Chevy Has Launched a Trio of High-Flying Trucks

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a truck! It’s a truck! It’s a … truck?Chevrolet is building an air force.The automaker has assembled a fleet of three high performance pickups designed to take flight. By jumping, not with wings.The Colorado ZR2, Silverado 1500 ZR2 and Silverado 2500 HD ZR2 are medium, large and extra-large variations on a theme. All of the extreme off-roaders stand taller than the mainstream models and share a unique suspension system.Instead of typical shock absorbers, they ride on dampers that were originally designed for Formula One and IndyCar cars. A few years back, Chevy had the outlandish idea to try them on a truck.The Multimatic DSSVs are a far cry from the $50 shocks you pick up at the auto parts store. They use a series of precision-engineered valves that tune them to handle a variety of situations without any computer controls. The full set and the parts that go with them retail for $4,495 on their own.The Silverado 2500 HD. Courtesy ChevroletThey stay soft when you’re riding over small bumps to provide a smooth ride, but progressively firm up to absorb big impacts without bottoming out. Think about how the muscles in your legs work when you run to take a leap and then come in for a landing. The same effect keeps their big, heavy bodies under control when they go through fast turns on both dirt and pavement.Despite this similarity, each model has a different mission.The midsize Colorado ZR2 is the closest you can get to a four-wheel motocross bike. The four-door crew cab is the lightest, nimblest and most eager to gain altitude. Its 310 hp four-cylinder TurboMax engine is a nice match and, at a starting price of $48,395, it honestly feels like a lot for the money these days.The Silverado 1500. Courtesy ChevroletThe Silverado 1500 ZR2 is a full-size model for fast and furious families. Better for the open desert than tight trails, it is just as happy as the Colorado is to crest a dune and put a couple of feet between its all-terrain tires and the ground. Hitting it is like falling into a memory-foam mattress. Believe me, I’ve tried more times than I probably should have. At $71,540, it is nearly $30,000 more than a Silverado 1500 work truck, so you’ll be putting a lot of cash at risk with every takeoff. Oddly among performance vehicles, it comes standard with a diesel engine, but a racy 420 hp V8 is available for an extra $1,695.Heavy haulers will want to opt for the heavy duty Silverado 2500 HD ZR2. It starts at $72,595 with a 401 hp V8 gas engine and $82,085 with a 460 hp diesel V8 that allows it tow up to 18,500 pounds. That’s more than twice what the Silverado 1500 ZR2 can handle. This is the one you want for pulling a camper or trailer full of actual motorcycles deep into the wilderness.The Colorado. Courtesy ChevroletThese are not low-tech toys, however. All of them are refined on the road, equipped with full-time all-wheel-drive systems, digital gauges and are offered with features like radar adaptive cruise control and 360-degree camera systems that come in handy in the woods and parking lots.Their fuel economy ratings are less impressive. The Colorado’s is 16 mpg combined, the Silverado 1500’s is 15 mpg with the gas engine and 21 mpg with the diesel. The Silverado 2500 HD ZR2’s? Well, heavy duty trucks don’t get a rating, which is probably for the better.The multimatic shocks. Gary GasteluChevrolet hasn’t had any trouble finding customers, even with the costs involved. Lifted trucks are big business and it figured out that if it doesn’t sell them from the factory, there are plenty of custom shops that are happy to oblige. Might as well keep the money in house.Don’t go looking for a fourth ZR2 anytime soon though. While the electric Silverado 1500 EV’s 754 horsepower drivetrain might sound up for it, with roughly three thousand pounds of batteries to lug around, it’s grounded … for now.

Chevy Has Launched a Trio of High-Flying Trucks

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