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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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2019 Chevrolet Blazer Premier

JESSICA LYNN WALKER

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By Craig and Deanne Conover

Sunday Drive

2019 marked a new year for Chevrolet as it reintroduced a model that had not graced its lineup since 2005 when the then S-10 Blazer, a mid-sized SUV, was discontinued. It could be argued that it became the Trailblazer, which was the predecessor for today’s Chevy Traverse.

When we first met all those many years back at Springville High School, our first outings took place in Craig’s father’s K-5 Blazer. These were not really dates, as Deanne was more intrigued with the basketball team and Craig was in it to cover basketball for the local paper, then called The Springville Herald.

It always turned out to be a great adventure wherever we went in the awesome two-door, four-wheel drive vehicle attending basketball games all over the state. Every summer back then, Craig would take the rear roof off that red and white Blazer, giving it more of a convertible-like appeal for cruising all over Utah Valley looking for girls. Those were the days!

The new 2020 Blazer is nowhere near the same as it was back in the early ’80s, as it now has a way more sleek and sexy design!

Steve Majoros, Chevrolet marketing director for cars and crossovers, said it best: “The Blazer’s design offers customers a crossover that can exceed their needs, matching their unique personality. Blazer sets a new design language for Chevy’s crossover family and extends our momentum into one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments.”

We agree that the new Blazer is one of the best looking SUVs to come out of General Motors in a long time. Gone are the harsh, hard sheet metal bends that have adorned the Suburban, Tahoe and Traverse for the past few years.

Replaced with bends and curves aplenty, which seem to reach out to all, willing them to look at and partake of the new SUV, it just plain wants to be driven. In fact, we have looked through the new Blazer a couple of times at a Chevy dealer and have even taken the opportunity for a quick spin around town.

We found that after a week with this SUV, we were even more enthralled with the overall design, especially with the comments we got from our new neighbors and even random folks in parking lots, who wanted to know what we were driving!

There are a couple of different options when it comes to engine choice, with Chevy offering a 2.5-liter I-4 four-cylinder engine that puts out 193 horsepower and can be had in front-wheel drive only. We, however, got to drive a 3.6-liter V-6 engine that put out a very nice 305 horsepower and came standard in all-wheel drive.

Each of these two set ups is coupled with a very nice nine-speed transmission that moved through the gears very well throughout our test week. Living in the Mountain West, we would definitely go for the all-wheel drive version and would highly recommend the larger engine, as it propelled the Blazer with ease around town and, most importantly, it handled itself exceptionally well on the open road.

For our week with the Blazer and a 3.6-liter power plant, we averaged just over 23 mpg — as we would have expected mostly running around town and with only two quick trips up to Lehi on the freeway.

Stepping into the Blazer turned out to be more like we were seated in a new Camaro, as many of the interior features had a Camaro-like look and feel to them, especially in the new heating and cooling vents located below the 8-inch touch screen.

To this design, our test ride the Blazer Premier came with dual zone heat controls, where we found that by twisting the outer ring of these large vents the temperature for the two zones would be increased or decreased.

Adding the element of a Camaro, we thought, made the Blazer a very classy ride inside. Ours came with nice leather trimmed seats in what GM called Maple Sugar, giving the interior a two-tone look, as other parts were trimmed in black.

The front seats were heated and cooled, along with heated rear seats and a heated steering wheel — all standard equipment on the Premier trim level. The touchscreen jets out of the dashboard as a separate item not flush with the dash. It supplied the interior with yet another luxurious accoutrement.

We also liked the ingenious way the rear hatch opened with a simple kick under the SUV. Although this is not a new item on a SUV by any means, the fact that Chevy puts a projected “bowtie” on the pavement at the exact location where you kick made all the difference in the world.

As with other vehicles that have included this option, we are always trying to find the sweet spot to make the lift gate open. With the Blazer, the light comes on and a quick kick under the SUV at that spot lifts the gate; another quick kick will then lower it.

On the safety side, the Blazer comes standard with lane change alert, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, a great HD back up camera, rear parking assist and a great teen driver program!

The Driver Confidence II package also adds adaptive cruise control, automatic high beam headlamps, forward collision alert with enhanced braking, lane keep assist and pedestrian braking up front.

Also included in the package was a very cool rear camera mirror, which would turn the rearview mirror into an LED screen that gets its feed from the back of the SUV. This is very helpful with a car full of people to see everything that is behind the Blazer. No more heads and bodies getting in the way of what is back there!

The new Blazer is a sleek and sexy alternative in the mid-sized SUV category and is definitely not your father’s Blazer!

Base price: $45,608

Price as driven: $49,960