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Colorado Rock

RK Sport revamps the Chevy Colorado

Chevy compact truck enthusiasts were a little disappointed when the much anticipated S-10 replacement, Colorado, arrived at Chevy dealerships. The new Colorado was better in every way but only a little longer and wider than the S-10. Nothing new in styling was obvious because the Colorado copies the design cues of the bigger, full-size Chevy Silverado. Chevy engineers took the 275-hp 4.2 liter, inline 6-cylinder engine from the Trailblazer and cut off the end cylinder to make a 3.5-liter inline five pumping out just 220 hp. They should have left the inline 6 alone.

When compared to the optional engine available in the all-new Dodge Dakota, a 250-hp V-8, the all-new Toyota Tacoma with a 245-hp V-6, and the all-new Nissan Frontier's 265-hp V-6, Chevy's Colorado was behind the eight ball from the get-go as far as acceleration and towing capacity was concerned. Enter RK Sport.

New Skin - More Guts

RK Sport came to the rescue with a bold styling package that gives the Colorado a more menacing look, suspension enhancements that add razor sharp handling, and a powerful supercharger kit that increases horsepower and torque to back up the aggressive look.

RK Sport of Murrieta, California, is a manufacturer and distributor of quality, GM-licensed urethane and fiberglass body enhancements, exhaust systems, performance and suspension systems. RK Sport designers and engineers spent many weeks putting together their project Colorado Extended Cab using their latest products to show how easy it is to personalize and customize the new Colorado, giving it bolder looks and more power. A host of other popular aftermarket products were used to make this customized Colorado even more unique.

The easy-to-install RK Sport Chevy Colorado body kit starts out with a racy looking custom fabricated extractor hood with carbon fiber inlay, and a custom fabricated hard tonneau cover with a lip spoiler over the cargo box that also contains carbon fiber inlay. The custom fabricated extractor hood, grille kit and front bumper cover have black painted lattice wire behind all openings to help keep road debris out of the engine compartment. The RK Sport ground effects kit includes a front bumper cover, unique lower rocker panels, roll pan and fender flairs to give the Colorado a more aggressive look. The factory fuel filler door was replaced with a Weston billet fuel door.

Engineers replaced the factory front coils and rear leaf springs with custom RK Sport springs that dropped the front 1.5 inches and 2.0 inches in the rear, giving quicker response to your inputs, and smoother handling. Further enhancing the Colorado's performance and sporty looks is a set of TSW 20x8-inch Sled chrome alloy wheels wrapped with Falken 255/35R20 FK 451 low profile, high-performance tires.

Power to back up the new styling was increased significantly by installing a RK Sport supercharger kit with a psi boost of 8 lbs. Designed and engineered specifically for the Colorado's new inline 5-cylinder engine, the supercharger kit increases horsepower and torque up to 40 percent. The supercharged engine breathes better because RK Sport engineers installed a K&N High-Flow intake system, which increases horsepower even more. The sound of the more powerful engine became louder, with a more gusty growl, after engineers installed a Gibson custom dual catback exhaust system that features dual 3-inch round, polished stainless steel exhaust tips spread out nicely under the roll pan.

Slowing the Beast

With more power and performance, stronger brakes were in order to enhance stopping power. RK Sport installed Stainless Steel Brake's Corporation's big, Tri-Power disc brake upgrade kit that includes 14-inch front slotted rotors, and 13-inch slotted rear rotors. Each slotted rotor is clamped with 3-piston, high-performance brake caliper that is black powder-coated for looks and durability.

Behind the wheel, sitting inside the roomier cabin is where the action is, so RK Sport designers went to work dreaming up a fantastic Katzkin leather interior including buttery-soft, high-backed sport bucket seats and Katzkin custom fabricated trim panels on the dashboard, center console and front doors.

Audio Upgrade

To let others know that you're coming down the road, even before they hear the rumble of the supercharged engine blasting through the Gibson dual catback exhaust, is the monster Phoenix Gold audio and visual system custom installed by 702 MotorSports. The Colorado showcases the Phoenix Gold XENON line of amplifiers and component speakers.

There is a total of 3,200 watts in the system comprised of two monoblock Xenon X1200.1 amplifiers, each delivering 1,200 watts of continuous power plus one Xenon X200.4 for an additional 200 watts (X4). It is outfitted with four Xenon X10D4 10-inch subwoofers and four Xenon X6.0 component speakers. All interconnect for the system is Phoenix Gold. There are a total of five Autosonik video screens, including two 5.8-inch displays in the visors, one 9-inch display in the dash and two 15-inch displays in the doors. A Pioneer DVH-P500MP DVD receiver that is integrated with a Pioneer 5.1 Channel Digital Audio Processor controls the whole system.