Yes, they are tougher than people realize. There are a lot of reasons why certain police units in fact, used Trailblazers, even though they were never officially sold as a police vehicle.
I sometimes wonder why GM didn't look at the Trailblazer instead of the not-much-loved Impala. I suspect that the Trailblazer was out of production long before GM saw the market explode for police-rated SUVs. It was also perhaps that the Tahoe is so wildly popular and GM can sell every one they make, that they didn't really care about modifying or promoting anything else.
But the Trailblazer, even in the straight six cylinder version, is FAST. It has a very low centre of gravity by design. And with a few handling tweaks, can out handle half the sports cars and all the little tin can cars with the fart can mufflers and the anodized aftermarket junk parts.
I saw a fart can car with an anodized tow loop sticking out the rear. It reminded me of the mandatory tow loop we had front and rear in our endurance race car so it could get towed quickly back to the pits if it broke down somewhere on the course. I wanted to ask him if he gets towed home a lot. Not sure I understand the purpose.