Chevrolet Blazer vs. Chevrolet Traverse: What’s the Difference?

We’ve tested the Chevrolet Blazer extensively since it was released in 2019. At our SUV of the Year competition, the RS trim impressed us with good road manners and a high-quality interior, but we were disappointed that those traits didn’t extend to the base offering. More recently, we had another go in the Blazer RS, and instead of comparing it to the competition, we thought it best to look within Chevrolet’s own extensive lineup of SUVs to see how it stacks up against the larger but similarly priced 2019 Chevrolet Traverse Premier FWD (front-wheel drive).

The Blazer and Traverse are not direct competitors, and as such, this isn’t a classic MotorTrend comparison test. We typically try to match cars up within their segments. That’s why the Ford Mustang gets matched up with the Chevrolet Camaro, not the Alfa Romeo Giulia. But Chevy recently ditched sedans in the United States, meaning that, like Ford, it’s going to be filling our streets with SUVs of all shapes and sizes for the foreseeable future. As such, you might want to know which sub-$50,000 Bow Tie–badged SUV is right for you.

The Traverse is a pair of Chuck Taylors—easy to live with and use every day but clearly not the best choice for any kind of exercise. By the end, your feet will be calloused, and you’ll sure wish you would have strapped on something more suitable. The Blazer, on the other hand, is a more purpose-built pair of trainers. It’ll easily help you tackle that 5k and won’t leave you rubbing your soles at the end of the day, but its uses are more limited as a result.

Even though they are different, they share one very important commonality: price. The Traverse Premier I tested in January rang in at $47,990. The Blazer RS Chevy gave us totaled $48,170. The Blazer RS is the second-priciest trim you can buy, and this car was optioned up from its base price of $44,595. That means less than $500 separates these two very different vehicles. But which one is best for you? Well, that all depends on how much running you do.

Chevrolet Blazer vs. Traverse: Which has a nicer interior?

The Traverse can get more expensive with different option packs and trim levels, and if your price cap is the nice and round $50,000 figure, then this is very nearly the most Traverse you’re going to get for the money. The same is true for the Blazer. Its price can be pushed north of $50,000, but not by much.

Despite their closeness in price, their interiors are markedly different. Most important, the Traverse has three rows and seating for up to eight (seven in higher trims like this Premier thanks to a pair of captain’s occupying the second row); the Blazer, however, has only two rows and seating for five. The inside of the Traverse is decidedly previous-gen Chevy. Its interior is loaded up with rough plastics, and the climate controls are nothing if not difficult to fathom. The physical controls for everything in the Traverse are all too small for a car with so much interior space to work with, and that’s because entire center stack is shared with smaller cars like the Malibu.

The Blazer, on the other hand, is a properly modern place to sit. The massive Camaro-style air vents stare at you as you drive around, but the climate controls in the Blazer are much easier to get the hang of. They’re laid out in a straight line instead of being bunched up, and that makes it much easier to operate the system without looking down at it. Also, even though controlling the temperature of the air via the vents themselves isn’t necessarily the best way to do it, the trim ring that acts as the temperature control knob is so massive it’s hard to miss.

The gauge clusters in both the Blazer and the Traverse feature customizable displays, but the gauges in the Blazer are sportier and more purposeful. The steering wheel also looks much newer in the Blazer, with a more angular four-spoke design as opposed to the fanned out four-spoke look of the one in the Traverse.

Traverse vs. Blazer: How do they drive?

Those steering wheels control surprisingly dynamic machines on the road. In this case, they’re both powered by 3.6-liter V-6 engines mated to nine-speed automatic transmissions. The Blazer makes 308 hp to the Traverse’s 310, and the Blazer also has a teeny advantage when it comes to torque, edging out the Traverse’s 266 lb-ft with 270 of its own. A front-wheel drive Traverse weighs in at 4,346 pounds—heavier with all-wheel drive. An all-wheel-drive Blazer is just a little bit lighter that its bigger counterpart as 4,274 pounds.

On the road, however, the difference feels like it’s much more than 72 pounds. The Blazer is much easier to control than the Traverse, and that’s all down to the lower weight and the smaller size. Behind the wheel, you feel as though the car will do whatever you tell it to. It’s both more responsive and easier to drive at speed—like on the highway or, dare I say it, on a twisty road you’d take sports cars on. It must be said, however, that even though it’s endowed with sporty looks and a tough demeanor, the Blazer RS is not a car in which you grow horns and drive too quickly when you’re behind the wheel.

The Traverse is a less willing partner on the road, but it’s not entirely unathletic. It has good body control for an SUV of its size. It’s both stable and relatively comfortable at highway speeds, and its ride, while flat and stable, is not punishing. Even though the trim we recently tested only had FWD, it was surprisingly capable for a machine of its size. And size might be the deciding factor between these two SUVs.

Blazer vs. Traverse: What are the differences in size?

The Blazer is a true crossover, and it will only seat five no matter what model you get. The Traverse, on the other hand, can seat up to eight—though higher trims come with captain’s chairs in the second row, for a total of seven seats. The Traverse can also hold significantly more cargo than the Blazer thanks to how much longer it is. With the third row folded down, the Traverse has 98.2 cubic feet of cargo room for you to play with.

