The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- A swoopy break with the past
- On-point handling
- Turbo-4’s plenty…
- ...but V-6 is bawdy
- Standard safety tech
Dislikes
- Equinox’s about the same size
- Seats aren’t comfortable
- Scattered cockpit switches
- Middling gas mileage
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2022 Chevrolet Blazer cozies up to suburbia with crossover bona fides, and ditches its former truck roots.
What kind of car is the 2022 Chevy Blazer? What does it compare to?
With the Blazer, Chevrolet wraps a daring body around a conventional five-passenger crossover cabin. The vintage off-road nameplate aside, it’s a contemporary family wagon, with the usual choices of turbo-4 or V-6 engines and front- or all-wheel drive. Competition for the Blazer includes the Ford Edge, GMC Acadia, Honda Passport, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Nissan Murano.
Is the 2022 Chevy Blazer a good car?
It’s not a home run, but it’s a solid effort with great space and good infotainment. Sold in LT, RS, and Premier trim, it’s worth a TCC Rating of 6.5 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What’s new for the 2022 Chevy Blazer?
Chevy dropped the former 193-hp base 4-cylinder and the L trim level. What hasn’t changed is the Blazer’s batwing style. A dramatic curve swoops from the front end up into the rear roofline in one continuous rising line that blanks off in a black piece of trim, lending a floating appearance to the roof. It’s arresting, in the only way we like, but not everyone is convinced it looks good. The cockpit has winglike lines that strand some minor controls into inconvenient places, but it’s a looker.
We like the Blazer’s 228-hp turbo-4 and front-wheel drive for its smart acceleration, and ride and handling are firmer than the usual crossover. That said, the Blazer RS outfitted with a barking 308-hp V-6 and trick all-wheel drive with torque-vectoring that betters traction across the rear wheels gives this Blazer road manners nothing like its trucky-SUV past. The muscle-car sounds come in tandem with a 4,500-pound tow rating.
The Blazer’s five-passenger cabin needs better seats to live up to its space. The front seats in particular have narrow, short bottom cushions that leave us wanting—but cargo space blooms to almost 64 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. That’s about the same as the slightly smaller and cheaper Equinox, mind you.
Crash-test scores have been good, and now that the base Blazer L is toast, every version has automatic emergency braking, while most can be suited up with a surround-view camera system and a rear camera mirror.
How much does the 2022 Chevy Blazer cost?
Base prices start around $35,000 for the Blazer 2LT and its turbo-4, 18-inch wheels, power driver seat, and 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You’ll pay in the mid-$40,000s for a Blazer Premier with the V-6, Bose audio, and bigger wheels.
Where is the 2022 Chevy Blazer made?
In Spring Hill, Tennessee.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Styling
A winglike dash and a jaunty body make the Blazer stand out.
Is the Chevy Blazer a good-looking car?
It’s grabby, even if the upswept rear end and some interior details are more flashy than functional. It’s a 7 for us, with a point each for the cockpit and the body.
The Blazer has a big grille and slim LED headlights, but it’s the side view that stands out. With blacked-out roof pillars, the roof appears to float, like a jet canopy—or so it’s hoped. The effect works well with the Blazer’s thick haunches and chunky wheel wells, but comes to a screeching halt at the back where Camaro-like taillights look too small.
The Blazer’s wing-shaped dash cuts into its functionality. A big touchscreen joins banks of switches and buttons for ease of use, but some secondary controls get scattered around the cabin or are made small to fit the shape. We’re looking at you, ribbon of climate control switches. Round air vents operate flawlessly with rotating trim rings to change temperature, but the air flow doesn’t reach where it should thanks to offset placement.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Performance
Take the turbo-4 for a performance value.
With its sharper steering and firmly sprung ride, the Blazer’s tuned for better handling than the vast majority of crossover SUVs. The raspy exhaust of the RS edition? It’s a bonus, though we still pick the turbo-4 for its value. We check in here with a 7 for performance, adding bonus points for handling and available powertrains.
How fast is the Chevy Blazer?
Now that the old 193-hp inline-4 is gone, the chunky 4,007-lb five-seater has a much livelier feel. Its base 228-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 sounds sweeter, builds power more quickly, and couples with a 9-speed automatic to put out strong low-end pull. The 9-speed dances around more than we’d prefer, but it finds the ideal gear most of the time.
Of course, when more ripe acceleration and a burbly exhaust note are required, GM’s 3.6-liter V-6 steps in. Again teamed to the 9-speed and front- or all-wheel drive, the V-6 sounds brawny, drops hotter acceleration, and tows with authority (the Blazer’s rated to pull 3,500 lb max with the turbo-4, up to 4,500 lb with the V-6). Few mid-size crossovers at this price put out this kind of soundtrack.
