2012 Chevrolet Colorado

The 2012 Chevy Colorado still looks sharp, but inside and underneath it lags behind the competition in both passenger comfort and overall refinement. Chevy seems to be on another 10-year plan with its Colorado compact/midsize pickup. The Colorado’s predecessor, the S10, lasted more than two decades. And though the 2012 Chevrolet Colorado is a competent truck, its age has resulted in it being outclassed by its primary rivals in terms of utility, design, feature content and all-around desirability.

Among competing small trucks, only the Ford Ranger feels more dated, so the Colorado wins against this rival. But the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma are two more contemporary and refined alternatives to the Colorado. Value hunters might even consider late-model used versions of these competitors before settling on the aging Colorado.

2012 Chevrolet Colorado LT Regular Cab Pickup

The 2012 Chevrolet Colorado is a compact/midsize pickup offered in three body styles: regular cab, extended cab (with small rear access doors) and crew cab (with four regular doors).

Crew cabs come equipped with 5-foot cargo boxes while other models feature a 6-foot box. The Colorado is offered in either a basic Work Truck or a premium LT trim, with the latter available in LT1, LT2 and LT3 subsets tailored to specific needs. Every model of the rear-wheel-drive Colorado except for the LT3 offers four-wheel drive as an option.

Standard features for the Work Truck version of the Colorado include 16-inch steel wheels, a front split bench seat, a tilt steering column, air-conditioning, cruise control, OnStar, Bluetooth and an AM/FM stereo. The LT1 adds 16-inch alloy wheels, privacy glass, deluxe cloth upholstery, full power accessories, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and upgraded audio with a CD/MP3 player and satellite radio.

The 2012 Chevrolet Colorado offers three engines. The base engine is a 2.9-liter four-cylinder generating 185 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque. Optional for all trims (and standard on 4WD Crew Cabs) is a 3.7-liter five-cylinder that produces 242 hp and 242 lb-ft of torque. Finally, a 5.3-liter V8 rated at 300 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque comes standard on the LT3 and is optional on LT2 models.

The 2012 Chevy Colorado comes standard with OnStar, antilock brakes, stability control, traction control and side curtain airbags. In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing, an extended-cab Colorado received a top-ranked score of “Good” for frontal offset collisions.

Although the Colorado looks handsome from the outside, sharing chiseled cues with the full-size Silverado, the cabin appears stuck in time. While rivals have become more refined, the Colorado continues with mediocre cabin furnishings, plenty of hard plastic trim and seats that are barely comfortable, much less supportive.

The 2012 Chevrolet Colorado’s smaller four- and five cylinder engines are smooth enough, but fall short of the competition’s V6s. The V8 compensates for this deficit, although at the expense of fuel economy. The Colorado’s four-speed automatic transmission shifts cleanly, yet it can’t deliver the acceleration or fuel economy delivered by the competition’s five-speed automatics.