Old dog in a new Blazer

I BUNDU bash in “Uber Cruiser”, a high-riding Toyota with 20 summers of rust in her bones and more scratches than paint, both outside and inside.

To lock the front axles, I use a rather clever biological, five-digit system attached to the end of my right arm. It is also called a hand.

With the front wheels locked, my toenails squelching mud and 4-Low engaged, I can then drive any place where my tyres have traction. In the updated Chevrolet Trailblazer, I need to use only two of these digits — three if you count the pinky in the air — to turn a little knob which sets up the seven-seater Chev’s drivetrain between 4x2, 4-High or 4-Low.

No need to get out and muddied. Nor do I have to ask the passenger to hold the beverage, for the Trailblazer comes with 11 cup holders. The two upfront slides out in front of the airducts, and the lid that holds a can can slide back to create space for a wider bottle or even a camera.

And the Trailblazer, I hate to admit, will go a lot further than my ancient Uber Cruiser on dunes, because it does not rely on rusty old mechanics, but rather cleverly uses its brakes to ensure the wheels grip.

As driving instructor Grant McCleary explained, this is because power in a vehicle’s drivetrain acts like electricity in wiring. The flow of power will always follow the path of least resistance, which in a 4x4 is the wheel that is spinning. By pinching this wheel momentarily using the brakes, resistance is added and the power immediately seeks a new outlet in the three other wheels.

To learn how to use this system requires teaching an old dog new tricks, for instead of immediately halting the spin while slipping on a steep incline, you have to “keep feeding it!”, as
McCleary yelled at this particular old dog several times.

“It” being the revolutions, so that the Electronic Stability Programme (EPS) system can do its calculations and send the torque zig-zagging between the wheels in milliseconds.

The system can, however, take up to seven seconds to activate, but when the EPS have completed the paperwork, the Trailblazer can and does go anywhere.

I proved it using 4-High, climbing very steep inclines over rocky ground.

Like the smaller Hyundai ix35, the the Chevrolet Trailblazer also has Hill-start Assist Control and Downhill Brake Control, but higher road clearance (up to 230 mm) and a low gear ratio makes the Trailblazer a contender for the best-selling Toyota Fortuner and Ford Everest. In its 2014 cladding, with a dark ash-grey interior and front side airbags mounted in the seats, the Trailblazer is now the most modern of SA’s three competing family utes.

In this trio, the big Chev arguably has the most comfortable ride on its multi-link rear suspension.

Going down a steep hill on a dirt track is as easy as twiddling the knob to 4-Low, pressing the automatic downhill brake button and then occasionally steering.

This frees up time to fiddle around with the MyLink system. Plug in an iPhone using a USB cable and it works seamlessly. But in neither the Chevrolet Sonic RS nor the Trailblazer could I get my Sony Experia beyond the “linked, but not connected” stage using Bluetooth. That is the only niggle in the entire new Trailblazer.

How the new price stacks up is another point which may yet cause a big niggle. The Trailblazer — which used to sell as the better value offering compared to the Fortuner — is now more expensive than both the Fortuner and Everest. Compared to Chev’s new pricing, the Everest is now the cheapest entry-level family SUV, with the Fortuner taking up the middle ground and the Trailblazer coming in a few thousand rand more expensive than the Toyota.

Asked if they know something about the rand’s future exchange rate that Toyota or Ford did not, Chev’s marketers told Witness Wheels they wish they were that clever.

We, however, expect to soon see these three 4x4 family shakers settle back in their former price relations as soon as the rand adheres to predictions of 11:1 to the dollar.

Oh, for the days when a a rand could fill this Chevy's tank!

• Driving experience and accommodation paid for by Chevrolet SA.

Ford Everest 3.0L TDCi 4x4 LTD Auto: (115 kW/380 Nm) R450 800.

Toyota Fortuner 3.0 D-4D 4x4 Auto: (120 kw/343 Nm) R499 100.

Chevrolet Trailblazer 2.8D LTZ 4x4 auto: (144 kW/500 Nm) R506 400.