2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison: Hitting the Trails That Hit Back
Forget about the mythical for a few minutes. Ford's been vague and waffling about whether that forbidden overseas fruit is coming to the U.S., and we're just about beyond caring because now we get to play with this: the . It's Chevy's mid-size, ultimate rock-crawling pickup taken to the next level with some additional parts and customization via a joint venture with off-road parts expert American Expedition Vehicles.
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Built to Thrash
So what's the difference between a normal ZR2 and the Bison? Well, there are a number of parts upgrades that come with the package, as well as some exclusive cosmetic changes. Five skid plates protect the undercarriage of the Bison, covering the oil pan, fuel tank, transfer case, and front and rear electronic locking differentials. They're constructed of hot-stamped Boron steel, so while they look concerningly thin, AEV President Dave Harriton assured us that they're incredibly resilient. Boron steel is commonly used by automakers for improving crash-test results through its use in vehicle bodies; this is the first application of this material in a non-safety-related part, Harriton said.
In addition to the new skid plates, AEV-designed stamped-steel front and rear bumpers are fitted — with the front bumper including standard foglights and mounting provisions for an aftermarket winch. Recovery points are integrated into the rear bumper, and both front and rear bumpers allow for significant approach and departure angles. You might see some Bisons sporting an air snorkel in various press materials — that's an aftermarket part that's not included with the Bison package and serves only as a "dust snorkel." It doesn't provide the Colorado with any greater water fording depth than it already has, so don't go fitting one and charging into your local rivers, expecting to emerge dry … or really emerge at all.
I recently drove the new 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison at the launch event held by Chevrolet in the deserts above Scottsdale, Ariz., the perfect environment to test the off-road, rock-crawling abilities of Chevy's latest rig. And I can tell you from a half-day of moderate-speed washboard running and snail's-pace bouldering that what the Bison can do is extraordinary.
Hitting the Trails that Hit Back
Our drive began at a trailhead at one of Arizona's thousands of miles of public off-road trails. If you haven't experienced this, you need to — Arizona is an overlander's desert wonderland, with the ability to just drive off the main roads at various places all over the state (provided you have the proper inexpensive permits and registration stickers on your vehicle) and onto semi-maintained trails that can take you from town to town all over the state. After about 45 minutes of lower-speed trail driving showing how well the Colorado's Multimatic Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve off-road dampers handle terrain that would immediately halt anything less capable than a dedicated off-road pickup or SUV (no stock Subaru Outbacks out here, thank you very much), we came upon a moonscape.
That's really the best way to describe it. There was no obvious visual way forward through this 100-foot-long rubble-strewn wash, which featured high, sharp rocks and boulders that were challenging for anyone to make their way through on foot, much less in a truck. But make our way forward we did — the ZR2 features electronically lockable front and rear differentials, an exclusive feature on a mid-size pickup, although we really only needed to lock the rears to get us through successfully.
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And we were successful: With the ZR2's 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires on Bison-exclusive 17-inch wheels sitting under wider-than-stock flared fenders, the grip exhibited by this truck was astonishing. Throttle control of the 3.6-liter V-6 engine was a little tricky, as often the engine revs didn't quite correlate with what our right foot was doing, but in Off-Road mode and in a 4-Low setting on the transfer case, the Bison crawled over everything with minimal fuss or drama. We did experience instances where the skid plates did their thing — clangs and scrapes over rocks that were taller than the Bison's ride height were plentiful, but an inspection after the drive revealed no damage to the plates aside from some scrapes to the paint.
The same cannot be aside for some of the truck's other exposed bits. While the 3.6-liter V-6 is standard, the turbocharged 2.8-liter Duramax diesel engine is an option. On one occasion while a diesel Bison was traversing the boulder field, we observed that it came down hard and squished the diesel version's coffee-can-sized tailpipe tip almost flat. The location of the pipe might be something overlanding diesel truck owners might want to investigate for relocation, or perhaps petition Chevy to offer a relocated cat-back exhaust system to avoid having to replace the tip or pry it open again after every off-road excursion.
Or perhaps there's something already in the massive catalog of parts that Chevrolet is planning to offer for the Colorado. Chevy has been developing in-house accessories and working with outside vendors to offer all kinds of bits for the Colorado, from tubular rock rails to auxiliary lighting packages. They'll all available at your Chevy dealer when you purchase the truck — making a buyer's ability to include these parts as part of the new purchase and finance them along with the rest of the truck a much easier proposition.
Available Soon
The new 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison will go on sale in January 2019 with the ZR2 Bison adding $5,750 to the cost of a standard ZR2. In addition to the aforementioned mechanical upgrades, the ZR2 Bison also includes embroidered AEV-badged head restraints and floor liners as well as a new Chevrolet-lettered flow-through grille that is also appearing on a few other new Colorado special editions. The Bison will be available in extended- or crew-cab models, giving buyers an advantage over the competing Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, which is only available as a crew cab with a short bed and one gasoline powertrain (although you can specify a manual transmission on the Tacoma; the Colorado is automatic only). The extended-cab ZR2 Bison I drove on my test rang in at $48,045 including destination fee, or a couple thousand dollars more than the Tacoma TRD Pro. Add the ZR2 Bison to a loaded crew-cab diesel model, however, and you're going to be looking at more than $55,000, which is a lot of money for any mid-size pickup, regardless of abilities. And don't forget the heavier crew cab and diesel motor, along with the extra weight of the AEV gear, means your payload capacity will drop as well. Also, consider that the Ford F-150 Raptor, a much larger, even more capable truck in many ways, starts at $54,350. But then again, the Colorado can fit places that the bigger, heavier Raptor can't quite squeeze into … like your home garage.
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Both the Tacoma TRD Pro and the Colorado ZR2 Bison have some compelling, unique selling points, with the Tacoma featuring its electronic off-road Crawl Control to get you out of sticky situations and the ZR2 adding an electronically locking front differential for much the same purpose. The additional underbody protection of the ZR2 Bison is definitely a value-added feature and proved its worth to me several very loud, clanging, cringe-worthy times. What will be truly interesting in 2019 when the new pickup arrives is seeing how that dedicated off-road truck based on the new Jeep Wrangler JL SUV platform works against trucks like the ZR2 Bison and the Tacoma TRD Pro. Perhaps a comparison test is in order?
Cars.com photos by Mark Williams; manufacturer images
