Vs. 2024 ZR2... (Edit- Test Driven, opinions inside)

[ChrisNLA]

Don't these trucks also have hood flutter out on the highway? These are stupid problems we shouldn't have to deal with or even think about as a possibility.

Previous generation did. I took a '16 for a test drive for once and sure enough, if I leaned up in the seat some I could see the back of the hood shimmering. Didn't really bother me, but not something you should expect.

However, on the JK Wrangler that I ended up buying, it wasn't uncommon for the hood to bang up and down on the interstate if you had a high wind blowing across the front of it. The rubber band hood latches would let air pick it up some. Jeep solved that with the newer latches on JL's and then of course the JT.

I've had a lot of Chevrolets - a Silverado, an S10, three 5th Gen Camaros (I still have one of them), and my '93 C1500. Always liked them - my favorite being the 'NBS' (GMT800) trucks. 99-07C, they were new enough to be comfortable, quiet, drive nice, and have reasonable build quality, old enough to be easy to work on.

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[legacy_etu]

I looked at them, but I'm leaning much more towards the 24 Tacoma. I do like the GMC styling slightly better than the Chevy.

You looking to replace the Mohave?

 

[Lunentucker]

You looking to replace the Mohave?

At some point, yes.

 

[GladiatorPilot23]

I bought the Gladiator Diesel with the great deals they had but beside that, the ZR2 doesn’t have the ability get the top and doors off and the big thing is no solid front axle if your going to do hard trailing.

 

[IdahoRubicon]

I'm real tempted by the Ranger with the 2.7
I had that engine in an F150 and it was a beast, and got 24mpg with 33" all terrains. incredible.
Also it has proved to be a very reliable engine.

 

[Sweetums]

I'm real tempted by the Ranger with the 2.7
I had that engine in an F150 and it was a beast, and got 24mpg with 33" all terrains. incredible.
Also it has proved to be a very reliable engine.

You and I must be thinking of different Ford engines, because I've heard nothing but bad things about that turbo-4-pot and the transmission behind it is even worse.

 

[IdahoRubicon]

You and I must be thinking of different Ford engines, because I've heard nothing but bad things about that turbo-4-pot and the transmission behind it is even worse.

We are, because the 2.7 is a V6 with a compacted Graphite block much like diesel construction and other smart design details, that has had almost no real issues with a gazillion of them in service in the F150s. Much more reliable than the 4cyl 2.3L in the Ranger and other models, or the 3.5 Eco.
And it has 325hp and 400ft lbs of torque.

 

[Stan H]

How big are the kids?

What about Dogs ?
Every Chevy I have seen last few years. Either engine, electrical, or frame trouble. I aint saying Jeeps don't experience all those. What I am saying is . I will still get more out of my Gladiator in terms of fun value and appreciation than I ever would out of a Z72 . But if my biased opinion isn't enough for ya . Then how about I say ..Just Don't Do it ?

 

[Bonanza]

So I was curious, and couldn't help myself. My local dealer is less than a mile so I went in for a few laps around the block. Overall, once again in life I'm reminded that the grass is never greener, and I'm grateful for what I have. Here are the key takeaways:

-The interior didn't feel "cheap" to me; It felt fine. The seats felt... fine. Material quality was fine. I wasn't wowed nor was I disappointed. It was simply different.

-The drive is what I was curious in, and once again-- it felt fine. Not amazingly compliant, not harsh. It wasn't fast/quick, and it wasn't slow. Off the line it didn't feel fast at all; it felt like a 4cyl truck. Once the turbo got there, it was faster than my gladiator for sure, but it wasn't the "upgrade" I was expecting to feel. The most important sensation for me is off the line torque and effortlessness of the acceleration, and it wasn't there for me.

-The suspension was nice, but also not the upgrade I was looking for. There were times when it was an upgrade to the gladiator, but then at other times it felt rougher than my gladiator. The weight balance was a bit off, and the rear end had a lot of chatter and skittering to it that is not present in the gladiator, but is present in other trucks I've owned. To be sure I naturally have more weight in the back of my gladiator (Bed cover, hard/thick rubber bedliner, 35" spare, metal bumper) so I'm not sure this is the fault of the ZR2.

-The rear seats' buttpad was a lot longer than the Jeeps'. My kids' legs would come off their booster seats and be at around a 45 degree perpendicular angle to the seat cushions, rather than hanging straight down. The rear seats felt cramped for this reason. I'm sure its comparable to the Gladiator's, but it felt cramped. The inability of the seats to fold down, nor easily up was a strange (read- not good) choice. Otherwise it was fine.

-The rear window seal was not glued on the bottom edges. I'm not sure if this makes a difference in the ability to keep water out, but dust will certainly get in there, and that "not finished right" defect made me wonder what else had their corners cut. The seal was noticeably raised off of the metal of the cab.

-Underneath, a ZR2 has NO proper skidplates. Bare gas tank, exposed plastic buttressing right at the break over, a thin aluminum "skid" in the front, and Russian-steel thin plate over the Xfer case. Woefully unprepared for any amount of time offroad. I know the AEV version fixes this, but for an extra 12k.

-My driving experience felt like I was in the cabin of a car, inside a truck-- if that makes sense. The shifter and middle tunnel rise up quite a bit. This isn't a "con", but the Jeep feels more trucklike inside, which I prefer.

-Manual T-case inspires a lot more confidence than the electric switches. This may be purely mental, but I just am not comfortable with the computer controlling the T-case so much.

