As we march into 2024, a rare thing has occurred in the car culture. Three major brands are releasing completely all-new competitive products all at the same time; the Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colardo/GMC Canyon & the Toyota Tacoma. First to hit the market showroom floors is the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado, receiving a massive transformation that exudes its testosterone of masculinity as it starts to take on a new culture of toughness and off-road faculties.   

The Chevrolet engineers went to great lengths to improve the Colorado and the flaws it previously suffered. The creases in the hood are not there for just style, but serve for better visibility for on & offroad obstacles. The front overhang has been shorten for an improved approach angle. The stupid front aerodynamic spoiler that would get ripped off if parked too close to a curb is still there but is now shorter and further tucked back. And in the back, the spare wheel has been recessed further into the frame for a greater departure angle.  

Realizing that many of their consumers may not want to pay $50,000+ for the high performance ZR2, Chevrolet has added a new off-road trim to the Colorado family with the Trail Boss. The Trail Boss is designed to be a budget friendly off roader with the fundamentals of the Work Truck trim, but outperforms the well-equipped, and more expensive Z71. With a starting price of $38,990 it features chunkier 32-inch all-terrain tires, a 2-inch lift with an additional 1.5-inches of travel in the front suspension and 1.0-inch of travel in the rear. If you’re looking for a locking differential, that has been saved for the ZR2, but the Trail Boss does come equipped with the same limited-slip differential found in the Z71.  

Chevrolet has opted to keep things relatively simple with the Colorado by offering only one cab and bed option with each trim level offering a different power output from its one and only available 2.7-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gas engine. Both the WT and LT trims get the base 237-horsepower with 260 lb-ft of torque and capability of towing 3500-pounds. While optional on the WT & LT trims, both the Trail Boss and Z71 come standard with the upgraded turbocharger that supports 310-horsepower and 391 lbs-ft of torque supporting 7700-pounds of towing capability. The ZR2, however, gets the high-output engine option that supports the same 310-horsepower, but a chunk more torque, 430 lbs-ft of it. And since the High-Output performance is a software calibration and not mechanical, rumor has it that you can pay your dealer to recalibrate the software after purchasing, assuming for a hefty price.  

Some my fret at the idea of Chevrolet axing the V-6 for a four-cylinder turbo, but the 2.7 in our Trail Boss was no slouch either. Despite the weight it has to carry, it required little effort to get the wheels in motion. Like being a fat guy with great stamina. Its not fast, but its not slow either – keeping our foot to the floor, the eight-speed automatic kept things in check as it never seemed to run out of breath.  

Exploring beyond the paved asphalt is the Trail Boss’ primary objective and its suspension is certainly up to the task absorbing the rough terrain with very little rattling in the cabin. Even though we didn’t explore the great beyond and find the Trail Boss’ limitations, it has a Terrain drive mode that when shifting the gear leaver into Low, you can tailor the speed with one-pedal driving and the use of the rotary knob on the center console. But if you prefer to handle the off-roading yourself, simple change the drive mode into Off-Road and return to your adventures.  

Keeping to the theme of simplicity, inside is what would be considered as barebones by today’s standards. Because the Trail Boss is based on the Work Truck (WT) trim, it keeps things straightforward with a standard 11.3-inch touch screen display that supports wireless smartphone and Google Built-In, a digital TFT instrument cluster, and push-button start, but no keyless entry.  

Modernization, however, can be tricky business. The headlight controls for instance are managed through the touchscreen and not on a toggle, same with the window lock and same with the vehicles trip computer. All of that is annoying in the beginning, but anything that doesn’t follow form can be annoying at first. Like the headlights, it will always default to ‘auto’ to help avoid any accidental disengagement when the sky goes dark – it only becomes annoying when we want to turn them off completely or engage the parking lights, which is a rare occurrence anyways. And how often do we really lock our windows, except when we have kids in the car.  

Pricing for the Colorado has increased but given that it comes with four-doors from the start, we’re not surprised. The entry level WT (Work Truck) trim in two-wheel drive starts at $30,695, adding four-wheel drive tacks on an additional $2500. In the case of our Trail Boss, it starts at $38,495 and after a few options it came out to $41,195. For the basics of off-road, pricing isn’t all that bad – if anything, we only wished cruise control offered as standard equipment and that Chevrolet would offer an LED lighting package to swap out the halogen headlights for the Z71 headlights.  

Being the first of the major three brands to launch a completely redesigned off-road truck is risky business. However, the Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss is a more compelling package over the previous generation and should help those looking for a simple outdoorsy work truck that can handle rough terrain, without having to paying a premium price.