Test drove a 7 passenger Honda Pilot today. To say that the Pilot's interior is in a different league than TB is an incredible understatement. Beautiful trim. Very high quality plastic. Very nice leather. Neat nickel-like detail bits. Good job Honda.

I'll tell you what I was thinking while driving it. I wasn't thinking about the TB....mainly because it is simply ridiculous to even compare them. I was thinking how happy I'd be if a 5th gen Camaro had an interior crafted as nicely as the Pilots.

GM....if you haven't already....I seriously suggest benchmarking this vehicle's interior (for starters).

 

It sounds like the problem isn't with the TB Ext, but more with the fact that you are not used driving a SUV that big. Do you have the V8 or I6 TB EXT?

 

It has the I6...

My fiance has a standard wheelbase Trailblazer I drive sometimes, and it is a total different truck...

The EXT driving wise is just messed up. If you don't beleive me, read this..
http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

I normaly don't agree with them...but this time they were right on.

 

I agree 100% with your quote.

 

It has a nice interior, but the rest is dull and lifeless, with a hollow driving experience.

 

The seat heaters as well.


I could write a novel on the Envoy

 

I think the interior quality is still the biggest job GM has to do. Even on the newest cars the interiors doesnīt seem to be competitive with foreign cars. Instead of giving incentives of up to $ 4000 GM rather should use better interior parts for about $500.

 

"IF" the cobalts interior is a preview of things to come at GM ,
I think some of the old GM annoyances will be going away and I wouldn't be worried a bit that the next camaros interior will be 1st class. Its funny how one of the cheapest GM cars will have the richest looking interiors .....and yes , I have seen it up close in person

Remeber too , even though the trailblazer is relatively new it is still old gm . After seeing the equinox (sp?) in person , it looks leaps and bounds better than the TB in and out ....and the TB is supposed to be the upgrade

 

Hate to say "I told you so", but I recall advising you to buy a Tahoe instead of the TB EXT a while back (which is the same advice I've also passed on to a lot of other folks). Considering the modest increase in exterior bulk that the Tahoe brings to the table, the TB EXT just plan makes no sense to me.

Lew, the Pilot may be "dull and lifeless, with a hollow driving experience", but what do you expect - it's a frickin' mid-size SUV.

Z284ever, I agree with your comments on the Pilot's interior, and pretty much echo them word-for-word when talking about the Accord interior. I look at the nice door panels in our Accord EX, and then I look at the hard bland panels of plastic in the Caddy CTS, and just ask "why?"

Getting back to the topic, the last modern GM vehicle I was in was a '04 Grand Prix GT. While it had a lot of nice features, I didn't like the following things:

- Overall, the interior just felt kinda dark and bland.

- Hard plastic everywhere.

- The multifunction display to the right of the IP, above the radio, did little for me

- The shifter sounded like a typewriter

- There were two function buttons on the stereo that were the same size and shape as the six preset buttons, and all eight buttons sat in a 4x2 row. It was too easy to switch bands when just trying to hit a preset button.

- The seats just didn't seem all that nice.

Moving on to the full-size trucks, I've got the following complaints:

- Where's a diesel for the half-ton full-size pickups?

- Where's a diesel for any of the SUVs?

- Why do the ground clearance drop on the new GMT800 HDs at the same time that the tailgate and floorpan got higher? Did anyone at GM think that hanging the transfer case way below the frame rails was a good idea? Heck, it looks like I could get high-centered on a speed bump!

- The 4L60E needs to be replaced with something, fast. Yea, I know the X15R is on the way - too bad that's a few years off yet.

- How come the front torsion bars don't get upgraded when ordering the snowplow package on a HD2500?

- Why isn't a limited-slip diff standard on all trucks? It so improves the performance of a 2WD, and it's just flat-out dumb to charge someone a few grand for a transfer case and front diff without tossing a $100 limited-slip out back in a 4WD. And why the hell are there certain combinations of options that prevent one from choosing the optional limited slip in a 2500HD or 3500 with 4WD?!? This topic makes me angry enough to consider physical violence.

