The normal Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 offers another step above the Trail Boss, but it’s still lacking supercharged power.
For those who are sick as all get out of hearing “EV” this and “battery” that, there’s still an oasis of V8 trucks pushing upwards of 700 horsepower — at least from Ford and Ram. As much as we’d hoped the ZR2 would be a bona fide answer to the Ram 1500 TRX and Ford F-150 Raptor R, GM decided to keep its same-old, 420 horsepower naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 in service for that model. However, rumor has it (by way of Motor Trend) that the automaker is indeed working on a response to the super truck mania with the Silverado ZR2 “Meteor”.
Why are they calling the project Meteor? Apparently because GM needed a dig at its cross-town rivals and “that’s what killed off the dinosaurs”. Cue the slight nod and little smirk at what they did there.
While our friends over at MT channeled Neil deGrasse Tyson for a moment explaining why that statement and name choice aren’t really accurate, they also worked with a designer to create a render of what the ZR2 Meteor might look like. You’ll have to click over there to check it out, but the gist is that it is wider and beefier with more suspension travel to give the Raptor R and TRX what-for in a three-way baja duel.
Most importantly, though, the ZR2 Meteor NEEDS. MORE. POWER.
Fortunately, GM has a convenient solution at hand…
On the whole, a theoretical Meteor could work well with the Multimatic DSSV spool-valve shocks already present on the regular Silverado ZR2. To make that extra oomph to bring the truck up to the same level as the TRX or Raptor R, though, could be a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that’s already in GM’s inventory. By that, I mean the engine currently in the Cadillac Escalade-V. It’s already damn close to putting out the vaunted 700+ horsepower of the other two. Perhaps a few tweaks could push it over the top.
So, will GM do it? Only the folks on the inside know right now, and they obviously aren’t talking about it just yet. If aftermarket specialists like Blacklake can create a supercharged beast, though, you have to imagine one of the world’s largest automakers could make it happen. With Ram and now Ford jumping into the fray, there certainly seems to be a business case for it.
Might as well make hay while the sun’s still shining on supercharged V8s, right?
