Chevrolet Trailblazer, Track Test

If you’ve been following our work, you would have read our review of the Chevrolet Trailblazer – in which Abhishek developed a liking for this humongous SUV despite its limitations. The truth is that the ride isn’t very comfortable, and it isn’t very well equipped.

But what you have to take into account here is that the Trailblazer is over two seconds faster around the BIC than the Ford Endeavour. So, there you go, with 30Nm more torque, the Trailblazer has just beaten its newest and most formidable rival at a racetrack. Not that this titbit of information is going to matter much in the real world, but it’s an achievement nonetheless.

But when you consider how the Trailblazer behaves on the road, it’s quite important that this SUV drives rather well. Body control is decent, and the whole car is quite well balanced on the ladder frame chassis. Out on the open road, the Trailblazer can take wide sweeping bends confidently at speed. But here at the track, it does roll around and pitch back and forth a little too much for comfort – but understandably so.

Still, its 2.8-litre turbo diesel dishes out a healthy 197bhp and a full 500Nm of torque. Power delivery is good, once you eclipse the 1,800rpm mark. Its meaty mid-range ensures good grunt and the gearbox responds decently to gear changes – although there is some delay in throttle response at times. But once that 500Nm kicks in, the Trailblazer forgets its size and darts forward in a surprisingly brisk manner.

The trouble is that the Trailblazer already looks and feels dated, the quality levels are disappointing and overall refinement is lacking. And so it’s back to the drawing board for Chevrolet it seems.

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