Drove Another Colorado ZR2 Today

[Dr. Zaius]

I'm at a conundrum.

The one today was very different than the one I drove last year.

I don't know if it is all due to 2025 vs 2026 but I suspect some of it is.

Notes from the 2025 I drove last year:

The Bose stereo sounded great
The suspension was a bit wallowy
The engine sounded coarse
Power felt slower than my Ranger

The 2026 I drove today:

Bose stereo sounded awful. I played with the EQ but there was just no getting good sound out of it, at least not sound that I would expect from a "Premium" stereo.

Suspension was absolutely terrific. The DSSV shocks worked amazingly. Extremely smooth and quiet on the highway, yet firmed up nicely when I did some mall crawling over curbs and speed breakers. I was very impressed with the suspension.

Engine was MUCH quieter, though power felt about the same. The 8 speed auto is still better than Ford's 10 speed as far as smooth shifting. The overall quietness and smoothness of the truck is what really impressed me today. It was much more pleasant to drive than my Ranger.

The interior is a big upgrade from my Ranger. Ventilated seats are oh so nice! The entertainment system is snappy and responsive, and there are lots of buttons and switches for controls instead of burying everything in the touchscreen. The headlight switch is still in the touchscreen though, but it's not a concern as I never touch the headlight switch on my truck I just leave it on auto.

This one was a no-go. It was certainly not worth $25k more than my truck, at least not to me anyway.

I'm probably going to look at another one but I'll wait until later in the year to see if any deals show up. If I could find one that drove like the one today and had the stereo from the one last year, I would probably get it.

This one certainly scratched the ZR2 itch I had, or more like it slapped a calamine lotion patch on it for a bit.

Edit: Did some checking and it appears that at some point in 2025 the Bose sound system started to really suck.

Many owners complaining that the 25 and later sound awful compared to earlier models, and not just the Colorados. It seems to be the 1500s and up as well.

The one I drove last year must have been an early 25 production built before GM brought the suck.

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[AzScorpion]

It sounds like you're getting closer and now it's down to price. I always say "you only live once" and if you can afford it buy it! There's no sense in not enjoying all those years of hard work just to skimp now.

Just think your kids are going to inherit it and do way worse things with all that money. lol

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention:

If you think the Ranger bed is too high, you ain't seen nothin' until you check out a ZR2.

I compared them side by side today.

My truck has a slight lift in the rear, around 1 inch or so, and the ZR2 tailgate loading height was a solid 4-5 inches higher.

The bedsides were also higher.

And the ZR2 loses the extremely handy bumper steps, though I've found that you can add the steps to the ZR2 bumper.

I'll look again when the 2026 models are being cleared out for the 27 models, which are supposed to receive a significant power bump.

Of course, then I'll want a 27

 

[AzScorpion]

But were the bedsides even

 

[Dr. Zaius]

But were the bedsides even

Didn't really check that part...

 

[jflogerzi]

I am going top go test drive one this weekend. I am tempted as its a ZR2 with moon roof and all the offroad goodies. Boring white but a simple wrap could fix this. 2025 with 10K on the ODO....

 

[ctechbob]

They're supposedly putting the 10L behind the Turbo 4 in the Silvarado. Makes me wonder if they're just going to shitcan the 8 speed altogether and go with a 10 speed across the board. There really isn't much reason to keep both of them, they both have their issues, might as well only have to deal with one set of problems instead of two.

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