2024 MotorTrend Truck of the Year: The Chevrolet Colorado takes top honors

Timing is everything, and for the second time in as many generations, the introduction of a Chevrolet Colorado was timed perfectly. For the 2015 model year, after ceding the midsize truck segment to Toyota and Nissan for three years, Chevy re-entered the market with a truck that outclassed its aging competition so significantly it handily won our Golden Calipers. For 2023, Chevrolet rolled out an all-new Colorado, but its launch timing meant it just missed last year's competition. In the interim, the brand subsequently rolled out the stunning off-road-race-ready ZR2 and announced a forthcoming range-topping ZR2 Bison edition. In another lucky stroke for Chevy, the delay also aligned with MotorTrend moving its Truck of the Year competition to Michigan, where we've found a vastly improved playground for testing and evaluating off-road performance, allowing the ZR2 — and the rest of the Colorado lineup — to shine brighter than may have been possible last year.Timing is everything, and for the second time in as many generations, the introduction of a Chevrolet Colorado was timed perfectly. For the 2015 model year, after ceding the midsize truck segment to Toyota and Nissan for three years, Chevy re-entered the market with a truck that outclassed its aging competition so significantly it handily won our Golden Calipers. For 2023, Chevrolet rolled out an all-new Colorado, but its launch timing meant it just missed last year's competition. In the interim, the brand subsequently rolled out the stunning off-road-race-ready ZR2 and announced a forthcoming range-topping ZR2 Bison edition. In another lucky stroke for Chevy, the delay also aligned with MotorTrend moving its Truck of the Year competition to Michigan, where we've found a vastly improved playground for testing and evaluating off-road performance, allowing the ZR2 — and the rest of the Colorado lineup — to shine brighter than may have been possible last year.

The 2015 Colorado borrowed liberally from an existing two-year-old global architecture and design, but this third-gen model qualifies as truly new, from its longer-wheelbase Silverado-derived frame to its sole powertrain, a 2.7-liter turbo four-cylinder and eight-speed automatic. A beefier, more off-road-capable suspension gets standard six-lug wheels, the safety gear is thoroughly updated, and the design has been toughened up inside and out. One thing the third-gen model lost is a choice of body configurations. Too few buyers opted for the longer box with either the extended or crew cabs, so, like Ford and Jeep, GM now offers its midsizers only as a crew-cab/short-box combo. The Colorado was already leading the midsize truck class in our Ultimate Buyers Guide rankings even before it was renewed for 2023, so it entered our competition with a strong tailwind.

Performance of intended function

This may be the most important category for any Truck of the Year contender. With its lack of a 6-foot bed option (which reduces max cargo volume) or a long-wheelbase variant, you might expect compromised towing stability, but if you deliver mulch for a living or pull long campers on vacation, you shouldn't be shopping a midsize pickup in the first place.

Chevrolet bolsters the utility of its pickup box with standard gear that includes corner bed steps on all models but the ZR2, two tie-downs in each corner, and mounting points for various accessory rails or cleats. There's a soft-open tailgate, a 400-watt, 120-volt power outlet and an available 45-inch-wide, 4-inch-deep StowFlex stowage box in the tailgate with a lid that secures the contents when the gate is locked. It's a perfect place to store ratchet straps, tie-down ropes, work gloves, and the like, and there's a drain in case they go in wet.

Our evaluations with 1,000 pounds in the bed and enough passengers aboard to hit the gross vehicle weight limit revealed no degradation in handling behavior. And the Colorado managed to tow a 7,500-pound trailer (200 shy of its maximum) respectably well, though we would welcome larger side mirrors for big-trailer visibility. They're fine for utility trailers, pop-up campers, jet skis — the normal stuff folks tow with midsize trucks.

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But where the entire Colorado lineup really shone was off-road. With its Baja-ready spool-valve shocks, locking front and rear differentials, and knobby tires, the ZR2 feels almost Jeep Wrangler–esque in its go-anywhere capability. “There is so much traction, so much articulation, and so much jounce absorption, it takes getting into another pickup and driving over the same terrain to truly understand its severity, because you can't tell from the Chevy's driver's seat,” deputy editor Alexander Stoklosa said. “It's shocking how well the ZR2 drives on pavement given what it can do off-road. Few hardcore off-roaders manage this balancing act; Ford's F-150 Raptor, the Ram 1500 TRX and maybe the Land Rover Discovery being just about it.” About our only gripe was with the $495 optional (and removable) assist steps that mount to the rock rails, as they mostly make it hard to get in and out without getting dirty.

In addition to all the hardware, the digital real estate inside offers a new Off-Road Performance app displaying info such as altitude and GPS overlanding guidance, pitch, roll, tire pressures, instantaneous g-forces and wheel slip and transfer-case status. There are also up to 10 available camera views, more than any competitor offers, including a segment-first available underbody camera on the Z71 and ZR2.

This is quite simply the most extreme midsize off-road truck available — or at least the new-for-2024 Colorado ZR2 Bison will be, with its 35-inch tires, extra half-inch body lift and equivalent suspension travel (9.9 inches front, 11.6 inches rear). We have yet to sample the forthcoming Ford Ranger Raptor and Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and Trailhunter variants, but they have a tall mountain to climb if they're going to top the ZR2.

Even the base LT with its simpler single-speed 4WD system surprised truck expert and senior editor Jason Gonderman. “No low-range, low ground clearance, a huge air dam, and riding on street tires — damn if it didn't go everywhere.” In between base and ZR2 4WD models lie the Trail Boss and Z71 trims, which also get the ZR2's one-pedal driving mode, allowing you to set an off-road cruising speed via the shift buttons on the gear lever. Gonderman's take on the Trail Boss: “The taller ride height certainly has its advantages for getting over tough obstacles, but the truck lacks a truly aggressive off-road tire. With true A/T tires the Trail Boss would almost be unstoppable.” He also lamented the lack of a manually locking differential, but technical editor Jered Korfhage noted that “once you learn how much throttle input the automatic locker in the rear end requires, the Trail Boss will surprise you.” And fellow tech editor Matt Chudzinski noted that half the fun of off-roading is trying different lines with a spotter assisting — something the Trail Boss affords more opportunity for than the climb-anything-on-the-first-try ZR2.

