ZR2 Bison - a legit TRD Pro killer?

[fourwd1]

Wasn't the standard ZR2 already a TRDP killer?
:llama:

Absofreakinlutely.

 

[MissouriBreaks]

I was an inch away from buying a ZR2. I drive the Taco TRD, the ZR2, and then lastly, the 4Runner. Toyota can't match the power the ZR2 had, the gearing and the lockers are a win, and I think the look is a little more aggressive. I have owned plenty of Chevy's and they have all been good to me but in the end, I welcomed the extra space the 4Runner had with the capability that the 4Runner has. This Bison though....Looks KILLER. Had that been available when I was shopping, I might not have been able to walk away!

I too was initially looking at the diesel Colorado's, in the end, I didn't like driving the Colorado and did not need a truck. Having owned several GM's over the years, I was more than a little concerned about GM quality, or lack thereof, and decided on the TRD Pro 4Runner. No regrets here!

 

[Bodhi327]

My opinion

Toyota goes for reliable family car not off road crusher. The Colorado will attract mainly mall crawlers also. Very few people are dropping 40 plus and beating them on trails. Look at the forums, a lot are afraid to run 285’s cause it might rub/ will I void my warranty. That said I like the 4runner better but that my opinion.

 

[Tx4Runner18]

Toyota goes for reliable family car not off road crusher. The Colorado will attract mainly mall crawlers also. Very few people are dropping 40 plus and beating them on trails. Look at the forums, a lot are afraid to run 285’s cause it might rub/ will I void my warranty. That said I like the 4runner better but that my opinion.

Proud to say I'm one of those few people!! Haha

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[STX4Runner]

Been there... I wouldn't drive one further than I wanted to walk back - although I did almost impulse buy a Humvee a few months ago... so I can't say I'm always opposed to buying low quality vehicles.

At least someone at GM's heart is in the right place. I used to live pretty close to AEV's shop in Missoula. Back then they were building extended wranglers and wrangler pickups. Looked pretty nice quality wise, but they are were a lot more ICON and a lot less Camburg. They basically cater to the land rover type crowd, meaning in two years of living nearby and offroading the local trails I never once met anyone from AEV at any offroad event or saw or any of AEV's vehicles anywhere off the pavement.

My guess is that $45k is a pipe dream. I'd bet they're $70k. And they sell as fast as they can build them.


Also as a side thought - I'm not sure the proliferation of factory offroad trucks is a good thing. It puts a lot more people on the trails - that's definitely not a good thing. And it puts a lot more people on the trail who have no idea what they're doing and are going to cause a lot of problems for keeping the trails open. ATVs are the worst thing that's ever happened to the offroad community for that reason. I'm concerned that the new flood of these vehicles is going to be a second wave of the same type of shit.

I think the single vehicle most responsible for the proliferation of new wheelers is without a doubt the 4 door JK. Before that, you had to be dedicated to buy a Jeep. No daily driving a 2 door YJ or TJ if you had a family and kids. Now, every bro, dude, dad and soccer mom has one, and if only a small percentage of them take them off road its still a huge number of people.

The overall root cause is just simply more people everywhere. I have only been going to Moab for the last five years, and I still enjoy it a lot, but I'm sure it was way more slow paced 10 to 20 years ago. I grew up going to Colorado and New Mexico a lot for camping and trips, and was way less crowded than now. And closer to home, I fished every river north of San Antonio and west of Austin 10-20 years ago and never saw anyone. Now, there's way more people. There's nothing we can do about more people, that's inevitable. Just join groups that protect access and fight trail closures and hope that more people = more people fighting against trail and access closures.

BTW, SXS are the worst invention ever. They should be banned from all public lands and forced to recreate at private off road parks only. I've yet to see a SXS driver behave in a responsible way.

 

[gm350reratliff]

BTW, SXS are the worst invention ever. They should be banned from all public lands and forced to recreate at private off road parks only. I've yet to see a SXS driver behave in a responsible way.

I agree!

 

[WVhillbilly]

BTW, SXS are the worst invention ever. They should be banned from all public lands and forced to recreate at private off road parks only. I've yet to see a SXS driver behave in a responsible way.

Absolute truth.

 

[repo]

Overlanding is so close to becoming a thing in America I feel like, and vehicle likes this making an instant entry point. But I doubt I'll ever buy an American vehicle, except maybe a wrangler if I was interesting in technical trails. I need that Japanese anal-retentive engineering.

