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I think I'll save myself $2000 and 200-300 pounds and stick with the 2WD. Besides it won't be a monster as I still have to drive this thing all the time. I'd considered getting a cheap car for work (although requirements are 4 model years or newer, 4 door, German od American and an MSRP around $23,000) and a toy second (never mind the Chevelle for the moment) but it just would NOT pay to have 2 insurances, 2 cars to maintain etc. So I might as well get 1 NICE car/SUV and the Chevelle as the toy. If I'm spending $20,000+ on a car I might as well spend $30,000+ an SS right?

Well today I went to the local dealer and took a few SUVs for a spin. A base 2007 Trailblazer, a 2007 Tahoe and a 2007 SS/3SS Trailblazer. I have 1 word. BAD. I so would love to have this truck.

You know you want to do it. Everyone else is. It'll make ya feel good.

C'mon, join the club. I went with the 3SS too. Great package. What did you think of the handling?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2kgruy6oKY

I like the leather and suede is why I want the 3SS.
It has side airbags and the sun and sound package.
I wanted the sun roof.

I will wait until after the 1st of the year and see what the new rebates are.
Becides the Impala still has about 4000 more miles to go.

Matt,

How many miles do you have on it now?
What is the lonest trip you've taken? (seat-time)
How I the gas mileage?
I read that premium is a requirement?
How did your upgrades go so far?

thanks.

1) I have about 2000 miles on it. More than 2000 smiles

2) Longest trip has only been about an hour or so. But it's extremely comfortable, especially with those suede inserts. Breathes nicely. I'm looking forward to a long drive. Heated seats on low does wonders to keep the back loose.

3) Mileage is pretty dead on the sticker. About 13 in pure city and about 17 on the freeway. I averaged about 14 for the first 1000 miles and now I'm about .5 better after the upgrade.

4) Dunno if it's a requirement by GM. But it's a requirement for my foot. How dare you even question that!

5) I've just done the CAI and retune from http://www.admperformance.com. I'm very pleased with the upgrade and glad I did it early on so I can enjoy it as much as possible. The growl from the CAI and the increase throttle response is awesome. Definitely noticeable from stock. I expect to break 13.5 in the spring.

Andy also owns http://www.zo6parts.com/ and has been tuning Chevy's for 18 years, so he was an easy choice. He was also at SEMA and took time to chat with me for 20-30 minutes about my upgrades.

That's as far as I'll go with a lease. FYI, you could have your tuner work with you to run lower grade gas and get better mileage. A good one should be able to map things however you want based on your needs.

If you want to see what the path to upgrade is, check out http://www.trailblazerbuildup.com/ If you are going to build it up over time, you may want to consider a laptop programming system so you can retune after each upgrade. It's great since he has an exact breakdown of each upgrade with bang per buck including labor and dyno to back it up.

If you want to read more, check out http://www.trailvoy.com/ and http://www.trailblazerss.com/ . Other performance places include http://www.vectormotorsports.com/ and http://www.tunetimeperformance.com/ .

I wasn't questioning high test fuel, just pointing it out.

I have read the build-up and looked at ALOT of stuff on trailblazerss.com

I'm even registered there as a fan.

I will pull the trigger sometime in 2007.

Cool. If you are up for the holiday's you can check out the upgrades if you'd like.

We'll be up for X Mas.
I'd like to check it out.
Thanks.

I remember the first small block I ever worked on was in my Dad's 78 Chevy Blazer. It was a 350 with 4WD, 3.40 gears and dual exhaust.

I am sure we encouraged him to put headers on it and chrome it. It had two air filters (stacked) in the same filter housing, and M/T finned aluminum valve covers. We spent a lot of time keeping it clean. I think it ran low 16's. It seems so archaic compared to the truck you guys are talking about.

Then in some bizarre twist of fate he started working on Oldsmobiles.

What is the appeal of this vehicle compared to a sedan?

For me it fits the bill SO well.

Here is the list of company provided vehicles I could choose from
Ford 500, Mercury Grand Marquis GS, Chrysler Sebring TSI sedan, Impala, Malibu Maxx SS, Pontiac G6 or $600 (plus $40 becuase they withhold $40 with the company lease for personal use) per month.

If I select a car myself it has to have an MSRP equal to or higher than the cars above (average $24,000).

We have a 4 door sedan (2003 Accord) so I really wanted an SUV to carry the family around and tow stuff. To satisfy my company it also fits, German or American, no trucks. 4 doors, 4 model years old MAX. The only other new vehicles that can offer the same are more $ than this.

Did I mention 400 HP LS2 V-8? PLUS I can drive it everyday.

I don't really like the Fords or Chryslers either.

So what color are you going to get?

It's hard to say.
I like black. But whites cool and I found a silver 2006 that I can get a $6500 rebate on.
I'll be driving it everyday so black may be difficult to keep clean.

Matt, what kind of insurance premium are you getting for the SS.
I'm around $90 to $100 a month or so (based on some Progressive and Gieco estimates).

I'm CLOSE.

GM has 1.9% on 2007's.

Actually if I look under discounts in the central region (Ohio) it's 0.0% fiancing.

Honestly, I don't think Allstate was dinging me much on the SS. In fact, it was definitely cheaper than the Saab 9-2x. Turbo cars suck to insure. I think the rates were pretty much in line with the price of the car and what we've seen on our Envoy SLT. Maybe Allstate is just stupid. Heck, we finally just got a break on the Miata insurance now that it's over 3 years old. Convertibles are no fun either. So, maybe I'm just so used to getting bombarded on others that the SS doesn't seem bad. I can look up my rate if you'd like.