Automobile USA – June 2019

DRIVES

57

AS ENGINES GET

EVER SMALLER, MAKING

ENOUGH POWER TO

PUSH AROUND HEAVIER

CROSSOVERS HASN’T

BEEN A REAL ISSUE

The Blazer
Premier
(shown) and
sportier RS
branch off
into “two
distinct
personalities,”
marketing
chief Steve
Majoros says.
Both come at
a price near
the Cadillac
XT5’s level.

Although it only comes with two rows of seats, the

midsize Blazer is bigger than it needs to be, occupying a

space between the smaller Equinox and the larger, three-

row Traverse in Chevy’s crossover lineup. The Blazer joins

the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, and new Honda Passport

as models designed less for packing in people and more

for packing up your carbon-fiber bicycle with the second

row folded flat (64.2 cubic feet in the Blazer in case you

were wondering). They’re also more likely to be higher-

spec models powered by V-6s as opposed to four-cylinder

engines. Sticker prices for the top-of-the-line Blazer RS and

Premier we sampled encroached on Cadillac XT5 territory,

to name one of its platform siblings. (The three-row Cadillac

XT6 and the GMC Acadia also share its architecture.)

The Blazer’s vaguely Coke-bottle silhouette and pointy

grille convey the same sort of stylish distinction that made

the early ’10s Camaro a best-seller in its segment for a time.

The Blazer RS gets a sportier-looking black grille, bow tie,

and window trim, while the luxe-leaning Premier sports

more of a chrome motif. The interiors of the Blazers we

sampled were nicely finished with materials approaching

those of Cadillac’s XT models.

Both the Blazer RS and Premier come standard with a

version of Chevy’s high-feature, naturally aspirated 3.6-

liter V-6 making 308 horsepower. That’s 27 horses shy of

the 2.7-liter turbo EcoBoost V-6 powering the Ford Edge ST,

and at 270 lb-ft of torque, it’s a full 110 lb-ft short of its Ford

rival. Despite that considerable power deficit, the new Blaz-

er still feels plenty powerful overall, with a smooth, steady

launch—though without the Edge ST’s kick in the backside.