The Chevy ZR2 Bison Is The ULTIMATE GM Off-Roader. Here’s Why! 

why am i looking at trucks i cannot afford

What are you talking about? Duratrac's are great in the snow!

"it comes with a baby exhaust brake. It's adorable!" I like that!

Tires aren’t great? Stops on snow mountain then makes it up with no wheel spin. You guys didn’t even air down. Duratracs are very good.

I agree that the base zr2 is probably enough for most. I think if they'd have included a winch from the factory for the same price it would be more enticing.

I’m not being biased about Gm, but this is the best midsize off roader. I had a Tacoma and would way rather have this.

GM single handedly re-ignited the midsized truck market with this truck. There is no question.

As an owner of the ZR2 with the Diesel, I can say without hesitation, that it is the best mid size truck currently out there. The set-up from the factory is spot on. For me the Bison package actually limits the truck. Approach and departure angle are reduced due too the new bumper design. There is a lot of hype with the skid plates. I do see the benefits of extra protection. The Bison is a nice package. In my opinion, GM and AEV should have gone with at least 33's. There is just not enough difference in the 2 models to justify the huge increase in cost. Take care.

Roman, the tires cannot be any larger because of front crash test rating and bumper height, AEV expects the customer to up the tire size after purchase.

I know it's a press truck Roman, but don't be such a back seat driver, Nathan knows what he's doing! 😁

these trucks have come a long way since I owned the 2006 Colorado..

Just bought mine, what an amazing truck

I'm commenting 3 years later and this truck is still the best out there. We'll see what happens with the news models coming out in 2023...

'If I had my druthers I druther' have a Chevy Bison ( with a diesel power plant ) than any other off road worthy vehicle in today's marketplace ,..( and I have re-built and played with many Jeeps and Land Rovers in my earlier days.) Now don't forget that these trucks, and Jeeps have to start with tires. Tires are the real key to getting through those back roads etc. That Bison , in my book, is just awesome!

All that armor. Exposed trans pan. 🤷‍♂️

This video was worth it just to see you guys have no choice but to say nice things about a GM product. These are amazing little trucks. Good for you for acknowledging it.

Lol I love the key clack to each their own I guess idk why I just hate the push buttons I want to turn a key 🤷‍♂️

"Think of the Bison as a heavily-armored ZR2 that's what it is." Exactly!

Keep the old fashioned key! No push button needed.

Love all your truck reviews boys. The ZR2 is a sweet machine 1👍

Love all of your videos folks!! You bring great value to us!

That thing does great in the snow, I'm impressed.

I just bought one of these trucks. Absolutely LOVE this truck. Best vehicle investment I've ever made.

This is a sweet truck. I love mine. Not a big fan of Goodyear tires but these duratracs have impressed me in mud, snow , ice and pavement

Got my bison in black. It's a beautiful truck. Got my AEV snorkel on it, its officially complete and amazing. Was bummed the diesels were as rare as moon rocks in my tristate area

That Bison made that look easy despite Roman saying the tires etc. etc. I won't buy one honestly, but I'm glad it exist. Great review! I had fun and enjoyed the presentation.

I'm starting to love the Colorado's with the baby duramax more and more!! Great video guys

Dream truck, hands down.

I think its soo awesome that trucks are becoming better and better offroad.

Solid video beyond the backseat driving, Roman. Relax, man :) I’m waiting for the (hopefully) mid cycle refresh next year.

Another excellent video from you guys. I like the Bison package, but agree with Roman in that I’d go with a standard ZR2 & baby diesel. I don’t need all the extra cladding for the type of light trails that I run, which saves a lot of coin.

If I start saving now maybe I can get a used Bison in 2025. Very nice vehicle.

Chevy and AEV's value proposition is that you get a really great turn key off-road vehicle. It has nothing to do with cost or competition with jeep or Toyota. In the aftermarket world, I can take a bone stock 4x4 from whomever and make it out perform the gladiator, zr2 or Tacoma. Don't go there. I've got my eye on this truck, I'm getting old and tired of turning a wrench. Thanks for sharing, awesome vid. Keep it up.

Holy crap, I had to put on my air conditioning at my house and you guys are still getting snow! ( Texas )

I guess I have a baby buffalo. I have an older Colorado z71 with the 5.3L

Did pretty darn good in the snow.

AEV Chevy Colorado Bison Win's on the Gold Mine Hill!!! Way to go AEV!!!

Awesome review guys! I learned alot from your video....thanks.

Hello again Roman&Nathan! Man what a cool job! But anyways I just feel that ZR2, especially with the Bison Package is just too expensive! What I did makes more sense. I bought a new 2019 Colorado Crew Cab W/T 4x4, V6, with every option available in that trim level, that comes with the alloy 16” wheels, dampened licking tailgate, matching door handles and bumpers, bright trim under the side windows, plus cruise control and a 7” Chevy MyLink Touch Screen that also includes the OnStar 4 G LTE WIFI, along with the Factory Tow Package that gets you the auto locking rear differential, hitch and plugs along with the Trailer Brake Control. I also haggled with my dealer to get them to install the three extra skid plates from AEV. All out the door for under 35k! That leaves my plenty of room for aftermarket add ones.

