I just got the game Driver: San Francisco for PS3 at Best Buy (they have it on sale for $29.99 this week. Everywhere else is double or more) and I was surprised to find out that they have a drivable 2-door Blazer in it. I decided to drive it around and I noticed alot of similarities and differences when you drive the real thing and do further research on it.


Similarities:

-Low top speed

-Sloppy 4L60E shifting

-Very realistic body, interior, engine compartment, engine sounds and wheels

-Tendency to fishtail, easy to spin out

-Slow acceleration (actually the only car in the game where I was not able to outrun the police before they damaged it to the point where the game considered it "wrecked" and ended the chase. Even the new Impala was fast enough to outrun them.).

-Easy to roll over


Differences:

-The drivetrain of the game Blazer was very confusing. The wheels indicated that it was a base 2-door, 2WD Blazer, but inside it had the 4-button 4x4 panel. When doing burnouts, it seemed that this particular Blazer was in 4WD but had a center differential. I was able to hold the regular brake and do a burnout with the rear wheels. But, this one was really confusing: When I held the e-brake, I was able to do a front wheel burnout and turn the car around like a FWD car. No crow hop, so it looks like AWD. This Blazer is supposed to be a 2001. Did they make them with AWD then?

-No ABS. Every stop made all 4 wheels lock. Turning while breaking was the same as if you hit the brakes, turned and spun out on ice.

- Top speed slightly higher than normal spec, not realistic. The real things' speed limiter is 95mph(?). The Blazer in the game was able to get to 105mph with the engine almost to the redline.

-Throttle control used to control speed, not the engine rpm. In the real thing, it only takes a hair of throttle with it in overdrive. At 105mph, it was almost to the redline. The truck was slow at part throttle even at higher RPM.

-Bad crash effects. Even though it was hard to watch crashing the truck in the game, we all know that Blazers don't do well in a crash (just watch the IIHS video), but even when the truck was considered "wrecked" by the game, the damage appeared cosmetic and repairable if it was a real truck. Even getting hit by a police car and crashing into a concrete wall at 100mph didn't lower the health meter much and I was able to drive away. Not realistic.

-Gauge cluster: RPM and speedometer work, coolant stuck just above 210F, oil pressure stuck at 40PSI even at redline (shouldn't it be 8-10PSI for each 1000rpm?), Gas gauge stuck in one place, Battery stuck at 14v.

-2WD wheels on an AWD(?) Blazer and it still has 4-button 4WD controls.

-Seems like weight and weight distribution is wrong. Truck jumped easily on hills and ramp trucks. Although the truck went nose down when it was airborne, it didn't do that fast and it jumped far and high.

 

Eh, imo I think this is a little over analyzed. I rented the new driver when it first came out and was surprised to see the 2 door blazer in there as well. But as far as in-game characteristics, the developers aren't really concerned about physics in a game like driver. Maybe if this was Forza it would be more realistic, but I agree with you on how slow it is. I also agree on the crashed. Blazer wouldn't do well, especially since the only airbag in my blazer is for the driver. Yikes!

 

Ummm, Over-analyzed? Look at my user name and try again! LOL

Well true. I wasn't expecting accuracy, but I was still surprised that they actually spent the time and got the cars as accurate as they did.

Well it isn't just the airbags. The Blazer's structure doesn't stand up well in an offset crash. The government gave it 4 starts for a full frontal crash, but IIHS gave it a Poor for an offset crash (driver's side 40% of the front into a deformable barrier).

 

I can attest that the speed limiter on my 98 is NOT 95....in fact according to my GPS i've had it up to 107....just my .$.02

Not that i have ever played the game or have any intent to....

 

i think driver 3 for ps2 had a k5 in it too. i used to love that game it was fun just to go flying up the mountain side with that thing or just smash cars

 

So that would mean that it is accurate to the game then. It topped out around the same speed. Youtube videos put it around 95-97, but no idea how that could be. Did you get a PCM tune? But you tested that on a closed course, right?

 

Welp... efff MW3 I know what game I'm going to go buy haha. I also (on a closed course) had my 99 Blazer up past 95, I was at like 98-100.

 

I was indeed on a closed course. No I don't have a PCM tune or anything like that. I actually only knew how fast i was going after the fact because my GPS records max speed traveled

 

I nearly pissed myself when I saw the Blazer in Driver. Would have much rather seen a first gen though to be honest. Also I thought it handled fine other then yes it did seem a tad slow but nothing insane.

And if no one saw Forza is getting the Typhoon in DLC