By Jeff Glucker
The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 is a great truck. It’s supremely capable right off the dealer’s floor. Both the diesel and gas engine options are enjoyable too. Still, with nearly any vehicle out there it’s easy to consider what more power would feel like. Lingenfelter can answer that question for the Colorado because it’s now offering a version of the truck packed with the engine from a C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
Stuffed in the nose of the truck is the mighty LT4 engine. This is the same supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine that made the Z06 a beast of a machine (assuming you didn’t overheat out on the track). The standard specs on this motor show 650 horsepower at the crank. Lingenfelter has juiced it up a bit with some aggressive tuning and swapping pulleys. The result? 720 crank horsepower.
That translates to 534 rear-wheel horsepower and 526 lb-ft of torque. Pretty hefty drivetrain loss, sure, but not crazy considering what that power is traveling through to get down to the pavement. Or dirt, actually, which is where we want to take this wonderfully improved ZR2. It would likely leave any Raptor you find choking on your dust as you rip off to the glory.
Sure, you’ve also spent $14k just on an engine. And that’s before the cost of the install and extra Lingenfelter tuning and parts… but allow us to daydream for a second, please.
[Source: Youtube via Road & Track]
You’re probably looking at about $65-70k all-in. Hmmm… no thanks. That makes the Raptor look like a bargain.
For the BowTie fans with deep pockets.
No one buys anything either the name Lingenfelter on it because it makes sense. You buy it because you have enough money that there’s no need for it to make sense.
If I had that money, I would definitely consider one of these.
Indeed, no engine swap is truly cheap, it costs you something. Time or sanity if not money.
Fucking tell me about it…
Nah, I argue that’s fair then if it lines up right alongside a Raptor pricewise. Especially with folks pining for a V8 in the Raptor. The suspension isn’t as Good as the Fox LiveValve system in the Raptor, but the Multimatic in the Colorado is great in its own right. Add the LT4 to that and keep the whole thing under 80k if possible? It would be the perfect Raptor fighter (truck size taken out of the argument)
Current Performance Wiring out of Florida did the swap. Lingenfelter did the supercharger mods.