Test Drive: Chevrolet Colorado Z71

The off-road-inspired Colorado Z71 is the brawniest of the three available trim levels. It features a gunmetal grille surround – a change from the chrome standard on the other models – projector headlamps and unique 17-inch aluminum wheels.

One of the benefits of being a writer is that you can sometimes get people to loan you expensive gear to use and occasionally abuse in the name of journalism.

Often that gear includes things like fishing line or the occasional shirt. However, imagine my surprise when I found a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Crew Cab pickup truck sitting in my driveway!

Actually, in the interest of journalistic integrity, it was because I actually begged, pleaded and constantly whined to the good folks at Chevrolet until they decided it was easier to let me borrow a truck for the week than answer any more phone calls.

Though built in Wentzville, Missouri, many of the vehicle’s sub-assemblies were either designed or manufactured here in Indiana and that seemed like a good reason to take the truck for a spin- to Tennessee.

The day after the truck arrived, four large-to-XL men piled a mountain of camping gear into the vehicle and we hit the road for a five-day spring break trip into the wilds of Tennessee, centered on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and points thereabouts. The trip itself rated as a Class VI Adventure, complete with major medical complications, a search-and-rescue mission, closed facilities and enough rain that any animals that weren’t already drowned began pairing up two-by-two. However, the Chevy Colorado performed flawlessly.

At first I had trepidations about our crew fitting into the cab. As I was the shortest member at six-feet tall, the 20+ hours of driving overall loomed uncomfortable at best. However, though we were well-packed inside, the accommodations were comfortable and worked fine. As such, I decided that the mid-sized truck is truly a good compromise for someone who occasionally needs the room of a full-sized truck but doesn’t want a larger vehicle as a “daily driver.”

With a 1520-lb rated payload, I’m fairly certain our “everything but the kitchen sink” group placed the vehicle close to max curb weight.

The ride was decent-going-on-nice for a truck; it was smoother when fully loaded but yet didn’t feel like the proverbial log wagon while driven solo.

Handling was actually quite noteworthy for this category of vehicle, assisted by the electrically powered rack-and-pinion steering. Even fully laden, there was virtually no sway or under steer when maneuvering; it really felt like you were driving a passenger car, something that is praiseworthy for any truck.

In spite of the weight, acceleration was quite peppy as the 305 horses of the optional V-6 allowed us to pass Sunday drivers on curving mountain roads without too much stomach acid generation. This is considered the best horsepower available for a mid-sized truck.

Our gas mileage was slightly less than the average rated 24 miles per gallon but when you consider some of the steep grades we traversed, it is not surprising. We also gave the brakes a workout on some of these mountain roads and were pleasantly surprised the first time the hill descent control downshifted the transmission on the downhill leg. This definitely helped the four-wheel antilock disk brakes stay cool.

Like most new vehicles, the Colorado has a center viewing screen that serves as control for the radio and navigation system, along with viewer for the backup camera. Having never driven a rear-camera-equipped vehicle, I instantly fell in love with it, the large screen making backing the overloaded truck into tight campsites a simple matter.

The audio system was the upgraded Bose Premium and it sounded better than my car, in fact, better than my home system. This would be a highly-recommended upgrade if you enjoy music.

Fortunately for both our health and my future dealings with Chevrolet, we didn’t test the six airbags. We also didn’t try the forward collision alert and lane departure warning as either our test truck wasn’t equipped or we weren’t smart enough to engage them.

Other things we really liked about the Chevy Colorado Z71:

Four USB ports so everyone could charge their devices at the same time

EZ Lift and Lower tailgate

Rear bumper corner step

The exterior styling; this is a good-looking truck!

The not-so-liked things:

No driver’s side grab bar for entering/exiting

The on-board navigation system was “fiddly” and required excessive steps to program a destination.

Overall, we really liked almost everything about this truck after our week-long road/human torture test. With the handling, acceleration and creature comforts of a passenger car with the work-ability of a truck, this might be the perfect vehicle for outdoors sports enthusiasts.

Sometime in the near future, when we finally “pull the trigger” and purchase a new truck for our future adventures, we’ll give strong consideration to the Chevrolet Colorado Z71.