By Peter Perrotta
I am old enough to remember Chevy’s iconic ad jingle from the mid-70’s: “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet, they go together in the good ol’ USA.”
And, being the truly American boy I was raised to be, I am happy to admit that I owned four Chevrolets in my lifetime: a 1965 Chevelle (my first car); a Z-28 Camaro; an S-10 pickup (manual 5-speed); and my dream car, a 2005 Chevy Blazer two-door with the ZR-2 package.
That Blazer was black on black and had that cool looking ZR-2 insignia emblazoned on the side in silver paint. It was a classic 4X4 that chewed up sand, snow and ice with the best of them.
Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, it bit the dust at about 77,000 miles when the engine blew. I was heartbroken, but soon got over it.
The folks at Chevy put that Blazer on ice after 2005. They reconstructed it with all new styling last year. So, when I recently got the chance to test drive the 2020 Chevrolet Blazer Premiere AWD for one week, I was understandably excited.
But this 2020 Blazer bears very little resemblance inside or out to my old Blazer. It’s sleeker, much more well rounded and chock full of new fangled technology that wasn’t even invented yet in 2005.
The folks at Chevrolet came up with an aggressive new styling design for the new Blazer that was taken from the design of the Camaro. While the newly designed Blazer looks nothing like a Camaro, if you look real close you can see where the new design was “inspired” by the Camaro.
Nonetheless, I must admit that Chevrolet did a commendable job in redesigning this truly American classic. While the new blazer doesn’t really illicit nostaligic pangs when you drive it, it now has to be considered a serious contender in that crowded mid-sized SUV field.
The Premiere AWD Blazer carries a base price of $47,865. The tester I drove for one week added a driver confidence two package for $2,265. Included in that package was: rear camera mirror; safety alert seat; wireless charging; adaptive cruise control; LED headlamps; lane keep assist with lane keep warning and more.
When adding in the $1,195 destination charge, the MSRP sticker price of the Blazer that I tested was $49,060. This is certainly a hefty increase from my old Blazer.
While some critics have blasted Chevrolet in their reviews, saying that the Blazer is a bit overpriced, I don’t agree here. Most mid-sized SUV’s in this class carry similar price tags.
Powering up this new fangled Blazer is a 3.6 liter V-6 engine coupled with a 9 speed automatic transmission. The amply powered 3.6 puts out 308 horsepower at 6,700 rpms. It’s overall EPA fuel rating is 21 mpg (average), sporting 18 mpg in city driving and 25 mpg on the highway.
In the government’s 5-star safety ratings test, this Blazer scored an impressive five stars in its overall vehicle score.
My overall impression after driving this Blazer for one week was that I was impressed with the new look (a lot more sleeker and racy looking). The new 3.6 liter V-6 engine makes this Blazer a worthy performer in city driving and out on the highway in the passing lanes as well.
This vehicle accelerates smoothly and shifts through its gears rather seamlessly. I didn’t feel like the vehicle was top heavy at all or had any rollover potential while I was driving it.
The one bit of criticism I would reserve for this vehicle is that at times I experienced a bit of torque steer when accelerating shiftly.
The center console, mode selector makes it easy to switch the Blazer from regular 2WD, to 4WD or to the sport 4WD mode and the off road mode rather easily on while driving on the fly.
I must admit that the mode I most enjoyed driving this blazer in was the 4WD Sport mode. In this gear, it gave the aggressive looking Blazer a nice heartwarming growl when accelerating.
The Blazer I road tested was quite aggressive and sporty looking, featuring the midnight blue metallic exterior and the jet black/maple sugar interior.
The redesigned Blazer comes in four different model offerings: the L, Blazer, RS and the top of the line Premiere AWD.
It comes with a three year, 36,000 mile bumper to bumper limited warranty, a five year, 60,000 mile limited powertrain warranty with roadside assistance and courtesy transportation. The initial first maintenance visit is free.
Standard features on the Premiere AWD model Blazer include: 20 inch medium android machine-face aluminum wheels; the Chevrolet infotainment system with an 8 inch HD touchscreen with voice recognition, Bluetooth audio streaming with Apple carplay and Android Auto; remote vehicle start; keyless open and start; rear seat reminder and more.
Some of the more technical specs for the interior are 39.8 inches of front headroom and 38.6 inches of rear headroom for models without the sunroofs.
The base curb weight for the 2020 Blazer Premiere AWD is 4,446 pounds and the maximum cargo volume is 30.5 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 64.2 cubic feet behind the rear seat with the rear seats folded down.
Moreover, the vehicle I tested had a towing capacity of 4,500 pounds.
Overall, this newly redesigned American classic has to be given serious consideration when going car shopping for a mid-sized SUV.
Peter Perrotta’s On The Road column will appear weekly. Comments and questions are welcomed. To contact him email: [email protected]