Hi, I'm John Davis and this is MotorWeek !

Join us as we close out Season 45 with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison... We'll revisit two corners of our car world that mesh together surprisingly well... Dan Maffett shares the start of his latest project truck... And we'll end on an SUV high note with the Kia Sportage... So, come drive with us, next!

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JOHN: Whether, you're an animal lover or not, you have to feel a little sorry for the bison.

After all, they've been mistakenly called buffalos for hundreds of years.

Well, here at MotorWeek , we know a bison when we see one and we're ready to do some roaming in this beefy brute from Chevrolet.

♪ ♪ We tested Chevrolet's midsize Colorado pickup back in '23 when this 3rd gen kicked off; and while it was the toughest Colorado yet, people always want more, so Chevrolet is once again teaming up with American Expedition Vehicles to offer a Bison package for the 2026 Chevrolet Colorado.

In similar fashion to the Silverado and Silverado HD Bison's we've tested in recent years, it's all about turning the already-capable Chevy pickups into off-road beasts.

That includes adding heavy duty bumpers, fender flares, 17 inch beadlock wheels with 35 inch Good Year Wrangler mud terrain tires, multiple Boron steel skid plates, rocker protectors, front and rear locking differentials, and a massive 12.2 inches of ground clearance thanks to Multimatic Jounce Control Dampers.

There's also, a spray-on bedliner and a bed-mounted spare tire carrier that does a great job of keeping you from seeing anything with your rearview mirror.

If there was ever a GM vehicle that needed their rear camera mirror, this would be the one.

Four-wheel-drive is standard as with all ZR2s, and all Colorados are 4-door Crew Cabs.

One big change that happened to the Colorado since we last tested it, the standard output version of the 2.7 liter turbo-4 is no longer available.

All Colorado's now come with the TurboMax version with 310 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque, and you'll need every bit of it to get the Bison's massive tires rolling.

And after rolling them up to the starting line at our Mason Dixon test track, the TurboMax delivered a good amount of gusto, enough to get us to 60 in 7.6 seconds.

Power delivery is not overly aggressive, but it stayed smooth and steady the whole way down the track.

Gear changes in the 8-speed automatic transmission were equally smooth, and it was a mostly steady streak to the end of the quarter-mile in 15.8 seconds at 86 miles per hour; though, sitting this high off the ground, the Bison will get blown around a good bit by crosswinds.

Not surprisingly when bringing things to a halt in our braking runs, there was a lot of nosedive, but the tires were definitely providing serious grip.

Just 103 feet on average was needed from 60 to 0.

Things were not so settled in our handling course however, with extreme body roll and tire flex, but safety systems are in place to keep you and this beast under control.

(truck whooshing by) Of course, the Bison is much more in its element when the pavement ends.

While, it's certainly suitable for rock crawling, and even navigating trails where full-size rigs would be too wide, where it really excels is in high-speed off-road runs with those upgraded dampers soaking up big bumps and ruts like a sponge.

No major departures inside this ZR2, just some AEV logos applied and sturdy floormats added.

That means, up front it remains a comfortable, roomy, and tech heavy driving experience, while the rear seat situation is not nearly as roomy or comfortable.

Sixteen is the number to remember when it comes to Government Fuel Economy, as that covers city, highway, and combined ratings.

Our mileage loop as well, 16.2 miles per gallon on Regular.

That's a much worse than average Energy Impact Score, with 18.6 Barrels of Annual Oil Consumption and 9.3 Tons of CO2 Emissions.

To reach the summit of Colorado's macho mountain, start by selecting a ZR2 for $52,595, then add the Bison Edition package at $11,700, for a total of $64,295.

To keep that figure in perspective, you could easily spend much more than that on a pickup truck that's nowhere near as adept or tough looking as this one.

So, if you're looking to venture into some new territory in the most capable midsize pickup on the market, head to the Chevy dealer where the 2026 Colorado Bison roam.

