GM had set up on Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs International Raceway. Horse Thief Mile is full of 180 degree curves that start out sharply and quickly narrow to unbelievably sharp -- and if that isn't enough, it's built on the side of a hill, so it's easy to find yourself going pretty darn fast as you head into those curves. Horse Thief Mile is tricky enough in a car. My initial assessment of driving it in an SUV: Suicide.
Still, even if General Motors didn't give a toss about the lives of the assembled journalists, I figured they wouldn't risk trashing a brand-new $38,000 TrailBlazer SS if they though it was too dangerous.
SS is a performance moniker from Chevy's glory days, and in the case of the TrailBlazer SS it has real meaning. The TrailBlazer SS gets a 395 hp 6-liter V8, beefed-up suspension with lower and stiffer springs and thicker anti-roll bars, larger front brakes, GM's StabiliTrak electronic stability control system, and optional all-wheel-drive.
I took a deep breath and headed out onto Horse Thief Mile.
On the track
The track starts off with a gentle uphill curve. I buried the throttle and the V8's 400 lb-ft of torque did a respectable job propelling 4,663 lbs of SUV (and 165 lbs of driver) up the hill. Gravity aided the braking as I headed into the first sharp bend. I yanked the wheel and hoped for the best -- but rather than the cacophony of wailing tires that I expected, the TrailBlazer responded eagerly to my command. I fed in the gas and cranked the wheel as the turn tightened, but somehow managed to trigger StabiliTrak; I floored the pedal but was given a "time out" courtesy of the traction control system. I exited the turn -- way more slowly than I intended -- and next thing I knew the TrailBlazer and I were rocketing down the hill.
OK, I thought as the next corner loomed, time to find out of those big brakes are worth it. I braked early and hard. Anyone who's tried a panic stop in a big SUV knows that it usually isn't a very graceful situation. That wasn't my concern. No, my concern was that the TrailBlazer's brakes -- which had already been subject to several laps on Horse Thief Mile -- wouldn't do anything at all. Repeated hard use can cause brakes to overheat, fade and lose their effectiveness; that's why racers use special high-heat compounds. As far as I knew, the brakes on the TrailBlazer SS were bone stock.
The brakes grabbed firmly, hauling down their two ton load with ease and grace. Even so, I was still going pretty darn fast as I headed into the corner.
StabiliTrak keeps it on the road
SUVs are harder to flip than most people think (though still easier than cars). I knew that StabiliTrak would keep me going on the right path if things got too hairy, and that the worst that could happen would that I'd wind up in the dirt. Intellect is one thing; being perched up high in an SUV barreling into a curve at nearly a mile a minute -- and preparing to crank the wheel hard left -- is another thing entirely.
I pitched the wheel left and the TrailBlazer bit into the corner. The body leaned, but not nearly as much as I expected. Any concerns I had about the TrailBlazer ending up on its roof disappeared instantly; the TrailBlazer SS felt nearly as stable as a car, and I made a much more graceful exit from the second corner than the previous one.
Up the hill we went, the TrailBlazer's all-wheel-drive allowing me to plant my foot without worrying about spinning out. Then it was off the gas, on the brakes, and into the next corner, a little more aggressively this time. Again, the TrailBlazer surprised me with its eager response as we turned back down the hill.
With renewed faith in the brakes, I came into the corner more aggressively and braked later and harder -- but too late to lose enough speed. As the turn got sharper, the TrailBlazer seemed to lose its footing. Nothing to get alarmed about, I told myself; it's just a matter of which end of the vehicle slides, the front (understeer) or the rear (oversteer). The TrailBlazer did a bit of both. Luckily, I had turned in a little too sharply. The TrailBlazer slid towards the outside of the corner, the sliding tires scrubbing off speed, and as I came out of the corner it staggered slightly and regained its grip on the pavement. The whole thing felt a bit like walking through a doorway and banging your shoulder on the doorjamb. Hard.
Hard on the gas again up the hill. The next corner came up quickly, and I was back on the brakes almost right away. Again, I came in a bit too fast -- but this time I knew what the TrailBlazer would do. In spite of my white knuckle fear, I made it through the corner with quite a bit more finesse.
From here it was down hill and through a relatively gentle right-hander. The track runs across the hill and into a fast S-curve before passing the starting point and heading back up the big, sweeping uphill curve. With cars, this is where you can nail the throttle and allow the brakes to cool. With an SUV, that S-curve presented a potential problem -- I've heard of S-curves leading to rollovers. I took the curve cautiously, but the TrailBlazer practically shrugged it off. I had made my first racetrack lap in an SUV... and lived to tell the tale!
A few times around for good measure
I made several more laps in the TrailBlazer SS, and soon I had a pretty good rhythm going. The TrailBlazer didn't exactly handle like a car, but it sure as heck didn't handle like a 2.5-ton SUV. Even the S-curve didn't cause it any trouble. About the only sticking point was that first top-of-the-hill curve -- I just couldn't get around it without tripping the traction control system, resulting in a temporary loss of power.
I still think that driving an ordinary SUV on a racetrack qualifies as a Really Bad Idea -- but then again, the TrailBlazer SS clearly isn't an ordinary SUV. -- Aaron Gold
