What’s the Best Mid-Size Off-Road Truck for 2025?
Key Points in This Comparison Test:
- The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison is the best mid-size off-road pickup truck of 2025, excelling in our rock crawl, hill climb and hill descent tests thanks to a combination of impressive ground clearance and easy-to-use off-road tech.
- If you’re most interested in higher-speed off-road driving, the Ford Ranger Raptor is the truck to get, with the best overall performance on our dirt course. The Ranger Raptor was also the best to drive on the street, with test-leading ride quality and powertrain performance.
- The Jeep Gladiator Mojave is designed for higher-speed off-roading, but it’s still more of a slow-speed crawler at heart despite a long wheelbase that can be a liability in certain off-road situations.
- The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro performed well on our higher-speed off-road course, but it fared worse in our slower off-road tests, which hurt it in our overall scoring.
Off-road pickup trucks have inundated the truck market, and no more so than in the mid-size class, where each of the major brands offer their vision of a top-spec off-road truck.
2025 Mid-Size Off-Road Truck Challenge
Results | On-Road Driving
We tested these top-spec dirt duelers at Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly, Mich., with help from Tom Zielinski of Z Performance. Our contenders were the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor, 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X and 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro.
Judges included Senior Road Test Editor Mike Hanley, Detroit Bureau Chief Aaron Bragman and Road Test Editor Brian Normile. We put all of them through their paces in four tests: high-speed off-road driving, rock crawling, hill climbing and hill descending. The tests were designed to replicate what an owner might experience when out wheelin’ in the wild. Finally, we assessed the trucks’ on-road driving manners because we know these pickups are all-purpose vehicles for many owners.
Here’s how they finished when all the scores were added up.
1. 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison (using Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT LT315/70R17 tires)
2. 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor (BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K03 LT285/70R17)
3. 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro (Falken WildPeak A/T AT3W LT285/70R17)
4. 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X (Goodyear Wrangler Territory RT 265/70R18)
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For this comparison, one editor was responsible for driving and scoring each truck for a given off-road test. The score total for the four off-road tests was then tripled for a maximum possible score of 600 points. For our on-road testing, all three editors drove the trucks on a roughly 30-mile drive loop and scored them, with a maximum possible score of 150 points. The off-road and on-road score totals were then added together to get each truck’s overall score and finishing order. The below chart shows how each truck scored in our various tests.
4. 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X, 524 points (out of a possible 750)
Is the 2025 Jeep Gladiator a Good Off-Road Truck?
- Takeaway: Jeep bills the Gladiator Mojave as a high-speed desert runner, and while it does have a Fox suspension setup for this purpose, the truck still favors slower-speed off-roading. And while the Gladiator’s more analog approach to off-roading rewards the experienced driver, it may be more challenging for novices to use.
Our Test Vehicle
- As-tested price: $66,905 (all prices include destination)
- Powertrain: 285-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 engine; eight-speed automatic transmission
- Ground clearance (inches): 11.6 (second best in test)
- Approach, departure and breakover angles (degrees): 44.7, 25.5, 20.9 (best approach angle, worst breakover angle)
Many Jeep vehicles wear the brand’s Trail Rated badge, but the Gladiator Mojave is the only model in Jeep’s lineup with a Desert Rated designation. In addition to its Fox shocks, it gets a 1-inch front suspension lift, locking rear axle, 33-inch all-terrain tires, rock rails and an Off Road+ mode for higher-speed off-road driving.
What’s Good About the Gladiator?
- Approach angle: “The best approach angle here means you can get close to obstacles and not risk your front end,” Bragman said.
- Low-range operation: “4-Low is great for scaling obstacles,” Bragman said. “It just climbs over with easily controllable throttle and minimal fuss.”
- Plenty of physical controls: “The wealth of actual physical controls for the climate, audio and additional functions demonstrate the Gladiator’s old-school nature,” Normile said. “It’s a welcome throwback to a time before screens had to do everything.”
