TrailBlazer's six-cylinder engine is smooth and quiet, and the faster it goes, the smoother it seems to get. It's an inline-6, a design that is inherently smoother and more powerful than a V6. Because the engine is so quiet and smooth at idle, a feature was added that prevents the starter from grinding if the key is turned when the engine is already running.

Called the Vortec 4200, the 4.2-liter inline-6 features dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and variable phasing of the exhaust cam. It's rated at 275 horsepower and 275 pounds-feet of torque. (Torque is that force that thrusts you off the line and up steep hills.) Ninety percent of the peak 275 pounds-feet of torque is available at 1600 rpm, and it's still there at 5600 rpm. The engine is still striding, not screaming, when the full-throttle upshift comes at 6000 rpm. That torque gave us confident power when attempting passes on steep uphill two-lanes. It offers strong acceleration without having forcing the transmission to downshift. The four-speed automatic transmission is programmed well and makes a good companion for the engine. The smooth-shifting transmission is the proven Hydra-Matic 4L60-E, used in GM applications from Corvettes to Cadillac Escalades.

Towing was a high priority with the TrailBlazer. Six-cylinder models are rated at 6300 pounds with 2WD, 6100 with 4WD. The six-cylinder engine is designed to run cool (thanks in part to a big seven-quart oil pan) and efficient.

Big ventilated disc brakes provide stopping power, and four-wheel ABS is standard. Under hard braking, the nose didn't dive, keeping the TrailBlazer remarkably level and stable.

We found the ride excellent, very smooth: in a word, carlike, without being too soft. The TrailBlazer was designed to roll (lean) exactly five degrees in the corners, and then stop leaning. It features a wide track and low engine position, which drops the center of gravity. A vehicle with a low center of gravity is generally less likely to roll over than a vehicle with a high center of gravity.

The chassis and suspension are highly developed, featuring a list of sports car stuff: rack-and-pinion steering, beefy four-wheel vented disc brakes with twin-piston calipers in front, independent front suspension with short/long control arms, solid rear axle using five-link location with Bilstein gas-charged shock absorbers and coil springs, thick antiroll bars front and rear. It was the first truck for the TrailBlazer's chief designer, Ted Robertson, who brought a resume to the assignment that includes the '90s Camaro/Firebird. GM wanted his soul as well as his experience in their midsize SUVs, and they got it. His approach was to put some quot;sportquot; in Sport Utility. The chassis rails are shaped by hydroforming, a process pioneered in the C5 Corvette; it makes the rails stronger and lighter. No less than eight crossmembers contribute to a claimed 260 percent increase in torsional rigidity, and there are 12 tuned body mounts made of urethane.

Leaving the highway for the dirt, we found the TrailBlazer impressively stable on washboard surfaces. It bottomed on dips, however, signaling that the optional skid plates are necessary for off-road driving. When equipped with the 17-inch BFG Rugged Trail radials and skid plates, the TrailBlazer easily chugged along at 5 mph through soft sand in Auto4WD. TrailBlazer has a very tight turning circle of 36.4 feet, because the suspension and engine design allow for large steering angles.

The TrailBlazer's Autotrac system, standard on 4WD models, offers four settings: 2WD, Auto4WD, 4HI and 4LO. Switching in and out of 4WD can be done on the fly with a flip of the switch, although the transmission must be in neutral to engage or disengage 4LO. In Auto4WD, power is shifted to all four wheels as conditions require. The TrailBlazer can be even be tow