-I liked the Chevy steering wheel, if just to be able to rest my entire 4 fingers on the bottom of the wheel and grip it lazily.

-The bedsides of the Chevy are very tall, as is the load floor. I believe it was actually higher up than my gladiator on 37s.

In sum, I'm glad I went for the test drive. The ZR2 is a perfectly fine truck for the price, but apparently I didn't give my Jeep enough credit. My gladiator, having driving them back to back, has a perfectly fine suspension. There is no chance I'm trading it in.

 

[maSS-hole]

I don't wrap my identity up in my vehicle. That said, I've owned 3 pentastar Jeeps- 2013 2 door manual, 2017 JKUR manual, and now this gladiator. I regeared all three myself, and there's not a mod on this Jeep (minus the recalled steering box) I didn't do myself. My crew is all Jeeps-- LJs, XJs, a single WJ, Jks, and JLs.

I know for sure that in the rocks, IFS is just going to suck. That teetering feeling is the worst, and I don't find it enjoyable. But after a decade of doing the same rock trails, part of me is wondering what those trails would be like on another vehicle.

I'm going to go test drive one for fun. We'll see. I'm not leaning towards trading at the moment, but I have an open mind.

For instance, going back to not having a winch isn't something I'd be excited about.

I think a lot of the reason IFS teeters is because they are never setup right. At minimum the front bar needs to be disconnected, but I also think they need a rear sway bar connected to help force the IFS to do more of the heavy lifting. I am starting to see some people do this in the Toyota groups. They will either run the OEM bar or an antirock in the rear.

 

[maSS-hole]

2023+ ZR2 shock position is moved closer to the tires.

The ZR2 has true lockers front and rear. I saw someone say the other day they thought the rear was a G80(which is a locker, just an auto locker) but its not.

 

[Sweetums]

I pulled the front and rear anti-sway bars off my Xterra and set it up with custom springs and shocks. It actually handled better without the anti-swaybars and off road the rear would get some serious droop. I had to put on some brake lines intended for a Titan with a 4" lift and re-route my parking brake and ABS lines to get full flex. At full droop in the back, the top of the rear tire was just below the bottom of the rocker.

IFS is more stable but it's more likely to lift a wheel than solid axles. It's also better at speed over open terrain than solid axles, but solid axles are better for max articulation. Different tools, different jobs.

 

[maSS-hole]

So one of the dealers here got three ZR2's in on Tuesday and I ran down yesterday afternoon to take a look. 2 had already sold but were still there and they had the one white one left so I took for a drive. This was a pretty much loaded truck, with only the Bose sound system missing.

My impression was that the interior was much more "refined" in the sense that it had all of the modern amenities. Heated/cooled seats, heated wheel, LED headlights with auto high beams, adaptive cruise, electric drivers seat(gasp!) and all that. It even has a front camera as well as forward and rear facing side cameras. Compared to my 2014 F150 Lariat with every option, it was at least as nice if not nicer. Certainly more upscale feeling than the Gladiator, even the fully loaded ones.

The interior felt tighter to me than the Jeep. I think it was just how the dash and center console wrap around you, not because there was actually less space. Their center console sits up kind of high so you kinda of sit down in the interior. My tiny Chevy Bolt feels more open since it doesnt have a full flow through console. I do think there was a little less room in the rear seats.

I also really like that it has the Autotrac transfer case. Coming from an F150 with the 4Auto t-case and a Lexus GX460 with a full-time 4wd t-case, that is something that gets used a lot and really like having in Utah with the snowy winters. Just set it and forget it, which is great when the wife is driving. Maybe this means I have to hand in my man card or something, but for me its a perk.

What left me a little uninspired was the powertrain. Coming from my 2014 F150 Ecoboost, which weights 6400 lbs and has 35's on it, I was really expecting the 2.7L Turbomax in the Colorado to move the 5000 lb truck on 33's very effortlessly. If you go by the paper numbers, the 2.7L makes as much or more torque than my F150 below 3000 rpm. So it should have had zero issue lugging that truck around. However, after the drive, I really didnt feel the torque. My F150 always seems to have torque to spare so you can just roll into the throttle and ride the wave with no downshift. I did not get that same sense from the Colorado. It wasn't slow. It just didnt feel like a 5000 lb truck with 430ft-lbs to me. It actually drove more like my Lexus GX460 with an NA 4.6L V8.

Now, maybe this was all because the truck had 35 miles on it and the PCM just had not sorted things out yet. I was probably one of the first people to drive it on the street. Based on towing reports of these motors, they outperform most V8's in the torque department so its there. I just didnt really feel it in the seat of the pants, almost like the PCM was holding it back.

The real kicker for me is that, even after negotiating with dealers on some well equipped JTR Ecodiesels(although not as well equipped as the Colorado), the Colorado still comes in a good $5-6k cheaper despite paying MSRP. This truck stickered for $51800 I think, which the JT's I'm looking at are stickering for ~$73000(thats with Leather, LEDs, trail cam, cold weather package and hard top). So even with 15% off MSRP from Jeep and another 7% or so from the dealers, the Colorado is a good 10% cheaper.

 

[maSS-hole]

Oh, and stupid other thing, the Colorado has, no lie, 10 cupholders.

This is actually a thing for us because we are often using our truck to go camping and are on the road for 4-5 hours with 2 young kids. We usually have waters, coffee, maybe some smoothies, etc and will take up a bunch of cup holders in the F150. The Jeep has 4.

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