Gearheads with a thirst for the off-road are spoilt for choice – and there’s more on the way. Chevrolet has announced a truck at which they were strongly hinting earlier this year: The Silverado ZR2 Bison.

For those keeping up with the latest naming schemes coming out of Detroit, permit this 4×4-addled author to bring you up to speed. On the new Silverado, a ZR2 trim has usurped the Z71 for off-road supremacy, appending the pickup with Multimatic DSSV shocks of the kind found on the smaller Colorado ZR2 truck. In addition to the trick dampers, other off-road goodies help separate ZR2 from Z71 including the likes of front and rear lockers plus specific 33-inch tires and a unique skid plate package.

It’s that latter item in which we expect the ZR2 Bison will distance itself from a standard ZR2. When the crew at American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) were tasked with building the Colorado ZR2 Bison, they opted to focus their efforts on underside protection, fitting the truck with extra skid plates over expensive bits like the oil pan and transfer case. In a bid to save weight, these were stamped out of boron steel, a substance that is lighter than traditional materials but can apparently withstand the type of abuse typically hurled at trucks by off-roaders.

Absent any official word from GM, we’ll logically assume similar additions will find their way onto the Silverado ZR2 Bison as well. Aggressively turning up the brightness on screen grabs from the video suggests AEV may tweak the Silverado front bumper as well, perhaps in a bid to improve those all-important approach angles. Toss in some unique styling features – the grille has more body color than a ZR2 and the Multiflex tailgate has a contrasting panel if you look closely in the video – and Chevy likely has yet another off-road trim for which they can charge a few extra shekels. Predictably, pricing wasn’t announced but we’ll note here the Bison package is a $5,750 option box on the Colorado.

What do you think? With the myriad of bowtie off-road options (Z71, ZR2, Bison) in two different sizes (Colorado and Silverado) plus the associated GMC equivalents (AT4, AT4X, and the like) is The General cutting their pie into very small slivers? Sound off in the comments below.

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Every off-road special just makes me nostalgic for the days when insecure men slaked their worries by driving screaming-chicken Trans Ams, instead of machines which can’t stop or turn and out of which it’s impossible to see pedestrians.

In my neck of the woods, Fire Chickens were the domain of spoiled high-school kids. Full-sized pickups with “advanced” off-road packages tend to be the domain of “primpers and preeners”. They seldom will venture anywhere challenging.

F150 Raptors are too wide to be practical. Same goes for the TRX. A Silverado ZR2 Crewcab Bison is just too long. Break-over angle is the problem here. One can argue that a Tremor F250/F350 makes sense since it would enhance its abilities in a tough work environment but there too, all of the one’s I see are street queens.

your comment about the Raptor is off base. They were designed to be high speed desert runners. Not jeep trail crawlers. I’ve watched raptors move across nasty desert terrain at over 100 mph. Amazing trucks.

@kcflyer – How much of the USA is desert? And how much of that terrain is open to public use?

Raptor and the TRX are both capable at high speed desert running, that is true.

As far as my comment about the F150 Raptor and Ram TRX being too wide to be practical, that comment still stands. Most people don’t buy a pickup for a single specific use, they are multipurpose tools. A 1/2 ton that’s as wide as a one ton dually isn’t very practical in day to day use. To be fair, a one ton dually isn’t very practical either.

More of it is desert than race track yet people buy all manner of vehicles that can only approach their limits on a track.

@Lou_BC–Agree most of the Raptors I see around where I live have never been off road and most are either garage queens or mall crawlers which is not to say they are incapable of going off road just that they are more of a status symbol. Just like where you live a large wide truck with 300 or more hp is not an ideal off road vehicle for narrow roads with lots of hills and creeks. Most off roaders around me have old compact Toyotas, older Ford Rangers, S-10s and older Jeeps. The Raptors, Bisons, and Power Wagons are more likely to be future Barrett-Jackson collector trucks that will be tucked away in climate controlled garages only to be taken out for car and truck shows.

So in the process of boning up on European Geography, I ran across the Albanian flag and my ignorant American brain said “Firebird!!!” and now I can’t unsee it.

I would not be so nostalgic for the stopping or turning abilities of a Screaming Chicken.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a15142491/chevrolet-camaro-z-28-vs-pontiac-firebird-trans-am-archived-comparison-test/

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a34429175/2021-ram-1500-trx-vs-2020-ford-f-150-raptor-supercrew/

Highlights: 1977 Camaro – 208 ft stopping distance from 70 mph, 0.74g skidpad 2020 Raptor – 195 ft, 0.72g 2021 TRX – 189 ft, 0.70g

Automotive tech has definitely come a long, long way since 1977. But you have to think that fitting that old T/A with modern tires and brakes might yield some huge improvements.

“Automotive tech has definitely come a long, long way since 1977.”

Well let’s see… it looks like automotive technology has come 19 feet. 19 feet in 45 years. That’s 5 inches per year (less if you’re Ford).

Probably unfair since the ’77 Camaro had rear drums? (thereby giving too much credit to automotive tech over the interval)

Yep, they’re huge, but thanks to modern tech, they’re also respectable all-around performers.

I suppose if you took a ’77 pickup and stuffed it with a ton of horsepower, you could get it to go as fast as a Raptor or TRX does, but Lord help you if you have to turn or stop…or keep you alive if you end up in a crash.

@FreedMike – American Top Gear had a Raptor on their track. It performed reasonably well considering.

Would be very interested to see the screaming chicken’s results on (1) a set of average 2022 tires and (2) a set of high-end summer tires.

Agree, I actually expected larger gaps in both measures given how poor the tires were in 1977.

“Bison”? Not enough toxic-manhood energy there. How about “Rockhard”?

Still waiting for the combination muscle and off road truck named Viagra. Make the starting price 100k.

In case you find yourself cutting apart a Volvo: https://web.archive.org/web/20181222170906/http://www.resqmed.com/BoronSteel1.pdf

[Excerpt: “at the conclusion of the cut, a considerable jarring effect will reverberate through the seat and transfer to the casualty”]

Thanks for the link – interesting stuff to this mechanical engineer.

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