Chevy Colorado Race Truck Equipped with a Turbocharged GM I6 Just Seems Right
**Reignited - Cycle and Automotive via YouTube**
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It’s already well-known what a V8 can achieve in a small truck. What excites me even more is this Atlas I6-swapped Chevy Colorado. Instead of going with an LS engine, the creator of the Reignited – Cycle and Automotive YouTube channel opted for a GM 2JZ paired with a large turbo. He has been working on this project for a few months, and now it’s a functioning race truck that's bound to be fast.
The project began when the host, Sky Perry, purchased a $1,200 Colorado with a damaged engine. Although he has a history of installing Hemi engines in the past, such as his twincharged 392 Dodge Magnum, he found a budget Atlas 4.2-liter I6 from a $300 Chevy Trailblazer. This was intended as a low-cost build, and per the latest update, his expenses are around $7,800, which includes the truck.
Of course, that figure would be significantly higher if he hadn't done all the work himself. Perry estimates he spent 250 hours getting the Colorado road-ready, fabricating a custom exhaust manifold for the VS Racing turbo, tuning it with a MaxxECU, swapping in an 8.8-inch rear-end, lowering the suspension by 3 inches, and handling various smaller tasks. Remarkably, it still uses the factory Colorado AR5 manual transmission, although this required a custom-machined flywheel since the Atlas was never offered with that gearbox. He completed it with a $100 clutch (yes, really), and the truck was ready to hit the road.
Perry received assistance from Calvin Nelson (Nivlac57 on YouTube) on his Colorado race truck, whose work I’ve previously highlighted. He’s known for swapping a 1,000-horsepower Atlas 4200, or "AmeriBarra," into a fifth-generation Camaro. Additionally, he boosted an Atlas I6 Chevy Trailblazer to achieve a 10-second quarter-mile. A community is emerging around these swaps, and I'm not complaining about it.
According to the latest video, the truck was supposed to hit the dyno on September 6, but I haven’t seen any results released yet. Perry estimates that it will produce just over 400 horsepower, which wouldn’t surprise me. I'm looking forward to seeing it make a pass at the drag strip; regardless of its speed, it’s sure to be exhilarating with all that boost and a five-speed manual transmission.
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