The 2024 Chevy Colorado ZR2 is a true off-roader, not some graphics package on wheels.
From the factory, it’s equipped with substantive off-road upgrades. They include aggressive 33-inch tires, locking front and rear differentials, skid plates, multiple off-road driving modes, and a raised suspension featuring trick Multimatic spool-valve dampers. Chevy even moved the front wheels forward three inches, no small feat, to accommodate the larger tires.
That stated, the Colorado ZR2 can’t hold an off-road candle to the new 2024 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. The Bison is a niche vehicle aimed directly at the hardcore off-roading community.
To prove this point, Chevrolet hosted KBB in California’s Mojave Desert, where we sampled the new Colorado ZR2 Bison on some of the same rocky and grueling terrain used in the King of the Hammers extreme rock-crawling competition.
What Makes the Bison a Bison?
But first, what makes the Colorado ZR2 Bison different than a standard Colorado ZR2?
To begin, huge 35-inch tires replace the 33s, and the suspension has been lifted a half-inch. This means the Bison has 12.2 inches of ground clearance, up from 10.7 in the standard Colorado ZR2.
The Bison also boasts boron-steel skid plates for its oil pan, transfer case, fuel tank, and front and rear differentials. Tubular steel rockers add protection. Big 315-millimeter-wide tires mounted on 17 x 8.5-inch wheels with greater offset give the Bison an inch wider track. Larger fender flares accommodate them.
Suspension travel remains the same (10.6 inches in front, 11.6 in back). But the new Colorado ZR2 Bison gets Multimatic Jounce Control Dampers, a fancy name for specially tuned hydraulic bump stops. Completely separate from the spool-valve shocks, these jounce dampers dramatically affect chassis composure when you reach the limits of wheel travel (as we’d learn later).
On the downside, given the Bison’s huge wheels and tires, there’s no room for a full-size spare tire under the bed. Chevy mounts the spare in the forward section of the bed in an upright position, which cuts into the rearview mirror’s field of vision. How about a digital rearview mirror, Chevy?
Other factory modifications on the 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison include alloy wheels and steel bumpers from American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), the front one ready for a winch.
Learning to Crawl
We started with a relaxed cruise on the highway. Then Chevy warmed us up with some relatively smooth dirt road action (some of it across a large dry lake). Then we reached our primary challenge — a super tricky uphill section that looked more like a disaster zone than an actual off-road trail, peppered as it was with jagged rocks of all sizes. We saw no obvious way through.
But with the Chevrolet engineers serving as our spotters, our group forged ahead at a crawling pace. We all used one-pedal Terrain Mode with front and rear diffs locked, and the big tires aired down to about 25 psi.
What did we learn? Several things.
Impressive Ground Clearance
Those big 35-inch tires give the Bison excellent ground clearance. You can straddle rocks that would otherwise clang on the underbody of lesser trucks.
When you don’t quite have the clearance to do that, you simply put your front tire up against that rock and carefully crawl up it with just the right amount of throttle. You have to be careful not to launch off the top and have the Bison come down with a big clank on its rock rails or underbody. (Who, us?)
Also impressive was the excellent structure of the ZR2 Bison. Not a creak or a groan could be heard from the chassis, even under acute torsional stress.
The locked front and rear differentials proved their worth on the slippery hardscrabble. They kept the Bison forging ahead as all four big Goodyear tires scrambled for traction. All the while, the 2.7-liter inline-4, though turbocharged, proved to be a willing ally. It sends 310 horsepower and even better torque (430 lb-ft!) to all four wheels in a smooth and controllable fashion.
More Impressive Suspension
Lastly, while it was tough to sense the value of the Multimatic shocks and trick new hydraulic bump stops in our rock-crawling escapades, their worth came to light on the dirt road back to our base camp, which had several sections of rolling whoop-de-dos that would normally moderate speeds a bit.
In fact, I thought my co-driver was driving about 10 mph too fast for the upcoming conditions. But before I could say something, the Bison began soaking up the whoops with such impressive aplomb that I kept my mouth shut. The Multimatic dampers (and hydraulic bump stops) did a fantastic job of keeping the 5,265-pound Bison remarkably composed on a road that wanted to turn it into a bucking bronco. (No offense, Ford.)
This was an impressive demonstration by the new Colorado ZR2 Bison on an ultra-challenging course that most sane folks wouldn’t attempt on their own. But remember: We had security in numbers, and we were backed by a bevy of GM engineers who had justified confidence in their most capable off-road pickup.
Colorado ZR2 Bison: How Much?
The 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, on sale soon, hasn’t been priced yet. But the 2023 Colorado ZR2 starts at $46,800. We expect the Colorado ZR2 Bison to cost about $9,000 or $10,000 more than that, putting it at close to $60,000.
While that’s not inexpensive, there isn’t a more capable off-roader in the Chevrolet lineup. And crucially, the Colorado ZR2 Bison comes with a full factory warranty. If you add aftermarket parts to your Colorado ZR2 to make it more capable, you may void the warranty.
