2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada; When three are one.

The General has a new midsize SUV, badged as a Chevrolet, GMC or Oldsmobile, and available in both two-wheel- and all-wheel-drive variants. What they share is significant: new aluminum 24-valve, Vortec 4200 inline six-cylinder engines with variable exhaust valve timing and electronic throttle control; four-speed automatic transmission; coil-over double A-arm front suspension; five-link solid rear axle; rack-and-pinion steering; four-wheel disc brakes; and an entirely new body-on-frame structure. (For more on the hardware, see AW, News, Dec. 11, 2000.)

The best part is under the hood, where the new inline six is wonderfully smooth with plenty of power. Both its 270 hp and the vehicle's power-to-weight ratio are best in class, and with 275 lb-ft of torque in a very flat curve, it moves off the line quickly for an SUV. With the truck's body-on-frame construction, it's also good for pulling up to 6300 pounds. Combined with competitive pricing and size, these attributes will be enough to sell a lot of trucks.

Which one the buyer chooses hardly matters.

Impressive as the mechanicals are, the elements that differentiate the brands-fascias, interiors and sheetmetal-are undistinguished. A prospective owner will choose between different grades of low-quality leather or a preferable cloth material for the seats, but the plastic interiors look like variations on the same project. GM does better with sheetmetal, with 70 percent of the body panels being exclusive to each make, but that degree of freedom didn't inspire any one of the variations to dare stand apart with ground- breaking design.

In a similar vein, consider what GM did with its nifty new engine in a strong new platform. Several times over the course of a day's drive we encountered an unacceptable lag while the tranny tried to downshift for passing. One engineer explained that because the new motor is higher-revving than the old V6, the same old Hydra-Matic transmission that served in the former model can't quite synchronize quickly enough. Electronic throttle control be damned, there's still hydraulic fluid to move in those valve bodies. That GM knew this was an issue but didn't fix it speaks volumes.

It says the General still plays the game from a sales-and-marketing hand, with more interest in saving cost than adding value. Instead of using its cash to develop, style, engineer, build and market one great midsize sport/utility vehicle, the GM approach creates three ``good-enough'' ones.

The ``refined'' Oldsmobile will sell for $31,635 base MSRP for a two-wheel-drive version and $34,167 for the all-wheel-drive model, while the Chevrolets start at $25,155 for a base two-wheel-drive and $33,730 for the option-laden four-wheel-drive LTZ. The ``professional grade'' GMC falls in between at $28,820 for a base two-wheel-drive and $33,820 for a top-of-the-line four-wheeler. But without much substance to back up the P&G marketing (same product, different box, different store, different price), Bravada/TrailBlazer/Envoy shows GM falling short of the ...