2021 Chevrolet Blazer

That side view reveals a canopy-style roof that has blacked-out pillars that appear to make the roof float. It’s a well-worn visual trick, but one that works well with the Blazer’s chunky wheel housings and for its big grille and LED headlights. The visual wake-up call ends at the taillights, where the Camaro-like shapes are too small for the crossover. 

Inside, the Blazer dons a wing-like dash that compromises some functions. A touchscreen takes up center stage, flanked by banks of buttons, and secondary controls sit wherever they can. The USB ports are above the smartphone storage bin, where they need to be, but the slim strip of climate controls that run across the center stack are too small to operate easily. The Blazer’s big round air vents use their trim rings to change temperature, but the vents themselves are poorly located and blow air into the driver’s eyes. Good-looking? Yes, but they’re less than helpful.

Not very fast when it’s saddled with the base 193-hp 2.5-liter inline-4. The Blazer’s a chunky five-seater, and that’s just not enough power to motivate its 4,007 pounds even with a clever, well-sorted 9-speed automatic. It’s too slow, makes too much noise, and isn’t very fuel-efficient.

We’d select the quicker, nicer-sounding 230-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 that joined the lineup last year. It’s offered with all-wheel drive and the same 9-speed. There’s considerably stronger pull from a stop with this engine, and though the automatic skips around more in search of the ideal gear, the quieter acceleration put this mid-range offering at the top of the shopping list.

At the top of the range, a burbly 308-hp 3.6-liter V-6 couples again with the 9-speed and front- or all-wheel drive. This Blazer’s brawn can tow with authority (up to 4,500 pounds), and it makes the best sounds of all the drivetrains offered in the mid-size crossover.

Is the Chevy Blazer 4WD?

All-wheel drive is offered on nearly every model, but 4-cylinder Blazers have a simpler setup which disconnects the rear wheels until the fronts spin, then engages them to shift half the power to the rear. V-6 Blazers have a more sophisticated twin-clutch rear differential which can move torque across the rear axle; that improves traction and improves handling.

All Blazers have a firm, assertively damped ride and relatively crisp steering, and at a minimum, 18-inch wheels. The Blazer’s independent suspension fidgets a bit over roughly textured pavement, but it keeps a straight line on the interstate. Chevy fits 20-inch wheels (or 21s, for a price) on the Blazer RS and Premier—and these versions ride better than base versions in spite of stiffer struts and shocks on the RS and a quicker steering ratio, too.

With available drive modes, the Blazer RS can be switched into a sport mode that moves power across the rear axle, and helps reduce the typical crossover dullness into a sweeter tune. The RS holds lower gears longer, the steering picks up more weight, and cuts corners in the best way possible. 

Chevy sells heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats on some versions.

The second-row seat slides on a track to provide more of the Blazer’s already good leg room, and head room is no issue. Like the front seats, the Blazer’s back bench could use some more padding, though.

Behind those seats the Blazer has 30.5 cubic feet for cargo; fold them down, and the storage space expands to 64.2 cubic feet. That’s not much more than you’ll find in the slightly smaller Chevy Equinox, but high-end Blazers come off much better in fit and finish thanks to their active noise cancellation and upholstered dash.

The feature becomes standard on the 2LT and above, in cahoots with blind-spot monitors and rear parking sensors. GM also offers a rear camera mirror on some models, while it makes its most advanced safety features available on the Blazer RS and Premier—including adaptive cruise control. We’d advise all of them, especially since the Blazer has relatively short side windows and thick roof pillars, all of which cuts into the view outside.

Which Chevy Blazer should I buy?

We like the Blazer 2LT, which also costs about $34,000 and gets the turbo-4 standard, or the 3LT, which for about $38,000 adds blind-spot monitors, a power tailgate, a power front passenger seat, heated front seats and leather upholstery. Both of these can be fitted with the V-6—and both now come with automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and automatic high-beam headlights.

How much is a fully loaded Chevrolet Blazer?

The Blazer RS and Blazer Premier both cost more than $42,000. The Blazer RS sports navigation, a heated steering wheel, remote start, a power tailgate, and 20-inch wheels. Options include heated rear seats,  cooled front seats, a rear camera mirror, a sunroof, and 21-inch wheels. Most drivers will prefer the more cushy Premier, with its heated rear seats,  cooled front seats, power tilt/telescope steering and Bose audio.

Chevy offers options such as wireless smartphone charging and a surround-view camera system. 

The Blazer’s 8.0-inch touchscreen interface is cleanly designed and works quite well, but we’d pass on the $10-a-month cloud-connected navigation. The average smartphone delivers the same directions at no extra cost.

The EPA pegs the V-6 front-drive Blazer at 19/26/21 mpg, and at 18/25/21 mpg with all-wheel drive.