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2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS review | Car Reviews

Auto123 evaluations the 2020 Chevrolet Blazer.

Among the 4×4 die-hards, the primary Chevrolet Blazer is a correct icon. Good-ailment products dating from the late sixties market for a veritable fortune these days. And so, as we’ve found a quantity of occasions in current years, the enterprise logically questioned itself, Why squander robust brand recognition? Since past year Chevrolet has thus brought back the Blazer title, this time stuck on a crossover the enterprise has parachuted into its by now-very well-stocked SUV lineup in amongst the Equinox and the Traverse.

Predictably, some see the appropriation of the Blazer title as sacrilege other people rejoice at the return of a familiar title to a lineup that contains not just large ‘utes but the very small Spark and the electrical Bolt as very well.

See our Comparison of the 2020 Chevrolet Blazer vs 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe

Whatever aspect of that particular fence you sit on, whether or not you’re an outraged nostalgist or a curious forward-looker, the Chevy Blazer does essentially fill a require in the automaker’s lineup. It will look to siphon off income from the likes of the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and Honda Passport, which might be easier explained than accomplished.

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2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, profile

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, profile

Luckily, contrary to most of its rivals, the new Blazer is a relatively sporty affair, specially in its RS incarnation, which borrows visible features from the automaker’s muscle car or truck division. This is specially so in entrance, with the dominant grille and the thin daytime working lights.

Not the Blazer we at the time understood
Those familiar with the Blazer of previous will know right off the bat that the Blazer of new has absolutely almost nothing in prevalent with preceding generations – apart from the Chevy badge and the title itself. As opposed to preceding products, this SUV sits not on a great previous ladder body, but on a unibody architecture, the exact same just one GM by now uses for the Cadillac XT5, for just one. The simple actuality that the Blazer is outfitted with a 6-nut hub confirms the connection with the brand’s other SUVs.

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, front wheel

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, entrance wheel

The layout also serves to differentiate the model from them, thoughts you. When earlier Blazers experienced stretched truck-like roofs, the newby normally takes inspiration from the Camaro to established itself apart from the herd of look-alike SUVs at the moment on the market. In actuality, stand it upcoming to its competitors and the new Blazer looks like a bit of a poor boy, specially the RS. That model sports specifics like black exterior features like the grille, the headlight housings and the 20-inch wheels. What’s far more, with the white complete on my tester, the contrasting outcome of the floating roof is nicely amplified. Can you convey to I identified the Blazer RS to be a looker?

Shades of a sport sedan?
The actuality is, of system, that inspite of its Camaro schnozz the Blazer doesn’t handle on the street rather the exact same way as the muscle car or truck. Still, soon after a few several hours on the street – which was essentially a challenge what with the Covid-19-brought about confinement steps this spring – I felt like I was at the wheel of a car with sharper driving dynamics than the regular model in this section. The rigid chassis, agency suspension and far more-responsive steering (on the RS model only) give it a amazingly nimble sense for a utility model.

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, interior

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, inside

What’s far more, the Camaro-motivated dashboard with its massive spherical local climate control vents and the slim fenestration presents the entrance half of the Blazer’s inside the sense of a sports car or truck. At the wheel, you never get the impact you’re driving an SUV, even with the higher ground clearance of the model. In other words, the Blazer RS is conscious of captivating to people for whom driving enjoyment issues.

A word relating to the powertrain, which unsurprisingly is by now in extensive use across the GM lineups of motor vehicles. The trusty 3.6L direct-injection, by natural means aspirated V6 at the time yet again delivers close to 300 horses (308 below, to be specific), whilst torque maxes out at 270 lb-ft at five,000 RPM. The only transmission on supply is a 9-pace computerized, which has proven in extensive use itself given that its introduction in GM motor vehicles.

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, three-quarters rear

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, 3-quarters rear

The Blazer RS is no lightweight, literally speaking, but it acquits itself very well all through aggressive accelerations. Like other GM SUVs, the Blazer can be pushed in several configurations: FWD, AWD, Activity, Off-Street and Towing. I identified myself gravitating back to Activity, which sharpens the reactions of the V6 by stretching out the gears in the appropriate situations.

I would not thoughts at all if Chevrolet additional a pair of paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel to more liven up the driving knowledge. Possibly in the close to-long term? However, in Activity method accelerations are far more than appropriate. It would not damage the engine to be far more expressive in doing so, the Blazer might then have a far more convincing argument to make to skeptics.

One particular of the drawbacks of the SUV’S sporty bent is that you can be expecting to pay back far more at the pump, specially if your driving tends to be aggressive. My regular was close to 13.0L/100 km, higher than the formal Canadian EnerGuide determine. I would wager that keeping the car in FWD method and having it uncomplicated on the fuel pedal would cut down the change amongst people quantities.

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, front

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, entrance

The past word
The large takeaway for me below is that the 2020 Chevrolet Blazer constitutes a pleasant shock, even while it’s rather large and gives frankly atrocious rear visibility (while that’s rarely one of a kind among SUVs that attempt to be sporty). The midsize utility model demonstrates possible that I just cannot say I formerly observed in GM SUVs. I even feel the rigid chassis of this model could handle and reward from a far more-muscular engine. No sense in dreaming, having said that, due to the fact frankly GM has other fish to fry right now than to attempt and earn more than a handful of overall performance nuts.

Then there’s the double-get-inducing pricing of the RS variant I drove. At $53,768, when the possibilities are factored in, it’s no cut price, and I would if buying the new Blazer almost certainly opt for a considerably less dressy model. At this rate, there are some really juicy possibilities out there on the market that might tempt me far more. In actuality, feel really hard ample about it, why not just go for the Chevy Camaro for some authentic driving enjoyment?

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, rear

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, rear

We like

The muscular look
The sporty sense
The productive computerized transmission

We like considerably less

Rear visibility
The asking rate (RS model)
No paddle shifters on the steering wheel!

The levels of competition

Ford Edge
GMC Acadia
Honda Passport
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Nissan Murano

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, grille, badging

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS, grille, badging

Industry experts

Individuals

2020 Chevrolet Blazer RS shots