Multimatic DSSV^™ – Developing the Colorado ZR2

Multimatic DSSV’s highly successful adoption on the 2014 Camaro Z/28 opened the door to further damper discussions when GM was in the planning stages for a very off-road-capable variant of its midsize Chevrolet Colorado pickup.

Significantly, GM’s objectives for the Colorado ZR2 were to enable its suspension to not only tame the long-travel, high impact extremes of off-roading, but also deliver distinctly comfortable and engaging handling performance in a daily commuting role.

Harnessing advanced predictive engineering tools, Multimatic’s team soon developed a position-sensitive damper package, supplementing DSSV’s normal pair of spool valves with a third, the latter to deal strictly with extreme off-road suspension travel and compression forces.

In collaboration with OEM engineers, real-world suspension testing and tuning began at GM’s Milford Proving Ground in Michigan, before moving on to California’s Mojave Desert, as well the GM Desert Proving Ground in Arizona. The end result was optimized damper performance in a wide range of driving conditions, from highway, to desert pre-running, to bouldering.

Launched in 2017, Chevrolet’s Colorado ZR2 and subsequent ZR2 Bison pickups continue to earn wide media acclaim for their all-round suspension performance, and prove the remarkable versatility of Multimatic’s spool valve damping technology. The design has since gone on to prove its durability and tunability on the Hall Racing ZR2 in the gruelling Best in the Desert race series.