- Interior quality: “Interior quality is excellent, with on-brand, rugged-looking trim and high-quality panels and materials,” Bragman said. One of the Gladiator’s two category wins was for interior quality.
- Hill-climb visibility: “The Gladiator’s low, narrow hood and excellent forward camera view gave it the best visibility for both aiming it up the hill and cresting the top,” Normile said.
What’s Bad About the Gladiator?
- Hill descent tech: “Selec-Speed Control just did not work well,” Hanley said. “It would bring the vehicle to a halt when you just wanted to keep inching slowly down the hill and was very frustrating to use.”
- Breakover angle: “The long wheelbase means a terrible breakover angle, and you feel that as the underside grinds and bumps everything,” Bragman said.
- High-speed off-roading: “The Gladiator is simply not built for this type of course: Its solid front axle makes it clumsy, and its steering is vague and numb,” Normile said. “This was the hardest truck to control through the whole course.”
- On-road steering precision: “Steering inputs are more of a suggestion than a directive in the Gladiator, which wanders back and forth on the road,” Hanley said.
- Seat comfort: “The front seats have adequate bolstering, but they’re overly firm and stiff,” Hanley said. “The backseat is tolerable for adults, but there’s little in the way of extra room.” Normile and Bragman decried the Jeep’s cramped cockpit, and the Gladiator had the lowest seat comfort score in our testing.
- Modest Pentastar power: “Minimal power from the Pentastar V-6 makes the Gladiator struggle to get up to speed on the highway, and there’s little in reserve for passing,” Normile said.
- Stay away from jumps: “When the Gladiator landed, it landed hard, inducing a wince from me and killing its momentum into the subsequent corner,” Normile said.
Research the 2025 Jeep Gladiator | Search Inventory
3. 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, 527 points
Is the 2025 Toyota Tacoma a Good Off-Road Truck?
- Takeaway: The Toyota was second to the Ford on our high-speed off-road course, but an overly sensitive accelerator pedal hurt it when rock crawling. The Tacoma TRD Pro’s gas-electric hybrid powertrain impressed during our on-road driving, but underwhelming interior quality and some hard-to-use controls held it back.
Our Test Vehicle
- As-tested price: $66,410
- Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder gas-electric hybrid with 326 hp total; eight-speed automatic transmission
- Ground clearance (inches): 11.5 (third best)
- Approach, departure and breakover angles (degrees): 35.7, 25.3, 27.4 (best breakover angle, worst departure angle)
Toyota made big changes when it redesigned the Tacoma for the 2024 model year, including introducing an all-new gas-electric hybrid system. That’s what powers the TRD Pro trim level, which also gets Fox shocks, 33-inch tires and IsoDynamic front seats, with the latter featuring a unique shock absorber system designed to minimize body motions.
What’s Good About the Tacoma?
- Camera views: “The largest screen real estate gave me the best forward camera view when tackling the hill climb,” Normile said. Bragman added that it’s “maybe the best camera system here for rock crawling.”
- High-speed off-road performance: “Stability and control throughout the course were second to the Ranger Raptor, demonstrating why the TRD Pro is the ‘go-fast’ member of the Tacoma lineup,” Normile said.
- On-road powertrain performance: “The gas-electric hybrid powertrain makes a lot of torque that results in immediate responsiveness, and it’s accompanied by quick transmission downshifts,” Hanley said. Bragman commented that the “turbocharged hybrid powertrain’s eager power delivery on-road makes it a lot of fun to drive.”
- IsoDynamic seat bolsters: Normile appreciated how the Tacoma’s trick seats kept him in place during hill climb and high-speed off-road testing.
- Makes the right noises: “The Tacoma TRD Pro sounded the best on the off-road course and made me feel like I was driving a muscle car for the dirt,” Normile said.
What’s Bad About the Tacoma?
- Touchy pedals: “In 4-Low and Rock modes, the throttle is bizarrely jumpy and very, very difficult to modulate,” Bragman said. “So are the brakes, so you’re forced to use a two-foot driving method when scaling rocky obstacles in order to do things smoothly.”