 

[blanchard7684]

They lost me at GM.

I'm not much for looks on a vehicle but man did they try hard to copy the Toyota TRD grille.

lol.

 

[CO-Cygnus]

Coming next week - "Disk Brakes - a legit TRD Pro killer?"

:fish:

 

[TacoRunn0517]

Coming next week - "Disk Brakes - a legit TRD Pro killer?"

:fish:

At this rate, the Tacoma will be out of production by 2020 haha...

 

[owyheerat]

BTW, SXS are the worst invention ever. They should be banned from all public lands and forced to recreate at private off road parks only. I've yet to see a SXS driver behave in a responsible way.

Truth!

 

[CO-Cygnus]

BTW, SXS are the worst invention ever. They should be banned from all public lands and forced to recreate at private off road parks only. I've yet to see a SXS driver behave in a responsible way.

Take everything you hate about tourists on snowmobiles, add warmer weather so more people are on them, and let them loose on 4x4 trails with zero understanding of proper trail etiquette. Or physics.

 

[AZBub]

Overlanding is so close to becoming a thing in America I feel like, and vehicle likes this making an instant entry point. But I doubt I'll ever buy an American vehicle, except maybe a wrangler if I was interesting in technical trails. I need that Japanese anal-retentive engineering.

Just an FYI. I have a hunch (no inside knowledge whatsoever [emoji57]) that a lot of these vehicles are Holden (gm) of AUS. GM is an American owned company but a lot of their performance stuff comes from Holden. This colorado and diesel etc comes with a LOT of Ozzy Overland experience built in.

I’m no fan of GM either but i cannot deny they are quite capable. And PS Jeep is Fiat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[STX4Runner]

Proof that SXSs attract the lowest forms of life and should be relegated to private land only.

 

[rihavens]

I have to wonder what will happen to the resale price of the ZR2 when people figure out the shocks cost about $850 EACH. $3,600 for shocks PLUS labor is a lot to swallow. Toss in any kind of bushings and strut mounts on top and you're looking at a $4,200 repair bill BEFORE TAX to change out your shocks.

 

[cleveland222]

I don't care what it can do. I want to un-see that. Ugly is being nice.

 

[WVhillbilly]

I have to wonder what will happen to the resale price of the ZR2 when people figure out the shocks cost about $850 EACH. $3,600 for shocks PLUS labor is a lot to swallow. Toss in any kind of bushings and strut mounts on top and you're looking at a $4,200 repair bill BEFORE TAX to change out your shocks.

What's the service life of those shocks?
Wonder how many sweet jumps they can do over the hump in the trailer park entrance road before they are blown.

 

[rihavens]

What's the service life of those shocks?
Wonder how many sweet jumps they can do over the hump in the trailer park entrance road before they are blown.

Good question, and even at that they're not warrantied. I'd imagine at around 100k miles they'll need to be replaced if you are lucky. So two additional sets over the life of the vehicle? How many people will want a ZR2 with hard to find parts at 200k miles that needs $4,000 in parts?

I feel like that's how high-end automobiles die. They don't rust out or blow powertrains anymore. They just eventually cost more than its worth to repair on some random thing.

Say what you want about the 4R, but it's an honest vehicle. Aside from KDSS (which can be bypassed), I do not think there are too many gotcha repairs like that.

 

[jordanrb81]

Good question, and even at that they're not warrantied. I'd imagine at around 100k miles they'll need to be replaced if you are lucky. So two additional sets over the life of the vehicle? How many people will want a ZR2 with hard to find parts at 200k miles that needs $4,000 in parts?

I feel like that's how high-end automobiles die. They don't rust out or blow powertrains anymore. They just eventually cost more than its worth to repair on some random thing.

Say what you want about the 4R, but it's an honest vehicle. Aside from KDSS (which can be bypassed), I do not think there are too many gotcha repairs like that.

Ok, so I don't really think that's a relevant point. I admit I do own one vehicle with over 100k miles on it, but that's an antique play thing and here we are at the end of April and it still isn't on the insurance and the battery is still in the basement. (thought it's coming out of storage May1st. Ok disclosures aside. I simply don't own daily drivers past 100k, I personally don't keep my daily drivers that long. I am not a truck guy nor am I a GM guy but to say "oh no, you may have to replace parts after 100k" like it's going to matter is a bit silly.