Chevrolet News:Chevrolet to get Off-Road Halo Truck

[Drew Dowdell]

General Motors is planing a range of updates for their full-size trucks starting in the 2021 model year, beginning with updated interiors. Also coming is a Silverado ZRX aimed to take on the likes of the Ford F-150 Raptor and the Ram 1500 Rebel.  The ZRX would come with an improved off-road suspension, special DSSV Dampers like on the Colorado ZR2, rear and front locking differentials, and improved approach and departure angles. 

If Chevy uses the same recipe they did on the ZR2, the ZRX will likely also get unique front and rear fascias.  One thing that isn't changing though is the powertrain. It's rumored that the ZRX will continue to use the same 6.2 liter V8 with 420 horsepower and 460 lb.-ft of torque.  This is disappointing as the Raptor and Rebel TRX both get more powerful engines than their on-road counterparts. 

If these plans come to fruition, expect the Silverado ZRX to come out in 2021 as a 2022 model. 

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[G. David Felt]

Failure out of the gate if no enhanced powerful motor than the 6.2 L default V8. Plus they have got to fix that UGLY face on the Chevrolet truck. That is a deal breaker and has shown with being in 3rd place for truck sales on top of the pathetic interiors.

[balthazar]

I don't think the 6.2 is all that deficient (460 vs 510); people aren't racing these off-road stock and many mod them anyway. Does the highest HP in every niche segment outsell all others? This is a dedicated off-road package for GM buyers. And that’s a good thing.

[Drew Dowdell]

I too would like to have seen a higher output engine offered in this, but GM doesn't have one in the stable unless they did some sort of light turbo on the V8 (which I doubt they'd ever do)

[G. David Felt]

31 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I too would like to have seen a higher output engine offered in this, but GM doesn't have one in the stable unless they did some sort of light turbo on the V8 (which I doubt they'd ever do)

Why not use the Supercharged V8 they have in it, that would make sense to me.

[Potluck]

Good, they need to do this.  Ford has been leaving them in the literal dust in the off-road segment.  Even Ram has that powerwagon which is a different kind of off-roader, but still better than anything Chevy or GMC are fielding. 

[smk4565]

This makes total sense as there is demand for off road vehicles and you can get a pretty profit margin on them too.  I would offer the ZRX with both the 6.2 and a supercharged version.  If you can charge $10k as a stand alone option engine upgrade then why not.

[Drew Dowdell]

Because there is a cost to certifying it in the truck.  How many will they sell?

[balthazar]

Not going to get $10K for just the engine option. Its not a DuraMax...

[ccap41]

But Mercedes does with the G550 -> G63! 

In fact, they get $23,000 for an engine upgrade. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Because there is a cost to certifying it in the truck.  How many will they sell?

If I was a Rich Bitch with Money to Burn, I would sign up to see just what the costs are to Certify with the EPA here:

https://www.epa.gov/ve-certification

https://www.epa.gov/ve-certification/certification-and-compliance-onroad-vehicles-and-engines

https://www.epa.gov/ve-certification/certification-heavy-duty-hd-commercial-trucks-and-buses-and-onroad-hd-engines

Would be interesting to know what the actual costs are for engine certification.

[USA-1]

16 hours ago, dfelt said:

Failure out of the gate if no enhanced powerful motor than the 6.2 L default V8. Plus they have got to fix that UGLY face on the Chevrolet truck. That is a deal breaker and has shown with being in 3rd place for truck sales on top of the pathetic interiors.

The GM 6.2L is nothing to sneeze at, it has great high and low end power and GM SAE certifies the output numbers on all of their engines, something Ford doesn't do for obvious reasons. There's also plenty of tuning left to open up the 6.2 as it's slightly de-tuned from the factory and GM engineers always leave room for power bumps. I know an aftermarket tune woke mine up along with an Airaid CAI and Magnaflow exhaust. It's also NA SBC V8 to a boosted V6 that sounds like crap, just heard a new Raptor getting on it the other day when I was walking into the gym, not impressed, sounds like a ricer car. I definitely like my '18 K2 Z71 body color face better than the new T1, but it does look better in person, just like the new T1 HD front end, much better in person. I do think the interior of the '14 -'18 K2 is also a little nicer and has a better center stack layout than the T1. Interior update coming in late 2020 for 2021 and really only the top trim High Country/Denali need it, lower trims are actually fine as is. 

As for 3rd place in sales and two of the main reasons the Silverado might be right now is because GM is putting profit per unit ahead of huge incentives, unlike FCA who is selling both the Ram "Classic" with piles of cash on the hood alongside the new Ram which is now having plenty of issues like a typical Chrysler product, frozen or glitchy screen that's really too big and encompasses too many functions in it which is not good if it does lock up, and the new "barn door" tailgate that jams up, GMC MultiPro tailgate for the win there. I definitely see more new Silverado's on the road than new Ram's so FCA's claim of outselling Chevy is definitely fluff because of the two 1500 models being combined and it's not much of a sales delta between both of the Ram 1500's and the Silverado 1500.

[Drew Dowdell]

The GM 6.2 is my favorite V8.  I'm sure it will be enough for a first iteration.