2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer
A car I certainly have fond memories of, usually when I visited the United States and needed to rent a car. In the past I'd rent from Alamo, and their top line Family SUV was the Chevy Blazer S-10 back in the 1990's, but in about 2002 they changed it to the new TrailBlazer, and if I'm honest this car was just as good as the previous Blazer.
The TrailBlazer nameplate was introduced in 1999 as an upscale trim line of the Blazer. In 2002, the TrailBlazer turned into a separate model. Production of the Blazer overlapped with the TrailBlazer until 2005, when the 2-door was sold at dealers while the 4-door was fleet only.
When the TrailBlazer gained its own identity in 2002, it was built on General Motors' GMT360 platform, with all models having four-wheel drive as an option with both automatic engagement and the more traditional "4 High" and "4 Low" gearings, except the SS model which features an All wheel drive system. The TrailBlazer features an independent front suspension, and a five-link rear suspension. A G80 locking rear differential is available as an option on all models except for the SS which has a G86 LSD standard. An 'LTZ' version, has upgraded interior features (leather), better sound system (Bose), alloy wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes. All TrailBlazers came factory equipped with a detachable towing hitch.
The TrailBlazer was facelifted for 2005. A new front fascia and interior trim were included with the refresh, but only apply to the upper-level LT models. The LS trim still has a similar front and rear fascia to the 02-04 models. The SS gets trim-specific front and rear fascias plus colormatched side skirts.
The TrailBlazer came with a 273hp all-aluminum 4.2L "Atlas" LL8 inline-six engine standard and an optional 302hp aluminium small-block 5.3L V8 with Active Fuel Management. The inline-six makes the TrailBlazer the most powerful six-cylinder SUV in its class. The Active Fuel Management system on the V8 engine shuts off 4 of the 8 cylinders during highway travel and idle to save fuel. The 6-cylinder versions of the TrailBlazer get up to 20 miles per US gallon on the highway.
The TrailBlazer won the North American Truck of the Year award in 2002. The 4.2L I6 Atlas LL8 appeared on the Ward's 10 Best Engines list from 2002–2005 with innovative features such as DOHC, Variable Valve Timing (VVT) on the exhaust camshaft, and GM's patented Lost-foam casting process.
The Long-Wheelbase platform of the TrailBlazer was also used as a basis for the controversial and somewhat lacklustre Chevy SSR.
This particular generation of the TrailBlazer was ceased in 2009, with a three year gap in this model until 2012 when a new TrailBlazer was unveiled to the public. In all, around 1.5 million of these cars were sold, certainly not as many as the all too famous Ford F-Series truck of the same year, but still fairly successful.
2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer
A car I certainly have fond memories of, usually when I visited the United States and needed to rent a car. In the past I'd rent from Alamo, and their top line Family SUV was the Chevy Blazer S-10 back in the 1990's, but in about 2002 they changed it to the new TrailBlazer, and if I'm honest this car was just as good as the previous Blazer.
The TrailBlazer nameplate was introduced in 1999 as an upscale trim line of the Blazer. In 2002, the TrailBlazer turned into a separate model. Production of the Blazer overlapped with the TrailBlazer until 2005, when the 2-door was sold at dealers while the 4-door was fleet only.
When the TrailBlazer gained its own identity in 2002, it was built on General Motors' GMT360 platform, with all models having four-wheel drive as an option with both automatic engagement and the more traditional "4 High" and "4 Low" gearings, except the SS model which features an All wheel drive system. The TrailBlazer features an independent front suspension, and a five-link rear suspension. A G80 locking rear differential is available as an option on all models except for the SS which has a G86 LSD standard. An 'LTZ' version, has upgraded interior features (leather), better sound system (Bose), alloy wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes. All TrailBlazers came factory equipped with a detachable towing hitch.
The TrailBlazer was facelifted for 2005. A new front fascia and interior trim were included with the refresh, but only apply to the upper-level LT models. The LS trim still has a similar front and rear fascia to the 02-04 models. The SS gets trim-specific front and rear fascias plus colormatched side skirts.
The TrailBlazer came with a 273hp all-aluminum 4.2L "Atlas" LL8 inline-six engine standard and an optional 302hp aluminium small-block 5.3L V8 with Active Fuel Management. The inline-six makes the TrailBlazer the most powerful six-cylinder SUV in its class. The Active Fuel Management system on the V8 engine shuts off 4 of the 8 cylinders during highway travel and idle to save fuel. The 6-cylinder versions of the TrailBlazer get up to 20 miles per US gallon on the highway.
The TrailBlazer won the North American Truck of the Year award in 2002. The 4.2L I6 Atlas LL8 appeared on the Ward's 10 Best Engines list from 2002–2005 with innovative features such as DOHC, Variable Valve Timing (VVT) on the exhaust camshaft, and GM's patented Lost-foam casting process.
The Long-Wheelbase platform of the TrailBlazer was also used as a basis for the controversial and somewhat lacklustre Chevy SSR.
This particular generation of the TrailBlazer was ceased in 2009, with a three year gap in this model until 2012 when a new TrailBlazer was unveiled to the public. In all, around 1.5 million of these cars were sold, certainly not as many as the all too famous Ford F-Series truck of the same year, but still fairly successful.