Jim Park’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Design:
The 2006 Chevy TrailBlazer SS differs from its normal TrailBlazer brethren with more aggressive front and rear fascias. The body hunkers down an inch lower over large 20-inch wheels shod with 255/50 tires, giving the SS instant urban street credibility. Tasteful and minimal SS badges are a welcome respite from over-the-top special edition vehicle emblems and graphics seen on such cars as the Charger R/T Daytona or the NASCAR race-inspired Monte Carlos. Sans the “SS” badging and wheels, the TrailBlazer could make for an effective sleeper as it is difficult to discern from regular TrailBlazers at a glance. At the same time, the TrailBlazer SS carries on the GM tradition of testing the tasteful limits of proportion and shapes. The rear license plate is framed by an oversized rectangular surround which is round on its corners and concave in the middle. In the language of design, the license plate surround relates in no way to the rear in general but does expound on the language of bubbly plastics. The tail lamps are oddly shaped, too, again not quite rectangular nor completely rounded but peppered with odd bulges. These examples may seem nitpicky but put it all together and you end up with no cohesive design language at all – it’s just a four-wheel box with strange random-radius curves and odd bulging pieces.

The interior is a mishmash of GM parts bin plastic and design school non-theory. The interior A-pillar finishing is executed in a manner particularly unexpected, noticeably thinner at the base than at the top. The dashboard is an amalgam of textured and flat plastic trim pieces contorted into concave and convex shapes. There are so many odd shapes inside odder shapes that one can’t help but to hypothesize that GM may have been testing physical bending limits of plasticized polymers all in one vehicle. The gauge clusters are painted with numbers and letters in a size and font that only nearsighted boy racers could appreciate. On a positive note, the climate control and stereo control knobs are intuitively placed and competently sized for easy access and modulation. The TrailBlazer SS doesn’t come with bells and whistles so there is little chance that one will encounter the frustrations found in high-tech cars that tout technology and every imaginable creature comfort.

Christian Wardlaw’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Design:
The Chevrolet TrailBlazer is a fundamentally handsome SUV traditionally ruined by too much make-up in the form of chrome or black plastic, or with the added weight gained by stretching the design to accommodate seven passengers in the now-defunct EXT version. In SS trim, which replaces chrome and black plastic with body-color bits and pieces while dumping the side moldings for a cleaner look, the TrailBlazer is at its best. Those beautiful 20-inch polished aluminum wheels help plenty, too.

The TrailBlazer SS looks cheap inside, but not necessarily because of the materials used in construction. Rather, it is a design issue. Forget about finding a flush fit anywhere, because the snap-tight interior’s panel joints resemble balls of pizza dough left in a cooler overnight to rise. Plus, everything is dark charcoal except the headliner and pillar trim. The truck could stand a few silver trim panels to dress things up a bit.

Thom Blackett’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Design:
There’s something to be said for sleeper rides. Unlike the flashy Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8, the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS is understated. During our week with the truck, several people asked if the vehicle was indeed an SS model. True enough, except for the 20-inch wheels, honeycomb grille inserts, SS nomenclature on the front seats and dash, SS badges on the doors and tailgate, and a larger exhaust pipe, the truck looks much like any other TrailBlazer. The number of visual alterations may sound significant, but when taken as a whole and viewed on the road, they’re rather inconsequential, which makes surprising those supposedly bad-ass tuner folks all the more enjoyable. Dude, you just got smoked by a Chevy SUV – no aftermarket turbo or cat-back exhaust can take the sting out of that.