I went to Overland West '19 this past weekend in my '19 Extended Cab Diesel ZR2 Bison, with my Xventure XV-2 in tow. I was amazed in how many folks walked up to me to talk about my rig and trailer setup and how much they liked it, some didn't know it was a Bison until they started chatting with me. Quite a few folks said this was the first time they saw one.
One amazing thing that happened is a guy walked up to me and asked if he could look at my truck. In chatting with him, he asked me if my name was Seth (which it is) turns out I graduated with this guy, Phillip back in 1999 at Florida State University, we had the same major Management Information Systems. Phillip and I talked for a good two hours, and he came again the next night and had a beer and we talked some more. He wants to get a Bison, but he's well over six feet and he can get comfortable in the front seat. He even rented a ZR2 for over two weeks last year and was hoping the Bison had new seats.
The first day I took 4 advanced driving classes, which I highly recommend. Since I was driving I didn't get to take pics of my truck, but over the boulders, the Camel Trophy Teachers wanted to see what the ZR2s (there were 4 of them in the class) could do, and they felt more comfortable pushing my Bison because of all the skid plates and me saying let's go for it. At one point over the articulation course, I was told my passenger rear wheel was over two feet in the air, everyone came up to me afterwards and asked if I ******** my pants. Honestly I didn't even know it happened, the instructor was teaching me left foot braking so every movement was so smooth, with no drama felt. Learned that the exhaust brake, hill descent, and off-road mode work in reverse in the failed hill climb class, even without any of those enabled while in 4-low the truck has an awesome pace reversing down a hill. On the cross-axle course, my Bison in off-road mode was the only vehicle able to move out of the rollers in, AWD, 4 high and 4 low. Speaking of off-road mode, my truck was the only one able to get through all of the different courses in two-wheel drive with "off-road" mode enabled. This impressed many of the instructors, some didn't believe so I had to let them take my truck and see for themselves.
Supposedly some AEV employees tried talking to me while I was in the class (they were over the fence) and I snubbed them. Honestly I don't remember that, plus I have a thing for red beards, so I never would avoided that guy. Anyway when I went to the AEV booth the next day, I stayed for over an hour and talked to that guy and another who gave me a lot of details on the 35" tire kit they are preparing and some other things coming out for the Bison. I specifically asked if GM employees could get a discount on the AEV parts, since their employees are eligible for supplier discounts on GM Products and was told not a chance.
I was amazed at all of the ZR2's and Z71s at Overland Expo. One that sticks in my mind was a white ZR2 that I only saw from the rear, that had the rear bumper completely removed, but did have the tow bar. It looked really cool. Unfortunately I was in the middle of a Compass/Map class and couldn't get away for a closer look.
I decided to skip my classes on Sunday and start packing up because later that day the temps were supposed to drop and rain in the afternoon and snow that night, that along with the crazy winds and storms going across central US, including northern Texas, I decided I should leave a day early, in case I need to pull over due to weather and spend an extra night out on the road. That's when two guys walked up and told me they were from Outside Magazine and would like to feature me and my truck in the best rigs of Overland West 2019.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2396994/overland-expo-2019-rigs
Anyway, Overland Expo West 2019 was great, the Bison earned a lot of respect and we both had a great time.
