Conquering the Mojave in the Chevy Silverado ZR2
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Here in the arid Mojave desert, not much survives. The landscape is raw, rocky, brown. Except for the enduring Joshua Tree, which is uniquely equipped to survive in this hostile environment.
Kind of like the 2022 Chevy Silverado ZR2 performance truck.
Armed with fearless Goodyear Wrangler Territorial MT tires, Multimatic shocks, three bash plates, two-speed transfer case, twin-locking differentials and a relentless 6.2-liter V-8 engine, this stubborn pickup is remarkably well-suited for the rocky desert.
Amongst the green groves of Joshua trees, a media-piloted caravan of red, blue, sand, and white ZR2s added welcome color to the scorched landscape. Transfer case on 4-wheel-drive high. Terrain mode selected. Wrangler tires aired down to 25 PSI. I nailed the throttle and the beast awoke.
The ZR2’s V-8 is a different sensory experience. You want to keep your boot on it to hear its heavy metal beat. Carbon prohibitionists despise it, of course. It’s fun. Loud. Ban it.
It’s an experience that Liana Prieto and her Dirt Days crew share with off-road customers in Joshua Tree and Salton Sea and the Baja Peninsula, home to some of the world’s greatest off-roading over thousands of acres of desert wilderness.
The ZR2 is a latecomer to the performance truck game. Notably, it lacks the steroid-induced power, width and tires of its more ripped competitors.
Its 6.2-liter V-8 is not supercharged, but it’s a welcome voice in the choir.
Chevy’s engineers have augmented it with a sport exhaust that’ll wake the neighbors on start-up.
Like its competitors, the ZR2 has killer off-road shocks. The shocks and tires absorb the brutal washboard bumps and dips of the Joshua tree mining road.
The ZR2’s interior shines, too. ZR2 introduces an all-new dash for 2022 that brings rich 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 13.4-inch console digital displays. My driving experience was aided by comfortable bolstered seats, a head-up display the size of Oklahoma and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
At about 5,500 pounds my $72,560 tester was easy to drive at high speeds even if it lacked Raptor’s insane 14-inch front/15-inch rear suspension travel (ZR2 clocks in at 9.6 inches front/10.6 rear). Chevy’s target is to make the ZR2 an all-around athlete with on-road manners, off-road macho (thus the Multimatics), 8,900-towing capability (thus the V-8) and low-speed rock crawling.
To achieve the latter, ZR2 is armed with a 32-degree approach angle, camera views and class-exclusive front-and-rear locking differentials.
Pickups are the new luxury. Out back, a six-way Multi-Flex tailgate rolls out steps for easy bed access. This supertruck must be taken off-road to be appreciated. So call up Dirt Days, or your Midwest pickup buddies. Then head to the Outback, put on U2’s “Joshua Tree” album, and turn up the V-8.