What’s going on YouTube! The mid-size truck segment nearly died off, but it has made a huge comeback in recent years. Two of the biggest names in the segment were just fully redesigned; first the Chevy Colorado, and now the sales-king of the class the Toyota Tacoma. The outgoing Tacoma had lost a little bit of its edge compared to the Colorado last year, but it’s time for a to put the 2024 Toyota Tacoma vs. Chevy Colorado! Let’s not waste any time and go ahead and get started with this comparison!

Pricing and Equipment

Now like always, let’s quickly establish the pricing and trims right from the top. 

Beginning with the new Colorado, we have the top street trim level which is called the Z71. There are some options you will want from there to give you the best experience, so after that the total price is $46,906.

MSRP (Z71 4×4): $39,990 | Options: $5,510 | Destination: $1,495 | Total: $46,995

Now heading to the all-new Tacoma, we opted for the fully loaded version as well, called the Limited. It already has all the luxury features included, so we just add the paint and destination charge to get to a total price of $54,020.

MSRP (Limited 4×4): $52,100 | Options: $425 | Destination: $1,495 | Total: $54,020

Now obviously, the Tacoma’s new price tag creates quite a bit of space between these two models, but rest assured that will be circling back to this at the end of this comparison for a value assessment. This comparison will be scored objectively, and we have done our best to weigh the points awarded throughout in major and minor categories.

If you want to get the best price from local dealerships and access to invoice pricing info for these two models or any vehicle, we have a tool on our website to do just that. Check the link in the description for more info.

But let’s get started with the exteriors!

Exterior Design

So, jumping in with the outsides of these trucks, obviously they have new designs. In both cases, they have been toughened up visually, with boxier front designs and more aggressive looking grilles. The Colorado’s face is mostly black, and the Limited Tacoma uses more chrome and silver, [p] but as far as lighting both are going to have LED projector headlights. Both also have LED fog lamps, but only the Tacoma has sequential turn signals.

As far as ground clearance, both are going to have plenty… that is after you remove the big and huge air dams that they have for fuel economy purposes. The Z71 Colorado has 8.9-inches of clearance to be exact, while Toyota has not yet confirmed a number for the Limited specifically, although the TRD Off-Road has 11-inches.

Moving to the side, this new generation of Colorado is locked into only the 4-door crew cab configuration with a 5-foot bed on all trims. Toyota does offer a 2-door version but not on the Limited trim, which also has the same cab and bed combo as the Colorado.

The wheels are 18-inch alloys on both trucks, again with very different designs, which is something we won’t be judging in this comparison. 

Rear design wise, this is where they look the most similar since there are not a tremendous number of different ways to style a tailgate. While the lights have the same shape, all the elements are LED on the Toyota while they’re only LED accented on the Colorado. The exhaust outlets exit of opposite sides. 

Additional Features

And the back is where we will start as we move into all the individual features. While the tailgates aren’t as advanced as they are in full-size trucks, we have some innovative features to discuss. First off, the Tacoma is the first mid-size truck to have a power tailgate, meaning you can remotely operate it from anywhere and even bump it with your knee it to close it.

After the gates drop down, we find a cool feature on the Chevy, called StowFlex. It’s a storage compartment in the tailgate that could be used for tools or as a cooler when tailgating since there is a drain.

Both have lighting and tiedowns, and they both have power outlets, although the Tacoma’s is a more powerful 400w AC inverter.

When it comes to getting inside bed, the class-exclusive bumper steps on the Chevy will make that easier.

Moving past the beds to the mirrors, both have heated mirrors with BSM, and as far as the other 4 main active safety features, both include all of them as tested. Just be aware, that in the Chevy’s case, you do need to choose the Safety and Technology packages.

One other difference is that Toyota picks up the maintenance tab for the first 2 years vs only one visit in the Chevy.

Chevy: Warranty: Basic Warranty: 3yr/36k mi | Powertrain: 5yr/60k mi | Comp Main: 1^st visit

Toyota: Warranty: Basic Warranty: 3yr/36k mi | Powertrain: 5yr/60k mi | Comp Main: 2 yrs

Finally, towing is still important even for smaller trucks, and it’s the Colorado that has more grunt in this regard by about 17%.

Colorado: 7,700 lbs

Tacoma: 6,500 lbs

Next, let’s take a look at the interiors!

Interior Design

Alrighty, let’s move on to the interiors. Just getting inside the trucks is going to reveal several differences between them. They have smart entry systems and remote start, but in the Toyota, you will have to have an active subscription to their remote services to keep it after the trial period ends.

Unlike the Toyota, there is no sensor built into the Colorado’s door handle, so you have to push the button to unlock, and lastly, check out what happens after you open the Tacoma’s door… It has power running boards included straight from the factory. As tested, the Chevy doesn’t even have the optional fixed running boards.

Text: the Tacoma has subscription-based remote start after the complimentary trial ends.

Now that we’ve finally made it inside, you will immediately notice just how much more attention was paid to the cabins compared to the previous generations. The seats are both covered in leather with contrast accents and offer 10-ways of power adjustment. Until recently, it’s been rare for a mid-size truck to have both heating and ventilation, but both of them do, however, only the Chevrolet has memory seats.

