Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 first drive reviews

RPhil

Adventurer
It looks like Chevy has brought a great product to the market. Hopefully this sells well and stirs some competition.
 
I still wonder if sales will start to fall off on the mid-size segment. They have priced themselves well into full-size category.

Not so sure about that by the time you load up an 150 with leather heated seats etc. your at 55k I think the raptor is about 57k and the power wagon is at 55k + it will be interesting to see how this affects Jeeps. I have had many Chevys blazers and suburban 3/4 tons and many Toyotas pickups and 100 series landcrusiers. I drive a rubicon right now. but this chevy is so tempting especially after being at expo and seeing all the truck bed camper options. and only Ursa Minor for the jeep.. made me want a truck almost. but now truck body and locker all around. Hmm I just don't want a payment.
 
So far the only real issues I've seen noted in the reviews are:
- reduced payload and towing compared to the other trims.
- no fuel tank skid plate.
- diesel exhaust tip is vulnerable to to damage.
- sliders are attached to the body instead of the frame.

None of them are huge deals, though that last one really confuses me (I'd always seen sliders attached to the frame). And I'm sure there will be aftermarket solutions to some if not all of those issues.

The chevy development guy TFL was against it originally . so apparently he took one out bashed the crap out of it couldn't damage is and said ok, so here is the question if you hit it hard enough oi damage the body would the same hit on a frame mounted rock slider damage the frame?
 

Dalko43

Explorer
The chevy development guy TFL was against it originally . so apparently he took one out bashed the crap out of it couldn't damage is and said ok, so here is the question if you hit it hard enough oi damage the body would the same hit on a frame mounted rock slider damage the frame?

That's a good question, and likely owner reviews will reveal any long term issues with that kind slider attachment method, if there are any. My subjective view is that I'd rather have a slider attached to the frame rather than the body for the sake of durability. But I'd like to think that if Chevy put sliders on the ZR2 in stock form, they did at least some amount of testing and quality control to make sure the things would hold up to offroad abuse.
 

XJLI

Adventurer
The chevy development guy TFL was against it originally . so apparently he took one out bashed the crap out of it couldn't damage is and said ok, so here is the question if you hit it hard enough oi damage the body would the same hit on a frame mounted rock slider damage the frame?

I've smashed frame mounted sliders enough that they moved up into the body. The ones on this truck are for occasional "whoops" moments, not for slamming the weight of the truck down onto and pivoting around; and that's all you need TBH. Anyone doing more hardcore stuff will build their own anyway, and frankly, wouldn't be buying a factory offroad package truck.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
My guess is that frame mounted sliders impact some type of gov reg or affect crash results or have some other effect and the work around is the body mounting. How many TRDs do you see at the mall with sliders? .0002%? I'd say GM is doing ok putting them on as they are. The true rock bashers will go through these trucks and put custom built heavy metal gear on them regardless.

I wanna know when the Denali Canyon can be optioned with those killer shocks? Seems those shocks are a very big part of the ride control magic that pretty much all the reviewers seem to agree is pretty good. No doubt not cheap stuff. Are they 100,000 shocks or 40,000 shocks?
 

haven

Expedition Leader
I'm looking forward to some off-road magazine adding a supercharger to the gas V6. Mallett makes a kit for the Colorado that adds about 100 hp and 100 ft lb. The Colorado is 700-800 lb lighter than the aluminum body Raptor with turbo 3.5L. At $7000 plus installation, the Mallett kit is expensive, but includes upgrades to the cooling system as well as the air intake. The 8L45 transmission is rated to handle 700 ft lb of torque, I believe.

Would I own one? No, but it would make an interesting story.
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
So it would be a 55k zr2. I wonder what the cheapest raptor is? It would be a good comparo.


41,995 for the basic ZR2, if you add diesel and the normal whistles - I was quoted 52 though there was some discussion that Costco pricing would apply and that would bring it to 48k. A lot of money, but actually less then my 08 H3 Alpha sold for brand new.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Raptor is about $58k, but dealers are pretty abusive with extra charges. Ford limits production of the Raptor each year, keeping demand and prices high. It's not unusual to see a one year old Raptor advertised at close to list price.
 

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