The Ultimate 2025 Mid-Size Off-Road Truck Showdown: An Expert’s Definitive Ranking
For over a decade, I’ve been meticulously tearing apart, driving, and e
valuating off-road vehicles, pushing them to their absolute limits from the dusty trails of Moab to the muddy ruts of Michigan. If there’s one segment that has exploded with innovation and aggressive capability in recent years, it’s the mid-size off-road pickup. As we roll deeper into 2025, the competition is fiercer than ever, with manufacturers pouring significant R&D into creating the most capable, tech-laden, and, let’s be honest, desirable dirt-devouring machines.
This year, the stakes are exceptionally high. Buyers are demanding trucks that don’t just look the part but can conquer serious terrain while still offering a civilized commute. They’re seeking the perfect blend of raw power, advanced 4×4 systems, robust truck suspension upgrades, and intuitive off-road tech features. With the market constantly evolving, selecting the best mid-size off-road truck for 2025 is no easy feat. That’s why my team and I embarked on our most rigorous comparison yet, bringing together four of the segment’s titans to determine who truly stands atop the mountain.
Our contenders represent the pinnacle of current mid-size off-road engineering: the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor, the 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X, and the 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro. Each boasts a unique philosophy, from high-speed desert running to slow-crawl rock conquering. The question isn’t just which one is “best,” but which one aligns with your specific off-road ambitions and daily driving needs. As an expert who lives and breathes this stuff, I can tell you, the nuances make all the difference.
Our 2025 Mid-Size Off-Road Truck Challenge: Setting the Standard
To truly uncover the strengths and weaknesses of these formidable pickups, we subjected them to a comprehensive evaluation at Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly, Michigan. This diverse proving ground offers everything from steep sandy hills and challenging rock gardens to high-speed dirt courses, allowing us to replicate the real-world scenarios owners will encounter. My team, comprising seasoned road test editors and off-road specialists, applied a meticulously weighted scoring system to ensure objectivity and highlight critical performance metrics.
Our challenge was broken down into five core tests, designed to expose every facet of these trucks’ capabilities:
High-Speed Off-Road Course: This test pushed suspensions, steering, and turbocharged V6 performance trucks to their limits on a rapidly changing dirt track, focusing on composure, stability, and driver confidence at speed – essential for desert running trucks.
Extreme Rock Crawling: Here, we assessed low-range gear capabilities, electronic locking differentials, articulation, vehicle ground clearance, and off-road camera systems as trucks navigated demanding boulder fields.
Challenging Hill Climb: Evaluating sheer traction, powertrain modulation, and visibility, this test simulated ascending steep, loose inclines.
Precise Hill Descent: This focused on crawl control technology and stability as trucks managed controlled descents down treacherous grades.
On-Road Manners Evaluation: Recognizing that most owners drive their trucks daily, we assessed on-road truck comfort, ride quality, powertrain responsiveness, interior ergonomics, and vehicle user interface design over a 30-mile mixed-driving loop.
Each off-road test’s score was tripled to emphasize its importance, culminating in a maximum possible score of 600 points for off-road performance, complemented by 150 points for on-road refinement. This holistic approach ensures our ranking reflects a true all-rounder, not just a one-trick pony.
Here’s how these incredible machines stacked up when the dust settled:
2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro
2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X
Let’s dive into the specifics, exploring what makes each truck tick and who it’s truly built for.
2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X: Desert-Rated, but with Reservations (524 points)
The 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave X arrives with a bold “Desert Rated” badge, promising high-speed prowess thanks to its Fox suspension. Priced at an as-tested $66,905, it features a 285-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 engine, an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a commendable 11.6 inches of ground clearance. Yet, after extensive testing, my expert opinion leans towards it being more of a methodical crawler at heart, despite its aggressive marketing.
What Impressed Us:
Exceptional Approach Angle: The Gladiator boasts a class-leading 44.7-degree approach angle. This means you can confidently tackle steep obstacles without fearing front-end damage, a critical factor for serious off-roaders.
Refined Low-Range Operation: Engaging 4-Low transforms the Gladiator into a precise climbing machine. The throttle is easily controllable, allowing for smooth, deliberate ascents over challenging obstacles with minimal fuss. For technical rock crawling features, this is a huge plus.
Abundance of Physical Controls: In an increasingly digital world, the Gladiator’s wealth of tactile buttons and knobs for climate, audio, and vital functions is a refreshing throwback. It allows drivers to adjust settings without diverting attention from the trail, enhancing driver ergonomics off-road.
Premium Interior Quality: The cabin, with its rugged, on-brand trim and high-quality materials, truly stands out. It’s built to withstand the rigors of off-road life while still feeling premium, earning it a category win in our interior quality assessment.
Superior Hill-Climb Visibility: The Gladiator’s low, narrow hood combined with an excellent forward-facing camera system provided the best visibility when aiming up and cresting steep hills, a distinct advantage when precision matters.
