2018 Chevy Colorado Review

[MUSIC PLAYING] DAN: We're here in Barstow, and we're going to drive these two trucks up the mountain to the top in Big Bear Lake, California. SPEAKER 1: And we're going to try and do it without any pavement. DAN: Everybody else takes the easy way up the front side. All nice and paved. And we're going to be taking dirt roads all the way to the top. SPEAKER 1: And we've got a TRD Pro Tacoma. And a Colorado ZR2. And they're kind of the most off-road worthy trucks in general that you can buy. DAN: Both of these represent the upper end of the off-road capability that these two companies offer. SPEAKER 1: Let's hit it. [MUSIC PLAYING] DAN: Barstow is a hub of desert off-road activity. And we're already in the signature Whoop-de-do type of surface that the desert is known for. This particular area is where a lot of off-road race trucks tune up between events. That's not us. But still, we have quite a bit more travel than the standard versions of our trucks. This Colorado ZR2 I'm driving has a long travel suspension, tricked shocks, knobby tires, extra track width. It's hiked up. It's got more clearance. The front end is off. Cut away for a lot of clearance when you're in the rocks, especially. But here we are in the whoops. And these Multimatic shock absorbers are already paying dividends. [MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: All right. I'm in the TRD Pro. Dan's in the ZR2. We're in four-high. We're in this desert wash. Going about 45. This things hopping around, but there's no limitation on the traction control. I mean, there's a limitation. But it's pretty co-operative. Unfortunately, the multi-terrain select feature is only available when you're in four-low, and I'm in four-high. So I don't get the advantage of Toyota's multi-terrain select right now. [MUSIC PLAYING] DAN: Now I'm in the Tacoma. SPEAKER 1: All right. Now I'm rolling in the ZR2. I'm going to chase Dan. This has the traction control off. And four-high. And we're going to see how we can do chasing him in this vehicle. [MUSIC PLAYING] DAN: Oh, boy. There's definitely a lot of shaking going on here. Whoops, it does pretty well if you just go over the top of them! Oh, I think that's a little hard. SPEAKER 1: It's getting it done. It's moving around more than the Tacoma was. Which is kind of surprising, given the more aggressive tires on this ZR2. I feel like I'm on more of a bucking bronco in this vehicle. Whoa. There we go. Airborne! Yeah! Almost knocked my glasses off. So I'm going to drive the TRD Pro again. Dan's in the ZR2. So far, I feel like the ZR2, you're a little bit more along for the ride than in the TRD Pro. They're both capable. They're both reaching the same speeds and able to catch one another no matter who's driving which one. But the TRD Pro just feels a little bit more communicative, and that I'm a little bit more in control of the car's direction than in the ZR2. A lot of that-- part of that-- is the steering. Steering feels much better in the Toyota. DAN: It doesn't feel quite-- although we're in a deeper section. Holy crap. The character of this road changes every half a mile. One of the things I am torn about is you don't feel anything through the steering. And with the Toyota, you do. Which means you kind of have a leg up. You know what you gotta do. What's going to happen. How the truck's responding. This one is a little bit more of a feel like you're behind it a little bit. Oh! Oh, that was a good one! SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it feels like I'm using the limits of travel in the rear on some of these bigger bumps. But it's not a really hard landing. And I'm able to keep pace with Dan without a whole lot of effort. DAN: So this ZR2 has Multimatic shock absorbers. Which are different from the shock absorbers that just about every other truck has. They don't use deflecting disk valve technology. They use spool valves. Which are just more durable and less heat-sensitive. Which is really important out here. This traction control system is just always cutting in though. Not real happy with that. And I don't have a sand program to turn on. I have to deal with it. Once I get going, it's not bad. But it's getting up to speed that could be a problem. [MUSIC PLAYING] Well that was fun. SPEAKER 1: That was a lot of fun. I mean, you kind of just boned out in the ZR2 on the really loose stuff. And I was like, oh. It's going to be like that. So I hammered down, and the thing took it. I mean, it was more a limitation on me not knowing the terrain more so than a limitation on the truck. DAN: Yeah. And I was always looking around the next corner to make sure I didn't have a high speed missile coming up the other way. But, yeah. There was one time, though, where I was in a really deep root rut where it kind of grounded out just a little bit underneath the center. Nothing big, but I felt it touch. SPEAKER 1: Just once, right? DAN: Yeah. SPEAKER 1: I had this exact same thing happen. It was probably the same spot. DAN: Yeah, I'm sure it was. SPEAKER 1: It just kind of grazed down. DAN: Yeah. I could tell when going into it. I said, oh, that's a little bit of a high crown in the middle. And the ruts were really deep. Pretty soon, we're going to hit the mountains. And we'll start climbing. [MUSIC PLAYING] So we're picking our way through a little residential area, if you could call it that. Scattered homes in the desert here. We had to cross the highway. And now we've moved from the desert side to the base of the mountains. We've got to find our way up there. [MUSIC PLAYING] I checked with the Forest Service about the condition of the road up top. But they didn't say anything about the part of the road that's out of their jurisdiction down below. SPEAKER 1: Well it doesn't say the road's closed. It just says, caution. So we can use caution. DAN: Oh, I don't know about that. These are red. But you're right. It doesn't say closed. SPEAKER 1: I'm colorblind. I can't see red. DAN: Well that could be just one of many. SPEAKER 1: Well you want an adventure. Now you're having an adventure. DAN: Yeah, but I don't to put a truck on its lid. The problem is if we waste a lot of time getting up here and finding out it's really gone a mile ahead, then we've got no time to find an alternate route before dark. We're here. And the really tight stuffs way up here. You know, this could be where the problem is. SPEAKER 1: It's only a quarter mile. We just should just drive it. DAN: All right. Let's drive it. It doesn't say road closed. It says, washed out. SPEAKER 1: See, now you're speaking my language. DAN: Yeah, I guess I am. [MUSIC PLAYING]