2013 Chevrolet TrailBlazer - The Oppo Review

"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs) 12/24/2013 at 21:03 • Filed to: None

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(Full Disclosure: In light of the Thailand built Chevrolet S-10 being now available in America as the Colorado, I thought a review of its closed cabin sister could come in handy. Do keep in mind that, compared to average brazilian Cras, the Blazer is a proper top tier Car, while in the US and other markets, it would probably slot as an entry or mid tier model.)

Hey, do you hear that? No? Then you're probably inside the Chevrolet TrailBlazer. I don't know why I decided to start talking about this car based on how quiet it is, but that should speak at least a little about how really quiet this car is. Turn off the radio, get up to highway speeds, and I you won't hear more than a gentle breeze blowing by. Turn on the radio, and it will muffle out any exterior noises completely, while interior noises are noticeably absent. Seriously, this is by far the quietest car I've ever driven, and it has the best audio quality as well, hands down. Heather, as we call her, is approaching her first anniversary, and it's still about as quiet as it was when we first picked her up. She simply doesn't rattle, squeak or creak, which brings me to the next topic; build quality.

See, up until a few years ago, cars in brazil were expected to fall apart right after purchase. You couldn't park one in the sun under the risk of the plasticky interiors melting and the low quality bushings rupturing, exposing your ears to a symphony of noises, and squeaks and cricketing. The cars I grew up with felt and sounded like bags of metal poorly jumbled together, so maybe that's why I'm so surprised at how solid this car feels. Nevermind that Heather was built by the same company that spent the last 15 years selling rehashed mid 90's Opels, with all their glaring flaws, this car is solid, without being harsh. The doors have a nice, heavy feel to them, and they close with the infamous "refrigerator clunk". The interior still features its fair share of hard plastics, but it is much better put together than the stuff I'm used to. There's no gaps or significant play among panels, no rough edges and no exposed fasteners. I don't have any pictures at hand, but the interior design is clean and simple, not too busy, and works well with the angular lines outside.

Speaking of the interior, the ergonomics are also pretty good. The seats have a surprising amount of side support, almost as much as the Recaros on my Tipo (best seats I've ever tried), and the amount of space on the first and second row of seats is nothing short of phenomenal. Seriously, I'm 6-something tall and I can ride with the front seat almost all the way forward without felxing my legs too much. One major flaw, however, is that the second row of seats is fixed to the floor, so the legroom in the third row of seats is somewhat limited. I fail to see the logic behind that when even our Zafira had adjustable middle seats. What, did they run out of room? I doubt it, since, at any given time, there will be too much room at either the front or the middle row, never at the back row. Still, seating for seven is pretty good and we recently covered a little under 800 km with passengers on all three rows and lots of luggage with no complaints from anyone. Driving position is also pretty good, and the commands are easy to read and operate, probably thanks to the clean interior design I mentioned earlier and...

Ok, this is not working. I figured I should be as thorough as possible, but I don't really know what to say about build quality and ergonomics and all that crap. It's a good car, ok? Plus, that's not what you wanna read is it? Oppo wants to know how this car drives right? That much I can do.

So, our model came with the 240 hp 3.6 V6, coupled to a 6 speed automatic gearbox, the blandest of all bland powertrain combos, a borefest right? Well, no. Granted this is all my own particular opinion based on the stuff I grew up with, but during the short amount of time we've had her, I've had quite a lot of fun behind the wheel. She's surprisingly stable and easy to point and go, thanks in part to her massive weight, and the steering is not even near as robotic as I expected. There's a nice roadfeel to it, and the car never feels underpowered or undertoque'd. I found her to be a very enjoyable car when cruising down the avenue at steady speeds, listening to music with the windows rolled down, but I also had my fair share of flatout, fishtailing, front-wheels-out-of-the-ground, is-that-a-cop-in-the-rearview-mirror driving. Remember when I said she was quiet? Well, yeah, stomp on the gas and she'll hesitate for a second while the transmission picks the best gear, then lean backwards as the engine growls a loud, low pitched rumble, not too differently from a small block V8 and the car darts ahead. I'm not saying she's fast, just that she feels fast on the narrow, single lane streets of Brazil, and that's about all you need to have fun. The suspension, while not particularly stiff, will cope well with the moon made asphalt used in Brazil, and, in 2WD mode, power goes to the right wheels only, so it's not too hard to get the tail out. In the wet, she's a blast. All that lends itself to a car that is most fun when driven in a getaway style. I won't detail all the stuff I've been doing with her on this summer vacation, but let's just say you can get away with a lot on a small town in the back end of Brazil. Oh yeah, another thing I just remembered that caught my eye, maybe I should'e put it with build quality, is how clean this Blazer's built. Granted, she's a large car, so there's room to spare on the engine bay and among the underpinnings, but I also found everything to be thoroughly organized. No loose wires or crooked plubming here, everything follows a set, extremely well organized and labeled path and if I wasn't a broke fuck, I'd be ordering parts online right now because that's how easy working on her would be.

