1994 Chevrolet S10 Blazer Review (continued)
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Walkaround

Circle a 1994 S-Blazer and you see erect, boxy but crisp looks. Not as sleek as the jeep Grand Cherokee Limited or as well-detailed as the Ford Explorer Limited, the S-Blazer has changed little since it was introduced years ago. Our test vehicle had the LT trim package. In the ever-popular color of forest green, it sported a contrasting silver metallic lower body across the fenders and rocker panel.

Chevrolet stylists apparently made a conscious decision to avoid the popular matte black paint, moldings and fascia for bumpers, lower fenders and lower body sides. Except for some black around a lower bodyside molding, the lower body is paint-accented with bright metal. It looked good, but we wondered about its durability offroad. We judged Blazer's fit and finish to be good to excellent for this segment. While a hinged spare tire carrier at the tailgate is a popular option, our test vehicle had the spare mounted upright in the cargo area. More on this later. The black roof luggage carrier is standard with the LT package; otherwise, it's an option.

Interior Features

The four doors provide easy access to the cabin and passengers have handgrips to help. Seating for four is roomy and comfortable. The leather seating, including that in the LT package, is in gray Ultrasoft finish. The folding rear seatback in the LT package includes a folding center armrest-a seeming admission that this really is a four-passenger vehicle. A fifth passenger here would be crowded against the folded center armrest. The seatback is not split to allow for seating and cargo room for items such as skis.

Gauges, controls and switches are well-located and functional. When tilted all the way down, the tilt wheel does obstruct some instruments and control, but this is our common complaint throughout the sport utility segment. Our S-Blazer had the option of electronic instrumentation-something you either love or hate. We grew to like the digital instrumentation with its waterfall graphics for mph and rpm. Another feature we liked was touch-button conversion from the U.S. to metric system. The rearward travel of the front bucket seat adjustments seemed too short.

Visibility was excellent with one exception: the spare tire mounted upright on the left side of the cargo area. It blocked our vision in the inside rear-view mirror. We drove one with the optional outside spare mount, but it also blocked some rearview vision. (Ford Explorer seems to have the best answer to this: The spare is mounted flat outside beneath the cargo floor.) We found the Blazer's tailgate arrangement to be outdated and inconvenient. The tailgate drops down and the backlight lifts up, blocking the way for loading or accessing cargo.