Yahoo Autos 9 thoughts about the 2023 Chevy Silverado ZR2 AEV Bison
PACIFIC CITY, Wash. / OCQUEOC, Mich. — At up to 2,000 pounds, the bison is North America’s largest land animal, if you don’t count the fact that a gangly moose can at least be taller. The bison was and is revered by Plains tribes for all that he provided, and is a symbol of America at its best, wild and free (and at its worst, hunted to near-extinction as a means of subjugating Native Americans). The bison is impressive, massive, strong … and perhaps also just a little dumb. You could say all the same things about his namesake, the Chevy Silverado 1500 ZR2 AEV Bison.
The Bison package, the result of Chevy teaming up with American Expedition Vehicles, is new on the also-new Silverado ZR2 off-road trim for 2023, and is familiar since 2019 as an option on the midsize Chevy Colorado pickup. Both ZR2 and Bison are meant to place Chevy in the extreme off-road genre dominated by the Ford Raptor and Ram TRX.
Our John Beltz Snyder and Greg Rasa each drove a ZR2 Bison on extended treks in Washington and Michigan recently and compared notes. Here are nine things to know about the Chevy Silverado Bison:
1. It’s a ZR2 and then some
The Bison builds on all the off-road ruggedness of the Silverado ZR2 trim — which offers a 6.2-liter V8 with 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque (or an optional 3.0-liter Duramax diesel), Multimatic DSSV dampers, lifted suspension, 33-inch Goodyear Wranglers, and front and rear electronic-locking differentials.
To augment all that, AEV bolts a bad-ass-looking set of 3-millimeter-thick, powder-coated, stamped steel, winch-ready bumpers. The ZR2 red tow hooks are gone, as you can hook right onto the AEV bumpers now. And where a ZR2 has aluminum skid plates, AEV adds press-hardened steel shields to the differentials, transfer case and fuel tank, along with a pair of steel rock rails and black 18-inch wheels. — GR
2. It’s a Bison, you say?
The American bison’s scientific name is Bison bison bison. (Genus, species, subspecies). That’s the easiest Latin you’ll ever learn. AEV and Chevy must have been inspired by the sheer repetition, as there are lots of AEV Bison badges — I counted 14 of them — on everything from tailgate to bumpers to wheels to headrests to floor mats. Bison bison bison! — GR
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Guess it could be worse. And my Bison only had 13 logos. Guess I’m unlucky.
I do have to say, though, that despite the truck’s size, uniqueness and plethora of bison, it doesn’t scream for attention as does something like a Raptor or TRX. It looks great, but I didn’t have people coming up to me in the parking lot to ask questions. I didn’t mind that at all. — JBS
3. Those floor mats get the job done
You know you’ve had fun when you come home with a dirty truck, and the Carhartt all-weather mats in the AEV Bison fulfilled their destiny of contained filth after a week roaming the Washington coast and the temperate rain forests of Olympic National Park. Sand, ground-up oyster and clam shells, mud, grass, grit. Yes, sand gets into everything, but the fitted deep-dish mats caught most of it. Blast the mats and vacuum what little got to the carpet, and everything’s clean again. — GR
I deal with not only sand and dirt, but two young children and snow. Those messes are often of the liquid variety, be it spilt milk or muddy slush from the soles of our winter boots. The sheer coverage of the Bison floor mats is a blessing, with steep lips pretty much everywhere except near the door sills. That makes it easier to swipe sand and snow out the door, but also means you might find yourself spending a little extra time cleaning those areas where the mats meet those door sills.
And, yes, there are Bison logos in the mats up front, but not in the back. That’s fine. There are plenty. — JBS
4. It’s go-anywhere, except for some parking spaces — and some trails
At the top of this piece, bison were accused of being dumb. Fair enough when it comes to the animal, but it bears explaining regarding the truck. If you’re crawling the rocky backcountry of the desert Southwest, the Bison’s surely brilliant. It's a bucolic buffalo. But in more civilized settings, such as negotiating 10-mph squeaky-clean streets in the planned community of Seabrook, Wash., the truck could barely squeeze through. You’ll pass by a lot of parallel-parking opportunities in this vehicle, even with cameras fore and aft.
Out on the highway, it feels like it fills the lane. Even in the backcountry, it was a tight fit on the north shore of the Lake Quinault loop, where trees and boulders crowd the gravel one-lane. In one long narrow stretch, I dreaded the possibility of meeting an oncoming vehicle — with steep slopes up one side and drop-offs down the other, and nothing even remotely resembling a turnout, somebody would’ve had to back it up a mile or two; I sure didn’t want to do that in the Bison. — GR
I wanted to take it on some of the hairier, sandier, steeper trails I’ve scouted in the family Palisade in Northern Michigan. The trouble was, I couldn’t even get to them without risking putting serious pinstripes on a truck that doesn’t belong to me. Folding in the mirrors is a must, but even then, the tall banks of some trails closed well in on the ZR2’s 70-inch rear track, making them impassable. Low-hanging branches that would have just tickled the Palisade sunroof would have smacked the Chevy’s windshield at just about eye level. This Bison is a beast of the open prairie, but can’t scamper through the woods like a black bear. But, heck, if you face a similar geographical challenge, AEV does offer a Bison build for the Chevy Colorado. — JBS
