All-new for 2023, the Colorado now prepares to add the Bison off-road-racer package
Author of the article:
Jil McIntosh
Published May 31, 2023 • Last updated Jul 11, 2023 • 5 minute read
It used to be that if you wanted to go fast and do it off the beaten path, you had to modify your truck yourself. Instead, these days you can buy them ready-to-go right out of the box. Chevrolet already offers its new-for-2023 Colorado as the off-road-ready ZR2, but for 2024, it’ll also be available as the ZR2 Bison.
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It’s not a first for the Bison trim, which debuted on the last-generation Colorado in 2017. It’s a given for Chevy’s made-over entry in the midsize truck segment, where arch-rival Ford has announced that the all-new 2024 edition of its Ranger will be the first outfitted as a Raptor. The Bison trim was also added to the full-size Silverado 1500 and heavy-duty Silverado 2500, so now marks the first time it’s been available on all three of Chevy’s trucks.
This Colorado Bison unveiling event was only a look-see, and a virtual one at that. We’ll have to wait a while before we can drive one to properly judge its yee-haw factor. In the meantime, we’ve already driven the all-new Colorado, and here we’ll delve into what’s different about the ZR2 Bison.
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Learn more about the cars
2024 Chevrolet Colorado 3.30out of 5 MSRP $35,399 to $57,699
Based on an all-new truck
The new 2023 Colorado – the basis for the Bison – undergoes a considerable number of changes from the 2022 model. Previously it came in extended cab, or in crew cab with two bed lengths, but every Colorado is now a crew-cab-short-bed, which is what most people tend to buy anyway. Only the base WT (Work Truck) can be ordered in two-wheel-drive, with 4×4 optional on that, and standard on everything else.
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The old Colorado also offered a 2.5L four-cylinder, 3.6L V6, or 2.8L four-cylinder diesel. All are gone, replaced with a 2.7L turbocharged four-cylinder engine that’s also used as the base engine in the full-size Silverado. In the Colorado it comes in three power levels, with lower trims offering the Turbo at 239 horsepower; or the Turbo Plus at 310 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. The ZR2 and Bison exclusively use the Turbo High-Output version, which also makes 310 horsepower but ramps up to 430 lb-ft of torque — and on 87-octane gasoline. An eight-speed automatic transmission is used with all engine variants.
The off-road upgrades
The ZR2 gains its off-road chops with locking front and rear differentials, 33-inch tires, and Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve (DSSV) front and rear shocks, courtesy of Ontario-based supplier Multimatic. These dampers use spring-loaded sleeves to regulate the oil flow inside the shock – instead of the washer-style shims in regular shocks – giving them rebound consistency when you’re banging on them in off-road driving, while still providing a smooth ride on pavement.
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The Bison is a package on the ZR2, and has that same undercarriage, but then adds jounce control dampers, also from Multimatic, which helps prevent “bottoming out” — that very unpleasant bang when you hit a hard bump and the suspension components compress enough to knock against each other.
That’s important, because while the ZR2 is meant for the traditional off-road trails, where you generally weave your way across rocks and between trees at a moderate pace, the Bison is intended as a Baja-style desert racer for flat-out across wide-open spaces. Its drive modes include a Baja setting, and when you’re in that, you can access launch control that “learns” the surface under the tires, such as sand, and then adjusts for maximum traction on it, until you use it on a difference surface, and it relearns for that.
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The shocks aren’t all, of course. As with the last-generation Colorado Bison, this one is a collaboration with American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), based in Montana and Detroit, which makes accessories and performance parts for off-road vehicles. From that company, the Bison gets standard 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels with 35-inch tires, fender flares, AEV bumpers with winch-capable front unit (an AEV winch will be available as an accessory), boron-steel skid plates and rocker protectors, and AEV badging on its front head restraints and all-weather mats. The 35-inch spare tire won’t fit under the truck in its usual spot, so it’s mounted in the bed; and a spray-in bedliner is standard.
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By the numbers
In other trims, the Colorado’s approach angle is gnarliest in the Trail Boss at 30.5 degrees, but the ZR2’s is 38.6, while the Bison’s is 38.2 degrees. For departure angle, the ZR2 comes in at 25.2 and the Bison 26 degrees; while breakover is 24.8 in the ZR2 and 26.9 degrees in the Bison. Ground clearance is 272 mm (10.7 inches) in the ZR2, while the Bison tops that at 311 mm (12.2 inches). The ZR2 can handle up to 1,280 lbs of payload, while the heavier Bison’s maximum is 1,050 lbs. Other Colorado trims can tow up to 7,700 lbs, while the ZR2 can pull 6,000 lbs; and you can hitch up to 5,500 lbs on the Bison’s hitch.
