The midsized truck segment has gained newfound ground as a viable alternative to full size trucks when you consider how prices have become increasingly mind boggling. Vehicles like the latest Chevrolet Colorado, which I had an opportunity to check out again only in its hardcore off-roading ZR2 Bison trim this week, has a lot of truck loyalists reconsidering their next full-size truck purchase.
The new Chevrolet Colorado in the ZR2 Bison form, to me, is more of an undercover badass instead of something that truck enthusiasts are clamoring to get their hands on. I say this because the Colorado doesn’t exactly stand out in a crowd but instead remains civil in its overall approach and well-to-do turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. On paper, there’s a lot to praise, but in a quick glance, one would easily conclude that the new Colorado is somewhat of a pushover, but they would be mistaken, especially when it comes to the new Colorado ZR2 Bison tricked out with some serious off-roading hardware and the proper tech to back up its get-down-and-dirty abilities.
Also, don’t forget that you can get discounted new car pricing with a free quote through qualified local dealer partners.
Powered by a 2.7-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, the current Colorado that entered into its third generation for the 2023 model year continues to be a respectable performer when you opt for the optional and more powerful TurboMax engine. Otherwise, you’re left with the base 2.7-liter turbo with only 237 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque in the base WT and LT trims as standard equipment. The sweet spot is in the TurboMax engine, giving you a decent level of performance for the midsize truck along with an automatic transfer case for switching on the fly to 4-high, 4-low, 2wd, or the enjoyed 4-automatic for all-wheel-drive on pavement. While the TurboMax engine is good for 310 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque sent through an 8-speed automatic transmission, there’s one characteristic that seems to take away from its decent power, and that’s the coarse sound it makes. Yes, everyone will say that Colorado sounds wimpy from the coarse sound, but if you somehow overlook such a shortcoming, there’s a lot to appreciate in the performance of Colorado, which can tow up to 7,700 pounds when properly configured and hit 60 mph in just over 7 seconds. However, when you opt for the Colorado ZR2 Bison, with its massive 35-inch knobby LT315 (315/70R17) Goodyear Wrangler Mud Terrain tires, things tend to suffer a bit with acceleration, but there’s still a good amount of oomph. Moreover, the towing capacity is cut down to about 5,500 pounds as the ZR2 Bison already carries around 300 pounds more than a regular Colorado ZR2.
See Also: 2023 Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss Review & Test Drive
Overall, performance in a straight line takes a hit, as you could imagine – considering all of the serious off-roading equipment that you get with the ZR2 Bison trim. Some of that equipment places the Colorado on a pedestal having Multimatic Jounce Control DSSV shocks attached outboard of the leaf springs, hydraulic bump stops, beadlock 17-inch wheels, AEV front and rear bumpers, and AEV skid plates for the front, rear differential, sides, and even the for the fuel tank. Additionally, the Colorado ZR2 Bison shifts the front axle forward to accommodate the larger tires, which you have a spare mounted in the bed that unfortunately blocks your rearward view. Here, Chevrolet should have offered a digital rearview mirror – a missed opportunity to mitigate the massive tire being an added blind spot out back. Moreover, it’s a serious (litteral) misstep to not have side steps as I found myself jumping into the Colorado ZR2 Bison – here, Chevy could have integrated side steps along with the side rocker guards, maybe?
Testing out all the extreme off-roading equipment on the Colorado ZR2 Bison is a challenging endeavor as I was only able to get it a little dirty through an off-roading construction area and performed some small jumps over a majorly flawed road pavement job. In all, this truck is capable and if you ever tax its abilities, you better be able to ensure your family that your insurance is paid up. Yes, it’s that serious.
I won’t go as far as to get carried away with the Colorado ZR2 Bison being the baddest midsized truck you can find from a dealership – but it kind of is in some ways. After experiencing the newly redesigned Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, Ford Ranger Raptor, and now the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison, there’s a slight edge that the Bison has in terms of its suspension and components, even though the Ranger Raptor is my winning choice overall for off-roading badassery. In my view, you just can’t beat out the Ranger Raptor being a better all-arounder, as the Colorado ZR2 Bison just isn’t nearly as comfy and will never sound nearly as good as the Raptor. The Colorado ZR2 Bison does ride just as well as the Ranger Raptor on the road, which gives these trucks a respectable balance for their all-purpose abilities and offers a convenience in acting as a daily transportation vehicle.
You’ll need to visit the gas station often as well, considering you’ll match the EPA fuel consumption estimates of 16 mpg city and 16 mpg highway in the real world, only occasionally besting the highway mileage when you’re traveling below 50 mph without a load to get almost 18 mpg as I did.
Part of its sheer off-roading performance, the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison attempts to bring some welcomed tech and interior accommodations to the table. While the tech is good, featuring the latest 11-inch configurable digital gauge cluster with mapping features and a mostly user-friendly 11.3-inch infotainment touchscreen setup, the seating feel doesn’t live up to what I expected. In a nutshell, the perforated leather heated and ventilated seats are on the hard side and it takes a while to find a good driving and seating position through the power controls. Wireless (and USB-connected) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto nicely integrate into the infotainment system with the added benefit of having Google and Alexa voice capabilities, as well as integrating the your smartphone mapping into the gauge cluster (ie: Apple Maps via an iPhone connection).
The cabin is done well, possibly to make up for the seat comfort’s shortcoming – there’s a decent layout of controls with the right amount of physical buttons and knobs for the dual-zone automatic climate control. Chevrolet opts to embed a few vehicle functions into the touchscreen that are commonly found as switches or knobs, such as the automatic highbeam LED headlight/foglight controls and even the power window lockout feature.
Seating space and the cabin remains on the smaller side but up front you have a good amount of seat travel. However, out back the seating area is a bit cramped, which is the one compromise in a truck of this size that you must live with or consider paying up for a larger full-size truck. The short truck bed, with its clever stowflex tailgate, can haul about 1,600 pounds.
In the area of safety, the Colorado ZR2 Bison brings all the expected active safety features, such as lane departure warning/lane centering, blind-spot warning, forward collision warning/emergency braking, and a necessary 360-degree camera system that can be brought up at any time when driving.
The cost of the ultimate midsized truck from Chevrolet comes at a cost, one that inches into the full-size truck territory when you consider my loaded-up test vehicle coming in at $64,340 with a $1,500 Bison discount from Chevrolet and a $1,595 destination charge.
