Eric's Autos: 2024 Chevy Colorado

It's a weird thing.

As trucks have gotten bigger, their engines have gotten smaller -- also fewer, as in the case of the 2024 Chevy Colorado, which no longer offers either the 3.6-liter V6 or the turbo-diesel engine it used to be available with.

Or the 2.5-liter four it used to come standard with.

It comes standard -- and only -- with a 2.7-liter turbocharged four in two different states of tune.

There's one other thing you can't get anymore: an extended cab. The '24 Colorado is only available in crew cab configuration. The latter used to cost extra -- and that was optional.

It no longer is.

What It is

The Colorado (and its GMC-badged twin, the Canyon) are nominally "midsize" pickups sold by Chevrolet and GMC, respectively. Dimensionally, both of these trucks are full-size, by the standard of the recent past. But they're still not as big as the supersize trucks that are considered "full-size" by today's standards.

There are five trims, but just one basic configuration, which is crew cab with a short (5-foot) bed. And just one engine (and transmission).

Your main choice -- other than trims -- is whether to buy two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

Prices start at $29,500 for what Chevy styles the Work Truck trim, with 2WD. Opting for 4WD bumps the MSRP up to $32,800.

Other available trims include the $31,900-to-start LT, the $37,300-to-start Trail Boss, the $40,200-to-start Z71 and the $46,800-to-start ZR2, which is the priciest version of this pickup. Trail Boss and Z22 comes with off-road upgrades, including a lifted suspension (2 and 3 inches, respectively) locking front and rear differentials, and different front- and rear-end bodywork to allow for increased approach/departure angles when negotiating terrain.

What's New

A Bison Edition is now available as an option for ZR2 Colorados.

It ups the off-road ante with a set of 35-inch mud-terrain tires, a winch mount and integrated recovery points (so you can use the winch to pull the vehicle out of the muck if you do manage to get it stuck). The Bison also adds fender flares and "jounce control" suspension dampers as well as a bed-mounted full-size spare tire.

What's Good

It's everything a full-size truck used to be.

Standard 2.7-liter engine is much stronger than previously standard 2.5-liter engine.

Z2R and Bison trims offer extreme off-road capability.

What's Not So Good

It costs more than a full-size truck used to cost.

It's as large as a full-size truck used to be.

Only one engine (and cab) "option."

Under The Hood

Chevy used to offer the Colorado with three different engines. It's now available with a new 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 237 horsepower and 260 foot-pounds of torque in the Work Truck and LT trims and 310 horsepower (and 430 foot-pounds of torque) in the higher trims. The latter has more horsepower and torque than was produced by the 3.6-liter V6 (308 horsepower/275 foot-pounds of torque) that used to be the Colorado's optional engine.

The increased standard power (and capability; this truck can tow 7,700 pounds) is nice -- assuming you can afford it. When the Colorado came standard with the 2.5-liter engine, it listed for $25,200.

The current Colorado is priced $4,300 higher to start.

On The Road

Driving the Colorado is a lot like driving a full-size truck -- because it almost is a full-size truck. At 212.7 inches long, the "midsize" Colorado is several inches longer than a '24 Ford F-150 regular cab pickup, which is 209.1 inches long. The main thing that differentiates the "midsize" Colorado from the "full-size" F-150 is width.

The Colorado is 84.4 inches wide versus 95.7 inches for the F-150.

It's an important difference in terms of more than just inches. Though it's a big truck, the Colorado doesn't take up as much room on the road. In a current-year full-size truck, there is often very little room left on either side of the truck, leaving not much margin if you're not paying attention and the truck wanders to the left -- and across the double yellow into the opposing lane of traffic -- or off to the right and off the edge of the road. Two full-size trucks passing and closing on each other from opposite directions can smack outside mirrors (or worse) if one of their drivers isn't keeping his rig within its lane.

That's less an issue with the Colorado because you have almost a foot more side-to-side margin than a full-size truck.

At The Curb

Chevy used to offer the Colorado in either extended cab or crew cab configurations. The '24 comes in just one -- crew cab -- configuration, with just one short (5-foot) bed. This can be extended by lowering the tailgate, but it's still less bed than the 6-foot beds that used to come standard with compact-size trucks.

Part of the reason you can't get a longer bed with this truck has to do with Chevy only offering this truck with a crew cab. Hanging a 6-foot bed off the back of that would make this rig even longer than a current full-size/regular cab truck like the F-150.

The crew cab configured Colorado is as easy to get into and out for the back-seat occupants as it is for the driver and front-seat passenger. And there's several inches more back-seat legroom (34.7 inches) back there versus 28.6 inches in the previously available extended cab version of this truck. It truly seats five comfortably -- as opposed to two comfortably and maybe two more, just barely.

The Rest

The all-LCD dash (main gauge cluster and secondary infotainment display) is a barometer of how much trucks have changed over the past decade or so. A decade ago, only a few luxury cars came with these, and often they were optional.

This truck comes standard with them.

The Bottom Line

Midsize is almost what full-size used to be.

And it's all very nice -- assuming you can afford it.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.