And here we are…for another MotorWeek First Drive!

We were given the amazing opportunity to come out to Palm Springs, California and have a run in the Chevrolet ZR2 family. This includes the third generation Colorado, the light-duty Silverado, and the Silverado HD, which is all-new for 2024! While all of these ZR2’s come ready to deliver top-tier off-road performance, Chevy has taken it one step further with their partnership with AEV to deliver the Bison upgrade. These even more rugged off-roaders come ready to deliver, and deliver they did.

Let’s first get into the large and in charge Silverado HD Bison. Standing tall and proud this beast took us up over ridgelines and down some pretty intense terrain to showcase what this brute is capable of. While it may not be the most nimble truck, it has the torque: 975 lb-ft. to be exact from the Duramax 6.6-liter V-8 Turbo Diesel under the hood to easily crawl up the steepest areas. The ride was a bit bouncy once up to speed going through some woops in the flats but it was to be expected in such a full-size truck. This is the truck you want to bring your family and your toy haulers away from it all, and it will without a doubt get you out there with ease.

Now its time to showcase the bell of the ball, the Colorado ZR2 Bison.

“Because this car is doing phenomenally. It is taking up bumps and curves and loss of traction and all these fantastic things and I’m honestly having a great time in it. Now while I’m talking to you, here comes a transition from the off-road to the on-road.

One of the things that has really surprised me about this vehicles in particular is the lack of road noise. I thought with the knobby tires and all that that this thing would be screaming while going down the highway. And I’m not hearing much of anything. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not.”

This was proven time and again as we ran these mid-size trucks through high speed sections of the desert in Baja mode, and then through the most intense and grueling off-roading I have ever had the good fortune to experience. Pop these trucks into Terrain Mode, 4Lo, and you can conquer anything.

The 310-horsepower and 430 lb-ft. of torque delivered by the 2.7-liter I-4 Turbo High Output engine puts the perfect amount of power down through the 35-inch tires that come standard on the Bison. While using those 35’s rock crawling through the desert, one of the most useful off-road features that I utilized were the camera systems. Every potential angle was thought through by Chevy to make sure you know exactly where every tire is at all times. Front, back, side to side. These cameras were critical in navigating through the large boulders even with professional spotters to help us along the way.

The entire ZR2 Family came ready to rumble in the desert and proved that they can walk the walk with the best of them. If pushing the limits and venturing out into the great wide unknown is what you consider a great time, then without a doubt one of these ZR2 models is for you.

We will have a more in depth review on this group of Chevy Trucks in the future, but until then, keep it locked right here on MotorWeek!