- Tire slippage: “The TRD Pro’s tires lacked the traction of the rest of the group and struggled for grip at the peak of our hill climb,” Normile said.
- Tight backseat: “The minimal effect the IsoDynamic seats have isn’t worth the utter elimination of backseat space that comes with them,” Bragman said. “Putting anyone in the backseat is almost impossible for any length of time.”
- Lackluster quality: “Interior quality isn’t impressive for the price,” Hanley said. “It has a very plasticky interior overall.” Bragman commented on the “cheap-feeling, hollow-sounding, hard plastic trim inside and hood shake at highway speeds that’s borderline alarming.”
- Multimedia on an island: “The huge multimedia screen doesn’t seem to integrate with the rest of the truck,” Bragman said. “Most of the truck systems are controlled by the fussy gauge cluster and steering-wheel controls instead of the massive screen, where they would be easier to manage.”
- Instrument panel interface: All editors noted how difficult it is to adjust settings in the Tacoma’s digital instrument panel due to its unintuitive menus.
- Eyechart gauges: “When in an off-road mode, you get tilt and inclinometer readouts at the bottom of the display, but they’re too small to actually be useful,” Bragman said.
Research the 2025 Toyota Tacoma | Search Inventory
2. 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor, 629 points
Is the 2024 Ford Ranger a Good Off-Road Truck?
- Takeaway: The Ranger Raptor is built for high-speed off-road driving, and it delivered in this environment with the most comfort and composure on our high-speed off-road course. What serves it well off-road also helps it on the pavement, as the Ranger Raptor was also deemed best to drive on-road by our editors.
Our Test Vehicle
- As-tested price: $60,730*
- Powertrain: 405-hp, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6; 10-speed automatic transmission
- Ground clearance (inches): 10.7 (worst)
- Approach, departure and breakover angles (degrees): 33.0, 26.4, 24.2 (best departure angle, worst approach angle)
*2025 model-year equivalent pricing
The Ranger Raptor debuted in the U.S. for the 2024 model year, bringing the same high-speed off-roading focus offered by the full-size F-150 Raptor to Ford’s mid-size pickup. Off-road features include a wide-track suspension with a Watts-link rear setup, Fox shocks, locking front and rear axles, 33-inch all-terrain tires and seven drive modes, including a Baja setting.
What’s Good About the Ranger?
- High-speed off-roading: “Steering and handling are superb for this type of environment,” Normile said. “And the Ranger Raptor was the easiest to control around our course’s sweeping corners.”
- Twin-turbo V-6 power: Whether off-road or on, the Ranger Raptor’s powertrain delivered. On our hill climb test, “ample power and easy modulation of that power let the Ranger Raptor deliver more oomph when needed to get over the hill,” Normile said. Hanley noted that on pavement, “it has linear, predictable power, is responsive and offers lots of torque.”
- Hill descent tech: “The Raptor’s hill descent system worked very well, easing the truck steadily and smoothly down our test hill,” Hanley said.
- On-road ride comfort: “In its Normal setting, the Ranger Raptor’s suspension doesn’t beat up occupants while providing a level of feedback and control the other trucks lack,” Normile said. “Sport even noticeably sharpens performance, too.”
- Seat comfort: “The Ranger Raptor is the rare Ford with seats I find comfortable, and these were my preferred chairs for longer drives,” Normile said. The other editors liked them, too, and the truck had the highest seat comfort score in our test.
- Smooth landings: “The Ranger Raptor was the only truck in this test that landed jumps without any issue and allowed for the most speed to be carried into the ensuing hairpin turn,” Normile said.
What’s Bad About the Ranger?
- Unnecessary side steps: “Those big side steps are not helpful in any way,” Bragman said. “They got torn up on the rock obstacles, and the Raptor is low enough that you don’t really need them to get into the truck to begin with.”
- Portrait-style touchscreen: The Ranger Raptor’s touchscreen measures 12 inches, but its screen was the only one in our test that was vertically oriented, which Bragman noted “makes for a small viewing area for the external cameras.”
