Chevy Colorado Chief Engineer Talks ZR2 And Its Expected Success: Video
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General Motors and Chevrolet have very high hopes for its first true off-road offering in years. The 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 stays true to much of what we fell in love with when it was conceptualized nearly three years ago. And for that reason, the brand thinks it has a home run.
Anita Burke, chief engineer for the Chevrolet Colorado, stopped in at Autoline Daily to discuss the latest truck and what it means for the Colorado portfolio and why the brand is pinning it has a success.
At the end of the day, Chevrolet is confident the Colorado ZR2 will conquest buyers from other brands, specifically the Toyota Tacoma TRD. Even during our first ride of the 2017 Colorado ZR2, Chevrolet hinted it will offer the truck as an alternative to the Ford F-150 Raptor with a more practical wrapper and size.
And the Colorado ZR2 isn’t a sticker pack. It’s packing plenty of goods to ensure capability is forefront, but Burke states engineers never forgot why midsize trucks are so popular. That is because they offer the comfort and practicality a full-size pickup sometimes can’t.
You can catch the entire in-depth conversation in the video up above.
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Wonderful truck. But I think it should be offered with a manual transmission. Myself and many others are asking for it. Offroad + Diesel + Manual = Enjoyment. Toyota offers it on TRD Pro Tacoma.
Her reaction when she was asked about it kind of tells the story. Yup, I blew it. Customers are asking for it and I argued against it because I don’t even know how to drive one. Stop the video at exactly 26:30.
Manual transmission is great, in a sports car. Off road? No thank you.
Went wheeling at the Badlands off road park in Indiana with a buddy that had a 5 speed in his Wrangler. No bueno. Having to shift on the way up a long, slippery 35 degree Hill is not good.
Lost me when the max towing went from 7700lb down to 5000lb.
you lift a truck, you lose towing capacity. the suspension has been massively reworked for offroad purposes, not towing. you’re also are getting into bigger tires which changes the gearing and lengthens the leverage arm (less torque getting to the ground).
you think the guy with 6″ lift and rock crawling setup is still able to tow the factory advertised load? NOPE!
also, what are you towing that you need 5000+lbs from a midsize truck? You can still pull a ~20ft fiberglass boat.
if you’re towing in the 80th percentile you should be upgrading to a bigger truck.
or do you just like paper stats and figures?
If you must know, my boat weights 5000lb. Should be no problem for a regular Colorado. No go with the ZR2. Further, 5000lb is not in the 80th percentile. It is in the 65th percentile. Well within the safe limits of a midsized truck. Further still, the ZR2 is lifted 2″ over the standard Colorado, not 6.
How about those papers stats asshole.
Hey cool! Angry much?
Learn some physics, understand truck capabilities (ie. the very offroad focused DSSV for one), and figure it out. Great! With reduced towing the truck no longer works for you as a midsizer. Sweet! The fact you expect an offroad pre-runner-esque truck to tow the same is silly. Wow! Look at the Raptor, 8000lbs towing, barely more than a standard Colorado. Then look at the 3.5 EcoBoost F150, 12000lbs in crewcab form. Hell the 2.7L EcoBoost ‘can’ tow more than the Raptor. Figure it out, bud.
Learn physics? Had 2 years of it college. I fully understand the market GM is playing to with the ZR2.
I had no idea what the towing capacity would be and quite frankly, neither did you.
My first post simply said that at 5000lb the ZR2 doesn’t work for me. Nothing more.
You sir, made ASSumptions about what I would do with the truck, made a very exaggerated comparison to a 6″ lifted rock crawler and your math… I’m sure the device you are posting from has some sort of calculator. Try using it.
Yea, it was an exaggeration, but also a valid one pointing out the differing purposes of trucks and how suspension alterations affect towing/ paylod/ braking/ acceleration/ handling/ etc/ etc/ etc, get it?
Also provided explanation as to why towing capacity is reduced (that physics thing) and why it is to be expected with this type of truck. No one should be assuming that towing would be equal to that of a standard Colorado, just bigger tires alone on a truck changes the final drive. That’s your problem. But hey, you’ve a whole 2 years of college physics, and know all the maths.
I love the concept and the looks. It simply won’t work for my application. That’s all I said to begin with. I’m sorry you read more into it than that.
In that case, a lift-level kit, and I would bet that hood would bolt up to the other Colorados. Removing the front skirt on trucks can change the front end look pretty substantially. Mount 1″ wider tires (wihtout increasing wheel dia.) with more meaty tread on the stock rims makes the stance look much wider than stock. If it were a V8 I would say pull the rear muffler, but that 3.6 is pretty raspy – even going with an expensive kit is risky to get a good sound through revs.
I may be in the minority but I don’t mind the slight rake of GM trucks.
You hear lots of chatter about level kit this and that. That’s all well and good until you hook up a trailer or load the bed. Now your truck rides high in the front. To me, it looks really bad and it certainly effects handling/ towing.
Removing the front skirt is a great idea. Did it on my 2014 1500. Not so clear cut on my 2016 2500HD due to the shape of the bumper (not even close to being flat across the bottom). You actually need to leave the skirt in place and just trim part of the bottom off. Doable but messy. There’s an idea for the aftermarket!
You might want to swing by Chevrolet website and let them know that, because they have 7000lbs listed on their website.
If you do a Google search for Colorado ZR2 towing capacity the first result is a link to Chevy’s site where it says 5000lb. Perhaps they have different numbers in different spots?
Lol the zr2 will be exactly what the last was, a waste of time and over expensive parts! Plus most aftermarket won’t retool for add-ons since it’s different then the Colorado. Look at the shocks alone….who’s gonna say “sure, $3400 for 4 shocks rated at 40k miles” lol I’m sure they’re great shocks but when left with no other alternatives sucks! I am an original zr2 owner (still driving it) and was excited with the new version but I can see the same mistakes being made. As for the TRD….you have the reliability of the motor that GM has never come close to and won’t. My $.02
What was the last one? 3″ higher, 3″ wider track, fender flares, low end Bilsteins or Ranchos? No doubt these trucks are made to have high margins, but this ZR2 is not the same package as the last one.
My 07 Tacoma turd was that could NOT wait to unload. Got t boned cause of a trans glitch toyletta would not acknowledge
My only concern is price. I have seen estimates of staring prices at $42k and going up from there.
Nice package but that price is in untested waters.
I have been pricing new GMC models and would stick to a Z71 All Terrain option.
I am not running the desert it towing.
Most people towing are buying full size anyways.
I ordered a ZR2 V6 last month . I don’t expect this truck to do everything at the highest levels. But I think it is a fair compromise, all us married guy know about that. No manufactured can be commercially successful by producing One Trick Ponies. My out the door price is $40,600 pretty darn decent for a nice crew cab with 308 HP and the respectable performance in all areas we expect in a 4×4 truck . I hunt/fish/camp/bike/cycle/climb and haul ,I believe the ZR2 will meet all my needs beyond my expectation.
I read these comments and wonder if some of these people like anything or are they just those narrow minded enough to get stuck on one manufactured their whole life . It seems they are no longer able to objectively analyze facts ,their bias creates a fog.
As for the gentleman who made the comment on the shocks and the $3400 replacement .I can see some validity in his comments as it is a concern of mine also . I will ask him ,do you have intel on this cost or were you just shooting from the hip . Having experience with many types of shock on MX bike and MNT bike I’ve rebuilt and replaced lots of them . That said I would say the TRD and Raptor would have the same issues . When you buy a new model you are taking a bit of a risk that some of the components and tech are not gonna hold up to time and use . Ive made that leap before with GM and luckily was not disappointed.