Chevrolet Trailblazer First Drive Road Test Review

In the recent past General Motors India has been in the news for some good reasons. One of them is that Ms May Barra, CEO of General Motors globally has promised to pump in 1 $ billion more into India. This is definitely music to the boys out here. More money means more cars ...whether they make it here or import it from their backyard in Thailand. The Chevrolet Trailblazer will be a big one for the company. It’s big in all terms, size, performance and price.

To take on the likes of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour and priced at Rs 26.40 lakh, the Trailblazer is a mighty machine that could find favour among the big lads of our country. Indians have a penchant for driving big cars and at every price bracket there is one customer waiting to climb on to the driver’s seat.

Report: P.Tharyan  & Photography: Mohd. Nasir 

When we got our hands on the latest SUV from General Motors, we were impressed by two things...its mighty stance and its even mightier engine. Yes this 2.8 litre Duramax diesel engine has some crazy power and some very crazy torque. The engine produces 200hp @ 3600rpm and a peak torque of 500Nm @ 2000rp. Even though it is a rear wheel driven car without a 4X4 feature, the fact is that even on uneven and off road terrains, it can pull itself out of any mess. I was able to demonstrate that quite clearly when we took it up a steep broken piece of track. The SUV simply glided over it with its four massive tyres rolling past the hurdles. 

The four-cylinder 2.8-litre Duramax dieselengine comes with double overhead camshafts, 16 valves, a water-cooled, variable geometry turbocharger and common-rail injection. Engine refinement is quite laudable in this Chevy beast. The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and a simple dip of the accelerator pedal sends this huge machine roaring ahead. The gears shift very rapidly and the moment you accelerate you can feel the vehicle lurching forward.

On a straight tarmac, the Trailblazer was a smoothie. It simply sped as though it was a light footed gazelle out for a sprint. The vehicle comes with Front Dual Airbags, Anti lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), Hill Start Assist (HSA), Hill Descent Control System (HDC), Traction Control System (TCS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Cornering Brake Control (CBC) and Panic Brake Assist (PBA). Now all these features come to your aid whether you are on a rough track or speeding down a lonely winding road.

On the looks front, the Chevy Trailblazer comes out as a neat, big fella. It’s not radically designed nor is it overly ornamented with silly claddings. It’s neat and it’s big, to put it simply. It’s like a gentle giant. It has the Chevy split grille and a subtly imposing front. It has sporty cannon type projection type front headlamps, projection type front fog lamps with chrome surround, rear fog lamps, chrome outside mirrors with led turn indicators, LED tail lamps, dual tone metallic roof rails, rear defogger with timer and those 6 Spoke 18 Inch alloy wheels (Including an alloy spare wheel tucked away under the boot area). The massive 265/60 R18 tyres dominate the land the SUV treads, whether rough or smooth. Chrome is used sparingly on the outside with a bit of chrome grip type door handles and chrome rear garnish. 

As for the interiors, the car comes with premium dual tone athos beige and charcoal black wraparound theme, a corvette inspired dual cockpit interiors, triple pod instrument cluster with icy blue illumination and leather wrapped gear selector and 3 spoke steering wheel. There is ample storage space both around the dash area as well as on inner door panels and elsewhere. For those in search of power there are four 12 V Sockets – two are in front, one each is for the second and third rows.

For the comfort of the passengers and the driver there is a tropicalised automatic climate control ac system, dedicated rear ac system with 2nd & 3rd row vents & blower controls, cruise control, tilt adjustable steering column, rear view camera with touch screen display, rear park assist with adaptive gridline and buzzer warning, power adjustable & foldable outside mirrors with turn indicators, etc.

The SUV also has an automatic door lock, theatre dimming effect for map lamp and centre lamps (2nd & 3rd row), luggage area illumination and dimmable instrument cluster and displays.  As for the infotainment the car comes with a 7 Inch ‘MyLink’ Infotainment Audio Touchscreen with Smartphone App Link , an Integrated 2 DIN Radio/MP3/USB/AUX/VIDEO/BLUETOOTH Audio System and a premium 6 speakers system.

Talking of seating, the driver seat has the best to offer. The car has a 6 way power adjustable driver seat. Now you better think twice before asking your chauffeur to drive this mammoth, tamed beast. It has 60:40 split double folding 2nd row seats with 4 step recline function, 50:50 split collapsible 3rd row seats and a theatre type 5+2 flexi seating (flat folding type seat layout). Fold all the seats behind the driver seat and you get ample space to put in your mattress for two people to snuggle in comfortably!

The Chevrolet Trailblazer performed well on both smooth roads as well as rough terrains. It’s not one of the blue blooded off-roaders. But it does take you out of some of the rough patches if you were to come across them.  Keeping in mind India’s terrible roads and a crumbling infrastructure, this no-nonsense SUV from Chevrolet could be the ideal vehicle to transport your family in comfort and safety! It’s like the gentle giant you would love to befriend.