Like a rock, It's a what??????? (Other Cars...)

Name: uncle_bob

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Product:	Other Cars...
Date:	10.12.01 (586 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: powerful, heavy duty, cheaper than the competition

Disadvantages: not available in the UK, rear wheel drive lets it down

Well, here I am again. On a mission to see how Americans do it, compared to us British Folk. And so far my findings have shown we have nothing to worry about.
The Chevrolet Camero V8 and Ford Mustang are probably the most respected cars in the states, for performance, and comfort, not counting the old muscle cars of course.

Well, the Camero is, basically, a Vauxhall Calibra with a large engine, but no better performance to show for it, and the Mustang is a Ford!, nuff said. But I have stumbled across a car, I never expected to be in the running for a 'fun car' in my list. Can you guess what it is?
Maybe a Mitsubishi Eclipse? Nope, that was very disappointing. How about a Corvette? Don't know, not got my hands on one, yet!
I?ll give you a clue. It's a 2 seater.
Any ideas yet?
I bet you have visions of prestige sports cars running through your head. Well, this car has a 4.3 V6 engine, 4 speed automatic gearbox with over drive, pumps out nearly 200hp and will see 0-60 in about 7 seconds. What is it?
It's a Chevrolet S10. Pickup! Yep, that's right, flat bed pickup truck. We may have the upper hand when it comes to cars, but when it comes to hauling stuff, we have a lot to learn.
Being in the South of America, means, every other person has a pickup truck in his or her drive. Ranging from Nissan things, right up to Ford F-250s and the Chevy S10.
You see pickup trucks here with duel rear axles or 'duelies' as the local slang goes. Hauling around horseboxes. But these are not the little boxes that carry 1 or 2 horses. These jobbies will carry 4 or 5 horses.
They don't use tow balls on these trucks, they use the same type of towing hitch articulated trucks use.
Running around with huge gas guzzling V8 lumps, and you see young women driving these. Not the stereotypical farmer you expect to see in a pickup.
But the one that has caught my eye the most, is the Chevy S10 (by the way, Che
vy is Chevrolet, in case you were wondering).

So what is this pickup then?
Well, the S-10 is probably the favoured pickup truck to own. Built by Chevrolet it has the backing of a GM manufactured reputation.

Lets start with the good bit, the engine:
The S-10 comes with 2 engines. The 2.4litre 4 cylinder SFI Vortec, and the 4.3 V6.
The one I got my grubby little mitts on is the 4.3 V6 with a 4-speed gearbox and overdrive.
Both models come with the automatic gearbox, but the 2.4 gets an extra gear.
Horsepower figures are 120hp for the 2.4 and 180hp for the 4.3. That?s coupled with 140lb.-ft of torque for the 2.4 and a very meaty 245lb.-ft for the 4.3.

When I first got the keys to this truck I was ready for a nice gentle drive into town. On turning the ignition, the V6 jumped to life, rocking the truck to the side. I knew then, this was not going to be gentle.

The one bad thing about these trucks, is the rear-wheel drive they come with. With no weight in the back end when the bed is empty, it's very hard to keep the wheels from painting the road, even with automatic transmission.
This is the first, rear wheel drive, automatic car, I have been able to pull a completely stationary burn out in.

Since these trucks are not available in the UK, I wont bother doing my usual complete analysis of the car, because most people will not be able to get a hold of one, unless you import it. So this opinion is more for general reading, than for buying advice. But I will do the basic normal layout for me.

So, performance.
You probably worked out by now, it performs well, for a truck.
It will out accelerate many cars on the roads over here. I don't know the exact acceleration times, as I cant locate them anywhere, and the cops round here wouldn't give you a chance to test it fully, but it is in the region of 7-8 seconds.

Top end is not huge. But you have to remember this is a w
orkhorse. It's engine is low revving and isn't designed to fly along at 130mph + but I have seen 90 in it, and it wasn't straining then.
However, and it is a big however. Although this truck is fast and powerful, it is not intended to be fast. And this is obvious when you try and drive them hard. The rear wheel drive system on cars is good for rear engined cars or cars with 'positrack' drive systems, but in a truck like this, it is a downside when driving normally. Due to the lack of any body really in the rear, there is very little weight pushing down on the back wheels. This makes for a lot of wheel spin and poor handling.
In the wet, forget it, no matter how hard you try, you will spin those wheels.
But it is designed to haul, and haul it does. I do a lot of work with engines and boats and moving an engine from one place to another is hard for me, as I only have a car, and an engine is a heavy object. However, I have been hauling engines around here. For a Triumph Spitfire (1974), but with this truck, I could just throw the engine in the back, along with anything else I wanted and off I go. Once you have the weight in the back, it handles much better.
The large torque from the engine helps maintain the speed. Give this thing a hill, and it climbs like a home sick angel.
A good example of it's power is the other day.
Currently working on an Audi 5000. I had to get it out the Garage but someone had left the door open and the batery was dead. Since the house is on a hill the driveway is steep so pushing this lump was out the question. Battery terminals on the truck are to small for jump leads, so towing it with the truck was the only option.
I didn't think this would work, as it was raining hard, and this truck in the wet, on a hill with the weight of an Audi holding it back, was really going to struggle for grip. But to my suprise, I hooked up this Audi, dropped the truck into gear and as soon as I took my
foot of the brake, it started tearing up the hill. No throttle was needed, it pulled this Audi, on tick over, up this drive way.

Exterior?
Well it's a pick-up, and its square. The front is square, the sides are square, the back is square. Aerodynamics was not top of the agenda when this was designed.

Interior?
Not much different to the exterior. It's a workhorse, you won't find fancy gadgets. Air conditioning is about all you get. Column shift gear selector takes some getting used to. (Yes I did slip it into neutral instead of turning on the windscreen wipers) but then it is for an American market, and they are used to column shifts.
It has a bench seat, which will fit 3 with a squeeze, but really 2 is comfortable.

Security?
It's a truck, why steal it? No, there is no security apart from locking doors.

Safety?
The newer ones come with ABS and I believe airbags, but it's a heavy built car and would take a lot to smash it enough to cause you harm.

Overall?
Overall the S10 makes the wimpy pickups we have look like Minis. Fast, very versatile, and built to last. As the Chevy slogan says 'Like A Rock'.
I would love to import one of these trucks to England. Unfortunately it wouldn't last 5 minutes before the gypsies stole it.
And believe it or not, people actually modify these trucks. It's strange to see a pickup, lowered, running 19's and blowing away Cameros. But there are a lot of modification parts for these trucks and are very popular with younger people.

I know this opinion is pretty useless, but like I said, it is mainly for general reading. Let you know I actually found a car I like that isn't actually meant to go fast. But shush, don't tell anyone ;o)

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