♪ ♪ JOHN: Pebble Beach, Woodward, Goodwood.

Now, if you're a car enthusiast, you probably associate these landmarks with bucket-list automotive events.

Well, here's one you might not have heard of: Frankenmuth.

If it doesn't ring a bell, it should.

Not to worry, our "Over the Edge" guy Greg Carloss just made a trip there for you, for a taste of one big Michigan car show.

♪ ♪ GREG CARLOSS: Here's a fun fact about me: I love cars almost as much as I love pretzels.

Luckily, Frankenmuth Auto Fest has plenty of both.

I've already got the pretzels, let's go check out some cars.

Admittedly, when I heard about the Frankenmuth Auto Fest, I had to Google Frankenmuth.

To save you some time, Frankenmuth is a town less than two hours north of Detroit formed by Bavarian immigrants in 1845...hence the pretzels.

Now, it's a tourist town, and every September it hosts a three-day Auto Fest.

TONY D'ANNA: Frankenmuth Auto Fest is a large group of people we get together.

Everybody's a volunteer, uh, and we're all for charity and have been for 42 years.

Frankenmuth's got the pizzazz, you know, it's a great city to be in.

We get 2,400 - 2,600 cars here, and then in town you'll find another 500, you know, roaming around.

GREG: The Auto Fest officially starts on Friday with a block party, and I mean party.

Main Street shuts down as hundreds of cars sit bumper to bumper on every side street, anxiously waiting to park on display.

But before they're released, there's a parade that's both visually and sonically captivating.

Before our ears stop ringing, the street is packed and standing still is not an option, so we just start walking until we see something truly worth stopping for.

TIM JANSEN: So, I got a 1931 Plymouth.

Um...it's a rat rod.

I custom built pretty much the whole thing; some personal things on there like my...my grandpa's old wrenches and-- so there's a little family history to it.

Just to enjoy it at a show like this is just really, really amazing.

So, we get here 6:30, 7 o'clock in the morning, sit all day and, uh...just, just in hope of a chance to get a spot on the road.

There's a lot of big money cars that come to the show.

It's kind of the end of the season, so you get to see a lot of cars that maybe you would see at Woodward or down in Florida, like cars that you wouldn't see at a lot of local shows.

BOB NORTON: This is a great collection of just gorgeous cars, and they come a long ways to get here.

I came two and a half hours to get here, and it's worth the trip.

There's one of everything here.

So, if you stay long enough you're going to see any car you want.

GREG: Friday's block party comes to a close with a brand-new drone show that even our high-end cameras can't do justice.

Saturday morning, on the other side of the river, more than 2,000 cars enter the park via land and water.

TONY: Look at the facility here, this is a great park.

We're right along the Cass River.

We're going to have a water ski show today; so, we use everything in the area.

I love it.

I just love all the attitude of everybody.

I like all of us getting together here and doing this stuff.

What we've done for the hospitals in the area, for children, that's our big deal.

GREG: A big deal, indeed.

Frankenmuth Auto Fest has raised almost $2 million for charity in the last 12 years, and with about 100,000 people in attendance this year, that figure will grow.

As you'd expect with a show this close to Detroit, the vast majority of cars are American classics; however, there are a few imports if you look hard enough.

Despite all the chrome and the massive blowers, it's this open-wheel Buick that catches my eye.

And it's getting a little custom work done by one of the show's many vendors.

ALEX RAMSIER: I brought my 1925 Buick Speedster.

Did some mechanical work to the car, nothing cosmetic?

And just trying to make it, personalize it a little bit more.

GREG: Whether, it's Alex's Buick or any of the thousands of other cars here this weekend, no two are exactly alike.

But there is something that all the owners share.

ALEX: Cars are my life.

It's eat, sleep, drink cars.

You just smell the gas, the oil, exhaust.

It's just...fun.

It makes you smile.

