That interior is way better than my mother's '03 Explorer Limited, without question. I hate that nose though...its awful. And speaking of generic SUVs, the current Explorer without a doubt leads the pack, with the 4Runner right behind it. The only ones I can think of that really stand out are the TB and the Pathfinder...even the Envoy is a little too anonymous.

With that being said, unless that new TB nose has a revised inside, the Explorer might steal a lot of sales from the TB. My father's '05 TB LT is nice inside, but nothing like the new Explorer...that dash is sweet.

 

I'm well aware what they look like. The TB and Envoy look just as generic as the 4Runner to me (and none of them look too generic to me, but they don't look that exciting either), inside and out.

The new Explorer seems to be leading the pack right now if not being generic is your thing.

 

I have to agree. I can't see how people disagree actually... and I like the TB/Envoy more than the Explorer and 4Runner.

 

Honestly, I do not think that the TB has aged well. It is looking very dated to me. The Envoy does a better job on that front.

As for refreshes, GM would have done themselves a lot of good if they just would have redone the interior on them. The current interior is awful.

 

Wow. I just really don't know what to say to that.

http://www.blueovalnews.com/2005/pro...y/pages/21.htm

^^^ Screams no design imagination. ^^^

TrailBlazer's look is getting a bit long in the tooth, but it's still quite a bit more "daring" than even the new Exploder's, with its sharp, downward creasing fender flares, circular taillights and easily Chevy's best use of the "scowling" front end. And while I feel the Dodge Durango went a bit overboard on the creativity (aww hell it's pretty ugly) they at least tried something fresh. This Explorer looks exactly like the last one with a different grill. I'm not saying generic is bad, especially in the family hauling segment, but it probably won't win a ton of new buyers, and it probably won't get the currently happy Explorer owners lusting after the new one either.

 

I didn't post those pics to show you what those vehicles looked like. It was to have pics for a quick comparison for anyone.

Maybe I think the Toyota is more bland because when I think of bland car styling, I always go to the designs of Honda and Toyota. They have nothing unique and nothing that stands out. They seem to be getting better, but you still get the feeling that the key driver for the design is to be anonymous.

 

To me, where the Envoy and TB really look horribly bland is the interior

The plastic and curves in there reminds me of something out of an uninspired GM economy car (like maybe the Cavalier).

In terms of interior 'excitement', I'd put this new Explorer first, 4Runner second, Envoy/TB third (too similar for me to really make a differentiation)

 

I totally agree that TB's interior, in particular the dash, it terrible.... plastic-mania.

The Envoy makes it look a lot nicer, IMO, with the woodgrain and brightwork. Also one of the sore spots with me on the TB is the center vents... totally plastic and tacked on looking... where the Envoy looks much more integrated.

Either way, I am assuming we are stuck with these interiors for the lifecycle of the vehicles... I doubt they'll redo them if the replacements are only a few years out.

 

Here is the two. Are you telling me that they look too similar to differentiate?
Envoy interior
Trailblazer interior

I am not a fan of the Trailblazer interior but I think the Envoy looks really good. By the way, I think the Saab 9-7x looks the best out of the mid sized SUV's, followed by the Ranier.

By the way, My friend has had both a GMC Envoy and Nissan Murano for over a month each as a rental, and both he and I would take the GMC over the Nissan any day.

 

They look very similar in real life to me minus all the fake woodgrain on the Envoy, and as mentioned, the vents. Posting an amature low-res shot of a used TB and a profesional studio-taken shot of a brand new Envoy doesn't really help the basis of a level comparison.

The Saab 9-7x looks flat out terrible interior-wise for an SUV that starts at just under 40 grand not including destination or taxes.

Hell... that thing is closer to the price of a Lexus GX (based on the 4Runner) than it is to the price of a 4Runner. (at least in terms of sticker price... not sure how negotiable they typically are compared to the others)

 

First of all, you don't have to look at the quality of the photographs to see that the two interiors are far different. You are not looking at the design. If you think they look the same, then I question your ability to judge such issues.

I couldn't find a similar shot of the interior on the Chevy website so I choose the one pictured.

As far as the Saab goes, I was talking about the exterior. After all, that is what we started talking about.

 

OK... the exterior I think looks fine on the Saab and would agree it has more of a characteristic/bolder look than any of the other SUVs mentioned (although it looks more sleek/sporty, not really 'tougher' like most SUVs try to look). The interior definitely falls short, though.

 

Envoy interior >>> TB interior. If you can't tell them apart, I don't know what to say. I mean, you can tell they have the same mounting points underneath, but come on... not a single panel is shared, except maybe for the knee blocker under the steering wheel. Not just the dash, either. Look at the door panels too...

As for the 9-7x, I think it comes across as very Saab-like (which is the idea). The ignition switch is on the floor, they have the lattice and joystick style hvac vents, etc. The few write-ups I've seen of it actually praise the interior as being well done, with good materials. I thought is was pretty nice when I sat in one, but that was over a year ago.

 

Very genaric looking, but it isn't ugly so that's fine given it's an SUV/soccer-mom mobile. I like the new interior as well as the hp bumb the 4.6L Sohc is getting (from 239hp to 294hp). I'm not a fan of the new front end though.

 

As far as i'm concerned they ruined the explorer way back in 1995 when they redesigned it. U could not give me a current one they are now way to big and they have that sissy car like ride. I'll keep my 93 thank you.