Also, I guess that's it. I don't know what more to say because I already said too much.

TL;DR: The S10/TrailBlazer/Colorado is a large, heavy motherfucker with a heart of gold that's about as comfortable quietly cruising down main street blasting some chillaxing music as being driven with the foot nailed to the floor, sliding the tail out and jumping over stuff. Also, lots of space and extremely well organized underpinnings would make her a blast to work on.

The conclusion, however, is that what is a premium priced piece of luxury motoring in Brazil would be entry level work metal in other, better developed markets, which is pretty sad for us down here. I'll echo the feelings of C&D editors, when reviewing the 1967 Impala SS, and say that every car should be this solid and feature all the stuff the Blazer features, then they could bring out a model that's actually worth the 150 thousand pricetag.

EDIT: Oh yeah, as bad as this was, I may do a review on the Chevy Onix my parents bought just 982 km ago. It won't be seeing the american market, but it's a cool car nonetheless.

EL_ULY > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/24/2013 at 23:12

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Did I read that correctly, in 2wd mode the power goes to the right wheels only? If so, that's odd lol. Doesn't look like it'll seat seven but I believe you lol. If me and the future miss ULY make it to Brasil, i'll keep this in mind, very well done buddy :]

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > EL_ULY 12/24/2013 at 23:15

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As opposed to the "wrong" wheels, haha ;)

As for seating seven, it might not look like it, but this is easily the biggest car built in Brazil and one of the biggest available in the local market that doesn't require a C grade license.

EL_ULY > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/24/2013 at 23:21

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Yes indeed sir lol :] It'll move people around for sure, but nothing will top a Combi, going to miss them, plenty still in Mexico DF for me to bang my head on during speed bumps.

EL_ULY > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/24/2013 at 23:24

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Here in Texas, pretty much everyone has a Tahoe or Expedition. I can promise you that at least 60% of the owners probably don't know they are V8 rwd. They see size, buy it because "bigger is safer", and dive it eveywhere even if its 2 blocks away. This vehicle, and utes, would sell like crazy here. I guess GM is saving that "ace" if sales numbers get really bad.

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/26/2013 at 14:39

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Good to see some local market being covered, Blazin as a fellow brazilian enthusiast i would like to see a review of my car, the punto t-jet

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/26/2013 at 15:30

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If I ever get some time behind the wheel of one of those, I'll be sure to write a review. On the other hand, I've been thinking about writing one about my old Sedicivalvole, useless as that would be, haha...

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 08:21

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i dont think it would be useless... i think that car was great even if it did had some engine fires... just kidding it was a great car in its time i was too young too drive back then but my father used to tell me how great it was he was a enthusiast too loved the great brazilian fiats, drove the coupé, the Marea Turbo and the uno turbo wich he always regreted not having bought the little car... hahahaha

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 08:27

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Nah, I was more like saying it wouldn't be very useful because you can hardly find one for sale nowadays, and the few that are left are either crapped out or barely hanging to their original parts.

And when you start putting Brazilian parts in those, you can expect it not to last much longer :/

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 11:15

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i agree, i was discussing in the brazilian jalopnik how difficult it is to find an e36 325i that hasnt been hurt by the "mercado paralelo de peças" as we know, i have always dreamt of finding a good 323ti compact, something thats almost impossible, have you thought about the possibility of buying an alfa 145? the rich cousin to the tipo?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 11:33

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A little, yeah, but what makes this Tipo special to me is the history we share. My old man bought it new in 1995 and I grew up in that car, then in 2006, thanks to engine problems and the 10 thousand reais pricetag that came attached to the service to fix them, I wound up trying to figure out what to do to rebuild the engine at home and, one year later, with a lot of help, the job was done and the car stayed with me. I don't think I'll ever get rid of him either.

