Can the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 "Meteor" Kill Off the Dinosaur Trucks?

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Can the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 "Meteor" Kill Off the Dinosaur Trucks?

Our rendering of how a Chevy competitor for the Ram TRX and Ford Raptor R might look.
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It's just a rumor from what they're saying. I hope they do come out with something competitive for the Raptor R and TRX. Just because lol. I have no intrest in a wide body supercharged baja truck. But I think chevy should offer one. Obviously a market for them. I think chevy thought the Hummer was their response, their "Dino killer". It just isn't. They need a supercharged V8 offroad beast if they want to play in that space, much less if they want to say they have a dinosaur killer.
 
I would love to see this truck too. But Chevy does not seem interested in being a player to me. I would have loved to own a TRX, except it was a lot of money for me. This would be similar in price. They would have to bump up the boost to beat the TRX. Being last to the party allows them to see the targets clearly. I don't believe there is enough money in it for GM, from what Road & Track said. They would need to use an engine like the LT8, without DFM & ASS. The TRX has none of this garbage.
 
I've used my ZR2 to pull out a few Raptors. Sure they can out perform me on the dunes, but good thing I don't have to cross sand mountains to get to the blinds. I also like getting more than 7 mpg around town.
 
Really wouldn’t expect anything on this generation of platform and engine family. The 6th Gen small block will change things for Chevrolet. It may not be 700hp. But it will definitely be above “normal” Raptor territory.

The ZR2 and the Bison package are the swan song of the T1. The trucks are not designed to house 35’s. Designing, engineering and tooling a “wide body” this late in the life cycle wouldn’t have an ROI.

Enjoy the refresh and look forward to the next one.
 
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wutang61 said:
Really wouldn’t expect anything on this generation of platform and engine family. The 6th Gen small block will change things for Chevrolet. It may not be 700hp. But it will definitely be above “normal” Raptor territory.

The ZR2 and the Bison package are the swan song of the T1. The trucks are not designed to house 35’s. Designing, engineering and tooling a “wide body” this late in the life cycle wouldn’t have an ROI.

Enjoy the refresh and look forward to the next one.
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It will be interesting to see this new small block. I haven't heard anything about it. I would want at least a 3.55 gear set before running 35" tires. I could feel a lot of difference going from 32" to 35" tires on a Hemi Wrangler, and I had 4.10's!
 
scubatech said:
It will be interesting to see this new small block. I haven't heard anything about it. I would want at least a 3.55 gear set before running 35" tires. I could feel a lot of difference going from 32" to 35" tires on a Hemi Wrangler, and I had 4.10's!
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It still baffles me to this day the 3.42 wasn’t used in these trucks. It’s an off the shelf gear set already validated on 6.2’s with Max Tow.

I figured maybe that’s the angle for the bison to give it an edge but nope. Still 3.23’s.
 
wutang61 said:
It still baffles me to this day the 3.42 wasn’t used in these trucks. It’s an off the shelf gear set already validated on 6.2’s with Max Tow.

I figured maybe that’s the angle for the bison to give it an edge but nope. Still 3.23’s.
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I know, it's nuts how high manufacturer's are gearing these truck
s! Every 1" of tire decreases RPM by about 100 @ 70MPH. I haven't looked at the chart on this but I think a 35" tire would put your gear ratio around 3.00. This used to be the ratio for a Caprice or a Kings wood station wagon!! LOL.
 
wutang61 said:
It still baffles me to this day the 3.42 wasn’t used in these trucks. It’s an off the shelf gear set already validated on 6.2’s with Max Tow.

I figured maybe that’s the angle for the bison to give it an edge but nope. Still 3.23’s.
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I hear ya, hell, I’d enjoy a Sport mode for a bit more throttle response fun in these trucks out of the box…which seems like it would have been a pretty easy option given tuning is available in numerous other trim levels. Hard to imagine a TRX killer if the ZR2 can’t “handle” a stock Sport mode 😅
 
HuntRedi said:
I hear ya, hell, I’d enjoy a Sport mode for a bit more throttle response fun in these trucks out of the box…which seems like it would have been a pretty easy option given tuning is available in numerous other trim levels. Hard to imagine a TRX killer if the ZR2 can’t “handle” a stock Sport mode 😅
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Just to add to the conversation regarding hypothetical future trucks…

I feel the name “Mammoth” would be more in line the large mammal naming schemes of the current truck line. Meteor doesn’t flow well.

