Overnight Holden Special Vehicles have announced that the Chevrolet Silverado will indeed be coming to Australia as a Holden imported right hand drive vehicle, after speculation blew up the internet just days ago.
The Chevrolet Silverado 
HSV have confirmed that they will be converting the renowned American ‘Truck’ to right hand drive, with the almost legendary 6.6L real Duramax V8 diesel. Aside from the Laramie 2500 Dodge Ram this will be the first manufacturer imported ‘full size American truck’ to grace our shores.
HSV Have confirmed that there will be five variants in the line up, from the 2500HD WT to the 3500HD LTZ with various model between, however there has been nothing said at this stage about whether the 1500HD will be brought in – HSV may well be leaving that for Holden branding, as opposed to HSV.
Irrespective of the model designation, all of the Silverado’s will be powered by the 6.6L Duramax v8 Diesel, pushing out a rather stupid 332kW of power, and an eye watering 1234Nm of torque. However, these figures are directly from Chevrolet in the US, so confirmation will be needed closer to the actual Australian launch day.
Ute tub payload capacity is expected to be between 1140kg and 1848kg dependant on variant, with a towing capacity up to a possible 6100kg – You read that right. 6.1 Tonnes, and it will do it easily with the Duramax under the bonnet. It will also feature Anti-lock disc brakes and automatic Detroit Lockers in the rear, and a six-speed automatic transmission.
The actual interior we’re yet to see in the Australian version of the Chevrolet Silverado, however we’re expecting it to be very similar to the US version, as the HSV bosses have already said they want the vehicle to be identical, other than you get in the other side of the Silverado to drive it.
All in all the Silverado is a spectacular truck, with all the power in the world, and rather good looking. It’s about time we had a manufacturer bring these in and sell them from the dealers directly, instead of as imports. With Holden and HSV being the first, chances are we’ll see the rest of the market bring theirs in rather quickly – think Nissan Titan XD, Toyota Tundra, the real Ford Raptor / F-truck among others.
The HSV Colorado SportsCat
As well as the Silverado, HSV have revealed that there will indeed be an HSV Colorado. Under the name SportsCat the Colorado will be a slightly tuned, and aesthetically modified version of the current offering.
Unfortunately for a lot of punters, the Colorado will maintain the current 2.8L Turbo Diesel engine, with no information about the much speculated 3.0L Twin Turbo V6 petrol engine.
Changes however will include styling enhancements with modified exterior features, including a new fascias and grille, LED foglamps, and functional tow / recovery hooks. It will also get a rather aggressive bonnet bulge, but without a performance engine to fill in that extra space.  
The tub will include a hard cover and load-rails, with a new sports bar and sail plane on the SportsCat+ model. They will also come on 18×10″ forged alloys, and feature all-terrain Cooper tyres. The brand new Cooper ZeonLTZ Pro ‘Sports All-Terrain’ tyres are supposedly a hybrid between sports-truck tyre, and the solid all-terrain we’re used to, with more to come on the Cooper new release soon. These are being offered from factory in the 285/60 R18, which gives an overall increase in vehicle height of 45mm from the standard Colorado. Add that increase to the changes in VSB14 laws and we’re going to see the ability to give the HSV Colorado a large lift, while still being within the legal limits.
Spring rates are being increased to 110 Newtons/mm, to increase stiffness for on road ‘sports’ handling, as well as a 25mm lift as a standard inclusion, against the Holden Colorado. A rear de-coupling sway bar will allow the SportsCat to maintain ride quality on the black top, however give that much more flex when being used off-road as well.
All in all, the HSV Colorado SportsCat isn’t a bad bit of kit, however appears to be the next rendition of “performance aesthetic modifications” that we’re used to seeing out of the Australian market.
