Visitors explored the display as a backdrop of punk and metal music from the stage at the far end of the midway blended with squealing tires from a drifting exhibition.Īmong the highlights of the display was a new off-road crate engine being developed by Phoenix-based Klein Engines and Jeff James, a GM aftermarket field manager from Sonora, California. (Not on display but also available for the truck market are the high-torque L8T crate engine* and HT383 and HT502 crate engine* options.) I think it provides a lot of value to our customers that there’s something in their Colorado ZR2, there’s something in their Silverado ZR2, that they literally can point at and say, ‘Yeah, we learned that at the racetrack.’ Those things are priceless as far as the value to return back to the customer.”ĭuring the Mint 400, the Chevrolet Performance display on the event midway prominently featured a variety of crate engines* and vehicle upgrades along with both the current Colorado ZR2 and Silverado ZR2 production models. “This is a very unique thing that we are doing and we are taking advantage of. “We don’t get this too often, to be able to have a test lab that is mirroring what you do in production,” said Dom Lester, General Motors chief engineer, Performance Variants, Parts and Motorsports Engineering. Hall Racing’s Silverado ZR2 is powered by a 6.2L V-8, while the Colorado ZR2 has an off-road-optimized 2.7L high-output engine under the hood. The prototype ZR2 trucks in competition are very similar to options available off the showroom floor, with even the engines the same as those available to customers. Either way, its a hell of a sight.In the Stock classes, the Hall Racing Colorado ZR2 and Silverado ZR2 offer an opportunity for Chevrolet to test off-road technologies that will be utilized in future ZR2 models, as well as components like suspension upgrades and driveshafts available to truck owners through Chevrolet dealers. It is unknown if Chevrolet will revise production ZR2s from lessons learned here. In all fairness, the area between the bed and cab on a body-on-frame truck is the weakest part of the truck. It is unusual to see this sort of damage on a race-prepared truck, as drivers are usually careful not to damage trucks. The Mint 400 is a difficult race, with DNFs a common sight. Chevy competes in racing to help develop, test and prove durability of its products in conditions far beyond what most customers would experience.”Ĭhevrolet also fielded a Silverado ZR2 in the race that finished first in its class without any damage. The Mint 400 is notoriously one of the most grueling off-road races in the world. “Despite having some rear-end damage on the pre-production frame, the Colorado ZR2 also finished and took first place in its class. The Drive reached out to GM for comment on the damage that the race truck suffered and spokesperson Shad Balch affirmed that the truck finished the race and won its class. A 2021 Silverado ZR2 that competed in 2021. It is just cleanly bent, which is usually the result of overloading the frame on a jump or a particularly nasty bit of terrain at high speed. There is no crash damage to the tailgate or rear bumper of the car that would indicate a rear-ending. Footage from the finish line of the offroad race shows the factory-prepared number 7330 Colorado bent comically between the bed and the cab at an almost 45-degree angle. The damage suggests a rough landing more than any crash damage. There aren’t many details about how or where the truck suffered the bent frame, beyond the fact that it suffered it less than 40 miles from the finish. During this weekend’s 2023 Mint 400 race, a new preproduction race-prepared 2023 Chevy Colorado ZR2 suffered an aggressively bent frame. Usually it’s a bicycle or a power wheels, but some folks take it further and jump motorcycles, quads, and even full-size trucks like a Ford F-150 Raptor, usually with poor results. We’ve all had the fantasy of jumping a vehicle. The pre-production desert rig suffered the damage with a little less than 40 miles to go. Chevy Colorado ZR2 Race Truck With Tweaked Frame Wins Its Class at Mint 400
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