2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2

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- Aaron Gold

Long ago, I came to the conclusion that no one truck can do everything. Good off-road abilities come at the expense of on-road manners. High-speed desert running comes at the expense of low-speed rock-crawling. Trucks that are optimized for performance often lose the ability to do actual, useful work.

I’ve just been proven wrong.

The truck that changed my mind is Chevrolet’s new 2017 Colorado ZR2, and if I hadn’t driven it myself, I probably wouldn’t believe the words I’m writing. I’d dismiss myself as a shill trying to kiss up to the folks at Chevrolet, who flew me to Gateway, Colorado, to put the new ZR2 through its paces. But I did drive it myself, and while I will admit to having to pinch myself a few times, I really do believe the ZR2 is the truck that can do it all.

And as an added bonus, Chevrolet offers it with a diesel engine.

What makes a ZR2 a ZR2?

The ZR2 gets a host of upgrades over the standard Colorado 4x4, and most are pretty obvious: A 2-inch suspension lift, high-clearance front bumpers, and steel-tube rocker panels (which are functional; Chevy says you can drag the truck across a rock without damaging the body, something I couldn’t bring myself to try). Track width is 3.5 inches wider than stock, front and rear, and the control arms are made from cast iron for greater strength. The aluminum skid plate on the front bumper is functional, and there’s another plate to protect the transfer case. The front and rear differentials can be locked using switches in the cab. Like the regular Colorado, the ZR2 is offered with both extended and crew cabs; there’s no long-wheelbase version, so the former comes standard with a 74-inch box and the latter with a 62-inch box.