Where It Fell Short:
Frustrating Hill Descent Technology: The Selec-Speed Control system proved to be inconsistent. It would often halt the vehicle entirely when a slow, continuous crawl was desired, making precise downhill maneuvers unnecessarily difficult and increasing driver stress.
Compromised Breakover Angle: The Gladiator’s extended wheelbase (a liability in certain off-road situations) results in a poor 20.9-degree breakover angle. This was evident as the underside frequently scraped and bumped on uneven terrain, limiting its agility on complex trails.
Lackluster High-Speed Off-Roading: Despite its “Desert Rated” aspirations, the Gladiator struggled significantly on our high-speed course. Its solid front axle contributed to a clumsy feel, and the vague, numb steering made it the most challenging truck to control, severely impacting off-road ride quality at pace.
Wandering On-Road Steering: On pavement, steering inputs felt more like suggestions than commands. The truck exhibited noticeable wander, requiring constant small corrections, which detracts from on-road truck comfort and driver confidence during highway travel.
Uncomfortable Seating: Both front and rear seats were criticized for being overly firm and stiff, lacking sufficient comfort for longer journeys. The cramped cockpit further reduced the Gladiator’s appeal for daily use, impacting seat comfort long drives.
Modest Pentastar Power: The 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine, while reliable, felt underpowered for a vehicle of this size, struggling to reach highway speeds and offering little in reserve for confident passing maneuvers.
Rough Landings: On any airtime (even minor ones on the course), the Gladiator landed hard, jarring occupants and disrupting momentum, further cementing its preference for slower, more deliberate off-roading.
The Gladiator Mojave X is a niche player. If your adventures are primarily low-speed rock crawling and technical trail negotiation, and you appreciate a more analog driving experience, it has undeniable charm. However, for a balanced off-road performer or a comfortable daily driver, it presents too many compromises, especially when compared to its modern rivals.
2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro: Hybrid Power, Mixed Results (527 points)
The 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, arriving with an as-tested price of $66,410, represents a significant redesign for the iconic mid-size pickup. Power comes from a new turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder gas-electric hybrid system, delivering a robust 326 horsepower through an eight-speed automatic transmission. With 11.5 inches of ground clearance and Fox shocks, the TRD Pro aims for both performance and innovation, including its unique IsoDynamic front seats.
What Impressed Us:
Exceptional Camera Views: The large multimedia screen provides arguably the best forward-facing camera view in the segment, making precise wheel placement effortless during challenging hill climbs and rock crawling features. This is a testament to thoughtful off-road camera systems integration.
Potent On-Road Powertrain Performance: The new hybrid system genuinely shines on pavement. It delivers impressive torque and immediate responsiveness, complemented by quick transmission downshifts, making for an engaging and fun daily driving experience. This hybrid truck capability is a standout.
Composed High-Speed Off-Road Performance: The TRD Pro demonstrated excellent stability and control on our high-speed course, placing it second only to the Ranger Raptor. It confirms its role as the “go-fast” member of the Tacoma lineup, capable of handling demanding off-road course challenges.
Innovative IsoDynamic Seat Bolsters: The TRD Pro’s trick IsoDynamic front seats, with their shock absorber system, effectively kept drivers firmly in place during aggressive maneuvers on both hill climbs and high-speed sections, enhancing control and reducing fatigue.
Engaging Exhaust Note: The Tacoma TRD Pro’s exhaust note resonated powerfully on the off-road course, creating an immersive driving experience that evoked the feeling of piloting a muscle car through the dirt.
Where It Fell Short:
Overly Sensitive Pedals: A major detractor in 4-Low and Rock modes was the bizarrely jumpy throttle and overly sensitive brakes. This made smooth modulation incredibly difficult, often forcing a two-foot driving technique to maintain control over rocky obstacles, impacting precision and confidence.
Subpar Tire Traction: The TRD Pro’s tires struggled for grip at the peak of our hill climb, demonstrating less traction compared to its competitors. This deficiency in all-terrain tire performance can be a significant setback in challenging conditions.
Severely Cramped Backseat: The innovative IsoDynamic front seats, while effective, come at the cost of backseat space. Placing adults in the rear for any extended period is nearly impossible, severely limiting the truck’s practicality for passengers.
Underwhelming Interior Quality: For its premium price point, the interior felt surprisingly plasticky, with hard, hollow-sounding panels and noticeable hood shake at highway speeds, which was borderline alarming. This impacts the perceived rugged vehicle interiors quality.
Disjointed Multimedia Integration: The massive multimedia screen felt disconnected from the rest of the truck. Many vital truck systems were inconveniently controlled via the fussy gauge cluster and steering-wheel buttons rather than the large, easily accessible display, hindering vehicle user interface design.