The Blazer is smaller, but its cargo bay still has 64.2 cubic feet of space to fill. Its cargo area isn’t exactly tiny, either. It still outclasses other two-row crossovers when it comes to cargo room, including the BMW X3 (62.7), the Jeep Cherokee (54.7), and even the Lexus RX (56.3). There’s more than enough room for suitcases, backpacks, and plenty of sports gear.

Blazer or Traverse—which one should you buy?

So which one is best for you? Well, if you’ve got $50,000 to spend on an SUV and want something from Chevrolet, it mostly depends on how big your family is and how you drive. The size of the average American family is 3.14 people, so if there are five or fewer of you or you enjoy sporty driving, the Blazer is right for you. It’s compact enough to be easy to park, competent on any road, and completely suitable for a family of average size. It’s also handsome enough to lure single people who want something a little more charismatic than a hatchback.

That said, if your family is more than five, the choice is obvious. The Traverse can swallow more people at the expense of being less fun to drive and having a less intuitive instrument panel. Luckily, both are competent crossovers, and there isn’t too much to fault in the case of either one.

	2020 Chevrolet Blazer AWD RS	2020 Chevrolet Traverse Premiere FWD
DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT	Front-engine, AWD	Front-engine, FWD
ENGINE TYPE	60-deg V-6, alum block/heads	60-deg V-6, alum block/heads
VALVETRAIN	DOHC, 4 valves/cyl	DOHC, 4 valves/cyl
DISPLACEMENT	222.7 cu in/3,649 cc	222.7 cu in/3,649 cc
COMPRESSION RATIO	11.5:1	11.5:1
POWER (SAE NET)	308 hp @ 6,700 rpm*	310 hp @ 6,800 rpm*
TORQUE (SAE NET)	270 lb-ft @ 5,000 rpm*	266 lb-ft @ 2,800 rpm*
REDLINE	6,750 rpm	6,750 rpm
WEIGHT TO POWER	13.9 lb/hp	14.0 lb/hp
TRANSMISSION	9-speed automatic	9-speed automatic
AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIO	3.49:1/2.16:1	3.49:1/2.16:1
SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR	Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar	Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar
STEERING RATIO	15.1:1	17.3:1
TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK	2.8	3.3
BRAKES, F; R	12.6-in vented disc; 12.4-in vented disc, ABS	12.6-in vented disc; 12.4-in vented disc, ABS
WHEELS	8.0 x 20-in cast aluminum	8.0 x 20-in cast aluminum
TIRES	235/55R20 102H (M+S) Michelin Premier LXT	255/55R20 107H (M+S) Continental Cross Contact LX20
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE	112.7 in	120.9 in
TRACK, F/R	66.1/66.0 in	67.3/67.0 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	191.4 x 76.7 x 67.0 in	204.3 x 78.6 x 70.7 in
GROUND CLEARANCE	7.6 in	7.5 in
APPRCH/DEPART ANGLE	14.0/24.1 deg	13.3/21.3 deg
TURNING CIRCLE	38.7 ft	39.0 ft
CURB WEIGHT	4,274 lb	4,346 lb
WEIGHT DIST, F/R	59/41%	58/42%
TOWING CAPACITY	4,500 lb	5,000 lb
SEATING CAPACITY	5	7
HEADROOM, F/M/R	39.8/38.6/— in	41.3/40.0/38.2 in
LEGROOM, F/M/R	41.0/39.6/— in	41.0/38.4/33.5 in
SHOULDER ROOM, F/M/R	59.1/58.6/— in	62.1/62.2/57.5 in
CARGO VOLUME, BEH F/M/R	64.2/30.5/— cu ft	98.2/58.1/23.0 cu ft
TEST DATA
ACCELERATION TO MPH
0-30	2.3 sec	2.4 sec
0-40	3.4	3.5
0-50	4.5	4.7
0-60	6.1	6.4
0-70	7.9	8.1
0-80	10.0	10.4
0-90	12.9	13.0
0-100	—	16.7
PASSING, 45-65 MPH	3.0	3.2
QUARTER MILE	14.7 sec @ 95.5 mph	14.8 sec @ 94.9 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	126 ft	116 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.83 g (avg)	0.81 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	27.1 sec @ 0.65 g (avg)	27.2 sec @ 0.64 g (avg)
TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH	1,600 rpm	1,750 rpm
CONSUMER INFO
BASE PRICE	$44,595	$46,995
PRICE AS TESTED	$48,170	$47,990
STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
AIRBAGS	7: Dual front, front side, f/m/r curtain, driver knee	7: Dual front, front side, front center, f/m/r curtain
BASIC WARRANTY	3 yrs/36,000 miles	3 yrs/36,000 miles
POWERTRAIN WARRANTY	5 yrs/60,000 miles	5 yrs/60,000 miles
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE	5 yrs/60,000 miles	5 yrs/60,000 miles
FUEL CAPACITY	21.7 gal	19.4 gal
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON	18/25/21 mpg	18/27/21 mpg
ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY	187/135 kW-hrs/100 miles	187/125 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB	0.94 lb/mile	0.92 lb/mile
RECOMMENDED FUEL	Unleaded regular	Unleaded regular
*SAE Certified

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