In recent years, the 7-seat SUV market has become more and more hot, especially at a price of about 300,000 yuan, many brands have launched new models, which inevitably makes everyone choose a little dazzling when choosing a car. Today, Uncle Che brought you two good quality American big men, they are Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Trailblazer.
The 2020 Ford Explorer was launched in June last year, and the price range of the new model is 309,800 to 399,800 yuan. The 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer completed the product update in August this year, and the new car currently has a total of 8 configurations in the whole series, with a price range of 259,990 to 333,900 yuan.
Next, The car uncle will focus on selecting the Ford Explorer entry-level model and the 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer 650T RS 4WD 7-seater Version with a guidance price of 309,900 yuan for comparison, the price gap between the two is not large, so which model is more prominent under this premise? Let's take a look.
Exterior design
The explorer has a rather strong body, with the upper hole wu powerful shape, so that it looks very strong sense of heaviness, of which the front face of the new model matches the flattened hexagonal middle net, the interior is filled with banner trim, the left and right sides of the angular headlight group and the middle net as one, LED headlights are the global standard, the shape is relatively simple, and the automatic headlamp and adaptive near and far light are also standard in the whole series.
The Blazer's ferocious exterior design is its biggest highlight, coupled with the RS model's unique sports kit and dark body, the styling can definitely give a high score. The exterior styling of the new model is almost without any adjustment, the general front face of the knife and axe is integrated with polygonal black grille texture and chrome trim, the impactful face is unforgettable, and the split headlights are all LED light sources, but in terms of lighting, the explorer lacks LED front fog lights.
In terms of body size, the explorer's specific length, width and height are 5075×2004×1778 mm, and the wheelbase is 3025 mm. The side lines of the new model are flat and vertical, the sense of strength is stronger, and the body size is also larger than that of The Tuon and The Encore Flag.
The specific length, width and height of the pioneers are 4999× 1953×1722 mm, and the wheelbase is 2863mm, which is lagging behind in various data. The body side shape of the new car has not changed, the body height is 10mm lower than the old model, of course, this difference cannot be distinguished by the naked eye alone, and the side of the car also inherits the non-mainstream personality of the front face, and the upward window line is very flexible.
Explorer's wide rear shape is very simple, and very powerful, in addition to the tail nameplate, the entry-level model has no obvious low-end car features, the left and right side of the small taillights and the entire tail shape to complement each other, and the bottom of the two sides of the round hole exhaust is also a real existence.
Although the trailblazer rear shape is not as radical as the front of the car, the three-dimensional sense and sense of movement are still very strong, the black elements run through the whole process, and even the tail lights and the logo on the tailgate have been blackened. The flat tail light group of the new car is internally matched with a Y-shaped light strip, the structure is very exquisite, the recognition is high after lighting, and the exhaust is also used in a bilateral double-out layout.
Interior design
The overall design of the Explorer interior is relatively simple, the square three-dimensional shape is the standard American style, the new car uses a large number of chrome trim strips to enhance the sense of stability, and the sport version of the model will also use imitation carbon fiber pattern trim panels. The steering wheel shape and multi-function button layout directly in front of the main driver are all consistent, and the surface is wrapped in leather material, which feels very good. In addition, the vertical layout of the 12.8-inch touch LCD screen on the center console is also the standard of the whole series, which is equipped with SYNC+ Zhixing infotainment system inside, the display effect is relatively clear, the function analysis is clear, and there is almost no difficulty in getting started.
The styling design in the Blazer cockpit has not changed in the slightest, and the embellishment of the red elements makes the cockpit with dark colors as the main tone appear more sporty and temperamental. The new car dashboard adopts a more traditional combination of dual-pointer instrument + 8-inch large screen, and the content that can be displayed on the central large screen is still relatively rich, and it supports the use of the steering wheel to switch the display content. The floating 10-inch touch LCD screen on the center console has a wealth of networking applications, built-in iFLYTEK voice assistant, in addition to the various functions of the system itself, it also has the function of adjusting the air conditioning temperature and air volume.
The interior seat of the Explorer is wrapped in imitation leather + leather fabric, and the function has the main driver's seat height four-way adjustment / lumbar support two-way adjustment, and the main passenger seat is electrically adjusted. The new model has a wide front seat surface, thick interior padding, a more comfortable ride, and an excellent cushion length, which can give the front passengers better leg support.
The interior seats of the Trailblazer are wrapped in leather fabrics, and there are more front seat heating than the Explorers in terms of function. The interior padding of the front seats in the new car is moderately soft and hard, the backrest can be well fitted to the human body, and the comfort performance is excellent, but the wrapping is relatively general.
Explorer entry-level models are available in 2+2+2 6-seat layouts and 2+3+2 7-seat layouts, with 2nd row seats supporting manual front-back sliding and backrest angle adjustment, and 2nd row seats in titanium versions and above also support heating. The new car's 3rd row of seat padding is relatively thin, and the ride feels a little harder than the first two rows, but its 3rd row has considerable space.
The Blazer interior seats adopt the more common 2+3+2 layout in SUVs, and as a high-end version in the car series, the performance of this model in the seat configuration is more abundant. To get into row 3, we could put away the seats through the handles on the back of the seat backs of row 2 and slide forward, the access was fairly wide, and it was not difficult to get on and off the car.
dynamical system
The Explorer power side is matched with a 2.3T turbocharged engine. The maximum output is 276 hp and the peak torque is 425 Nm. In terms of drivetrain, it is matched by a 10-speed manual transmission.
The Blazers match the 2.0T+48V system in terms of power, in which the maximum output of the engine is 237 horsepower and the peak torque is 350 Nm, and the performance performance is obviously lagging behind. In terms of transmission system, the engine is matched by a 9-speed manual transmission, and the configuration is also equipped with a timely four-wheel drive system.
Uncle Che summed up
Through the comparison of the above aspects, we can see that at the same price point, although the Ford Explorer is an entry-level product, it has a larger external dimension, more spacious interior seating space, better power performance performance, and is also comprehensive enough in terms of functional configuration to meet the daily needs of the car. From the perspective of sales data, the cumulative sales of these two models in January to October 2021 were 23,739 units and 6081 units, respectively, and the Explorer also occupied an absolute advantage, it seems that whether on and off the field, the Ford Explorer is the last to laugh.