Ignoring the fact that Hennessey is currently using it for a package for the TRX.
 
securityguy said:
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Yeah, I saw your thread and certainly appreciate we all have the option. At the moment, I’m holding out for an all in one solution for AFM/DFM disable, auto stop elimination, etc.

This thread just reminded me about something I researched before buying this truck and found it a bit odd there wasn’t a sport or performance mode in GMs halo truck. I actually love the truck for what it isn’t - it’s not wider, un-supercharged, non-dune runner setup given I wanted a hunting, camping, hiking, kayaking, etc setup. However, I feel like they could have given us some more performance in the current setup with no additional investment by simply dialing back the torque management software restrictions, tuning up throttle response, etc…I just think it should outperform an LTZ with the 6.2 out of the box as the halo. I bought it anyway, just my opinion.

I would love to see a 700+ TRX / Raptor fighter simply for the appreciation that they are alive and competitive at GM as a car enthusiast but I have my doubts. Wouldn’t buy one due to what I want but it’s obvious there is a market, cmon C-suite, loosen the ties just a bit and at least throw a punch in this fight.

I do agree with @wutang61 the next gen platform increases our chances and also the name needs a bit of work.
 
HuntRedi, That's my thoughts too. I don't care for a wide body supercharged trophy truck. But I do think Chevy should have one. I also think a minor tweak or two should have been done to the 6.2 in our ZR2s. Ultimate off road truck they offer, but we got the same engine tune, same rear-end gear ratio, same fuel tank capacity. No option for dual batteries or even the option for the 220amp alternator offered in the max tow package. Heck let us get the max tow package and leave the tow rating the same. I'd been happy just to get the gear ratio and the alternator in that package lol. Not winch ready or even an option.

I also love my truck, but they diffenitly fell short on some simple things IMO.
 
I had an LT4 in a MY16 Corvette Z06/Z07 and while I loved a lot about it, the one thing that could be improved was in its intercooler and charge air cooling. GM addressed the intercooler in MY17 but the CAC circuit was always limited in its ability to adequately cool the vehicle. GM ultimately addressed this issue with the LT5 in MY19 on the ZR1, with a taller and larger blower along with two chin-mounted radiators for the CAC circuit.

If GM wants to do anything serious above the ZR2 they need to skip the LT4 and do the LT5. Of course, GM dealers would attempt to charge out the wazoo over and above MSRP for it, and with new auto interest rates in the 7's and above now, dealers are going to have to start selling much less than MSRP in order to survive.

I don't really need any bigger tires than I already have on the ZR2, the GY Territory MT's are an interesting choice (apparently less expensive than the Duratracs at D/T,) and work just fine for me. The 3.23 doesn't bother me too much with the L87 because for maybe one or two-tenths in the quarter mile as it is, I'd rather have the extra 1 or 1.5 mpg. The TRX is cool but its big block fuel economy would get old quick. I'm still getting used to the ZR2's mid-teens coming from a diesel-powered Land Rover. I do like the L87 but I probably would have went with the LZ0 had it been available in the ZR2. Apparently, the AT4x uses the same front end as the AT4, so there is no reason why it shouldn't be able to be optioned with the diesel.
 
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AirRyan said:
Apparently, the AT4x uses the same front end as the AT4, so there is no reason why it shouldn't be able to be optioned with the diesel.
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It was solely a marketing decision on GM's part...nothing technical.
 
Has anyone found light units for the roof similar to what is in the pictured mock-up in the first post? I like the idea of a more flush mount light bar for the roof but haven’t found anything quite like that yet.
 
There were also articles saying the bean counters at GM didn’t want to have to do addition tooling at the factory for wide bodies like the raptor/TRX. Part of the reason the ZR2 wasn’t made as competition for them
 
HuntRedi said:
I hear ya, hell, I’d enjoy a Sport mode for a bit more throttle response fun in these trucks out of the box…which seems like it would have been a pretty easy option given tuning is available in numerous other trim levels. Hard to imagine a TRX killer if the ZR2 can’t “handle” a stock Sport mode 😅
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pedal commander fixes the mode issue.
 
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