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 11:55

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This is awesome man i actually had a similar history myself, my first car was a 95 Ford Mondeo, "Contour" to our american friends, the cars was bought new also in 95 by my father and was passed to me since i loved and we always had plans of working on it together, however unfortunately the car had 245000 kms give it or take when i got it, had a fuel pump failure while i was driving it and almost killed me, luckily nothing happened to me nor the car i was able to stop it and toll it with no big drama however my father was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer and he didnt want to leave me a car that he tought it would give me trouble so the mondeo went down the drain with plans we had for other cars, maybe one day ill get around having another one maybe the rare 2.5 liter v6 we will see, but im glad you kept yours!

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 12:08

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I did have my fair share of issues too, haha... Back in June, when I'd just taken it to college with me, the weather was already getting cold during the day, and nights were specially freezing. One of my colleagues, probably one of the cutest, sweetest girls I know, doesn't live too far off from my place, but taking the bus, on a freezing night in Porto Alegre is not a very sound idea, so I offered her a ride home, and she accepted. As we left the parking lot, foot on the clutch waiting for traffic ahead to clear up, when the pedal bottomed out and the car died. I knew I had a torn actuator, bleeding fluid everywhere, but I couldn't let her know, since I convinced her that a car was a better idea than a bus.

Anyways, that was probably one of the weirdest rides in my life. I couldn't shut up, had to keep talking so she wouldn't notice the car sometimes grinding gears as I felt my way around the gearbox with no clutch and I may or may not have coasted in neutral for a good part of the ride, but, fortunately, I managed to leave her at home and keep going until my place.

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 12:19

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hahahahaha i miss those "headaches" can you believe i have the punto since february and no issues at all? not even with the finishing on the interior... wich as you probably know is famous for something falling out like lego sometimes, im quite impressed with the little car the engine is the best part of course quick and sounds great... the sad part is that im probably going to sell it by the end of january, my sister is leaving the country gonna daily drive her fiat 500 for a while and maybe get a bigger car, im thinking about the jetta Tsi though im not sure yet, been dreaming a lot with a 2008/2007 325i absollutely love the inline 6... i live in Brasília anyways, Porto ALegre has a way more harsh climate man!

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 12:27

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My Tipo is the same, haha... The engine is brilliant, and the short gears, even shorter than a Miata's for example, coupled with the high flow exhaust, make for a lot of fun in city driving and a lot of noise in roadtrips. I've been wanting to get it back on a dyno to see how much of the original horsepower is still there, we measured it in 2007, after finishing the rebuild and a slight rework at the heads and ECU, and the car was turning 180~185 hp, depending on the day.

As for the climate, the problem with Porto Alegre, in particular, and the rest of the state to a lesser extent, are the extremes. In my hometown of Carazinho, on the "highlands", temperatures can go as low as -7 during the winter, with a bit of snow to boot, but right now it's almost 38... Porto Alegre is even hotter than that in the summer and not as cold in the winter, which sucks.

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 12:34

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well my friend, cool to see some healthy power numbers on the Tipo! were getting a shit load of rain here in Brasília, i guess youre luckier than me right now with 38 degrees hahahaha

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 12:37

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I guess so, I hate rain, but I'm kind of a winter person, so this much heat is a little overwhelming. It was fine a week ago when I was at the beach, but right now, I'll be camping under my parents' AC :p

RafaelValenca > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 12/27/2013 at 12:53

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i undestand, my issue with rain is that Brasília´s drivers seem to forget how to drive in those conditions i rarely take thu punto out during the week since the law office i work for pays taxi fo us however ive been using for a week on a daily basis since my mother and sister are traveling so im always scared of something happening hahahaha

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > RafaelValenca 12/27/2013 at 12:57

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I think most cities become chaotic when it rains. In Porto Alegre, people seem to be attracted to malls, the malls in the city get impossibly crowded during the rain, and the streets around them, impossibly slow to drive.

My only ever accident happened in those conditions. Had to take my sister to the mall one rainy saturday, on the way back, the guy in front of me slammed his brakes, I was up to my bumpers in water, slid and hit him from behind. It as just a fender bender, but it was the worst day of my life...