Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison the real Raptor rival SA won’t get

Still fresh from debuting the brawny Silverado HD ZR2 last month, Chevrolet has ended the month of May with the debut of its direct rival to the newly released Ford Ranger Raptor, the Colorado ZR2 Bison.

Surprisingly absent from the facelift Colorado’s North American premiere in July last year, the ZR2 Bison slots-in above the already menacing ZR2 as the bowtie brand’s new flagship model in the so-called compact bakkie segment frequented by its twin, the GMC Canyon, the Ranger, new Toyota Tacoma and the sibling of the Nissan Navara, the Frontier.

Ultimate of the ultimate

Similar to the standard ZR2, the Bison is the result of a partnership between Chevrolet and American Expedition Vehicles, with the former describing it as the “ultimate off-road beast”.

Externally, Chevrolet has gone up a notch from the ZR2 by equipping the Bison with 35-inch mud-terrain tyres wrapped around so-called beadlock 17-inch alloy wheels, adding even more extensively flared plastic cladded wheel arches and a thick steel protection plate underneath the engine, differential, transfer case, cooling system and transmission.

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Despite the smaller alloys and bigger wheels compared to the ZR2, the Colorado ZR2 Bison has an even greater ground clearance of 310 mm versus 272 mm, while also being the recipient of a heavy-duty winch mounted on the front bumper as standard.

The added clearance comes by way not only of a lift-kit, but also adjustable position-sensitive Multimatic dampers and shock absorbers not available on the ZR2.

As a result of the winch though, the ZR2 Bison’s approach angle is marginally worse at 38.2-degrees versus the ZR2’s 38.6-degrees. It does, however, have better departure and breakover angles; 26-degrees versus 25.1-degrees and 26.9-degress compared to 24.6-degrees.

A further revision needed as a result of the ride height increase is the relocation of the spare wheel from underneath the body to the rubberised loadbin. This means a drop in payload from 580 kg to 477 kg and reduced towing capacity from 2 721 kg to 2 495 kg.

Inside

Inside, the Colorado ZR2 Bison carries over the 11.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system and eight-inch digital instrument cluster, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Forward Collision Alert, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist, Front Vehicle Alert, Lane Departure Warning and Adaptive Cruise Control.

In fact, the only unique addition not offered on the ZR2, are all-weather floor mats plus AEV embroidery work on the front headrests.

V6 needed?

Up front, the standardised engine across all Colorados has been implanted into the ZR2 Bison, namely the high-output 2.7-litre turbocharged petrol that develops 231kW/583Nm.

The later figure being identical to that of the EcoBoost V6 engine Raptor despite power being down by 71 kW, drive is again routed to the rear or all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

As with the ZR2, the ZR2 Bison offers five driving modes; Normal, Tow/Haul, Off-Road, the rock-crawling Terrain setting and Chevrolet’s own Baja mode.

South Africa, not for you

Going on sale across the United States later this year, the Colorado ZR2 Bison won’t be offered outside of its home market as unlike the previous generation, it doesn’t have any relations to the Isuzu D-Max that utilised the same platform.

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