2023 Chevy Colorado Path Boss Street Check: On a regular basis adventures

Having already pushed the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado Path Boss extensively off-road in the middle of our first drive overview, it was time to get it again house and see the way it offers with the mundanity of household life.

In fact, full-size pickups are most often the truck of selection for households given their crew cabs’ colossal backseat area and considerable accessible options. However midsize pickups aren’t precisely small, and with crew cabs of their very own, it’s not like your kiddos might be using in these frightful flip-down leap seats of outdated or, much more frightfully, simply out within the mattress with the German Shepherd.

If any midsize pickup goes to make the minimize, it’s the all-new Colorado. Solely the crossover Honda Ridgeline clearly surpasses its cabin area, whereas the Chevy’s clean-sheet redesign leads to a totally fashionable cabin that stands in sharp distinction to the aged Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger. Even the lately up to date Nissan Frontier makes do with the identical compact dimensions as its historical predecessor. Apart from area, the Colorado additionally has the most recent expertise, together with an 11.3-inch width-oriented touchscreen working the Normal’s Android Automotive-sourced interface, regardless of in any other case being outfitted like the bottom trim degree. This, plus a compelling design, makes the cabin look, really feel and performance much less like a bare-bones truck and extra like a each day driver regardless of ample onerous plastic.

On this highway take a look at, I’ll be breaking down how the Colorado carried out in three particular each day driver chores: child transport, weekend household outing and Lowe’s run. OK, so I did technically off-road for the above photograph shoot, however as you may see, it did not precisely get soiled.

The kid seat take a look at!

That is admittedly the primary pickup I’ve put in my son’s Britax Boulevard into forward-facing, and subsequently wanted to safe the rear LATCH anchor. I have no idea if the Colorado’s rear anchor setup is exclusive, however I do know I’ve by no means seen it earlier than in a full-size truck, and after some analysis can see that the Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator and Nissan Frontier have tethers accessed by flipping the seatback ahead. The Colorado’s seatback is mounted. As a substitute, there’s a hefty steel bracket on high of the seatback behind the center head restraint. Do you have to select to position the seat in one of many outboard positions (as is completely regular), you should do the next.

Take away head restraint.
Snake tether by means of a fabric loop connected to a different hefty steel bracket.
Deliver tether over to center steel bracket and snap it onto the bracket gap (there are two) closest to the seat.
Tighten tether.

This final step was not simple. The window is so shut that it was very troublesome to tug the tether strap again to tighten it. My seat’s tether design can be formed like a V with the tether clasp on the tip, making it even tougher to tighten when pulling it over to the proper as an alternative of straight again. It took a number of effort to verify it was actually tight.

Undoubtedly seek the advice of the proprietor’s guide and take a look at to verify there is no such thing as a motion within the seat when you’ve secured it. Taking it to an authorized baby seat fitment specialist (fireplace departments are a great guess) is extremely beneficial.

As soon as lastly secured, nonetheless, the seat match simply wonderful. I needed to scoot the entrance seat ahead so my son couldn’t kick my spouse up entrance, however even then, she had enough space. This shouldn’t be a problem with better-behaved kids / not toddlers. The door opening, cabin peak and seat place additionally made it exceptionally simple to raise and safe my son into his seat – simpler in truth than most compact household crossovers.

One other factor price noting is that the Colorado’s again seat backside is cut up 60/40. With it, you may nonetheless make the most of the under-seat storage (I used it to stash my laptop computer) or the additional area for baggage with no need to take away the kid seat. You possibly can’t try this within the Ford Ranger, which has a one-piece seat backside.

Seashore day!

Having a truck appeared like a great way to go to the seashore with out ending up with a trunk filled with sand. As a substitute of rigorously packing our Niro with the fold-up seashore wagon and chairs, towels, toy bucket, and many others., I simply chucked all of it within the Colorado’s mattress. OK, so I did place all of it so the heavy wagon wouldn’t ping-pong across the mattress, however nonetheless, loads simpler than an SUV.

