my colorado is 2010 but it goes everywhere, having said that ive got 90 percent of the recovery gear (always wanting more), good tyres, suspension upgrade, fare bit of offroad knowledge, and i know my limits. what impresses me the most is the way it floats over the soft stuff, mine is AUTO and effortless. I would probably go a manual but with the bigger towing your talking of. i see a lot of people selling second hand colorado springs and shockies so it would suggest to me everyone ditches the stock stuff and upgrades which is strange cause for those towing limits i would have thought they would be a solid setup to begin with. also look into the tow package that they come with make sure it is a rated package not just salesman bullshit. 

 Hi Jayce I upgraded eArlier this year to a ute for similar purposes.  After looking closely at all of these utes I went for an Isuzu LST.  I came down to making a decision between the Colorado and Isuzu and went this way due to the over engineering in the Isuzu motor, gearbox, drive train and suspension. Plus the Isuzu had a better sat nab and reverse camera unit and a much nicer interior with full leather.  FYI I could get the top models of both these makes at the same price but the Isuzu for me was a clear winner.  The Colorado drove nicely and I think I would of been happy with one.  I only drove auto's in all the utes I test drove

another ute well worth considering is the navara STX just a bit above my price range when I was looking

a few points to be wary of 

the ranger has had a host of electrical problems with the variable output alternator caused a lot of problems with adding accessories and I am not sure how this would go with a dual battery setup, for trailers you need some additional wiring harness if you have LED lights, some of these problems have been rectified though

colorado has a lot of unhappy customers with all sorts of issues have a google particularly on the caravan forums

as for power and usability the Colorado is the fastest by a bees dick over the Isuzu. The motor stats don't mean a lot until you look at torque curves and 0-100 speed tests

Isuzu has the best fuel economy, there are heAps of comparisons with all these utes side by side with a bit of googling

colorado and Isuzu are not the same, were once but vastly different now

Hope this helps

 I had a dec 09 collarado just sold it last month to upgrade,

did 3 trips to dirk hartog in it 

1st trip did it stock as a rock with 9000 km on it didn't come back the same car suspension seemed a little softer a few  of the body bolts rattled off due to corrigations  and gaurds were flapping about

second trip  50k on odometer- suspension pretty much rooted when I got back, and the ute body was creaky hit a rock on a sump due to on it low clearance 

3rd trip 80k on odometer upgraded springs 2 inch lift ect ect  car worked well over the trip with new suspension  and no issues 

by the time it was close to 100k on clock I didn't want it anymore as I didn't think it would last another trip as motor felt like it had better days and fuel economy had dropped significantly since I first bought it new only gettin 500 k out of tank (was turbo deisle)

all in all good car they will go anywhere they do float over the sand and pretty hard to bog and good on juice  good towing and breaking is good pretty comfy inside .....but don't expect them to last more than 100,000 km if your using em off-road on corrigations and hard 4x4ing 

more for towing up n down highways and city driving or soft sand 

I reckon the Ranger would win hands down...better finish, more fruit and more power. Couple of blokes at work have them and they are getting 11l/100kms towing 1500kg campers....my hilux doesn't get that highway driving not towing!!

 Towing 2500kg with 700kg on the back of the dual cab. 14l/100ks sitting on 95 to a 100ks all the way up with the load. It has had its issues namely dosen't like coming out of low range to a point where I dont go there.

 But in general its been a good work horse. And work it I do. 130ks now and still drives like new.

 Looks like the new Ranger is having quite a bit of trouble with many things including the motor. Have a look on the 4x4 forums. many owners pissed off.

 If its power you want then you need not go past the very powerful Navara V6 Diesel. Its a racing car.

 Big write up in today's (Saturday) paper about the Ranger. I know a few people that own them and they all seem pretty happy so far.

 The Mazda would come into consideration? it shares the same DNA with the Ford and is slightly cheaper, 3.2ltr turbo diesel...

second hand Nissan Navara STX V6 would be in the range too but only come in auto- but with a V6 who cares right

 I bought a 2013 colorado LX manuel, and have done 12,000 ks so far.it drives nicely and has plenty of power to tow my 5m glass CC.can get 800ks ish out of the tank not towing and about 550 ( depends on hills and towing conditions,wind, heavy foot).Auto is the way to go for towing if you ask me(couldnt afford it at the time of purchase) but i can live with the manuel.

the 2014 has a little more torque than the '13.I have also put a piece of yoga mat under the seat covers as the squab is a bit firm for long trips.just put in a redarc battery isolater last week end and have have the new engel(with waeco slide) hooked up all week and running in the tray,no problems yet.

I have a 2013 Ranger with the 3.2 lt in a manual, It tows effortlessly i have a 5.6m ali on a heavy duty trailer, drives well in the sand with low tyre pressures and i get plenty out of a tank. the 15,000 service interval is nice too. 

At work i drive a colorado, auto with the 2.8 i think. I find it a little gutless maybe its the auto as i don't normally drive an auto i also find it feeling very wide when i sit in it. I havnt had a chance to tow anything with it and seeing as im not paying for fuel ive never really looked at its avg. 

My vote goes to the ranger.

havnt driven either of them but i know people who have had the colorado and got rid of them and went the ford. no regrets.

i would go the ranger any day if i was in the market for one. have not heard a single bad thing about them

Ranger / BT50 are way above the competitors, with the Mazda offering better bang-for-buck value than the Ford.

Bloody big by comparison too : my BT50 Crew Cab dwarfs my old Colorado.... Inside and out.