2018 Chevrolet Traverse

Chevrolet makes exactly two unassailable products. One is the Corvette, and the other is the Suburban. While we might prefer more new vehicles to use the former as a template, we can begrudgingly accept the latter as a North Star for the completely redesigned Traverse. And what a redesign this is, taking last year’s outdated minivan surrogate from back-of-the-pack anonymity to best-in-class contention in most every area.

A Taste of ’Burban

The makeover starts with a literal makeover. GM’s designers clearly took inspiration from the company’s body-on-frame SUVs in the design of the Traverse. From its long wheelbase to its thick C-pillar, the new three-row mid-size ute resembles a downsized Suburban. It is an unabashedly masculine, truckish look, created to address what GM marketers say was the old Traverse’s biggest turnoff to buyers, its soft styling.

Like its larger-than-life brother, the new Traverse outdimensions its competitors. Its wheelbase stretches a staggering 120.9 inches, roughly eight inches longer than its platform mate, the GMC Acadia, and the class stalwart Ford Explorer. At 204.3 inches in total length, the Traverse has 10.7 inches on the Acadia, and it even exceeds by 5.0 inches the beefy Volkswagen Atlas, the big boy that finished as the runner-up in our most recent three-row comparison test. With much of that length devoted to its cargo hold, the Traverse boasts 23 cubic feet of storage behind its third row and 58 cubic feet behind the second row with the third row stowed. That’s two cubes more than the VW in both measures, giving the Chevy best-in-class cargo capacity.

You might think that such a titanic crossover would also drive like a Suburban. But you would be wrong, because Chevy’s engineers have done a masterful job in suspension and steering tuning. The old Traverse didn’t feel like the two-and-a-half-ton elephant it was, and the new one drives even better. An electrically assisted power steering system similar to the one used on the Camaro (rack mounted, with a belt drive), demands only a light touch but rewards the driver with consistent and appropriate feedback. The new Traverse uses struts in the front and a multilink suspension in the rear, a combination that absorbs harsh impacts without jostling occupants and delivers a plush ride.

Driving dynamics are helped by what Chevy is touting as a 350-pound weight loss that brings the base Traverse down to about 4400 pounds. We expect, once we get a higher-optioned model on our scales—like the top-of-the-line High Country trim that we drove for this story—we’ll see a number more like 4750 pounds. Even so, with a 3.6-liter V-6 making 310 horsepower, the Traverse will have one of the better power-to-weight ratios among three-row crossovers. While the Traverse V-6 shares a displacement and a a horsepower rating with the V-6 in the GMC Acadia, this variant does not have cylinder deactivation and makes 266 lb-ft or torque, five less than in the GMC.

Better than a measly 5 lb-ft of torque, however, is that the Chevy has three extra gears. The Traverse uses a nine-speed automatic transmission, which gives its powertrain a level of refinement befitting Cadillac, never mind GMC. Shifts are almost imperceptible, although aggressive driving can sometimes cause a bit of jerkiness on multigear downshifts. The new transmission helps the Traverse pick up 3 mpg in its EPA combined ratings, which climb to 21 for the front-drive version and 20 with all-wheel drive.

Come to High Country

Inside the Traverse, comparisons with a Cadillac also are appropriate—especially if you climb the pricing ladder all the way to the High Country model, which is arguably GM Design’s most fully realized interior. Its metallic trim pieces are classy, and the leather has a high-quality look. Although the overall Traverse interior adheres to the layered design that pervades GM products, the restraint with which this sometimes busy strategy has been executed here is evident. Less expensive Traverses are fitted with the expected cloth and vinyl upholstery and more plastic trim, yet even those commodity-grade materials are nicely deployed.

Seating in all three rows is comfortable, if not plush, and the seats fold into a truly flat load floor. Rear-seat access is excellent, especially entering from the passenger side, which incorporates a middle-row seat that slides and tips forward. Legroom is plentiful, and the third row can even be adult-friendly if the second row is moved forward, but passengers in the wayback have an uncomfortable lack of a side view due to the thick C-pillar. Chevy probably figures that those plugged into their electronics will not even notice, so it aids and abets the screen-time generation with a standard pair of USB ports in each row. Conspicuously absent from this family-oriented hauler is any rear-seat entertainment system, a tacit admission that the days of car manufacturers making big profits on electronics are over. In the same vein, Chevy’s infotainment system has barely evolved in the past few years, except for the only way that matters: It supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, now available for the first time in the Traverse.

The Traverse can be had with seating for seven or eight, with one caveat. The second-row bench seat is only available with cloth upholstery—if you want leather, you’re getting captain’s chairs—which means that if you want eight seats, you’re restricted to lower trim levels. All-wheel drive is optional, but not on the $30,875 base model, which only comes with front-wheel drive. The least expensive AWD model is the LS at $34,995. And if you want to take advantage of the Traverse’s 5000-pound towing rating, you’ll need to step up to the LT trim, which starts at $35,495 for a front-driver, not including $650 for the trailering package.

Prices escalate sharply from there, with leather-equipped models topping $40K, which is also where advanced safety equipment becomes available. A well-optioned Premier trim starts at $45,395 and the all-in High Country rings the bell at $52,995, which would have made the top-spec Traverse the most expensive vehicle in our most recent three-row crossover comparison test.

Chevy will also be throwing a curveball into its Traverse lineup later this fall when it introduces the RS, a purportedly sporty model powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and the same nine-speed automatic, but without a special suspension tune. Available only as a front-driver and priced somewhere north of the LT, the RS seems like the result of someone at GM calling an audible late in product development.

Regardless, the Traverse we have already driven is good enough that we’re willing to give Chevrolet the benefit of the doubt.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, 7- or 8-passenger, 4-door hatchback

BASE PRICES: L, $30,875;
LS, $32,995–$34,995;
LT, $34,495–$39,295;
Premier, $45,395–$48,295;
High Country, $52,995

ENGINE TYPES: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 255 hp, 295 lb-ft; DOHC 24-valve 3.6-liter V-6, 310 hp, 266 lb-ft

TRANSMISSION: 9-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 120.9 in
Length: 204.3 in
Width: 78.6 in Height: 70.7 in
Passenger volume: 153–157 cu ft
Cargo volume: 23 cu ft
Curb weight (C/D est): 4400–4750 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 6.9–7.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 19.1–19.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.4–15.8 sec
Top speed: 115 mph

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA combined/city/highway driving: 20–22/17–20/25–27 mpg