- I want to be able to get leather seating surfaces (most durable) with vinyl flooring (easiest to keep clean).

- Take back that rear-window defroster and give me a sliding rear window. While you're at it, I want the manually-operated floor vents that were offered up until '95 or '96, because those rock in warm or muggy weather.

- I want a defroster grid under the wiper blades. The dash vent does a poor job of heating the windshield here, and the wipers ice up as a result.

- I want a spray-in-type bedliner installed stock on any truck that comes with a steel bed. Make sure that it's easily repaired with touch-up material in the field.

- Replace those dumbass cables on the tailgate with the older-style steel links. The sheath on the cables cracks, water intrudes, and the cables corrode. Then they break at a bad time, like when loading something heavy and expensive (say, a motorcycle).

- The front of the box needs to be stronger, so it doesn't bow when something heavy slams into it.

- Bigger brakes would be nice.

- More lockable storage in the interior would be nice. Can we just get a lock on the glovebox, at least? It'd be nice to have some storage under the seats, too - at least a tray or something, to keep toolkits in place.

- Equip 4WDs with a real jack, like a Hi-Lift.

- Make sure that any future hybrids not only include 120V outputs, but also a low-voltage high-current welding output.

- While I'm not big on suspension gimmicks, the Delphi adjustable shocks would be pretty nice on heavy-duty models, as the damping requirements vary dramatically from empty to full.

- Build a trailer hitch into the frame on all trucks, not just the H2.

That's a good start to the list.

 

Reason I didn't get a Tahoe is it costs to much. A Tahoe 4x4with just bucket seats runs upwards of $40K...my truck stickered at 34K. Even though the TAHOE had higher rebates...it wouldn't close the gap. Knowing what i know now, I probaly should have gotten some kind of a Sliverado...or a decked out standard wheel base Trailblazer.

 

The interior is very nice. The exterior design is abit on the dull side. The driving experience is just fine for what it is....far superior to the Trailblazer.

 

My biggest gripe with the Trailblazer is the texture of the interior plastics on the dash and console. Absolutely ugly. I dont really like the look of the vents either. Other than that I dont think there's much wrong with the truck. Its got ***** and a lot of space. The cupholder in front of the shifter was already mentioned and it bothers me too, just like the Camaro. I also agree with the comment on how the I6 seems like it is working too hard.

 

Most of my complaints are about the EXT I own. I loved my fiances Trailblazer...at the time I had a V6 Camaro and was like "damn this things nearly as fast as my F-body...why am I even bothering". There were other factors too...but I bout the EXT because it was cheaper than the the Tahoe which I didn;t wanna pay for. In hindsight I shouldn't have taken the bigger is better approch and just bought a loaded regular TB.


One more gripe about the Trailblazer...

What the hell is a prop rod doing under the hood? A $30,000+ truck and there is no money in the budget for air springs?

 

A Tahoe LS stickers at $37.5K, if I'm not mistaken - about 5K more than a similarly-equipped EXT. Not an insignificant amount of money, I know, but it seems like saving a few grand isn't going to mean much if the end result is a vehicle that's not fun to drive.
I'm not trying to pick on you or anything - it's more of a barb aimed at GM for trying to do too much with a platform that's frankly not up to the task, a problem that they frankly don't have that often.

 

Thatīs another funny thing. Back in 1991 I owned a 91 Firebird and all people here in Germany were impressed of things like gas struts for the hood. This was a thing even higher priced German Cars didnīt offer. Now they offer it in nearly every base model and my 1999 Chevy Blazer or my friends 2002 Trailblazer have lost that feature. There have been so much more things on my Firebird which were seen as innovations in Germany like the automatic pulldown of the rear hatch or the remote hatch release or an Airbag or power windows or... What I want to say is that these were features you only got on high priced cars here and GM cars already had them and so seemed to be the leaders in innovations. Now my GM cars have a prop rod, fewer airbags than comparable Germans and the same cruise control like 20 years ago. While others seemed they made a big step forward in the last 15 years, GM cars only made minor steps or even steps back (prop rod). Itīs a pity...