Unintuitive Instrument Panel Interface: All our editors found the digital instrument panel’s menus difficult to navigate, making basic setting adjustments unnecessarily complicated and distracting.
Illegible Gauges: While in off-road mode, the inclinometer and tilt readouts at the bottom of the display were too small to be genuinely useful, rendering critical information effectively unreadable during dynamic driving.
The 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro is a truck of contradictions. Its hybrid powertrain offers exciting on-road performance and impressive high-speed off-road capabilities, but its ergonomic and interior quality issues, combined with frustrating low-speed controls, prevented it from reaching higher in our ranking. It’s a step forward for the Tacoma but not without its growing pains.
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor: High-Speed King (629 points)
The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor, with an estimated 2025 model-year equivalent pricing around $60,730, brings the revered high-speed off-roading DNA of the F-150 Raptor to the mid-size segment. Powered by a potent 405-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 and a 10-speed automatic, it features a wide-track suspension with Fox shocks, front and rear locking axles, 33-inch all-terrain tires, and seven drive modes, including an exhilarating Baja setting.
What Impressed Us:
Unrivaled High-Speed Off-Roading: This is where the Ranger Raptor truly shines. Its steering and handling were superb on our high-speed course, allowing for incredible control and composure through sweeping corners. It’s built for this environment, delivering an exhilarating and confident experience that no other truck matched for desert running trucks.
Dominant Twin-Turbo V-6 Power: The 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 is a masterpiece, delivering ample, easily modulated power both off-road and on. On the hill climb, it provided the necessary oomph to crest peaks effortlessly, while on pavement, its linear, responsive power and abundant torque made it a joy to drive. This turbocharged V6 performance truck truly impresses.
Flawless Hill Descent Technology: The Raptor’s hill descent control system operated with remarkable precision, easing the truck smoothly and steadily down our steepest test hill. It instilled immense confidence, making challenging descents a low-stress affair.
Exceptional On-Road Ride Comfort: In its Normal setting, the Ranger Raptor’s suspension managed to absorb road imperfections without punishing occupants, providing a level of feedback and control that surpassed its rivals. Even the Sport mode noticeably sharpened its performance, highlighting its versatility as an on-road truck comfort champion.
Superior Seat Comfort: The Ranger Raptor’s front seats were universally praised for their comfort and support, making them the preferred choice for longer drives. This contributed significantly to its high score in seat comfort long drives.
Graceful Landings: On our simulated jumps, the Ranger Raptor was the only truck that landed without issue, absorbing the impact with remarkable composure and allowing for maximum speed to be carried into subsequent corners.
Where It Fell Short:
Impractical Side Steps: The large side steps, while visually assertive, proved to be more of a hindrance than a help. They were easily damaged on rock obstacles, and their height wasn’t necessary for cabin entry, making them an aesthetic choice over functional design.
Constrained Portrait Touchscreen: The 12-inch vertical touchscreen, while large, offered a surprisingly small effective viewing area for external cameras. This orientation limited critical peripheral vision when off-roading, impacting the utility of the off-road camera systems.
Unintuitive Shifter Design: The transmission gear selector was not intuitive to use quickly. Editors frequently confused the left-side button for the primary shifter release, leading to fumbled gear changes during dynamic driving.
Insufficient Seat Bolstering: While comfortable, the bottom cushion of the front seats lacked sufficient lateral bolstering to hold drivers firmly in place during aggressive cornering, despite the excellent support from the backrest.
The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor is a specialized instrument, perfectly honed for high-speed desert running and delivering an incredibly engaging driving experience both on and off the pavement. It makes few compromises in its chosen domain, and for enthusiasts prioritizing raw power and fast dirt capability, it’s an undeniable standout. Its on-road refinement is a bonus, making it a surprisingly versatile package.
2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison: The Undisputed King of the Rocks (643 points)
The 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, with an as-tested price of $64,915, truly lives up to its “monster truck” moniker. Built in collaboration with American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), it’s equipped with massive 35-inch mud-terrain tires, an astounding 12.2 inches of ground clearance (best in test), Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve shocks, locking front and rear axles, and boron-steel skid plates and rocker protection. This truck isn’t just prepared for off-roading; it’s engineered to dominate it.
What Impressed Us:
Unparalleled Rock-Crawling Capability: The advantages of those 35-inch tires became immediately apparent. The Bison glided over massive rocks and technical terrain with superior ride quality and damping, making complex rock gardens feel almost effortless. Its towering ground clearance and robust underbody protection are a game-changer for extreme rock crawling.
Exceptional Hill Descent Control: The massive 35-inch tires provided supreme grip, allowing the Colorado to ease confidently over the top of our hill descent and maintain flawless control all the way down. Its hill descent system worked seamlessly, making steep descents a low-stress event.
