The all-new 2023 Chevy Colorado is here, and Chevrolet has offered a lot of options and trims with their famed truck. Every pickup owner wants their truck to be as capable as possible. After all, that's one of the biggest reasons to bring home a pickup truck, and the Chevy Colorado has never disappointed in that aspect.
For 2023, the Colorado ZR2 remains at the top of the chain as a serious off-roader and an equally powerful truck that can take anything you throw at it. Like last year, the Trail Boss trim on the Chevrolet Colorado remains quite a great option. After all, it proves to be far more capable when taken off-road than the standard Colorado truck, filling in the middle ground between the base Colorado and the ultimate ZR2.
The Chevy Colorado Trail Boss isn't a purebred off-roader like the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 or the Ford Bronco, but it doesn't need to be, either. Chevy's extremely popular mid-sized truck is great for those small weekend adventures when you need to go trail hunting. You're not going to the Baja desert, after all, and the Trail Boss proves quite capable for the occasional off-road exploits. In that vein, here are 10 things we love about the 2023 Chevy Colorado Trail Boss.
10 A Bigger Factory Suspension Lift Gives The Chevy Colorado Trail Boss Impressive Ground Clearance
The Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss is no longer just a package, but rather a full-blown trim for 2023. The second-highest trim you could get on the Colorado truck, the Trail Boss is quite off-road focused, while still not being as capable of decimating Baja-like obstacles as the top-spec ZR2.
For its off-roading credentials, Chevy has given the Trail Boss a 2-inch factory suspension lift, along with a wider track. In fact, the Trail Boss Colorado almost has the same track width as the ZR2 itself. With 9.5 inches of ground clearance, the Chevy Colorado Trail Boss rides quite high, giving you the confidence to tackle the off-beat trail easily.
9 Chevy's Bi-Turbo Engine Gives The Colorado Trail Boss Plenty Of Kick
The 2023 Chevy Colorado, in each of its variants, uses the same 2.7-liter turbo inline-four that we first saw in the Silverado truck. What differentiates the trims is the power and torque outputs Chevy tunes them for, and the Trail Boss, like the Z71 trim before it, gets the Turbo Plus version of the motor.
This gives the Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss 310 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. Available only with four-wheel-drive, a two-speed transfer case and a limited slip differential at the rear, the Trail Boss has plenty of kick for both on and off-road scenarios.
8 32-Inch Tires On The Chevy Colorado Trail Boss Are As Massive As They Come
Bigger is always better when it comes to the size of the tires on your off-roading truck, and the Chevy Colorado Trail Boss absolutely does not disappoint. The top-tier ZR2 trim might have a lot more going for it in the high-performance off-road department than the Trail Boss, but when it comes to tires, the two trims are almost the same.
The ZR2 gets 33-inchers, while the Trail Boss comes equipped with massive 32-inch tires, giving you plenty of road presence, ground clearance, and rock-crawling leeway. While the tires on the Colorado are not as big as the class-leading 37-inch tires all-terrains on the new Ford F-150 Raptor R, that truck is certainly in a league of its own.
7 Chevrolet Targets A Very Wide Customer Base With The Colorado Trail Boss' Use Case
It is no secret that the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, while being an extremely capable off-road truck, is always wasted on a customer base that never truly utilizes its potential. With the Trail Boss being a trim by itself, Chevy has shown that it is aware how many off-road vehicles rarely veer off the tarmac.
Thus, instead of letting the ZR2 go to waste, Chevy has built and offered the Trail Boss trim with its remarkable off-road capabilities as a ZR2 truck for people who want it, but isn't actually quite a ZR2.
6 The Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss Sits Perfectly Below The ZR2
By making the Trail Boss quite off-road capable and sitting even higher than the Z71 Colorado, Chevy targets a wider audience. They who want their trucks to be capable of off-roading, or just the bragging rights of having a big, bad truck that can make short work of obstacles.
So, while the ZR2 gets some extreme off-roading chops like the F1-derived DSSV spool-valve dampers or the whopping 430 lb-ft of torque, the Trail Boss won't be sweating when faced with rough terrain and trails regardless. It also isn't as expensive as the ZR2, which positions it as the go-to choice for buyers of the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado.
5 The Off-Road Focused Looks Of The Colorado Trail Boss Give It Massive Road Presence
Who doesn't want their truck to look as mean and menacing on the road as possible? After all, you can't deny it's one of the biggest reasons behind getting a massive pickup truck like the Chevy Colorado. With a massive suspension architecture, the Trail Boss immediately lets onlookers know about its rugged capabilities.
Its blacked out front fascia and blacked-out wheels are the exterior's way of complementing everything that's under the hood and the body, making the Chevy Colorado Trail Boss one truly mean truck.
4 The Cabin Of The Colorado Trail Boss Highlights The Truck's Rugged Capabilities
The Trail Boss gets a new and attractive dashboard for 2023, along with a huge 11.3-inch touchscreen for all your infotainment needs. The interiors of the Colorado Trail Boss are quite remarkable, remaining comfortable and feature-packed as those on a modern-day truck should.
The aesthetic of the upholstery, along with the minimalist dashboard, all work in conjunction to highlight how the Chevy Colorado Trail Boss can be a daily work truck while also being a rugged and capable truck that will truly be in its own element once taken off-road.
3 The Colorado Trail Boss Comes With Four Selectable Drive Modes
Terrain modes on the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado make for a highly customizable driving experience for owners. The Trail Boss, along with the Z71, come with four separate drive modes suited for different driving conditions and needs. Normal mode on the Trail Boss is suited for daily driving on the road.
The Tow/Haul mode on the truck optimizes throttle response and transmission shifts for when you're trailering or hauling. For general off-pavement driving, you can employ the Off-Road mode, which puts the Trail Boss' turbo abilities to use. Finally, the Terrain mode is designed for low-speed off-roading, letting you conquer whatever obstacles come across you on an off-road trail.
2 The Colorado Trail Boss Boasts Great Ramp Angles For Off-Roading Escapades
The Chevy Colorado Trail Boss isn't just a superficial off-road truck with drive modes. Chevy has given the Trail Boss the second-best ramp angles across the Colorado lineup. With an approach angle of 30.5 degrees, a departure angle of 22.4 degrees, and a 21-degree breakover angle, the Trail Boss isn't messing around with the Trail Boss' off-roading credentials.
Furthermore, the truck also comes equipped with features like hill descent control, a g-force meter, wheel slip gauge, and displays for its pitch and roll. For those serious off-roaders who know what they are doing, these displays and other features come in quite handy when they're picking a trail apart in their Trail Boss Colorado truck.
1 The Trail Boss Offers The Highest Towing Capacity In The Chevy Colorado Lineup
It's no secret that the more off-road capable your truck is, the lower its payload and towing abilities get. On the 2023 Chevy Colorado lineup, the maximum towing capacity across all trims is 7,700 lbs, which is available on the Trail Boss.
For those with a trailer parked in their garage, this means the Trail Boss proves a far better option than the extreme ZR2 off-roading trim of the Colorado, which only gets 6,000 lbs of towing capacity. The Trail Boss' payload is also 1,587 lbs, a lot more than the ZR2's maximum payload of 1,151 lbs.