2018 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2

2018 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2

- Joe Shields

We at the magazine love reading off-road vehicle reviews but nothing beats test-driving a fully loaded pickup truck packed with gear and dogs on a weekend-warrior assessment–especially on fellow staff writer Eric Kallen’s farm in Grottoes, Virginia. The off-roader Kallen and I enjoyed for a weekend was the 2018 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, courtesy of Jim Price Chevrolet, a dealer on the other side of Afton Mountain in Charlottesville.

The midsize Colorado ZR2 pickup garnered media hype as the Goldilocks of Off-Roaders because of its good looks and great handling. Our Colorado ZR2 was Deepwood green metallic and we both agreed it was beautiful. We also raved about the truck's interior comforts and smooth ride during the 45-minute, early morning drive to Kallen's farm. I drove to the farm on roads that included interstate, sharp turns and escalating and descending mountain byways into the Shenandoah Valley. The truck was solid and remarkably quiet on the pavement; dogs slept soundly in the backseat as conversation flowed up front. The typical road noise of high-speed travel and the roar of 18-wheelers on Afton Mountain was less noticeable in the Colorado ZR2.

Kallen took the wheel when we reached Waynesboro. Our off-road test course was situated along the banks of the South River. Kallen has a rustic cabin on a few hundred acres of land with established trails, cornfields, dead sunflower patches (a failed attempt to entertain dove-hunting season) and views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We approached the farm on a narrow trail. It meandered, mimicking the kinked intricacies of the riverbank. We caught glimpses of slow-moving water between sporadic gaps in the trees where farmers had cleared brush.