[Kayfive]

Chevy has outlined some of the options that will be made available on the new Blazer. Their Enhanced Convenience and Driver Confidence II Package will be exclusive to the RS trim and comes with a bunch of added goodies. Heated and ventilated seats, their new infotainment 3 system, an 8 inch touchscreen and the premium Bose audio system. It will also had a suite of safety tech including Adaptive Cruise, Forward Automatic Braking and LKAS.

 

[Layne]

I do think that automakers should be making these kinds of safety systems standard and not exclusive to the top end trim levels. If companies like Nissan can offer Pro Pilot free of charge, then surely its still profitable to do so.

 

[Rhett]

I agree and think its only a matter of time before these new safety systems became mandated by the government. I will say that I have found these lane keep assist features to be a bit overbearing and I don't particularly like the idea of having to forcefully fight against it.

 

[Kayfive]

Most of the time lkas is something that can be disabled, as I too have found that sometimes it does more harm than good. Automatic braking can also be a bit unreliable, and its not something that I'm interested in road testing.

 

[Layne]

As with anything is probably better to have it and not need it. These kinds of systems make highway driving a lot more comfortable for longer trips.

 

[Rhett]

Since the top end trims are looking to price out around $50k, that is going to limit the amount of people who even have these packages options. I hope they don't make it much more than a couple hundred bucks.

 

[Layne]

You are probably looking at an extra couple grand for all the bells and whistles. Don't know how much interest there is going to be in the higher trim levels, since they don't come with any significant revisions to the powertrain.

 

[Kayfive]

Do you need more than 300hp in a family hauler? Should go pretty good when equipped with AWD. Start/stop tech should help to keep fuel economy reasonable.

 

[trailblazer]

Most rivals fall inbetween the 250-280 range of power output and with todays forced induction engines, torque and power curves are optimized further for lower end output.

 

[Rhett]

There is a growing trend in performance oriented SUV's, so I don't think consumers will ever really be satisfied with specs. Numbers on paper don't accurately represent how the Blazer will actually perform however, so we will have to wait on some drive tests.

 

[trailblazer]

Sometimes including enough form and function to create the perception of what it can do is enough, very few care about the details. Good enough is good enough.

 

[Layne]

Sadly that's the exact mindset that all automakers have come to when it comes to launching new crossovers. They are all just slightly tweaked versions of one another, with parts borrowed from other models in their lineups.

 

[trailblazer]

A and B testing is the classic way to find out what people want with real examples. Challenging times for car makers, entirely new generations have come along causing this shift (not that its a bad thing) but eventually we'll see the elimination of certain models.

 

[Rhett]

Trimming lineups was long overdue, as there is no need for multiple sedan and crossover options imo. I know Ford is doubling down on that segment but I think there are going to have a tough time trying to distinguish each model from one another. They are all going to borrow platforms and powertrains from each other.