BOB: When I sit behind that steering wheel and look over that turquoise hood, life is really, really good.

GREG: Frankenmuth Auto Fest is one of the biggest, coolest and maybe the friendliest car shows I've ever been to.

So, if you're ever in the area, check it out.

Because es ist gut!

(engine revving) JOHN: Thanks, Greg.

The 2026 Frankenmuth Auto Fest is coming up soon, September 11th through the 13th.

I walked those lanes myself last year and let me tell you, if you're into cars, any kind of cars, you don't want to miss it.

Now, let's turn it over to Dan Maffett, who's planning for a different kind of car show, on this week's "Your Drive."

(car starts up/ engine revs) DAN MAFFETT: I think everyone has that project that they're going to get to.

It ends up in their backyard, it moves around a little bit; and that was the same story for my friend Paul.

That's his truck he's had since brand new here.

Now, he unfortunately came down with cancer and couldn't fulfill the project that he wanted to do, so he asked us to take it on and bring it to its former glory.

Well, when we went to go pick it up our dreams of restoring it were kind of shattered as we tried to pull it out of the field and it just about broke in two.

So, we decided to go the show car route and build this for SEMA 2026, and we're going to go with a 100 percent aftermarket build.

So, everything you see here next to me is 100 percent out of a catalogue.

So, as you see at the front here we have a custom hood, slant-nose style from the earlier C10s, now sitting on a '70.

The great thing about ordering these parts aftermarket is you can get custom parts.

So, I knew I wanted a cowl hood, I knew I wanted louvers in the hood for heat extraction, but I did not know, until I went to order it, that you can get them slant-nose and other variations.

Moving up to the cab, one of the most things you do when you go to a show is you see the firewalls are smooth; all the extra holes and seams are all smoothed out.

We ordered this cab with those modifications done already.

Same thing with the back seat, we got rid of the gas tank, got rid of the gas door that usually is on the sides.

So, we saved ourselves a couple weeks of metalwork and bodywork by ordering it that way.

Now, it doesn't stop there.

If you move to the back of the truck, the bed is also ordered out of a catalogue, so the entire bed floor has been narrowed 4.0 inches over the wheel tubs.

So, the wider wheel tubs allow us to run a narrow rear with bigger tires.

Now, there's always going to be a debate on restoration, customization and something like this that is a full custom aftermarket build.

It's going to draw a lot of people to think that it's not what it once was.

Well, that's really the goal.

The restoration market is always about preserving and maintaining what's there.

The customization market is always about expression, customizing what's there to make it better than it ever could be, maybe installing new ideas and making something that's even better than it was.

And having the creativity and freedom to do something like this is unmatched to me.

It's where I really love to dive into.

So, be sure to look at this on the show circuit at SEMA 2026, and if you have any questions or comments, hit us up, right here at MotorWeek .

JOHN: (closes car door) Women race car drivers continue to push the limits and make history in many fan-favorite racing series, like the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup and the legendary Porsche one-make series.

Our Stephanie Hart recently met several of these fearless competitors and brings us their inspiring stories.

♪ ♪ STEPHANIE HART: I'm here at Virginia International Raceway for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup.

This year, four women are competing, tearing up the track, driving awareness and opening doors for future women race car drivers.

(sound of racing cars) The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup is an intensely competitive one-make series offering more than $1 million dollars in prize money and scholarships each year.

Driving skills, strategy, and tenacity determine the winner, which means, rising female stars, like, #15 Sally Mott, can break through fast.

SALLY MOTT: These cars are very difficult to drive.

They're very on-edge, and to drive them fast, it's definitely a skill that you have to develop over time with a lot of experience, and I'm slowly getting there.

STEPHANIE: You may recognize Mott from the Prime Video docuseries "First to the Finish."

It spotlights the highs and lows of racing during the 2024 MX-5 Cup season, prominently featuring three women including Shea Holbrook, a former race car driver turned owner of BSI Racing.

And I loved "First to the Finish."

I got hooked really fast.

; it's on Prime Video.

How has that really brought to light women in motorsports?

SHEA HOLBROOK: Oh, I think the trajectory of the interest involved in the series and then also just the additional eyeballs on what we do, and motorsports in general, has drastically gone up.

SALLY: People recognize me from the show.

Little girls are messaging me, DMing me.

There are dads saying that I'm the reason their daughter got into karting, and just inspiring a new generation of...of women in motorsports.

And I mean, that's super impactful to me.

SHEA: We started the 2024 season with two female drivers.

The 2025 season, the first race of the year, we had seven female drivers, and I 100 percent give credit to "First to the Finish" and what Mazda did to support and highlight women in the industry.

STEPHANIE: Pioneering women drivers like Danica Patrick, Janet Guthrie, and Lyn St.

James came before them, serving as inspirations.

I'm not about to race in the Mazda MX-5 Cup anytime soon, but pretending I can, is half the fun.

Shifting through the gears really gives you that rush, and that's what it's all about.

The experience behind the wheel, whether you're going the speed limit or not, and how it inspires you to be better on and off the track.

ASHLYN SPEED: Top 20 could win, any of them could win.

And so, just having to be on your "A" game the whole entire time, that's really what has made me grow exponentially.

STEPHANIE: When #31 Ashlyn Speed isn't racing cars, she's running her own nail salon.

And just to add, her last name really is Speed!

Seems like to me, her racing career is meant to be!

#43 Charlotte Traynor is a competitive gymnast turned race car driver.

CHARLOTTE TRAYNOR: If you make a mistake in gymnastics you'll fall of the beam, you'll injure yourself.

It's the exact same thing in cars.

If you make a mistake you could go off the track, you could damage your car, you could damage others, so it's a very similar mindset.

STEPHANIE: Other women race car drivers are also standing out, especially those competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America and the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America.

The Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program began in 2023.

Its goal is to create a supportive environment that showcases and nurtures female talent while providing motorsports training and financial support.

SABRE COOK: I think, hopefully, set a new trend in the Porsche Carrera Cup ladder to show that "Hey, we can race here too."

VICTORIA THOMAS: There were 3.0 percent women in motorsports.

Now, when we look at Porsche Sprint Challenge, regularly there's 66 percent of the podium is women.

It's incredible.

We've got a long ways to go, but my hope is in 5 to 10 years we don't talk about the gender of the drivers.

MADELINE STEWART: Learn from everybody that you can and take every opportunity to drive everything.

That's how you progress through in motorsports.

STEPHANIE: Whether, that's racing behind the wheel of a Porsche or Mazda.

SHEA: This is a difficult championship to compete in, man or woman, um, so if a woman can come in here and win and be on the top step of the podium, and then ultimately take home the grand prize of becoming a champion, that is a massive, massive success story.

STEPHANIE: Until then, I had to get autographs to say, I knew them when.

JOHN: The Kia Sportage was the brand's first SUV, and one of the first Kia's to arrive here in the U.S.

Well, much has changed since that mid-1990s debut, with the current Sportage now well into its 5th generation, and it looks like even more changes are instore for 2026.

♪ ♪ JESSICA RAY: The Sportage is Kia's best-selling vehicle, both worldwide and here in the U.S., so keeping it fresh is a great way to make sure it stays at the top of people's shopping lists.

For 2026, that means new style, improved tech, and more features.

While, its overall look hasn't changed a whole lot, it's been noticeably updated here in the front with a new bumper and revised LED headlights.

And of course, we also have these amber daytime running lights that you'll find on all new Kia's.

Similar new bumper and upgraded LED lighting in back, along with new 17, 18, and 19 inch wheel designs.

Screen domination continues inside the Sportage, with standard touchscreen infotainment going from 8.0 inches to 12.3, and it blends in directly with the gauge display, all in the same housing stretching across the dash.

SX-Prestige gets a full TFT gauge panel.

It's pretty interesting what they've done with the console here; hybrids get this dial-like gear selector instead of a shifter, and over here there's a little wing of controls that can include ventilated front seats.

Over here on the steering wheel, we have a Terrain Mode button, click it and you get settings for things like Snow, Mud, and Sand, and all, all-wheel- drive Sportage's get that.

Space in the rear seats is comparable to many midsize SUVs, and in this top of the line SX-Prestige the outboard seats can bring the heat.

There's also a new 10 inch Head-up display which is just as good as you'll find in cars double the price.

Safety still sells, and not only has Kia provided more driver assistance features as standard, Highway Drive Assist 2 is now available in the Sportage.

Cargo space is also really great, 34.5 cubic-feet, and even more when the floor is lowered like this.

You can fold the rear seats with this manual lever for a max capacity of up to 65.4 cubic-feet.

GREG CARLOSS: Kia continues to give you plenty of options when it comes to powertrain, strictly gas, hybrid, and even plug-in hybrid.

We're rolling in the regular 1.6 liter I4 turbo-based hybrid, which is now available in more trims than before with or without all-wheel-drive, and there's also more juice for 2026.

With higher output from the electric motor, it is now rated at a combined 232 horsepower, an increase of five over last year, with an additional 13 pound-feet of torque at 271 pound-feet.

It continues to work with a true 6-speed automatic transmission.

To see how those numbers translates to real-world performance, we hit Mason Dixon Dragway.

(car takes off) The combination of an electric motor and all-wheel-drive means this Sportage gets off the line pretty quickly.

That electric boost does not last long, though, as the engine first up almost immediately.

Still, it keeps things moving pretty fast.

The shifts are smooth, although they're not particularly fast.

Though, I am glad we have an actual geared transmission rather than a CVT.

After hitting 60 in 7.5 seconds and getting a best quarter-mile time of 15.5 seconds at 91 miles per hour, it was off to the handling course.

There are no major updates to the suspension, so it feels familiar through the cones.

There's a bit of understeer, though that's pretty typical for a vehicle like this.

The rear end does bounce around a little bit.

Still, it can be hustled through these gates with relative ease.

The brakes felt solid, though the rear end tended to wander as emergency stops came in at an average of 110 feet.

JESSICA RAY: Despite minimal change from last year, the Government Fuel Economy ratings for the hybrid with all-wheel-drive are not quite as good as before: 35 city, 36 highway and 35 combined, down from 38 across the board.

We averaged a good 36 miles per gallon.

That's a better than average rating for the Energy Impact Score: 8.5 Barrels of Annual Oil Use, with 4.2 Tons of CO2 Emissions.

Sportage pricing starts with LX at, $30,135, just $1,600 more will get you a front-wheel-drive LX Hybrid.

All remaining Hybrid trims include all-wheel-drive, working up to this top SX-Prestige Hybrid which begins at $41,835.

Not all new, but entirely better, and certainly one of the best-looking compact utilities on the market, the 2026 Kia Sportage's new style and upgraded tech, along with its multiple powertrain options, will insure that it remains a top contender in the all-important compact crossover segment.

JOHN: Well, that's our show, I hope you enjoyed it.

Now, for more MotorWeek , including daily news updates, podcasts, and even complete episodes, cruise on over to PBS.ORG/MOTORWEEK.

And I hope you'll join us next time for our MotorWeek Season 46 premiere where we drop the flag on the Porsche 911 Turbo S and the Toyota RAV4 GR-Sport.

We'll also come at you with new "Your Drive" tips and tricks, and start our all-Americana road trip on Route 66.

Until then, I'm John Davis.

We'll see you right here on MotorWeek !

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Learn more at AutoValue.Com and BumperToBumper.Com.

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We test tires, then share our results.

We stock over a million tires.

We offer multiple installation options.

We do this because we believe tires matter.

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