Conquering the Rebelle Rally in the Chevrolet ZR2
Over seven days of off-road driving through all kinds of terrain, Chevy's dirt-throwing ZR2 keeps its game face on.
I took the 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 to the Rebelle Rally, a seven-day all-female off-road rally with no GPS. All navigation is done with a compass and a map.
My navigator, Rebecca Donaghe, and I started the rally looking fresh as daisies. Seven days later we would be exhausted and dirty, but third-place podium winners.
I took the diesel ZR2, with 181 horsepower and a meaty 369 pound-feet of torque.
Every morning we lined up on the starting line and spent the daylight looking for both marked and unmarked checkpoints.
The ZR2 is a mid-size pickup truck, but it looks tiny here in Dumont Dunes, California.
The ZR2 sports relatively small 33-inch Goodyear Duratrac tires. They wouldn't be my first choice, but they performed well on the Rebelle Rally.
Pointing the way to the next checkpoint.
In Johnson Valley, California, Donaghe did her part to spot me over the rocks. It's tough to tell here but I had to place my passenger-side tires just exactly between two groups of sharp rocks so as to not get a flat.
With front and rear electronic lockers, getting to this "Driver's Challenge" checkpoint was a breeze.
The Rebelle Rally finished in the dunes of Glamis, California, where we were treated to an all-day sandstorm. Thanks, Nature!
The ZR2 refused to climb the 500-foot Oldsmobile Hill in Glamis for a checkpoint, so Rebecca did it the hard way.
Scroll through for more photos of the 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 at the Rebelle Rally.