2019 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison first drive review: An off-road animal

When I hear the phrase “bison,” two issues come to thoughts. Naturally, there’s the massive, beefy animal. But there’s additionally M. Bison, the ultimate boss within the Super Nintendo recreation Street Fighter II, who cleaned 8-year-old Jon Wong’s clock extra occasions than I care to recollect. Either means, “bison” evokes ideas of sturdy and hard specimens. Very becoming for this off-road-ready 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison.Tougher truckThe ZR2 Bison is essentially the most rugged model of Chevy’s Colorado, sporting an array of items that higher prep it for critical path obligation. Chevy did not develop the elements in-house, both, as an alternative trying to the off-road specialists at Wixom, Michigan-based American Expedition Vehicles.  The result’s 5 heavy-duty, hot-stamped, boron metal skid plates to defend the radiator, entrance and rear differentials, switch case and gasoline tank from taking injury when crawling over rocks. That’s all the higher for critical overlanding journeys.A bit extra noticeable are the metal bumpers with the entrance that includes mounting factors for a winch. The rear will get built-in restoration factors for the occasions you want pull a caught compatriot’s automobile out of a mud bathroom or get tugged out of 1 your self. AEV additionally presents an elective snorkel that is appropriate with any Colorado mannequin to supply clear, filtered air to the engine when churning by means of mud and sand.Completing the meaner look is a brand new grille that forgoes the standard Chevy bowtie for a bolder in-your-face “CHEVROLET” grille, customary fog lights, Bison-specific 17-inch aluminum wheels wrapped with 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler tires and AEV badges. All of that joins the ZR2’s tubular rocker protecting facet rails and wheel flares.The Bison’s unique grille and metal bumper offers it a meaner mug.
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Untouched mechanicalsOutside the beefier exterior bits and extra substantial underbody armor, the Bison is equivalent to the common ZR2. It’s out there in Extended Cab or Crew Cab types, powered by a 3.6-liter V6 making 308 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque. This engine is mated to an eight-speed computerized transmission that helps the ZR2 return an estimated 18 miles per gallon within the metropolis and 22 mpg on the freeway. For an extra $3,500 you possibly can improve to a 2.7-liter diesel I4, pumping out 186 horsepower and a scrumptious 369 pound-feet of twist. A six-speed computerized handles shifting duties right here, and the diesel engine’s gas economic system matches that of its gasoline equal.The ZR2’s chassis carries over largely unchanged, as properly, with customary entrance and rear digital locking differentials and a 3.42 rear axle. The suspension has a 2-inch raise equipment over regular Colorado pickups, with a 3.5-inch wider observe, Multimatic spool valve dampers and forged iron management arms. Off the overwhelmed pathIn order to provide the Bison a correct exercise, Chevy took me to an off-road path east of Phoenix, Arizona. The truck laughs off the primary a part of the expedition, simply scurrying up and down the course’s hills, throughout washouts and over the smaller rocks littering the trail.The boron metal skids plates come in useful for rock crawling.
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When it got here time to go up and over some massive boulders, our guides inform us to activate the four-wheel drive system’s low vary and lock the rear differential. V6 energy is greater than ample right here, permitting my check truck to recover from all encountered obstacles with ease, and solely mild throttle modulation. I attempt my finest to ease the Bison gently down drops, however the skid plates announce that they’re incomes their carry on just a few events with loud screeches. At no time does it really feel like the bounds of the ZR2 are approached. Granted, the Arizona path is not an excessive Moab run, but it surely’s removed from a Sunday drive, too. Overall, the Bison’s degree of off-road prowess is probably going greater than nearly all of of us will ever actually want.On the overwhelmed, paved pathOn roads main me again to civilization, the Bison behaves in a truck-like method. Steering response is not the quickest, there’s managed physique tip round turns and a few noise when cruising down the freeway, because of the meatier tires. It’s certainly not sloppy and completely advantageous to rock round each day in relative consolation.The Bison’s infotainment system is on level, however security tech is missing.
Chevrolet
The inside is of typical sub-par Colorado high quality, with massive swaths of onerous plastic making up the sprint and door panels, and intuitively laid out switchgear. There aren’t any frills right here. It’s only a easy pickup truck inside that ought to rise up properly to common abuse.Chevrolet’s Infotainment 3 system is housed on an 8-inch touchscreen atop the middle stack, controlling navigation, a seven-speaker Bose audio setup, 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto features are additionally supported. Hat tip to the ZR2’s quite a few energy factors, with a pair of USBs, 12-volt outlet and wi-fi cost pad up entrance. Rear passengers have easy accessibility to a different two USB ports of their very own and a 12-volt outlet on the again of the middle console. Looking for the most recent security tech? You finest hold shifting. Besides a high-definition backup digicam, the Bison’s choices checklist does not embrace issues like adaptive cruise management, blind-spot monitoring or ahead collision warning with computerized emergency braking. You’ll be capable of go nearly wherever within the Bison. 
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Ready for journeyThe Bison is a massively succesful off-road midsize pickup, although it is not the one recreation on the town. The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro serves as this truck’s direct competitors, however subsequent yr, a brand new Jeep Gladiator Rubicon might be becoming a member of the fray. When the 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison hits sellers in January, it will be priced at $48,045 for the Extended Cab, together with a $995 vacation spot cost. Crew Cab fashions, in the meantime, will begin at $49,645. That’s a $5,750 up-charge over the usual ZR2, which can or is probably not value it. If you are not scaling over rocks frequently, the Bison’s added may be overkill. Editors’ be aware: Travel prices associated to this function have been lined by the producer. This is widespread within the auto business, as it’s miles extra economical to ship journalists to automobiles than to ship automobiles to journalists. While Roadshow accepts multiday automobile loans from producers with a purpose to present scored editorial critiques, all scored automobile critiques are accomplished on our turf and on our phrases.The judgments and opinions of Roadshow’s editorial crew are our personal and we don’t settle for paid editorial content material.