche, a Trailblazer-based, four-door pickup will go after the Ford Sport Trac."

That's good news but I?ll bet a nickel it will look more like the Colorado.

 

[ColoradoAV]

It's great to see a mini Av come out from Chevy. The Avalanche is in a whole different world from the ST (and beats it in every aspect except fuel economy ). Now that there will be an ST sized Chevy coming out, that will really show that GM has Ford beat.

 

[number3]

It's great to see a mini Av come out from Chevy. ?The Avalanche is in a whole different world from the ST (and beats it in every aspect except fuel economy ?). ?Now that there will be an ST sized Chevy coming out, that will really show that GM has Ford beat. ? ?

I just traded my 01 Sport trac in on my 03 Avalanche and the MPG is about the same. ST at 14-15 MPG city and AV at 13-14 MPG City.

I loved the ST but I needed to move up one size. So far the Avalanche is everything I hoped for.

Harry

 

[ColoradoAV]

I just traded my 01 Sport trac in on my 03 Avalanche and the MPG is about the same. ST at 14-15 MPG city and AV at 13-14 MPG City.

Harry

Wow, I just figured with a significantly smaller engine, the ST would do a good 3-4 mpg better than the Av. Your statement alone shows that V8s are the way to go and so are Avs.

Glad to hear you made the switch . At least you seem to be a good former ST owner unlike other ST owners that we've experienced here. Glad you like the Av and I know you'll continue to love it .

 

[Chief]

It's great to see a mini Av come out from Chevy. ?The Avalanche is in a whole different world from the ST (and beats it in every aspect except fuel economy ?). ?Now that there will be an ST sized Chevy coming out, that will really show that GM has Ford beat. ? ?

Although the Sport Trac has one flavor of engine, the venerable 4.0 liter V-6 the now pretty darn primitive engine design does not get great fuel economy. As a matter of fact most ST owners I've talked to get in the range of 16 to 19 MPG combined. Not a big bonus over the more versatile, more comfortable, and larger Av.

The vehicle that would make me want to if I owned one from a fuel economy standpoint is the Jeep Liberty. Owners and reviewers are reporting a horrible 13 MPG average out of the 3.7 liter V-6! I mean that's getting into 8.1 liter and Hummer H2 land!

 

[endeavorc]

Well hear is another feather for smaller trucks and gas mileage.

My 2000 Frontier Crew Cab with the 3.3L V-6 gas mileage was around 15-17, normally 15.5.

For some reason my Av appears to be getting less MPG than the "norm" from other people that have posted on the site. In the winter time, my mileage is averaging 11.5MPG, in the summer it averages 14-15.5. The highest I have ever seen is 18.1MPG.

Although it is a decrease in mileage for me, it's not by that much.

 

[Tree_Hugger]

[The vehicle that would make me want to ? if I owned one from a fuel economy standpoint is the Jeep Liberty. ?Owners and reviewers are reporting a horrible 13 MPG average out of the 3.7 liter V-6! ? ?I mean that's getting into 8.1 liter and Hummer H2 land![/quote]

My wife has a Liberty and gets 20 -24 mpg from it.
People must be driving around in 2nd gear to get only 13 mpg.
That's a sweet little SUV, a nice engine and a jewel of a transmission.
If the seat was just one inch lower, so I had more headroom, I might never even have looked at the AV. Which would indeed have been a shame.

 

[Avrunner]

The vehicle that would make me want to ? if I owned one from a fuel economy standpoint is the Jeep Liberty. ?Owners and reviewers are reporting a horrible 13 MPG average out of the 3.7 liter V-6! ? ?I mean that's getting into 8.1 liter and Hummer H2 land!

WHAT?? For a Jepp Liberty?? Whoa...thats' for a mid-SUV! OOh boy...Ford...do some enginnering...if you're gonna make focuses and hybrids then you should fix up soem of your branches first...

 

[number3]

Wow, I just figured with a significantly smaller engine, the ST would do a good 3-4 mpg better than the Av. ?Your statement alone shows that V8s are the way to go and so are Avs.

Glad to hear you made the switch ?. ?At least you seem to be a good former ST owner unlike other ST owners that we've experienced here. ?Glad you like the Av and I know you'll continue to love it .

Everyday I like it more and more. The heated seats, Onstar with hands free voice activated phone, XM radio, memory seats and mirrors with LED turn signals, etc make it all hard to hate

The Sport trac was nice for a $30k truck but just not near as refined as my AV. I can't wait to try out it towing my race car. It should be nicer than the ST at that task as well.

Harry