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While the full list of the Bison’s features is yet to come, it’s a package on the ZR2, so expect to get an 11.3-inch touchscreen with Google Built-In, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, LED front and rear lights, 120-volt bed-mounted outlet, eight-way power driver’s seat, and auto-dimming mirror. Standard driver-assist safety features include emergency front braking, lane-keep assist, and automatic high-beam headlamps, but adaptive cruise control will be optional. Cloth seats will be standard, with extra-charge leather available. A locking tailgate is included, but we’ve yet to see if you’ll need to pay more to get the new lockable storage bin inside it.
Speaking of paying, pricing will be announced closer to when the 2024 ZR2 and Bison models launch in early fall of 2023. But to give you an idea, the 2023 ZR2 starts at $56,003 in Canada, plus a destination fee of $2,095. On the 2023 Silverado, the Bison package adds about 10 per cent to the ZR2, so our rough guesstimate for the 2024 Colorado Bison will be around $62,000 or so. That’s a fair chunk of change, and we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel to see if it’s worth the step up to take a Colorado ZR2 and then Bison-ize it for when the open off-road beckons.
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Jil McIntosh
Jil McIntosh specializes in new-car reviews, auto technology and antique cars, including the two 1940s vehicles in her garage. She is currently a freelance Writer at Driving.ca since 2016
Summary
· Professional writer for more than 35 years, appearing in some of the top publications in Canada and the U.S.
· Specialties include new-vehicle reviews, old cars and automotive history, automotive news, and “How It Works” columns that explain vehicle features and technology
· Member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) since 2003; voting member for AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards; juror on the Women’s World Car of the Year Awards
Education
Jil McIntosh graduated from East York Collegiate in Toronto, and then continued her education at the School of Hard Knocks. Her early jobs including driving a taxi in Toronto; and warranty administration in a new-vehicle dealership, where she also held information classes for customers, explaining the inner mechanical workings of vehicles and their features.
Experience
Jil McIntosh is a freelance writer who has been writing for Driving.ca since 2016, but she’s been a professional writer starting when most cars still had carburetors. At the age of eleven, she had a story published in the defunct Toronto Telegram newspaper, for which she was paid $25; given the short length of the story and the dollar’s buying power at the time, that might have been the relatively best-paid piece she’s ever written.
An old-car enthusiast who owns a 1947 Cadillac and 1949 Studebaker truck, she began her writing career crafting stories for antique-car and hot-rod car club magazines. When the Ontario-based newspaper Old Autos started up in 1987, dedicated to the antique-car hobby, she became a columnist starting with its second issue; the newspaper is still around and she still writes for it. Not long after the Toronto Star launched its Wheels section in 1986 – the first Canadian newspaper to include an auto section – she became one of its regular writers. She started out writing feature stories, and then added “new-vehicle reviewer” to her resume in 1999. She stayed with Wheels, in print and later digital as well, until the publication made a cost-cutting decision to shed its freelance writers. She joined Driving.ca the very next day.
In addition to Driving.ca, she writes for industry-focused publications, including Automotive News Canada and Autosphere. Over the years, her automotive work also appeared in such publications as Cars & Parts, Street Rodder, Canadian Hot Rods, AutoTrader, Sharp, Taxi News, Maclean’s, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes Wheels, Canadian Driver, Sympatico Autos, and Reader’s Digest. Her non-automotive work, covering such topics as travel, food and drink, rural living, fountain pen collecting, and celebrity interviews, has appeared in publications including Harrowsmith, Where New Orleans, Pen World, The Book for Men, Rural Delivery, and Gambit.
Major awards won by the author
2016 AJAC Journalist of the Year; Car Care Canada / CAA Safety Journalism award winner in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013, runner-up in 2021; Pirelli Photography Award 2015; Environmental Journalism Award 2019; Technical Writing Award 2020; Vehicle Testing Review award 2020, runner-up in 2022; Feature Story award winner 2020; inducted into the Street Rodding Hall of Fame in 1994.
Contact info
Email: jil@ca.inter.net
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilmcintosh/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JilMcIntosh
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