Edelbrock Supercharged Chevrolet Colorado Quick Test Drive
Renowned California tuning group Edelbrock showcases the future of hotrodding with CARB-legal speed parts and boosted engines.
Los Angeles-based performance parts producer Edelbrock has seen it all. Founded in 1938 by Vic Edelbrock, the company has always been synonymous with speed. Edelbrock intake manifolds proved to be the brand’s catalyst to success, eventually allowing to company to expand in scope and scale, from Edelbrock’s garage and repair shop, to several facilities that now employ over 600 people.
Though, as prominent as Edelbrock is in the world of Flathead Ford V8s and small block Chevy engines, they continue to look forward, at the world car enthusiasts live in today. For people who want to make their daily driver a bit quicker, the company offers bolt-on supercharger kits that are California emissions compliant. That means that when it comes time to pass the biennial smog check that strikes fear into the hearts of enthusiasts with modified cars, an Edelbrock supercharged ride will pass without issue.
That brings us to this. It’s a 2017 Chevrolet Colorado and it sports quite the retro twist to it. The red and black color scheme is meant to evoke Edelbrock’s iconic red, black and white color palette, but the theme is also a bit of a nod to the Fast and the Furious. In the first film, Brian O’Conner is seen rolling around Los Angeles in a red, black and white Ford Lightning pickup, which served as a partsrunner for the shop he worked for. Edelbrock wanted their truck to look and feel like it could also be a parts delivery truck, hence the motif. There are a few other visual upgrades that complete the look, including a lowered ride height thanks to a Belltech suspension system and 20-inch Forgeline wheels, which are styled to resemble blacked out solid-dished wheels seen on older trucks.
Of course, this is an Edelbrock truck so the 3.6-liter V6 engine has been boosted with one of the company’s supercharger kits. The kit costs $4,499.87 and includes everything but a tune, in case owners want to handle tuning themselves. Alternatively, buyers can also spring for the $4,999.87 kit, which includes everything, as well as a tune for a one-and-done all-in solution. Power is boosted from 308 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque at the crank to 345 horsepower and 306 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. Edelbrock says that’s a 24% increase in power.
From behind the wheel, there is very little that would alert passengers that this is a modified truck, other than a very faint whine from the Eaton TVS R1740 supercharger. Though, with that much power on tap, roughly equivalent to what buyers would get out of a 6.2-liter V8 Silverado, for example, it makes for a pretty spirited ride in the mid-size Colorado.
Though, the soundtrack, which is played through the stock exhaust system, muffles what could be an exciting V6 howl. Edelbrock leaves the optional accessories, including an exhaust system up to the buyer. As-is, if the graphics package were removed, the supercharged Colorado would be quite the sleeper.
After bringing the Colorado back in one piece, we were treated to a quick tour of Edelbrock’s facility, or, should we say, the main facility. All Edelbrock products are made in the U.S.A. with the majority being built in their main facility in Torrance, California, however they also have several offsite facilities, including a foundry where cast items, like intake manifolds, are made.
One area that caught our eye, in particular, was the supercharger assembly room, which was stacked from floor to ceiling, and wall to wall with supercharger components. Rotor housings, intake pieces, pullies and the like all neatly divided into their spot, labeled for the application. That includes one of our favorite superchargers, the one found on the Lotus Evora. This very supercharger, with its housing finished in bright red with polished Lotus script on it, was set to be delivered to Lotus, where they do the installation and final assembly onto the 3.5-liter Toyota V6 engine that is used.
The Edelbrock facility, as well as the general scope of the company, leaves an impression. That one of the original speed parts companies to ever exist is still alive and thriving some 80 years after its founding is both an impressive feat that speaks volumes about the company and its product, but is also something to be appreciated as a bastion of car culture because Edelbrock is exception, not the norm.
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