- Unintuitive shifter: “The transmission gear selector is not easy to use quickly, and I kept confusing the left-side button for the front shifter-release button,” Bragman said.
- Missing bolstering: “The front seats are comfy, but the bottom cushion doesn’t have a lot of bolstering for lateral support even though the backrest does,” Hanley said.
Research the 2025 Ford Ranger | Search Inventory
1. 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, 643 points
Is the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado a Good Off-Road Truck?
- Takeaway: With its 35-inch mud-terrain tires and towering 12.2 inches of ground clearance, the Colorado ZR2 Bison was the monster truck in our stable of mid-size steeds. That tire and ground clearance combination helped the Chevy win our rock crawl, hill climb and hill descent tests, but it was less useful on our high-speed off-road course.
Our Test Vehicle
- As-tested price: $64,915
- Powertrain: 310-hp, turbo 2.7-liter four-cylinder; eight-speed automatic transmission
- Ground clearance (inches): 12.2 (best)
- Approach, departure and breakover angles (degrees): 38.2, 26, 26.9
The Colorado was redesigned for 2023, and for 2024, the ZR2 Bison version debuted. Featuring bumpers and wheels from American Expedition Vehicles, the Colorado ZR2 Bison also gets Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve shocks, locking front and rear axles, and boron-steel skid plates and rocker protection.
What’s Good About the Colorado?
- Rock-crawling capability: “The advantages of 35-inch tires on the Colorado quickly become clear — in ride quality over the steps, in damping over large rocks and in adding to the truck’s test-best ride height,” Bragman said.
- Hill descent control: “The big 35-inch tires helped the Colorado ease over the top of our hill descent with no issue, and they offered supreme grip on the way down,” Hanley said. Credit goes to the truck’s hill descent system for making our steep descent a low-stress event.
- Hill climb performance: “Extra ground clearance and the second-best breakover angle in the test let the ZR2 Bison crest the hill with room to spare,” Normile said.
- Off-road tech usability: “The Colorado is the easiest to put into various off-road modes and to activate its various systems thanks to simplified controls and a big horizontal display screen with outstanding graphics,” Bragman said.
- Overall user interface: “Chevy seems to have found the right mix of touchscreen controls for things you don’t touch often (headlights, traction control) and hard buttons for things you do (climate controls, audio),” Bragman said. The Colorado’s screens and controls were rated highest by our editors.
- Screen tech: “The customizable digital instrument panel is bright and vivid,” Hanley said. “And the Google Built-In infotainment system is responsive and intuitive. It was easy to use Apple CarPlay with it.” The ZR2 Bison has an 11-inch digital instrument panel and an 11.3-inch center touchscreen.
- Down-low visibility: “Underbody cameras make placing wheels where you want them much easier,” Bragman said.
What’s Bad About the Colorado?
- Massive tires on-road: “The big tires make for a bouncier, floatier ride on pavement,” Hanley said. “It’s not as precise as the Tacoma or Ranger, though it is better than the Gladiator.” Bragman noted that “handling suffers from vagueness and slow responses” due to the tires, while Normile said traction was lacking.
- Higher-speed off-roading: “The Bison struggled at higher speeds,” Normile said, “with poor forward visibility and a bouncy ride that limited confidence and pace.” The Bison’s higher center of gravity was also an issue on our high-speed course, which was the only off-road test that it didn’t win outright.
- Tough to get in: “The Colorado’s 35-inch tires make for a big climb up and into the driver’s seat — even for a taller driver,” Hanley said. “The truck could use a driver’s-side grab handle to help you in.”
- No rearview camera mirror: You can get a rearview camera mirror in other GM vehicles, but not the Colorado ZR2 Bison, which needs it the most — the truck’s bed-mounted full-size spare tire blocks a good portion of your rear view. “Driving on the highway with almost no rear view never felt safe,” Normile said.
Research the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado | Search Inventory
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