Interior
reviewed by
Redesigned throughout, the Blazer?s interior feels open and airy. The sense of increased roominess, however, is due largely to the increase in width. There?s definitely more hip and shoulder room, but the Blazer still lags the Explorer in legroom in front and rear. Rear-seat legroom, in fact, has been fractionally reduced in the new Blazer.
Cargo room has been expanded, largely by stowing the spare tire beneath the vehicle, but here, too, the Explorer is the leader of the pack.
However, the Blazer?s split-folding rear seatback design does lend itself to storage versatility, and the whole thing folds forward easily to provide a flat cargo floor.
We rate the Blazer?s redesigned seats as good but not outstanding. Our test vehicle had twin bucket seats up front, and the consensus was that they were a little short in under-thigh support.
The Blazer?s new dashboard, on the other hand, is very good indeed - a garden of ergonomic delight compared with the previous Blazer.
The climate controls have also been reworked; they are now simple rotary knobs you can operate even when you?re wearing gloves. Our only criticism here is that they?re at at extreme right of the center panel, requiring a bit of a stretch to reach.
Perhaps even more important than the control improvement is the performance of the heating/ventilation system itself. Airflow to rear-seat passengers in previous Blazers was poor, particularly at floor level, and that? been corrected.
The Blazer finally joins the sport/utility passive safety mainstream with the addition of a driver?s airbag, although we?d like to see one for the passenger as well. Child-proof rear door locks are standard, and side-impact door beams were already in place in the previous Blazer.
There are lots of small bins and pockets for stowing stuff, as well as several cupholders.
An example of the many thoughtful detail touches in the new cabin is the presence of not one but two 12-volt power accessory plug-ins. And we?re also very happy to report that GM is finally abandoning its two-key system. One key does it all.
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