Superior Hill Climb Performance: With its extra ground clearance and the second-best breakover angle in the test, the ZR2 Bison crested steep hills with ample room to spare. The combination of tire grip and chassis geometry instilled immense confidence.
Intuitive Off-Road Tech Usability: Chevrolet has masterfully simplified off-road controls. The Colorado makes it incredibly easy to engage various off-road modes and systems thanks to well-placed physical buttons and a large horizontal display with outstanding, clear graphics. This focus on truck technology integration is a clear winner.
Exemplary Overall User Interface: Chevy has struck the perfect balance between touchscreen controls for less-frequent adjustments (headlights, traction control) and physical hard buttons for commonly used functions (climate, audio). This thoughtful design earned it the highest rating for screens and controls.
Vivid Screen Technology: The customizable digital instrument panel is bright, crisp, and highly visible. The Google Built-In infotainment system is both responsive and intuitive, integrating seamlessly with features like Apple CarPlay. This elevates the infotainment systems for trucks benchmark.
Critical Down-Low Visibility: The integrated underbody cameras are a revelation, making precise wheel placement on challenging terrain significantly easier. This feature is invaluable for navigating complex obstacles and is a standout among off-road camera systems.
Where It Fell Short:
Compromised On-Road Dynamics from Massive Tires: The trade-off for extreme off-road capability is noticeable on pavement. The large 35-inch tires contribute to a bouncier, floatier ride, and a vaguer steering feel that requires more input. While still better than the Gladiator, it lacks the precision of the Tacoma or Ranger for daily driving.
Limited Higher-Speed Off-Roading: The Bison, with its higher center of gravity and massive tires, struggled on our high-speed course. It exhibited a bouncy ride and poor forward visibility at speed, limiting driver confidence and overall pace. This was the only off-road test it didn’t win outright, highlighting its specialization towards slower, more technical terrain.
Challenging Entry and Exit: The sheer height necessitated by the 35-inch tires makes climbing into the driver’s seat a significant endeavor, even for taller individuals. The absence of a driver’s-side grab handle further exacerbates this issue.
Lack of Rearview Camera Mirror: This omission is particularly glaring given the truck’s bed-mounted full-size spare tire, which severely obstructs the rear view. Driving on the highway with such limited rear visibility felt unsafe and unnecessary, especially when this technology is available in other GM vehicles.
The 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison is purpose-built for extreme off-road conquering, and it executes that mission with an authority unmatched by its peers. Its combination of ground clearance, specialized components, and user-friendly off-road tech makes it an absolute beast when the pavement ends. While it demands some concessions in on-road refinement and high-speed off-road fluidity, for the dedicated enthusiast seeking the ultimate mid-size off-road prowess, the Bison is the clear and resounding champion.
The Evolving Landscape of 2025 Mid-Size Off-Road Trucks
Looking at the results, it’s clear that the mid-size off-road truck segment in 2025 is more diverse and capable than ever before. We’re seeing a trend towards hyper-specialization, where each manufacturer hones in on a specific niche within the off-road spectrum. Chevrolet’s ZR2 Bison excels in slow, technical rock crawling and hill climbing, offering extreme capability for serious adventurers. Ford’s Ranger Raptor dominates high-speed desert running, delivering adrenaline-pumping performance with surprising on-road manners. Toyota’s Tacoma TRD Pro introduces potent hybrid truck capabilities and impressive high-speed prowess, despite some ergonomic shortcomings. Even the Jeep Gladiator Mojave X, while struggling in our comprehensive test, maintains its unique appeal for those who value ruggedness and a more traditional off-road experience.
The integration of advanced off-road tech features—from sophisticated camera systems and intuitive drive modes to integrated digital displays—is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Buyers are also keenly aware of mid-size truck investment considerations, looking not just at initial competitive truck pricing but also truck resale value trends and the long-term cost of ownership, including potential aftermarket off-road parts and modifications.
As an expert who has watched this segment mature, 2025 marks a pivotal year where performance, technology, and specialized design converge. These trucks are more than just vehicles; they are sophisticated tools designed for adventure, each with its own character and sweet spot.
Ready to Conquer the Trail?
The world of mid-size off-road trucks is dynamic, exciting, and full of incredible options. Whether your passion lies in scaling boulders, blasting through deserts, or simply exploring the great outdoors with confidence, there’s a 2025 model perfectly engineered for your next adventure. Understanding the nuances of their advanced 4×4 systems, specialized truck suspension upgrades, and the crucial differences in their off-road ride quality is key to making an informed decision.
Don’t just take my word for it. Dive deeper into the specifications, explore the financing options available for these performance truck tires and systems, and envision how these powerful machines can elevate your off-road experience. The right truck is out there, waiting to take you to places you’ve only dreamed of.
Ready to find your perfect off-road companion? Explore detailed inventories, compare features side-by-side, and connect with dealerships today to start your ultimate off-road journey in 2025!
