2020 Chevrolet Traverse review | Car Reviews

When Typical Motors went bankrupt in 2008, 1 of the explanations supplied to explain its skidding off the rails was the American giant’s stubbornness to multiply the selection of versions it developed on a solitary platform. All too typically, the exact same automobile was remaining set on the market carrying a distinct set of outfits. The sequence of minivans developed by the automaker (the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Saturn Relay and Buick Terraza) is but 1 eloquent illustration of this unlucky pattern.

Starting up with the sinking of Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer in 2008, this overuse of the exact same platform has step by step supplied way as the company restructured. But there are nonetheless indelible traces of this previous mentality in today’s lineup of versions underneath the GM banner.

Take the company’s a few-row crossovers. GM provides the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave, with the Cadillac XT6 joining the fray in the latest months. They are all relatives utility versions, and whilst there are a handful of components particular to each individual design, in the close, we’re nonetheless uncomfortably shut to the “old GM” formulation. On the other hand, supplied the head get started proffered on any design dubbed an SUV these times, you simply cannot actually fault the best brass at Typical Motors for heading back to the exact same very well about and about.

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The most funds-helpful of GM’s quartet of crossovers, the Chevrolet Traverse is 1 of the most welcoming for occupants in its phase, and it is really also decidedly far better constructed than its predecessor. I put in a week with the spruced-up RS variation of it at the tail close of winter season.

A welcoming interior
Featuring a “stretched” exterior proportions, the Chevrolet Traverse offers an similarly expanded surroundings inside. There is certainly no scarcity of house in this huge SUV. Up entrance, occupants have nothing at all to complain about, nor do travellers in the 2nd row of seats the two buckets can be moved forward or backward to enhance legroom if desired. Third row entry, even so, is not the Chevrolet Traverse’s best energy.

The RS trim is a little bit plusher than the LS and LT versions of the Traverse, and that’s obvious as quickly as you get inside, with the leather upholstery introducing an element of luxurious you really don’t normally affiliate with a Chevy.

As for the dashboard, it does not nonetheless inherit components from the new dashboard patterns of the brand’s huge pachyderms, the Tahoe and Yukon, which now have a display screen inserted appropriate in the center, as is progressively the circumstance throughout the field. The Traverse’s touchscreen can even so be lifted by pressing a button situated beneath it, which also reveals a hidden storage house.

The moment yet again, I discovered that GM’s infotainment technique is nonetheless 1 of the finest in the field, in very good aspect due to the fact of its image top quality and relieve of use. I ought to also mention that the responsiveness of the touchscreen is excellent. Hats off to the designers of the technique.

In terms of ease and comfort, the seats in the initially two rows are tender more than enough to ensure a clean journey. Travellers in the third row will have to make do with fewer very well-padded seats. In any circumstance, that row is largely reserved for little ones.

Common mechanics
Beneath the hood, the out-of-date three.6L naturally-aspirated V6 is back this yr in the Traverse RS, and in my feeling, it is really the finest mechanical possibility available. The 6-cylinder is no beast but it does a great task of shifting this huge automobile around. Bolted to that device is a nine-speed computerized transmission tasked with sending energy to the wheels. Notice that the Traverse provides motorists the possibility of a two-wheel-travel configuration to conserve on fuel consumption or outright four-wheel travel, which of course will come in helpful in Canadian winter season problems.

Enjoyable to travel the Traverse?
The solution to that problem is very simple: not actually. The Chevrolet Traverse RS, even with the glamour of its pink badge, just isn’t a hot rod or a thoroughbred. The Traverse’s mission is purely relatives-oriented, and satisfying that mandate is when the huge SUV is at its finest. People moms and dads who want to have a minor enjoyment powering the wheel of their relatives automobile ought to glance somewhere else. The suspension was created for a cozy journey, the steering is nothing at all like that of a Camaro, to say the minimum, and accelerations usually are not too much to handle.

Regardless of its chintziness on the driving-satisfaction entrance, the Chevrolet Traverse RS is not uncomfortable to use on a day-to-day basis… fortunately! The familiar naturally-aspirated three.6L V6 motor does its task quite very well, the nine-speed computerized transmission remains seamless and you can even opt for the ideal drivetrain. I experienced a tender spot for the 2WD manner, which is fewer wonky than the 4 wheel drive in my feeling. Even so, it is really nonetheless reassuring to be equipped to count on all-wheel travel my week-extensive test travel in snowy and icy problems introduced that house really evidently.

The very last term
I have to tackle the issue of price tag, basically due to the fact the RS variation of the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse RS retails for $49,098 – ahead of possibilities, planning service fees and taxes, of course! And that’s not the most very well-geared up trim in the lineup.

At this price tag, there’s no scarcity of alternatives in this phase. The supply is considerable and there are several versions to think about, this on best of the point that the Traverse is already “aged” in a constantly renewed category. Driving satisfaction just isn’t its most important energy, while that may well not be a huge handicap in this phase, and the powertrain is in all probability not the most technically advanced.

On the other hand, Chevrolet’s 2nd-greatest SUV relies on a trusty powertrain that’s in wide use in GM versions, and the top quality of design and finishing of this 2nd-era Traverse is unquestionably superior to the initially design, bought right until 2017.

Comfortable, roomy and capable of towing up to 5,000 lb, the Chevrolet Traverse is at minimum deserving of thing to consider for those with extended people wanting for a roomy a few-row SUV. But, at the possibility of repeating myself, there are a lot of alternatives in the phase.

We like

The “mindset” of the RS badging and accents
House on board
General top quality on the increase

We like fewer

The colourless general performance of the powertrain
The absence of intelligent cruise control at this price tag
Tough entry to the third row

The competition

Dodge Durango
Ford Explorer
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Palisade
Kia Telluride
Mazda CX-nine
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Ascent
Toyota Highlander
Volkswagen Atlas

2020 Chevrolet Traverse RS photographs