Consumer Reports April 2021 Auto-Guide Released: TrailBlazer Rated Poorly
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Seems heavily based on "Predicted Reliability" which... I guess that's what the tarot cards told them?
Surprised with how much talk about the TB being slow and underpowered I've seen in reviews, it seems to stack up pretty well at 0-60 times.
They also didn't factor in the one aspect that matters most to me... It looks insanely nicer than any other vehicle in that segment to me. I've essentially sold 2 more Trailblazers for Chevy since driving mine around.
Surprised with how much talk about the TB being slow and underpowered I've seen in reviews, it seems to stack up pretty well at 0-60 times.
They also didn't factor in the one aspect that matters most to me... It looks insanely nicer than any other vehicle in that segment to me. I've essentially sold 2 more Trailblazers for Chevy since driving mine around.
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For non-subscribers, their "road test" score is not just a skidpad, acceleration, and braking test like at Car&Driver that just concerns itself with performance but is more like an overall driving score.
Even things like how tight the turn radius affect the score, as does how comfortable the suspension is over rough surfaces, how loud the tires are on various surfaces, engine noise, and for crossovers how well it handles their offroad course. The CX-30 had problems with most testers taking it off road due to a low and long front lip, which would give it negative marks even if its the best handling on-road. TFL for example tested the Seltos, CX-30, and TB IIRC, and the Seltos literally burned its DCT clutches with an overheat warning, the CX-30 couldn't even make it up the first part because of clearance issues, and the TB Activ trim did fine up their moderate line test.
CR actually have their own huge test track, and the road test is quite involved with a wide variety of tests from emergency avoidance to how well automated braking systems and the like work. Ford for example got dinged when their automated pedestrian detection system kept running over their dummies, when Kias and Hyundais were stopping fine in the exact same setup.
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Its been hugely inaccurate for first year models, like the 2020 Kia Soul the predicted reliability was based on the brand itself and prior year models which were reliable, but due to issues with their IVT (basically a CVT) failing prematurely for many subscribers, they changed it from "most reliable" in April 2020 issue to "lowest reliability" in April 2021 issue, took it off their recommended list, and put the Soul in their "worst used cars" category. Predicting the future is hard, and who would have guessed Kia's IVTs would be grenading left and right.
It is objectively slow 0-60 wise because of the horsepower to weight ratio, but people always say horsepower wins races but torque is how it feels 99% of the time when you're not driving, and I've watched a crapton of reviews and in fact they all said it feels much more powerful than its 0-60mph time implies because of that big midrange torque. I don't think power was a big quibble except with those V8 owners of previous generation that were mad it was a smaller platform with a three cylinder on principle.
Its hands down the best looking, and I think they may have also forgotten that the front seat folds flat, which none of its competitors do and does increase capacity a huge amount if its just two people in the car on a camping trip or whatever.
Sad they think so badly of the TB. I find it fun to drive. Has good acceleration. I don't find an issue with visibility. There average mileage reported is a bit of concern. Why was it so low? I have averaged 29 over the last 11 months. It gets a lot of short trips and cold winter weather. Is it truly fair to match it up against vehicles with half a liter of more bigger engine?
A lot of vehicles have a "viewability problem" but I don't find that an issue with my new TB. Yes the engine is a little noisy at the go but going down the freeway its quiet and more comfortable than I thought. I like the fold down back seats for more room as well. Handling seems to be fine for me but I can't compare it to the others. All I know is for the amount of comfort features vs. price on my AWD LT it was thousands less than the others.
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CR Auto is a pay to win the rating segment. Always has been always will be.
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What the hell do they know? I’m really enjoying my RS CVT. I always joked about the Oriental “Rice Burners”. Now I’m driving one!
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