One of the best-selling SUV’s on the market is the Chevy Traverse, and it’s not because of its styling, some innovative technology, or its slightly higher price. Simply put, the Chevy Traverse is practical for families.

Actually, the Traverse is less than an SUV or even a mini-van, as many buyers want to get away from hunky vehicles in their driveways. CUV is the newest term for vehicles that are somewhere in between a car and an SUV. A CUV is the newest mainstream vehicle for up-and-coming families. The Chevy Traverse is more mainstream. For families, it offers three rows of seating. The Traverse has only been out for a couple of years and the 2010 model has very few changes over the 2009 model.

My daughter Charity had a Traverse for a test drive and almost fell in love with it. She raved about the convenience and the utility. The second row of seating can be purchased with a bench seat, but the captain’s chairs are probably more useful. Captain’s chairs in the second row give older children, teenagers, and adults much more room and also provide an open pass-through to the back row area. There is a fair amount of cargo room in the back, but for a long road trip, the luggage and family items will spill over into the other areas. The third row seats split and fold flat. This is useful for those long trips and carrying more suitcases and bags.

The 2010 Chevy Traverse is only offered with one engine size – a 3.6 liter V-6 that provides 281 horsepower. It is matched with a six speed automatic. The Traverse can be purchased in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. I personally have become a fan of having all-wheel drive because of safety concerns on wet roads, snow, ice, or even sandy conditions.

The exterior of the Traverse is very mainstream. It is not distinctive, but it is acceptable and appealing. The interior is functional but not futuristic or trend setting. Again, the interior offers all the conveniences for a family or even an around-town vehicle, but it is not designed like a sports car. It is easy to drive and it fits into tight spaces fairly well. My daughter Charity says it doesn’t feel “bulky” when she is driving or parking.

The 2010 Chevrolet Traverse is offered in three trim levels – the base LS, the LT, and the top-of-the-line LTZ. The primary difference in the different trim level models is the wheels, which come as 17 inch, 18 inch, or 20 inch. The back-up camera works really well and was certainly a strong point with my daughter, who has two younger children. She commented, “I can see all the bicycles, toys, and other paraphernalia left in the drive before I run over it. The screen for the camera is conveniently located on the rear view mirror.” I have advocated back-up cameras for many years and think they should be standard in most vehicles.

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Oshawa, Ontario (August 27, 2008) - The all-new 2009 Traverse crossover, available at Chevrolet dealers this fall, starts at $34,655 MSRP. The Traverse is a stylish, well-equipped crossover that can still carry part of the hockey team and their gear, but with fuel consumption typical of smaller vehicles.

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DETROIT (June 24, 2008)– Besides its bowtie insignia, the all-new Traverse crossover shares something important with Chevy’s midsize cars: an exceptional aerodynamic drag coefficient (cd) that enables great fuel economy. Its cd is only 0.33- making it the sleekest crossover in the segment.

When it hits showrooms this fall, the Traverse is expected to have the segment’s best highway fuel economy (EPA certification is pending). This is because of its new, efficient 3.6L V-6 with direct injection technology, a fuel-saving six-speed automatic transmission and an exterior designed to cheat the wind and slip through the air with minimal resistance.

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From autoblog.com

At the Chicago Auto Show, Chevrolet rolled out the fourth and hopefully final member of its Lambda crossover family, the new Traverse. By the way, according to Chevrolet the proper pronunciation puts the emphasis on the second syllable. Like its Saturn, GMC and Buick siblings, the new Traverse is a full-size vehicle that is almost the same size as the Tahoe. That means it has seating for up to eight occupants, although three in the last row is a bit of a squeeze.

GM invited the media out to its Milford Proving Ground last week for a first drive of the Traverse, which of course we attended on your behalf. We had the chance to sample the big CUV in several different scenarios against what the marketing staff consider its main competitor, the Toyota Highlander. We ran the Chevy and Toyota back to back on the ride road, the skid pad, a lane change and slalom course and while towing a 4,200-lb boat. Check out how the Traverse fared after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

The Windsor Star’s Chris Vander Doelen says that with a quiet confidence it hasn’t shown in years, General Motors has just launched its biggest product bet of 2008: the Chevrolet Traverse. With big people movers out of favour due to rising fuel costs, the Chevrolet Traverse crossover has the amenities of an SUV with none of the fuel costs.

Introduced at the Chicago Auto Show, the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse is an expressively styled, well-equipped crossover that gives customers people-hauling and cargo-carrying capability typically found in larger SUVs.

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The 2009 Chevrolet Traverse delivers a robust and satisfying combination of power, efficiency, ride and safety. The driving experience is supported by a sophisticated, 3.6L DOHC V-6 that features variable valve timing and gasoline direct-injection technology. It is designed to provide excellent power and efficiency that translates to usable, power-on-demand performance and what is expected to be the best highway fuel economy in the segment. Power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering is standard, with variable-effort steering available. The suspension and steering systems meet the road via 17-, 18- or 20-inch wheels, depending on the model, while four-wheel disc brakes with ABS are standard on all models.Additional standard electronic braking features include Dynamic Rear Proportioning (DRP), Hydraulic Brake Boost (HBB) and Panic Brake Assist (PBA). DRP optimizes front to rear brake balance by dynamically adjusting the rear brake bias based on driving conditions and vehicle loading. HBB amplifies the hydraulic brake force to assist the driver under low or temporarily low engine vacuum conditions to reduce stopping distance.

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