Interestingly, I tested the Colorado Z71 right after sampling the all-new Silverado — and I liked the Colorado better!
The comparison isn't fair, but for a lot of folks who favor the idea of a pickup yet balk at the idea of parking a big ol' Silverado in the driveway, the Colorado is the ideal compromise. And unlike the small, basic, starter trucks of the 1980s, the Colorado is properly a mid-size. It can handle outdoorsy weekend fun, home-improvement projects, and still haul around a family of four.
The mechanically similar GMC Canyon is more luxurious, the stalwart Toyota Tacoma has decades of reliability to back it up, and the Honda Ridgeline is probably the best choice as a pickup truck for the 'burbs. But the Colorado is the mid-size pickup that I think puts everything together in the most complete and compelling way. The Ridgeline, for example, is a pickup that acts totally like a car — it's the modern-day El Camino. The Taco is a darn serious truck — maybe too serious. The Colorado, meanwhile, is very much a pickup, but with just enough accommodations to non-truck livin' to rise to the top of the pack.
Now, do you need the Z71 package? It does add thousands to the price tag, and when it's all said and done, the $42,000 Z71 that I sampled isn't much cheaper than the top-of-the-line, $43,500 ZR2 I tested last year. But the ZR2 has more of a hit-the-dunes vibe to it, while the Z71 is just a 4x4 Colorado with some added flash and beefed up performance aspects. So if you have plans for your Colorado that might be more on the brash side, and if you don't mind the menacing appearances, the Z71 trim is at least worth a gander.
I sort of wound up ignoring some of the Z71 jazz while I was testing the truck, but when it came time to savor the punch of the V6 and at least consider the notion of getting down in the mud and muck or thinking about hitching 7,000 lbs. to the rear end, I appreciated the extras. The Colorado Z71 just feels beefy, for a mid-size pickup, even if the 0-60 mph dash happens at a relatively leisurely 7-8 seconds. The velocity just feels more substantial, thanks the to V6's horsepower.
Beyond that stuff, the Z71 looks bold on the outside, but it's a mostly mellow place to spend time on the inside. The durable interior doesn't demand weekly cleanups, and when tooling around town, the Colorado presents few difficulties with parking or weaving through traffic. But you can decide on the spur of the moment to swing by the garden center and load up on gravel or mulch or buy a couple of trees.
You also know that if the weather or roadways turn foul, you have a robust 4x4 pickup to deal with nature's worst. And if you favor an active lifestyle that abjures pavement, the Colorado Z71 can handle challenging and tricky trails.
The bottom line is that the Chevy Colorado Z71 is a worthy member of the Colorado family.