"to hell with push buttons!" I like a real key. Totally agree about the manual trans with a diesel. In Europe, they're amazing. And fuel efficient!

Nice Truck and nice job TFL

Thoughts. First, my Chevy dealer will not even try to sell me the Bison. Dealer simply wants me to trade my Silverado 2016 for a new 2019. Second, the seating in front in the Colorado is not built stout enough or roomy enough for older (ahem) adults. The Bison is awesome if you are younger, you have the money and your Chevy dealer will agree to sell you one. BTW, TFL always rocks!

Thanks for your videos guys, They are awesome 👌

The Bison is sick! I want one!

Finally you guys together again

Great review!

Ijust hoped gm would have the same setup for the silverado trail boss, it will be awesome.

Great video thank you!

I spent a couple of months researching the midsize truck market for a truck to downsize from my Ram Cummins. The Colorado being the only midsize with a diesel quickly put it near the top of my list, after all, I’m a diesel guy! Yet the Colorado’s competitors were better appointed, offered more options, they’re better supported in the aftermarket and are price competitive. My attempts to find a ZR2 diesel came up short, but realistically, after considering how I use the vehicle the majority of the time, I deemed the ZR2 unnecessary for my needs. Nor could I justify the price of one! After looking at what I could find for aftermarket kits that I could get to modify the Z71 Duramax to fit my requirements and being successful at, my search for the right truck began. You’re comparison videos clinched that decision! I still couldn’t justify the price of a new truck, so I went to the used market and found a year old 2017 with 10,000 miles on it that I purchased for $13,000 under the price of a new one! I spent another $3,000 for a well done 4” lift kit from a well known 4x4 company, along with a set of 18” take offs from a GM dealer and a set of aggressive 285/65-18 from a well established tire manufacturer that culminates in the perfectly suited truck for me! As a side note, I tried to rent a car trailer from U know Hoo using my Colorado and was denied! The diesel version isn’t in their vehicle list, therefore, no dice! I had to get my 24 year old 1/2t beater Tahoe with 240,000 miles on it to get the trailer! And yes I went right back home and swapped it onto my Colorado and got the job done.

At 7:45: "These tires aren't great in snow". Actually, those Duratracs are excellent in that type of snow. Lots of siping on those tires gives you great traction in light to medium snow. In very deep snow, a dedicated mud tire might be better, but for the snow you were in, the Duratracs are excellent snow tires. They even have the winter snow peak symbol for snow tires, which mud tires do not.

I own a Tacoma off road but i gotta admit this truck is beast. Toyota needs to offer front locker too.

Been looking at getting this rig for a year now. I’m putting in an order in July of this year. Hopefully I’ll get it by October

I have a ZedR2. One word about it in the snow and mud is Civil. No whining or bitching.

My dream truck thanks guys awesome video 👍

Awesome truck ! , my 1985 GMC JIMMY 4x4 , S-15 had a front , differential and , gas tank skid plate ( 3 plates ) .

Neat how the multimatics are coloured like the bilstein's on the old s10 zr2s

Bison don’t care.

Only 10 minutes :-/ still gave you a thumbs up. hope a more detailed version of this episode is in the works

You can replace GM in the title for Mid-Size Truck.

Now. The Goodyear Duratrac is actually great for snow wheeling. I know lots of guys that run them studded as winters not just for wheeling but out on the black gold rush in Canada.

Love your channel!!! And I love this Zr2.. I may buy it in addition to my 6.6 Duramax!!!

Have to wonder if the new 3.0L I6 diesel would fit in the ZR2?? I'd add it if getting that and adding 3rd party bumper and winch, armor, rack and HD tow and hitch. 10 speed would be nice upgrade too.

Colorado, Tacoma, Ranger, et al, are great for small trucks (mid-size is such a misnomer). I hope this put this package into the K1500. If I am off-road, I probably need some hauling/towing capability too.

Cant wait to get my 2020 bison

Zr2 is a absolutely beast except for only 2 weakness. 1. rear shock position 2. reliability problem

That is so much money for this class of truck. It looks like a fun rig though. Nice content guys.

Save the Drama for your Mama! Bison just waltzed right on through. :)

I'll keep my original V6 ZR2. I'm thinking about adding a few skid plates on it.

Got my 2008 Colorado Z71 LT with no rust, just a couple add ons for under $10,000 and I guarentee it will go through anything that does. $50,000+, are you nuts?

