Chevrolet Colorado (US) review

The 2.7-liter turbo engine is the best thing about the Colorado. It’s quiet, smooth, powerful, and nicely matched with the eight-speed automatic transmission. Our Trail Boss test truck has the middle engine tune, with 310hp and 390lb ft of torque, and that’s plenty. In the city and on the highway, this truck accelerates with authority and has no shortage of mid-range passing power. You might scoff at the fact that the Colorado no longer comes with a V6, but don’t – this 2.7T engine is a star.

Overall, driving the Colorado is a nice experience. The steering is better than you’d expect for a pickup truck, with decent weight to its action, and the brakes are strong and keep the pickup surefooted – even when you need to come to a halt quickly. Does the Colorado waft about in corners? Of course, it’s a body-on-frame pickup. But at the same time, the Colorado doesn’t have the choppy on-road ride that’s common for trucks of this type. It’s much better sorted than a Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, or Nissan Frontier.

The Trail Boss package is a boon for both on- and off-road driving. Those meatier tires with higher sidewalls and the one-inch suspension lift all make this truck cushy-comfy on the highway, and the benefits for off-roading are obvious – you don’t want street tires on the dirt, after all.

How’s the fuel economy?

Ehh, it’s alright. Nothing to write home about, really. According to the EPA, the best this truck'll do is 20mpg city, 25mpg highway, and 22mpg combined. No, that's not horrible as far as mid-size trucks go, but it's also likely a range of specs you won't see most of the time. With all-terrain tires and four-wheel drive, the Colorado's fuel economy lowers to 17mpg city, 19mpg highway, and 18mpg combined. The ZR2? 16mpg across the board. Yeesh.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any electrified options on the horizon for Chevy’s Colorado, and the old Duramax diesel engine option was killed off. Still, it’s cool that Chevy manages to get three different outputs of the same engine, which makes it easy for the company to offer different power levels across multiple trim levels.

Are there driver-assistance features?

A few – but if that’s a priority, the Chevy Colorado isn’t the best buy. The only standard safety technologies are forward-collision warning, lane-keep assist, and lane-departure warning. A surround-view camera, rear pedestrian alert, rear parking assist, rear cross-traffic braking, and blind-spot monitoring are all optional – yes, even on the most expensive Z71 and ZR2 trims. Want adaptive cruise control? That isn’t offered on any Colorado. Come on.