Quick Spin: 2021 Chevrolet Blazer RS | The Daily Drive | Consumer Guide® The Daily Drive

2021 Chevrolet Blazer RS in Cherry Pink Tintcoat (a $495 choice)

2021 Chevrolet Blazer RS AWD

Class: Midsize Crossover

Miles pushed: 162

Gasoline used: 9.2 gallons

Actual-world gasoline financial system: 17.6 mpg

CG Report Card


Room and Consolation	B+
Energy and Efficiency	B+
Match and End	B+
Gasoline Financial system	B
Worth	B-

Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus different automobiles in the identical class. Worth grade is for particular trim stage evaluated, and will not replicate Client Information’s impressions of all the mannequin lineup.

Massive & Tall Consolation

Massive Man	A
Tall Man	A

Massive & Tall consolation rankings are for entrance seats solely. “Massive” ranking based mostly on male tester weighing roughly 350 kilos, “Tall” ranking based mostly on 6’6″-tall male tester.

Drivetrain
Engine Specs	308-hp 3.6 liter
Engine Sort	V6
Transmission	9-speed computerized
Drive Wheels	AWD

Driving combine: 40% metropolis, 60% freeway

EPA-estimated gasoline financial system: 19/26/21 (mpg metropolis/freeway/mixed)

Gasoline sort: Common fuel

Base value: $43,700 (not together with $1195 vacation spot cost)

Choices on check car: Enhanced Comfort Package deal ($1660), Driver Confidence II Package deal ($1650), Cherry Pink Tintcoat paint ($495), Storage Optimization Package deal ($175)

Worth as examined: $48,875

Fast Hits

The nice: Clean, robust powertrain; beneficiant occupant area in each the entrance and rear seats

The nice: Polished street manners with a contact of athleticism; lengthy listing of obtainable consolation, comfort, and security options

The not so good: Pricing is considerably steep in comparison with equally succesful class rivals; dissatisfied noticed gasoline financial system in comparison with EPA numbers

Extra Blazer value and availability data

CG Says:

In case you seek the advice of the 2021 Blazer entry on the Client Information Automotive web site, you’ll learn a line that tells you Chevrolet’s 2-row midsize crossover is unchanged for the yr. That doesn’t imply one in every of its fashions hasn’t gotten a bit extra distinctive, nonetheless.

Attribute it to addition by subtraction. In 2020, all-wheel-drive RSes and Premiers got here with a twin-clutch rear axle that would shift torque to the rear wheel with the very best traction in poor street situations. This was just a little extra advanced than the bottom AWD system utilized by 2LT- and 3LT-trim fashions. Nonetheless, for ’21 solely the sport-look RS retains the more-sophisticated setup whereas the top-level Premier will get the cheaper system that depends on braking intervention to ration out torque.

The sporty RS is the penultimate mannequin within the Chevrolet Blazer lineup, slotting in under the top-line Premier.

Client Information examined the 2021 RS with all-wheel drive, a car with a beginning value of $44,895 together with supply. (A front-drive RS goes for $2900 much less.) Out there solely with a 308-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 engine, it furthers its sportier vibe with a high-gloss-black hexagonal-design grille with Black Ice header bar, black bowtie emblem and RS badging, rectangular brilliant ideas for the twin exhaust shops, particular lower-body moldings with Black Ice insert, and 20-inch Darkish Android machined-face aluminum wheels. There’s purple stitching and different highlights within the cabin, the place Jet Black perforated leather-based covers the seats. A 6-speaker audio system is commonplace, and RS is the trim stage at which a hands-free liftgate, navigation, high-definition touchscreen, 120-volt energy outlet, ambient inside lighting, computerized heated steering wheel, 8-inch coloration driver-information show, and entrance type-A and -C USB ports with auxiliary enter jack and SD card reader kick in.

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The RS cabin will get sporty trim touches, corresponding to purple distinction stitching and red-tinted HVAC-vent bezels, that assist maintain it from wanting too monotone. Chevrolet’s wonderful Infotainment 3 Plus touchscreen system is commonplace gear.

Constructed-in driving assists embrace blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts, lane-departure warning, forward-collision alert with emergency pedestrian braking, and teen-driver monitoring. Choices that drove the total value of the check car to $48,875 included issues like a rear-camera mirror, enhanced emergency braking, adaptive cruise management, and numerous comfort and cargo-management extras.

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There’s beneficiant area in each the entrance and rear seats. The rear seat backs recline, and the seats themselves slide fore and aft to favor passenger legroom or cargo area. The Blazer RS’s perforated seat-upholstery inserts are coloured purple contained in the perforations, which makes for a attention-grabbing impact that coordinates with the purple distinction stitching.

As once we examined an all-wheel-drive 2019 Premier with the identical V6 and 9-speed computerized transmission, the powerteam within the RS was admirably easy and commendably energetic. Choosing “Sport” mode switches on AWD and makes shifts really feel extra direct. The RS can also be the workhorse of the Blazer clan, with a most towing capability of 4500 kilos, and it’s higher suited to the job due to hitch steerage with Hitch View and heavy-duty cooling which are commonplace on the AWD RS. Our check Premier averaged virtually 22 mpg with a majority of freeway driving; the RS was nearer to 19 with extra metropolis driving within the combine. There’s a fuel-saving engine stop-start operate, however drivers who may discover it bothersome will likely be comfortable to know that is one Chevy by which they will flip it off.

Trip is agency but nonetheless comfy and pleasingly quiet. Whereas steering is just a little too mild and missing in really feel when in “Regular” mode, it companies up fairly a bit when switched to Sport.

Check Drive: 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT

There’s 30.5 cubic ft of cargo room behind the Blazer’s second-row seats, and 64.2 cubic ft with the rear seat backs folded–respectable, however lower than two-row class rivals such because the Ford Edge and Hyundai Santa Fe.

Good passenger area is offset by total cargo room that trails different entries within the “small-midsize” area of interest. Certainly, the Blazer is a part of a brand new breed of crossovers attempting to not appear like large, sq. wagons on the willful sacrifice of some load capability. Rear seats fold flat however go away a tiny hole from the load flooring. The RS’s purple accents—together with the massive, spherical bezels for the air vents—add some zing to what borders on being a stark inside. Private-item storage is nice and the Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system is extraordinarily straightforward to know and use.

Typically, the fashionable Blazer is well-suited to the present crossover market that calls for greater than one-size-fits-all automobiles. The Blazer RS offers consumers another specific approach to make that time.

Fast Spin: 2020 Ford Edge ST

The Chevrolet Blazer RS is arguably the sleekest, snarkiest-looking mainstream-brand midsize SUV, and it has a driving character to match. It’s notably pricier than most equally succesful class rivals, nonetheless.

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