Triple Threat: Dustin Powell’s 1200 Horsepower 2007 Trailblazer SS

Dustin Powell 2007 Trailblazer SS

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In no arena is that aphorism more true than in the realm of car-fandom. When it comes to fast cars, a lot of us want it all. We want it to be fast, haul the kids, and even have enough room for the occasional jaunt to the grocery store. But it’s rare to find a vehicle that fits this prestigious list of qualities. That’s because gear heads typically lack reticence. In the quest for speed, one of the first things to go is the rear seat (or at least some interior bits)—because: weight savings, bro…oh, and racecar. What was once a daily soon becomes a monthly—if we’re lucky. But what if we told you the triumvirate does exist? Enter Dustin Powell’s 2007 Trailblazer SS. Whether or not it fits the bill we’ll leave to you, but he sure doesn’t shy away from using it for all three.

In September of 2013, Dustin was lucky enough to bring home two babies; his first son and his 2007 Trailblazer. His story about why he picked up his TBSS is a familiar one. He wanted something the kids could fit in but that he wouldn’t be embarrassed to drive to the local car meet—and even race occasionally. “I originally bought it because I needed something I could have fun in while having room for a car seat,” Dustin explained. “Now I have two sons that both love the TBSS for what it is today.”

But, as a new father, Dustin had to start somewhat slow with his build before he went all out with it; though Dustin’s version of “slow” may differ from your own. He started out by replacing the LS2 with an LS3-based 418 cubic inch stroker motor from NCP Speed and Machine out of central Illinois. Naturally aspirated, the stroker cranked out somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 wheel horsepower according to Dustin–not too shabby considering the losses through the all-wheel drive system.

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It was enough to propel the Trailblazer to an 11.70 quarter-mile which Dustin tells us is still the record for the fastest naturally aspirated, all-wheel drive Trailblazer in the world—a feat for sure considering how many fast TBSSs there are out there. But eventually it wasn’t enough for Dustin and he decided that a turbo “dream build” was in order. Only this time, price was no object. 

The stroker motor already nestled between the fenders was more than up to the task of handling the turbo build. With a boost-friend compression ratio of 9.4:1, thanks to a set of dished Wiseco pistons, the 418 had more than enough room for some denser atmosphere. A Callies Compstar crankshaft keeps everything together on the bottom end and Callies Ultra connecting rods tie the crank to the slugs. The cam is a custom grind spec’d by Matt at GP Tuning—the measurements of which are top secret according to Dustin.

A set of Trickflow heads tops off the cylinders and are fed liberal doses of compressed atmosphere by a Holley Hi-Ram intake, which, in case you haven’t noticed, has been powdered coated red as has the turbo compressor housing, valve covers, and timing cover.

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To get the new snail in the right spot, the truck was sent to BNM Perfomance who took on the task of building the entire turbo kit from scratch. “I was speechless when I went to pick up the truck after Evan at BNM had finished the turbo kit,” Dustin said. “It’s not very often you find such a incredible fab shop that’s local to you. Evan does awesome work and is great to do business with.”

The plan was to crank the Trailblazer up to 12—hundred horsepower that is. To get the bullet there, a 85/96 T6 Borgwarner turbo was selected. It was paired with a set of Turbosmart HyperGate 50 mm waste gates and twin RacePort blow off valves. E85 was selected as the fuel of choice to keep the 418 happy under, up to, 25 pounds of boost. Currently, the truck is running on 5-6 psi but that is only to make sure everything is squared away before hitting it with roughly enough boost to make 800 wheel horsepower Dustin says.

“Right now the truck is running on low boost,” Dustin confessed. “Here soon we will turn it up to about 800 at the wheel. The truck is probably capable of about 1,200, although I will probably stop around 1,000.” We’ve heard that one before, Dustin. Good one.

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With that much power on hand, the all-wheel drive system was not long for this world and was ditched before it could let Dustin down. This lightened things up a bit and provided more clearance for a deep sump on the oil pan. All of the twist is routed through a 3,600 rpm billet triple disk torque converter from Circle D.

Ironically, a stock 4L80, with only a shift kit helping things along, sends the torque to the rear wheels. However, Dustin knows it’s on borrowed time and tells us that as soon as it gives us the ghost it’s getting sent out for a build worthy of the truck. The stock 9.5-inch 14 bolt, stuffed with 4.10 gears, splits the torque evenly to both rear tires out back.

And while Dustin hopes to go 9s with the truck, his main goal was just getting it back on the road for him and his family to enjoy again. “Future plans are to mainly enjoy it with the wife and kids as much as possible and take it to some of the major car events,” Dustin explained. “I missed out on everything in 2016 due to the turbo build taking longer than expected.”

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But don’t kid yourself, this TBSS was built for one purpose: to go fast.

“Eventually it will get caged so I can push it further at the track.”

So maybe the triple threat doesn’t really exist, or maybe it does as long as you’re willing to use it that way. But no matter what way you look at it, it doesn’t really matter. Why? Because racecar.

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About the author

Chase Christensen

Chase Christensen hails from Salt Lake City, and grew up around high-performance GM vehicles. He took possession of his very first F-body— an ’86 Trans Am— at the age of 13 and has been wrenching ever since.
Read My Articles

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