2021 Chevy Trailblazer vs Toyota RAV4

The 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer is a four-door SUV with five seats and offers an upscale, spacious interior, with comfortable seating and ample cargo space. The front seats are roomy with enough room for taller occupants; and your passengers will stay comfortable with plenty of rear-seat leg room and places to store their things. Cloth upholstery and manually adjustable front seats are standard, and heated front seats, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, and synthetic leather upholstery is available. The Trailblazer offers 25.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, and 54.4 cubic feet with the seats folded down. Front passenger seat folds forward, allowing long items to fit, and a hands-free liftgate is available for your convenience. The Trailblazer comes in five trims: L, LS, LT, Activ, and RS. The entry-level Trailblazer L has an affordable starting price of $19,000 and ranges to a starting price of $26,900 for the all-wheel drive Trailblazer RS trim.

The Toyota RAV4 seats up to five people with comfortable seating and ample front and rear legroom even for tall passengers. It offers quality cabin materials with a modern design, cloth upholstery, a six-way manually adjustable driver’s seat, and a four-way manually adjustable passenger seat. You can upgrade to additional features, including an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, synthetic leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. The RAV4 gets 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat and 69.8 cubic feet with its back seats folded down. It comes in six trims: LE, XLE, XLE Premium, Adventure, Limited, and TRD Off-Road model. Pricing starts at $26,150 for the LE trim and ranges to $35,880 for the TRD Off-Road trim.

The Trailblazer features a user-friendly 7-inch screen, with an available 8-inch screen, both with simple menus that react quickly to inputs. It comes standard with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, two USB ports, a four-speaker stereo, and a Wi-Fi hot spot. Safety features include a rearview camera, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and automatic high-beam headlights are standard.

Standard safety features on all RAV4 models feature a rearview camera and Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 bundle of technologies. Included in this bundle are pre-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and lane departure warning. Additional standard advanced safety features include adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beam headlights, and road sign recognition. Available advanced safety features include a surround-view parking camera system, front and rear parking sensors, blind spot monitoring, rain-sensing windshield wipers and rear cross traffic alert. An easy-to-use 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Amazon Alexa integration, a Wi-Fi hotspot, Satellite radio, a USB port, Bluetooth and voice recognition are also standard. You can upgrade to an 8-inch screen, four additional USB ports, an 11-speaker JBL premium stereo, and navigation. Other available features include a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, proximity keyless entry, and push-button start.

The Trailblazer has the capability to take you wherever you want to go; you can get the traction you need with Normal, All-Wheel Drive and Sport drive modes. It has two engine choices: a 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder that makes 137-horsepower and a 1.3-liter turbocharged three-cylinder that makes 155 horsepower. Front-wheel drive comes with a continuously variable automatic transmission and is an option with either engine. All-wheel-drive models however, only come with the 1.3-liter engine and a nine-speed automatic transmission that maneuvers well around turns and has quick steering to help you in and out of parking spaces. The Trailblazer gets an estimated 28/31 mpg in the city and on the highway with its 1.2-liter engine, and it gets slightly higher ratings with the 1.3-liter engine.

The Toyota RAV4 comes standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 203 hp and 184 pound-feet of torque with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This transmission delivers well-balanced handling with smooth and timely shifts, and the engine supplies plenty of power and gets up to highway speeds with little effort. Front-wheel drive is standard, with two optional all-wheel-drive systems, and the base engine provides the RAV4 with the ability to tow 1,500 lbs. Its estimated fuel economy is 28/35 mpg in the city and on the highway.