Having already driven the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss extensively off-road in our first drive reviewit was time to take him home and see how he copes with the mundanity of family life.
Of course, full-size pickups are in most cases the truck of choice for families given the colossal backseat space of their crew cabins and the abundant features available. But the midsize pickups aren’t exactly small, and with their own crew cabs, it’s not like your kiddos are going to ride in those scary fold-up seats of yore or, even more frighteningly, just out in bed with the German Shepherd .
If a midsize pickup is going to make the cut, it’s the all-new Colorado. Only the intersection Honda crest line clearly exceeds the space in the cabin, while the Chevy’s The clean redesign results in a thoroughly modern cabin that is a stark contrast to the age Toyota Tacoma AND Ford Ranger. Even the recently updated Nissan Frontier it settles for the same compact size as its ancient predecessor. In addition to space, the Colorado also has the latest technology, including an 11.3-inch wide-oriented touchscreen running General Automotive’s Android interface, despite being otherwise equipped as the base trim level. This, plus an attractive design, makes the cab look, feel, and function less like a stripped-down truck and more like a daily driver despite the ample hard plastic.
In this road test, I’ll look at how the Colorado performed on three specific daily driver tasks: carrying kids, weekend family outing, and Lowe’s run. OK, so I technically did off-roading for the photo shoot above, but as you can see, it didn’t exactly get dirty.
The child seat test!
This is certainly the first pickup I’ve installed my son’s forward facing Britax Boulevard in, and therefore needed to secure the rear LATCH anchor. I don’t know if the Colorado’s rear anchor setup is unique, but I know I’ve never seen it before on a full-size truck, and after some research I can see that the Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator AND Nissan Frontier access the connections by folding the backrest forward. The backrest of the Colorado is fixed. Instead, there’s a heavy metal bracket atop the backrest behind the half headrest. If you choose to place the seat in one of the outboard positions (as is completely normal), you must do the following.
- Remove the headrest.
- Snake tether through a cloth loop attached to another heavy metal bracket.
- Bring the tether up to the center metal bracket and hook it into the hole in the bracket (there are two) closest to the seat.
- Tighten the rope.
This last step was not easy. The window is so close that it was very difficult to pull the strap back to tighten it. The strap design on my seat is also shaped like a V with the strap locking at the tip, making it even harder to tighten when pulling to the right instead of backwards. It took a lot of effort to make sure it was really tight.
Definitely consult your owner’s manual and test to make sure there is no movement in the seat once it’s secured. It is highly recommended that you take it to a certified child seat installation specialist (fire department is a good bet).
Once finally secured, however, the seat fits perfectly. I had to move the front seat forward so my son couldn’t kick my wife in front, but even then it had enough room. This shouldn’t be a problem with better behaved children / not with young children. The door opening, cab height and seat position also made it exceptionally easy to pick up and secure my son in his seat – easier in fact than most compact family crossovers.
Another notable item is that the Colorado’s rear seat bottom is split 60/40. With it, you can still take advantage of the under-seat storage (I used it to store my laptop) or extra luggage space without having to remove the child seat. You can’t do that in the Ford Rangerwhich has a one-piece seat bottom.
Day at the beach!
Having a truck seemed like a good way to visit the beach without ending up with a trunk full of sand. Instead of packing carefully our Niro with the fold out beach wagon and chairs, towels, bucket of toys, etc, I just threw it all into the Colorado bed. OK, so I positioned everything so the heavy tank didn’t ping-pong around the bed, but still a lot easier than an SUV.
That placement was made easier by the fact that the Colorado is a midsize truck. It’s easier to reach the sides of the bed without having to get on and off a lot of times. There are corner steps if you needed them, although that would certainly be nice if GM could come up with a MultiPro Jr. for the Canyonado. Coloranyon? Anything.
More impressive than successfully fitting a small amount of beach gear into a pickup bed (duh), was how the Colorado handled on the way to the beach. You see, the journey to Malibu from my home in Conejo Valley requires a drive up the long, winding, high-speed Kanan Road. The Colorado’s smaller size was certainly appreciated, as I was able to maintain a fast clip through the various corners and pass painfully slow traffic on the three-lane portions. The steering is pleasantly weighted and reassuringly responsive.
The most impressive element, however, was the eight-speed automatic transmission. Kanan has multiple grades, the most severe of which is 8%. On all of them, prolonged brake the application would automatically indicate a downshift that was sustained for the length of the slope. This, my friends, is called the logic of degree. There’s no need to touch the +/- switch on the gearbox or select an L mode. The truck does this for you smartly and smoothly, thus using engine braking to slow the car down rather than driving (and cooking) the brakes. This is ultimately best enjoyed while trailerbut that doesn’t mean it can’t come in handy in other scenarios.
As for the turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four, this truck has the middle tune of 310 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque. There was absolutely no problem moving up those grades, as that’s a great deal of grit for a truck this size. It also sounds good despite having four fewer cylinders than many pickup owners have come to expect (although like any GM 2.7 turbo, the diesel-like wastegate hiss can still be heard at lower speeds whenever you step on the accelerator) .
Fuel economy, however, was not as good as one might expect from a smaller truck. I drove the Colorado a total of 170 miles on suburban, highway and, yes, a twisty canyon road at high speeds. The result was 16.8 mpg. This is close enough to EPA Estimates of 17 mpg city, 19 mpg highway, and 18 mpg combined when equipped with this Trail Boss’s mud tires. The least efficient Silverado with this engine gets 19 mpg combined, although the EPA doesn’t specify what the Silverado Trail Boss would achieve with its mud-terrain tires. However, if you were expecting gas savings with a midsize truck, you’re in for a disappointment.
Carry bags of poop!
I used the presence of a truck to kick off the construction of a rock patio in the backyard. While the 190 cubic feet of rock itself would exceed the payload of the Colorado (I was Truly pushing it when I did something similar with an F-150), everything needed for the job could be loaded into the bed with ease. I know I wouldn’t have been too keen on putting 12 bags of top soil/steer manure in an SUV, be it my own or a press vehicle, nor the grower who could certainly do a number on the plastic, carpet or upholstery of an interior. Even the wagon style wheelbarrow I purchased would be pretty iffy in many vehicles. Again, the bed load and side heights made it easier to lift and store various items.
Frankly, this is the kind of use case I foresee a lot of people needing a truck for, not to tow a small house or dump a ton of river rock into its bed. It’s more about the versatility of a truck bed than about maximum weights and capacities. In this case, a full-size truck is overkill. A mid-sized one like the Colorado will get the job done, while being easier to park in tight spaces, maneuver on trails, or handle a winding road. Oh, and be cheaper. This Trail Boss has a sticker for $41,055; a comparable Silverado Trail Boss would cost $50,835 and still have the old, crappy GM truck interior with the tiny non-Google touchscreen.
That said, fuel economy disappoints, and there’s certainly no denying that a full-size truck is better suited for loading kids in the back. Ride quality, while not objectionable for a truck, is also rougher than full-sizes: There’s more vibration felt through the frame, solid rear axle, and leaf springs. If you want a truck for road trips, a Silverado would be a better bet (a Ram would be even better). The Colorado is therefore better suited to the more suburban truck owner, or even those without kiddos.
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