Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Long story short, I was recently involved in a hit and run, basically went to Safeway for about 20 minutes at 10pm at night and came outside to find my driver side rear fender pushed into my wheel. No witnesses, no camera's, no note.. great. Well insurance came through and got me into a loaner a 2012 Chevy Impala, which I immediately turned back in. Call me spoiled but I could not for the life of me stand the poor cloth seats. Enterprise ended up giving me a 2013 Ford Mustang V6 Convertible which was pretty decent. I only kept it a day though as I convinced my work to give me a RX loaner by way of BCA (borrowed car agreement) for a few days. They agreed and I got to enjoy the Lexus for a bit. I tuned the car in and went back to Enterprise and ended up in the topic of this review, a 2013 Chevrolet Traverse.





Now most folks on these boards know me to be a Blue Oval guy and a loyal one at that. Because of the fact I thought it suiting to review the Traverse as I don't get much seat time behind Chevy's.





Exterior:
As I took the keys and approached the Traverse, one thing kept running through my mind. **** that's a big ute. For 2013 the Traverse saw a refresh which included a new more imposing front fascia. This particular Traverse was a 1LT AWD model painted in Silver Ice Metallic. The wheels were 18" with meaty rubber tread. LT models over the LS also nets you the chrome beltline molding, color-keyed bodyside molding, chrome upper grille bars, and fog lamps for the exterior. For a large CUV like this, it wasn't bad looking but might still fall into the crowd. Simply it doesn't have the masculine lines of a JGC/Durango nor the sleekness of say a Cayenne. Not a standout, but certainly not as forgetful as an Outlander.





Interior:
As for the interior, this isn't your father's 2002 Trailblazer. The plastics though not Audi grade are much improved over most GM products of past decades including those Trailblazer, Envoy, 9-7X, Bravada, Rainier and Ascender siblings. For being a step above the lowest trim LS, the LT came with an 8-way power driver seat, a remote engine start, heated outside mirrors, a leather wrapped steering wheel, and special interior ambient lighting. This Traverse had no navigation (but an OnStar turn by turn option), but it still had a nice multi media display (MMD) similar to how the RX offers one in lieu of navigation. Resolution was excellent, and the Traverse even had an ultra sonic rear parking assist with a good backup camera. The camera also had the nice back-up guide lines that pivot with the turn of a steering wheel. I hate to say that in that regard the Chevy easily beats any of the Lexus versions of back-up guide lines that are too chunky and some don't even move. The MMD showed some vibrant colors for some radio station artwork which was a nice touch. The Sound system was nice enough, granted I'm no audiophile but I didn't have any complaints about it. With my own car, and all the cars I drive at the dealer nearly 99.9% are leather so the cloth seats took some getting used to again but they were supportive nonetheless. The fake wood looked out of place with some super hard plastic surfaces especially in contrast to a nice double stitch over the glove box and below the dash - a nice touch though to say the least. The lighting switches were in the same location as you'll find on most Chevy's including the parts bin sharing chrome **** and dome light switch location all to the left of the steering column. I was not too fond of the door lock location mainly because it blended in with the rest of the plastic(y) door. Plenty of storage and cubbies were accessible by the driver including one above the center console on the dash that hid a USB port inside. Lastly the gauges and instrumentation was laid out nicely with a large tachometer and speedometer, analog battery, engine temp, and fuel gauges as well. The silver chrome bezel that comes downward though I thought to be kind of nuisance though in terms of visibility. One big complaint was the overly simple and late nineties digital read outs for PRNDL and all the trip information. Simply it looks old and outdated. In contrast the 2013 Mustang I had earlier in the week had a super high resolution trip information screen. The steering wheel had all the audio, bluetooth, and cruise control buttons you'll need. Overall visibility was good for the Traverse's size. Overall fit and finish was decent at least in terms of assembly though there were some bad plastics and a sea of black and charcoal that made some controls hard to see/use.