That positioning was made simpler by the very fact the Colorado is a midsize truck. It’s simpler to succeed in over the mattress sides with no need to climb up and down a bunch of instances. Had I wanted to, there are nook steps, although it positive can be good if GM might provide you with a MultiPro Jr. for the Canyorado. Coloranyon? No matter.

Extra spectacular than efficiently becoming a small quantity of seashore gear in a pickup mattress (duh), was the way in which the Colorado carried out on the way in which to the seashore. You see, the drive to Malibu from my house within the Conejo Valley requires a visit down the lengthy, winding, high-speed Kanan Street. The Colorado’s smaller measurement was definitely appreciated, as I used to be in a position to keep a speedy clip by means of the varied corners and go achingly slow-going site visitors on the three-lane parts. The steering is pleasingly weighted and reassuringly responsive.

Probably the most spectacular factor, nonetheless, was the eight-speed computerized transmission. Kanan options a number of grades, probably the most extreme of which is 8%. On all of them, extended brake utility would routinely cue a downshift that was sustained for the size of the grade. This, my associates, is named grade logic. No must faucet the +/- toggle on the shifter or choose some L mode. The truck well and easily does it for you, thereby utilizing engine braking to gradual the automotive somewhat than using (and cooking) the brakes. That is in the end finest appreciated whereas towing, however that doesn’t imply it could’t turn out to be useful in different eventualities.

As for the two.7-liter turbocharged inline-four, this truck has the middle-ground tune of 310 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque. There was completely no drawback coming again up these grades, as that’s an ample quantity of oomph for a truck this measurement. It additionally sounds OK regardless of having 4 fewer cylinders than so many pickup house owners count on (although like each GM 2.7 turbo, the diesel-like wastegate whoosh can nonetheless be heard at decrease speeds each time you toe the throttle).

Gasoline economic system, nonetheless, wasn’t pretty much as good as you may count on for a smaller truck. I drove the Colorado a complete of 170 miles in suburban, freeway and, sure, a winding high-speed canyon highway. The end result was 16.8 mpg. That’s fairly near the EPA estimates of 17 mpg metropolis, 19 mpg freeway and 18 mpg mixed when fitted with the mud-terrain tires of this Path Boss. The least-efficient Silverado with this engine will get 19 mpg mixed, though the EPA doesn’t specify what the Silverado Path Boss would get with its mud-terrain tires. Nonetheless, should you have been anticipating fuel financial savings with a midsize truck, you’ll be disillusioned.

Hauling baggage of poo!

I used the presence of a truck to kick off development of a yard rock patio. Whereas the 190 cubic-feet of rock itself would exceed the Colorado’s payload (I used to be actually pushing it once I did one thing comparable with an F-150), every thing else wanted for the job may very well be loaded with ease within the mattress. I do know I wouldn’t have been too eager on placing 12 baggage of high soil/steer manure in an SUV, be it mine or a press automobile, nor the cultivator that would definitely do a quantity on an inside’s plastic, carpet or upholstery. The wagon-style wheel barrow I bought additionally would’ve been somewhat iffy in a number of autos. Once more, the mattress’s load and facet heights made lifting and arranging the varied gadgets simple.

Frankly, that is the kind of use case I’d foresee many individuals needing a truck for – not towing a small home or having a ton of river rock dumped into its mattress. It’s extra concerning the versatility of a truck mattress than the utmost weights and capacities. On this case, a full-size truck is overkill. A midsize one just like the Colorado will do the job, whereas being simpler to park in tight spots, maneuver on trails or deal with a winding highway. Oh, and be cheaper. This Path Boss stickered for $41,055; a comparable Silverado Path Boss can be $50,835 and nonetheless has the outdated, crappy GM truck inside with the small, non-Google touchscreen.

That stated, gas economic system disappoints and there’s definitely no denying a full-size truck is best suited to loading youngsters within the again. The experience high quality, whereas not objectionable for a truck, can be rougher than the full-sizers – there are extra vibrations felt by means of the body, strong rear axle and leaf springs. In order for you a truck for highway journeys, a Silverado can be a greater guess (a Ram can be even higher). The Colorado is subsequently better-suited to the extra suburban-going truck proprietor, or certainly, these with out kiddos.

Associated video: