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Utility-wise
Despite its close ties to the Traverse, the sportier-minded Blazer offers less headroom than that SUV, and there’s cargo space available than in the Traverse when its third-row seats are folded down. There are also fewer litres of space available than in the Ford Edge and the Honda Passport, for example.
It does have the upper hand in one respect: when the second-row bench is down, you get a flat floor and thus a better space for shoving in bulky items. What’s more, that bench can be slid forwards or backwards depending on your needs of the moment.
Designed to excel at moving people, but…
The Lt Redline edition of the Blazer, might look the part of a sporty beast, but it’s still a model designed to be comfortable first and foremost, an SUV for racking up the kilometres with happiness and joy. And certainly, despite it being the season for fresh potholes and assorted other road imperfections, the crossover’s chassis did perform well on the road. Problem is, the cloth-covered seats are too firm and downright uncomfortable over long hauls for our taste. That upholstery is actually hard to justify in a vehicle costing upwards of $45,000 when you add in the options.
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Fortunately, the Blazer’s interior is otherwise pretty impressive, notably with a original dashboard setup thanks to the outsized climate control vents. A reminder here that those are inspired by what you get in the Camaro. We also found the control knobs for the climate control an original way to set the temperature you want in the cabin.
We also liked the central touchscreen, which features Chevy’s excellent in-house infotainment system. Easy to use, it delivers menus that are quick to find and the clarity of the graphics is worthy of mention as well, even after several years of existence for the system. We’re quite looking forward to seeing what gives with the next-generation system, which we fully expect will once again sit at the front of the class.
Like so many crossovers on the market right now, the Blazer sacrifices from rear – and even side – visibility – in the name of a slim and pretty silhouette. Hey, we have to admit, the Blazer looks pretty darned good when riding on oversized wheels and all, but the design of the vehicle does exact a price, and that price is your view out the back.
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The last word
Chevy might be a mass-market brand down to its bone marrow, but the Blazer remains a niche product. It’s pretty thirsty for gasoline, which is not a great quality right now, and it suffers from a few faults that keep it from taking a real run at compact SUV leaders like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, or at the mid-size big shots like the Ford Edge and Nissan Murano, to name those.
The sporty aspect is interesting, yes, but where the Blazer could get real interesting, real fast is when electrification comes into the picture, hopefully no later than 2024. We’re already bristling with bridled impatience at the thought of driving the performance-focused SS trim already promised for the electric Blazer to come.
Specifications sheet of 2022 Chevrolet Blazer LT
Specifications sheet of 2022 Chevrolet Blazer LT AWD 4DR
Specifications sheet of 2022 Chevrolet Blazer True North
Specifications sheet of 2022 Chevrolet Blazer RS
Specifications sheet of 2022 Chevrolet Blazer Premier
We like
Those Camaro-ish looks
Impressive road handling for a crossover
The excellent infotainment system
We like less
Uncomfortable seats over the long haul
Limited rear visibility
Cargo space is barely bigger than that of the Equinox
The competition
Ford Edge
GMC Acadia
Honda Passport
Hyundai Santa Fe
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Kia Sorento
Nissan Murano
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