Is the Chevy Blazer 4WD?
All come with front-wheel drive, but the turbo-4 Blazer has a simple all-wheel-drive option that only connects power to the rear wheels when the front wheels lose traction. On the V-6 Blazer, a superior system has a twin-clutch rear differential that can shift power between the rear wheels for better traction and handling.
Through its drive mode selector, the Blazer RS can be flicked into a sport mode that activates that rear-end traction action. It’s the cue for the transmission to hold low gears, and for the steering to weight up. That cuts deeply into the typically dull responses from bigger crossovers, and helps the Blazer RS cut corners the right way.
No matter the Blazer you choose, it’ll have crisp steering and an assertively firm ride. With 18- to 21-inch wheels, it can seem jarring and fidgety over big patches of road rash; RS and Premier versions ride better than LT models with smaller wheels due to stiffer struts and shocks, and they steer with more precision, too. In all, we’re impressed with the Blazer’s sporty demeanor and its focused highway tracking.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Comfort & Quality
Brother, can you spare a wider bottom cushion?
The Blazer strikes the sweet spot for size among crossovers, but Chevy installs seats that zap comfort. We give the Blazer a 6 for comfort and utility; it picks up a point for cargo space, but loses possible points for front and rear seat comfort.
Narrow and uncomfortable, the Blazer’s front seats at least have 8-way power adjustment and leather upholstery; heating and cooling can be fitted, and RS and Premier Blazers don fancy perforated leather. Still, we’d give up all the power touches for a wider, softer seat—something Volvo fits to its similarly sized XC60 for about the same price. The short and skinny seat bottoms just don’t fit medium to large people very well, and their firm padding doesn’t help matters.
Row two in the Blazer has a nifty sliding action to flex people and cargo space, but the bench seat itself needs thicker padding to go with the heated-bench option. Head and leg room? No issue, and the Blazer almost can fit three across comfortably.
The Blazer’s 30.5 cubic feet of cargo space grows to 64.2 cubic feet in two-seat mode. It’s not much larger than the less expensive Chevy Equinox, but the Blazer’s style and fit and finish strike us as much nicer, from its upholstered dash to its better sound damping and active noise cancellation.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Safety
The Blazer protects passengers well.
How safe is the Chevy Blazer?
It’s very safe, by crash-test scores alone. The IIHS rates it “Good” in its metal-bashing methodology—but “Marginal” and “Poor” headlights block it from Top Safety Pick status.
The NHTSA gives it five stars overall, with a four-star score in rollover resistance.
With its base versions broomed, all Blazers now come with automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and automatic high-beam headlights, as well as blind-spot monitors and rear parking sensors. Options on top trims include a surround-view camera system and a rear camera mirror; we recommend the former, since the Blazer’s chunky roof pillars blot out the view to the rear quarters.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Features
The Blazer’s score rises as it loses a base edition.
With the base Blazer gone from the lineup, prices have risen—but so has the crossover’s score here. It’s an 8, with points for standard equipment, for infotainment, and for value.
Which Chevy Blazer should I buy?
We’d opt into the Blazer 2LT, which costs about $35,000. It has the turbo-4, 18-inch wheels, keyless start, a power driver seat, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. For a few thousand dollars more, the 3LT gains a power front passenger seat, heated front seats, a power tailgate, and leather upholstery. Both can be fitted with the V-6.
How much is a fully loaded Chevrolet Blazer?
It’s more than $42,000 for either the Blazer RS or Blazer Premier. The RS offers remote start, navigation, and 20-inch wheels, with options for cooled front seats, wireless smartphone charging, a sunroof, heated rear seats, a rear camera mirror, a surround-view camera system, and 21-inch wheels. The cushier Premier loads up with Bose audio and power tilt/telescoping steering.
The Blazer’s infotainment interface works well and has a clean design, but skip the subscription-based, cloud-connected navigation and use your free smartphone setup instead.
2022 Chevrolet Blazer Fuel Economy
The best Blazer’s EPA ratings are mid-pack.
Is the Chevrolet Blazer good on gas?
It’s OK, by the standards of its size class. The EPA scores the turbo-4 Blazer at 22 mpg city, 29 highway, 25 combined. That earns a 4 here. With all-wheel drive the turbo-4 gets pegged at 22/27/24 mpg.
V-6 versions check in at 19/27/22 mpg with front-wheel drive and 19/26/21 mpg with all-wheel traction.
