2015 Chevy Colorado Z71: Rocky Mountain Off-Road Review [Video]

2015 chevy colorado muddy off-road in the rocky mountains
2015 Chevy Colorado Z71

How does the 2015 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab Z71 handle the wet snow, water, mud, rocks, and steep trails of the Colorado Rocky Mountains? This is precisely what we wanted to find out.

The off-road focused Z71 package has the additional components to handle the path less traveled. This includes the off-road tuned suspension, hill-descent control, a 2-speed transfer case, and the automatically locking rear differential.  There is no automatic AWD mode in this case.

This Z71 has the low-hanging front chin spoiler along with all other Colorado models. It’s there for fuel economy. The Colorado 4×4 Crew Cab is rated at 17 MPG city, 24 MPG on the highway, and 20 MPG combined. The spoiler is removable, but it’s not easy to do. The bolts that hold it in place are fastened from the inside, so it will require some doing to remove it.
2015-chevy-colorado-snow-off-road

Power comes from the 3.6L V6 with 305 horsepower and 269 lb-ft of torque. The 6-speed automatic transmission does a good job at going through the gears. However, the V6 is not as quickly revving as you might expect. It does have a feeling of a pickup truck engine at lower rpms.  It will also surprise you by winding all the way to 6,800 rpm to get the maximum horsepower number.

Check out the full video review of the 2015 Chevy Colorado Crew Z71 here. We put the Chevy Colorado through its paces up a steep incline covered in wet snow, through deep puddles, and on rocky trails.