Let’s get inside and evaluate the major category of overall materials. Even though this Tacoma is a pre-production model, the materials still exceed the Colorado and take things to a level that’s closer to the full-size trucks. It has soft touch materials in a few places where Colorado has hard stuff, plus it has realistic faux wood décor and leatherette instead of a rubberized material.

Now after startup, the new Colorado has a customizable 8-inch digital gauge cluster, while the new Tacoma has also switched to a digital one which is a larger 12.3-inches. It has a head up display as well.

Checking out the steering wheels, they are leather wrapped, manually adjusting, and heated.

Storage and Technology

Now the next area to evaluate is interior storage, where both have good storage solutions that are equal. The center consoles are deep, cupholders are in front of that and both have wireless phone chargers up front.

The shifters are both traditional style ones, but once you go into reverse, you will see a nice new feature on these two: a 360-degree camera system with lots of views. 

Both have dual zone automatic climate controls and now let’s talk about the audio systems. The Tacoma has the 10-speaker JBL audio system while Colorado has a 7-speaker Bose system and let’s give them a sample. Sound quality between these two is pretty much equal, but the Taco does have a trick up its sleeve. It has a removeable and rechargeable speaker that you can take with you on the go.

Toyota: 10-speaker JBL Premium audio system

Chevy: 7-speaker Bose Premium sound system

In our last comparison, the Colorado leapfrogged the Tacoma in terms of technology, but now the Toyota flights back. It has moved to a 14.0-inch screen, which is 8% larger than the 11.3-inch screen in the Chevy.

It also switched to the newest Toyota infotainment software meaning that it can now match the Chevy’s features, like wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. 

One odd feature of the Colorado though is that Chevy eliminated the headlight stalk and put the controls inside the display. For the times you need to use anything besides for automatic mode, such as turning on the fog lamps, this is not as convenient as just having the classic controls.

Finally, ending the front areas, both have auto-dimming mirrors but only the Toyota has HomeLink remotes and the smart camera functionality. And both of them have sunroofs along with power rear glass.

Rear Seats and Cargo

In the back both are crew cabs so space is not bad. Tacoma was able to close the rear legroom gap with this new generation to less than a 5% difference, although it is still smaller.  

CHEVY: Legroom: 34.7-inches | Headroom: 38.3 inches 

TOYOTA: Legroom: 33.7-inches | Headroom: 38.4 inches

The gap in amenities is more substantial, and in favor of the Colorado. It has rear vents and a fold down arm rest which are missing from the Toyota, and both of them have USB’s and household outlets.

You can also fold the seats out of the way to reveal hidden under seat storage.

But there’s still one critical area to cover, and that’s the drive, so let’s take this fight to the streets!

Powertrains

The times are changing, and you can see that in the powertrain choices both trucks make. V-6’s are gone, and both are now rocking turbocharged 4-cylinder engines. Don’t fret though because they produce more power than the old V-6’s, although the Colorado is the more powerful between the two of them. It has 310 hp and nearly 400 lb.ft of torque compared to 278 hp and 317 lb.ft of torque in the Tacoma. At least until the Tacoma’s more powerful hybrid model comes out next year, the Chevy is the faster of the two from behind the wheel.

Colorado: 2.7L Turbo I-4: 310 hp | 390 lb.ft

Tacoma: 2.4L Turbo I-4: 278 hp | 317 lb.ft

As far as the transmissions are concerned, both have upgraded 8-speed automatic transmissions that are smooth. Surprisingly, the new Tacoma still offers a 6-speed manual transmission in the lower trims.

Test Drive and Fuel Economy

While some truck owners go off-road, all truck owners drive on road, so let’s talk about that next. The Tacoma Limited introduces a new feature to the mid-size truck segment to help with ride quality, adaptive dampers. While it doesn’t magically make it into an S-Class, the dampers do a good job of taking the bounce and vibrations out to make it feel less truck-like.

Otherwise, both of them handle the big bumps and potholes with ease. 

Here at Car Confections, we measure how quiet all the vehicles are that we test. So, at 55 MPH, both achieve impressive scores of 57 and 57.4 dB respectively. That’s less than the 1 dB difference required for the average adult to discern a difference. 

Tacoma: 57.0 dB @ 55 MPH

Colorado: 57.4 dB @ 55 MPH

Finally, when it comes to fuel economy, they are sitting at an identical 21 MPG combined.

Colorado 4×4: 19/23/21 MPG

Tacoma 4×4: 20/23/21 MPG

Is it worth the extra cash??

So, there you have it; we ended up with a tight race after all! The new Tacoma wins objectively before factoring in pricing but let’s talk about who should be “your” winner. 

Colorado: 

• People who don’t want to spend full-size truck money
• Power hungry people (more power, faster)
• Unique features like the stowflex tailgate

Tacoma: 

• More luxurious cabin experience (mention Denali truck)
• Adaptive dampers (ride quality)
• Cool exclusive features (power running boards, JBL speaker)

Now we want to know your opinions, so make sure to head to the comment section and let us know which one you would pick!