Advancement in design

The cardinal rule of American truck design is to make them look rugged — tough enough to go anywhere and haul anything. We initially praised the 2015 model's design for pushing that envelope in a smoother, softer direction, but by the end of its run, we criticized the look as too “soft and bubbly.” This one reinterprets the Silverado's design in a fresh and to some eyes better proportioned way, with Stoklosa noting, “the Trail Boss' blacked-out front end reminds me of five-o'clock shadow — it's gruff!”

The interior is modernized with fully digital instrumentation on two big screens and Camaro-esque round outboard vents. Those screens add a dash of upscale modernity to the cabin — especially when displaying snazzy welcome graphics at startup. They also provide cost savings by controlling numerous functions that otherwise require expensive physical switches.

We take issue with some of Chevy's choices on this front. For example, there is a switch that allows you to roll all four windows down but not back up again — please move this dubious “feature” to the screen in favor of a hard button for traction/stability control, hill descent control, the cameras, headlamps or foglights. We also fret about consigning safety-related items like the trailer brake controller to a screen, in the event of a digital malfunction.

Engineering excellence

It's no surprise that today's midsize trucks can do almost anything their half-ton forebears did 20 years ago, and it's a credit to the engineering teams that they continue to deliver this capability in a smaller footprint that remains comfortable enough for daily use — even when burdened with a half-ton of payload or up to 7,700 pounds of trailer. Chevy offers no automated trailer backing assists as the latest Ranger does, but screens ease the task of trailer attachment with safety checklists and by displaying things like instantaneous trailer brake gain.

The Colorado ZR2's biggest engineering headline-grabber is its Multimatic spool-valve shocks, which deliver off-road compliance and on-road ride quality second to none. Even lesser models on standard twin-tube shocks generally ride and handle better than the outgoing Ranger and Tacoma, the Frontier and especially the all-live-axle Jeep Gladiator.

On the negative side of the engineering ledger, however, the four-cylinder turbo engine — currently available in two states of tune (237-hp/259-lb-ft or 310/430) — works hard and sounded to Gonderman “like a pissed-off sewing machine.” The transmission, while reasonably responsive to throttle kick-down, lacks a selectable Sport mode and tends to favor high gears, keeping the engine out of its powerband sweet spot. And we were disappointed by some buzzes and rattles, a malfunctioning trailer brake controller in one truck, and an axle seal that failed during our figure-eight testing in another. We trust these can be chalked up to early-production teething issues.

Value

The bill of materials for a midsize pickup isn't that much cheaper than that for a half-ton. This makes profit margins a lot slimmer, which helps excuse some of the hard, shiny plastics found in every Colorado trim grade. But creative use of the screens, contrast stitching, and class-above features like keyless start manage to keep the Colorado from feeling cheap — no easy feat with a starting price of $30,695. Even the ZR2 starts at $48,295, just above the average transaction price of all new vehicles and about $5,000 less than a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon or Mojave. Cake icing: It's quicker and handles better on pavement than those Jeeps. And at an as-tested price of $41,055, the Trail Boss delivers a lot of off-road bang for the buck. Offering the superior navigation and search functionality of Google Built-In on all models is another huge value add, and at least for now it complements standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This was the criterion in which the Colorado pulled decisively ahead of its GMC Canyon sibling, as our judging team failed to find sufficient bonus content to justify GMC's price premium.

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Safety

Neither NHTSA nor the IIHS has fully tested the new Colorado yet, but NHTSA gave it a four-star frontal and five-star side crash rating. We expect improvement over the previous model, as that one was based on architecture that predated the IIHS small-overlap crash test. Standard Chevy Safety Assist technology includes forward collision alert, automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, a following distance indicator and IntelliBeam automatic high-beams. The optional adaptive cruise control uses the same button that adjusts the following distance alert, which may prove confusing to infrequent users of trucks not equipped with ACC.

Efficiency

Despite its transition to an all four-cylinder turbo/automatic transmission powertrain lineup, efficiency is not a Colorado strength, even if it is in the hunt. There's no longer a diesel option, rear-wheel drive is only available on the work truck and LT trim grades, and even that only ekes out EPA city/highway/combined ratings of 20/25/22 mpg. A Colorado LT 4WD on street tires rates 19/23/21 city/highway/combined mpg, while the mighty ZR2 gets the lowest grades: 16/16/16 — a disappointing drop from last year's 3.6-liter ZR2 (16/18/17). We consoled ourselves noting the V-6-only Frontier tops out at 18/24/21 and (with Jeep's diesel also canceled) the V-6 Gladiator is down at 17/22/19. That said, the most efficient new Ranger beats the Colorado city rating by 1 mpg, and the non-hybrid 2024 Tacoma has 1 mpg on the Chevy across the board. We expect Toyota's hybrid setup will achieve between 25 and 30 combined mpg when it arrives later in the year.

Truck of the Year

This year, as in 2015, Chevrolet's Colorado once again outclasses its midsize rivals by a far greater margin than any of our heavy-duty or “supertruck” contenders did in their respective segments. Its strong value proposition, impressive off-road capability across the range — while remaining eminently livable day to day — tough good looks, strong feature content, and broad range of offerings spanning from sensible work truck to junior Baja 1000 star impressed us sufficiently to earn this Chevy fresh set of Calipers.