Great video. Liked the OEM lockers and the performance of the truck in the snow. I like diesel engines for towing large heavy loads.....great launch from stops because of the low rpm torque. However, diesels are expensive to maintain. Fuel economy is wash because even though diesel engines typically get better mpg, the cost per gallon is higher. I have diesel truck to tow my horse trailer. For off-road truck, prefer a gas engine. Moreover, that gas engine will get high mpg once natural gas is readily available.....and the engine will be clean inside and able to rack up considerably more miles on the odometer. I would like to know what type of rear axle the ZR2 has? I am not a big fan of IFS axles. The Jeep Gladiator has the stout Dana 220 axles.....which replaced the Dana 44 axles. It will be interesting to find out what type and size of axle Ford will use on the new Bronco and Bronco pickup. Maybe the Bronco trucks will have good approach and departure angles like the ZR2 and stout solid front and rear axles like the Gladiator. Any Ford engineers reading this??? Strong axles will support bigger tires. The tires on this ZR2 Bison are dinky small. At bare minimum the ZR2 needs to roll off the assembly line with a 33 inch tall tire before AEV adds their goodies. The truck needs rounded wheel well openings so bigger tires can be added in the aftermarket. That has been the biggest downside to GM trucks since 1988. If GM engineers had a clue to off-road use in the real world.....they would have a larger share of the truck market.

Good job Guys. This size is more to my liking. I drove a Colorado as a work truck for a good while as an "essential personnel" for a school district and even the old ones were pretty capable, but too bad GM is so greedy at 50+k. They'd dominate sales with this truck if it was priced right.. IMHO. But as always, good presentation and thanks for letting us know it's out there Bob/Okc

My fav team on tfl..

I remember when the Bison was a conventional cab tractor. It's always interesting when auto manufacturers recycle names. This truck is a better use of that name.

Great video . Need more mini trucks with a small torquey diesel motor and a huge fuel tank .

No matter how good it is off-roading it doesn't change the fact that it will break down and will have a million recalls.

It must be so hard to keep these trucks at a price point that most people will be able to handle. Of course if you have the skill and time; I'm sure you could make something like the ZR2 Bison with a regular trim Colorado. But I like how much protection they gave it; and I agree that it could use bigger tires. The ZR2 platform preforms admirably off-road. Both for the fast stuff and the crawling.

Love the reviews boys.needed this bad boy to get the CU graduation 😁

I was looking at the Bison but went with the Gladiator. I've had a lot of trouble with GM products in the past. This is my first Jeep so I'll see.

You guys raised a very good point. With all this situation now I'm looking to go out in the wild more. I'm looking for my first off roader, a ZR2 after the mid cycle refresh or a Ranger Raptor, when it will be launched. I'm a city guy and don't put alot of miles. So, is the diesel or the aditional armour? Will not consider both since I don't want to spend that much. Don't intend to do difficult rock crawling, but more of the take the kids and go out in mini adventures, short overlanding kind of things. Appreciate your help.

I hear them talking about the fancy multimatic suspension, but they're still bouncing around inside like I do in my gen 1.

I hope all that covered up stuff underneath can get some air flow at slow speeds in hot weather. And where is the land cruiser tfl bought?

You guys call the last part of video driving in snow. Driving in snow would be more like at least 8 in of snow. Other wise good video. I have driven the Z71 and ZR2. They are simple, strong and reliable! And they look Cool !!!

Looks like the sports cat we have over here in Australia

The 2.8 and the 6 speed is a nice set up...It's like a Rolex watch.

At least AEV got the naming correct. Fun fact: the north American bison is not in fact a buffalo. It’s very loosely related to the water buffalo and cape buffalo of Africa. Buffalo and bison are commonly used just to add to the confusion. So hopefully we won’t see a “buffalo” model down the road haha.

I am impressed!

I like the ZR2 better than the bison, it may be more expensive to add the bumpers ect. yourself but at least that way you can get the ones you really want

I hate the way you Nick pick Little Things that makes no difference to the test you are doing. That truck is the best truck on the market bar none!! 🤠 👍

Can’t wait for the Ranger Raptor

Cool! You guy's should do a comparison with the Toyota tacoma trd offroad truck against the bison?! I think that would be interesting to watch!😎👍

An extra 2” lift and maybe 33” tire option, would improve approach, break over, and departure angle. But, 33” tires in an E load size tires would kill power and gas mileage. Basically, a good stage 2 off-roader with limited rock capability’s. Not a bad option, it would fit the market for some.

Guy says he needs a push button. Cost of key under 10 bucks.... Cost of push button 1,500+

Roman loves to hear himself talk.

Single cab stick shift would be awesome

My suzuki samurai got these trails no problem. Got the key chatter though... maybe I'll swap in a push button.

Wow guys. A whole inch of snow

i love this truck

I'm with Roman, regular zr2 is the better deal for 99% of people.

Watching this 3 years later. That diesel is a boat anchor and they have replaced it with the 2.7 gas turbo with 430 lb ft of torque. Also they have replaced the 30.6” tires with 33’s.

It’s expensive, yes. But in Canada, a fully loaded diesel Bison is still 5k$ less than a bone stock Ecodiesel Glady. It’s still a pretty good package