Your Local Truck Experts at Mark Martin Motors in Ephrata PA
Hey guys, welcome back to the Mark Martin Motors blog. If you are anywhere near Ephrata, PA, or driving through the Lancaster County area looking for your next awesome ride, you know we always love checking out the coolest trucks on the market. Today we are diving into a seriously sweet rig. We are talking about the 2024 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison, also known as the AEV edition.
This is a phenomenal mid-size truck that is built for the trails, but no truck is absolutely perfect. Let's get right into the five things I absolutely love and the five things I really hate about the new ZR2 Bison.
5 Things I Love About the Colorado ZR2 Bison
The Multimatic DSSV Suspension
First and foremost, the suspension on this rig makes the truck. Chevy put the Multimatic DSSV suspension on this Colorado, which is the exact same setup you get on the full-size ZR2 pickup. In my opinion, it is one of the best factory suspensions on the market today. It rides amazing and makes this a true, capable off-road truck. A good suspension is what makes trucks like the Raptor so much fun, and this DSSV setup is just incredible.
The AEV Wheel and Tire Combo
The second thing that sets this truck apart is the factory wheel and tire package. The Bison gets a specific 17-inch AEV beadlock wheel that just looks awesome. But the craziest part is that Chevy threw a massive 35-inch tire on here right from the factory. You do not see 35s on a mid-size truck from the factory very often. It gives the truck an aggressive stance and saves you from having to do an aftermarket lift and tire setup right away.
Plush and Comfortable Interior Seats
Number three is the interior, specifically the front seats. These are specific ZR2 seats with the AEV stamp on the headrest, and they are vastly different from the seats you will find in a 1500 or 2500. A lot of the full-size truck seats are pretty rigid and hard, but these Colorado seats are super plush and much softer. Plus, they are heated and ventilated. I honestly wish they put seats this comfortable in the bigger trucks.
Unmatched Steel Protection
If you are taking a truck off-road in Pennsylvania, you need real protection, and this truck is covered in steel. You get an AEV stamped steel front bumper, an AEV stamped rear bumper, and five boron steel underbody skid plates. That means your entire undercarriage has full steel protection. They even included heavy-duty tubular steel rock rails. The whole bottom of the truck is basically encased in armor, which gives you total peace of mind on the trails.
A Highly Competitive Price Point
The fifth thing I love is the price. The Bison package starts at around $60,540. Now, 60 grand sounds like a lot of money, but look at the competitors. A TRD Pro Tacoma starts around $65,395, which is almost five grand more for a truck with a similar four-cylinder turbo engine. A Jeep Gladiator Rubicon X is going to run you around $64,890. The Ford Ranger Raptor is right around the 60 grand mark too, but I think the Colorado looks way cooler. For a fully loaded off-road mid-size truck, the value here is hard to beat.
5 Things I Hate About the ZR2 Bison
Awful Rear Visibility
Let's start with my biggest complaint, and that is the full-size spare tire. It is awesome that they give you a matching 35-inch spare on a beadlock wheel, but the placement in the bed takes up the entire rear window. When you look in your rearview mirror, you literally have zero visibility. To make it worse, they do not offer a digital rearview mirror camera on this truck like they do on the 1500s. It is just a poor design choice that makes driving in traffic a hassle.
Touchscreen Headlight Controls
I am not a fan of how they integrated the basic controls. Normally, you have physical switches on the dash for your auto lights, fog lights, and traction control. On the Colorado, you have to dig into the touchscreen menus to access these features.
Why Missing Physical Buttons is Frustrating
If you are driving down the road using your navigation and suddenly need to turn on your fog lights or toggle your traction control, you have to exit your map, go into settings, find the controls menu, and hit a digital button. It is a major distraction and just not practical.
Also, for a truck at this price point, it still uses old-school incandescent bulbs for the turn signals and tail lights instead of full LEDs. It just feels like a weird place to cut corners.
Disappointing Fuel Economy
You would think that having a four-cylinder engine would mean great gas mileage, but that is not the case here. Across the board, this truck gets an average rating of 16 miles per gallon. That is 16 mpg in the city, 16 on the highway, and 16 combined. For a smaller truck, that fuel economy just blows.
The Four-Cylinder Turbo Engine
This kind of ties into the fuel economy issue, but I really hate that this is a four-cylinder turbo. I know all the manufacturers are moving in this direction for their smaller trucks, but if I am buying the top-tier, most aggressive Colorado on the market, I want a cool engine. It would be amazing if they offered a V8 option, maybe a 5.3L like they did way back in the day with the H3 Alpha setup. A true off-road enthusiast would love a V8 sound and power delivery in this rig.
Manual Passenger Seat Adjustments
Finally, when you open the passenger door of a $60,000 top-of-the-line truck, you expect it to be fully loaded. While it does have heated and cooled seats, the passenger side is entirely manual. You have to pull the lever and aggressively slide the seat back and forth yourself. The driver gets full power adjustments, but skipping the power passenger seat just feels cheap on a premium package like the Bison.
Wrapping Up at Mark Martin Motors
The 2024 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison is undeniably a sweet truck with top-tier off-road capability, but it definitely has a few quirks you need to consider before buying. Do you agree with my list? If you are local to the Ephrata area or passing through Pennsylvania, stop by Mark Martin Motors and let's talk trucks.
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