Holden justifies its two flagship Colorado variants

Holden says there is room in the market for its two flagship Colorado variants, with the recently-released Z71 Xtreme and the HSV-fettled SportsCat designed to target different types of buyers.

While the SportsCat is designed for increased on-road performance, the Z71 Xtreme is purpose-built for all-terrain driving according to Holden general manager of light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) Andre Scott.

"HSV has done a great job of defining a niche in the sports performance market," he said.

"It's definitely still a legitimate top-end option for HSV dealers, which is around 60-odd dealers of our network, but again they're niche is within sports performance, and they've made suspension upgrades and disc brake changes accordingly. This (Z71 Xtreme) is purely top-end but off-road."

Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) gives the SportsCat a 30mm-wider track, sports suspension, raised ride height, a bodykit, red-stitched interior, unique grille and tubular side steps.

The up-specced SportsCat+ also gets big AP Racing brakes and a rear de-coupling anti-roll bar.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Z71 Xtreme is equipped with Holden dealer accessories including all-terrain tyres, a 2.5-mm bash plate, a winch bar with an integrated winch, revised front springs, fender flares, a bonnet bulge, a rear steel step and a roof tray.

Pricing for the SportsCat and SportsCat+ is set (before on-road costs) at $60,790 and $66,790 respectively, while the Z71 Xtreme checks in at $69,990 drive-away.

Both are powered by the same 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine as found in the rest of the Colorado range, which Mr Scott claims is still competitive against the vehicle's main rivals.

The SportsCat is designed for increased on-road performance.

"When something's good enough, you don't need to mess with it, and when you look at our 2.8, that's becoming large in the segment. The power and torque outputs are solid, acceleration, handling, feel... are not to be outdone as well," he said.

"There's no need to touch that. What we were trying to do was provide that off-road-ready package on top of that to create a true hero for off-road."

While Mr Scott would not confirm if a larger engine like a petrol V8 had been considered, he said he is happy with the current four-pot's performance.

"For us, we're focused on (2.8-litre) Duramax, it's capability, it's our global diesel option supported globally by GM. Output is strong, torque is solid, power is solid, performance around the vehicle is excellent, so I think we'll just focus on what's working for us right now," he said.

Would you like to have seen a bump to output for the Colorado Sportscat and Z71 Xtreme models? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.