Drive:
After I got in and buckled up, I instinctively put my foot on the brake and pressed around for the push start oops. Had to remember the physical key and not the convenience of a key fob - I'm spoiled hah. Turn on the Traverse and the DI 3.6L V6 comes to life. This mill puts out 281hp with the single exhaust and 288hp with the dual exhaust - 266lbft/270lbft respectively. The engine is bolted to a 6-speed automatic with a gear selector on the shifter. My Ford Mustang had the same toggle switch. Honestly I prefer paddle shifters or an actual +/- gated shifter to it. As I did some errands, I noted the transmission shifted very smoothly and I never felt any stutter to up or downshift during normal driving. When I hopped onto the onramp of the freeway I though I felt the most minute hesitation for power, but I'm also coming from an IS350 weighing nearly 1000lbs less. Perhaps another week in the Traverse and I'd have nailed it's responses. Either way it still would receive a passing grade from me. Passing power running a 45mph-80 was easy for the 3.6L V6 which didn't brake a sweat. This engine had a nice grumble and although not as refined as the Lexus DI 3.5, I would choose this 3.6 over Nissan's VQ37 any day. I would love to sample the venerable 3.6L in the ATS next (more power). Road noise was pronounced though it was better than a Honda Pilot or most Honda's in general which are notorious for road noise. Handling though a bit cumbersome due to the size was still buttoned down and I felt planted - more so than my 2003 Explorer which I'm afraid to do any sort of emergency maneuver in.





Overall Impressions:
With the Lexus's, Acura's, Infiniti's, BMW's and Mini's I routinely drive, I don't get much seat time in more mainstream makes. This was a great opportunity to see what GM is offering these days vs their past. Technology and engineering leads the way for mainstream vehicles like this, refinement is greatly improved, quieter more isolated from the road, but material quality though better is still a little low rent - which is probably why it's in the Enterprise car fleet. All in all I actually enjoyed the Traverse. Yes, I enjoyed the Chevy . That said it is a competent large CUV that can easily move a family of 5 with some room to spare. Would I ever buy one? No, it's a bowtie and I refuse too own one but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the great strides GM has taken to revamp their CUVs. To that I say well done GM!

spwolf

that centre stack look so typical GM crap.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

pretty fugly in and out.

mmarshall

Nice review, Hoovey. ...though I'm sorry to hear about the damage to your own car. It takes a lowlife to do a hit-and-run like that.

Your review was especially well-done in the Interior and Drivetrain sections.

My next MM review, BTW (which will be coming up in a few days), is scheduled for the Traverse's sedan cousin.....the new 2014 Impala.

GM-badged vehicles vary enormously from one to another the quality and solidness of their interior materials. From what I've seen, the highest-quality newer GM interiors seem to come from the rebadged German Opels.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Thank you Mike. Appreciate that coming from you

And yeah no respect. Can't even muster a note to leave. The sad part is it was 10pm at night, no cars around I still parked away from the store

Thanks .

Right, this 1LT probably lacked some of the 2LT and LTZ glitz, more so when you step up to a Buick Enclave or GMC Acadia Denali triplet. Of course European vehicles do tend to have a slight edge in materials and quality materials in general vs their American counterparts. Just look at the Euro Civic interior vs the USDM Civic

Fizzboy7

Interesting review. The V6 sounds nice and robust. Also dig the smooth tranny shifts.
The interior got a nice upgrade recently, but still lags behind some other competitors. I still don't get the thumb switch for manumatic shifting. No one who's ever reviewed this feature has liked it. And this has gone on for years now.
Also, seeing the "PRNDL" scrolled in the guage cluster is laughable for 2013. GM needs to finally retire this ancient display like 99% of everyone else has.

Toys4RJill

(moderator: no need to quote the entire review again )

This is one of the better reviews on here, great job!

Can't say I am a fan of GM and not all a fan of their interiors.

MX5

Good review. Friends of mine have one of the first Traverses from when they introduced them (2008?), a higher level like 3LT, and they really like it. I think the new ones look far better, and details like having foglights where before even the LTZ couldn't be had with them is nice.

As for GM interiors, I realize some have been low-rent but I think they do trucks very well. With a truck there needs to be some level of durability to go along with the comfort, so some materials are naturally going to be harder/tougher. I have a current-gen Suburban and I find the interior to be just about perfect - no complaints at all. And that's coming from 2 previous-gen Suburbans and a Navigator in between.

caddyowner

I see garage headroom for a 4-post lift!

Blackraven

The Traverse ain't half bad =)

bagwell

I like the exterior facelift -- looks much better.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Thank you

Thanks. Yeah they debuted in 2008 as 2009 models. I don't think 3LT exists anymore - at least according to their website. LTZ AWD is the highest

Yeah I'm thinking about getting a Panzer or Abrams M1

Toys4RJill

I have always liked how GM offers two different truck interiors. I like the work truck model interior better than the one in the suburban.

KevinGS

Yep, I agree. Interior is passable, but interior looks better than the earlier gen.

Toys4RJill

Most GM interiors from Buick/Chevy/GMC are passable, they are nothing great. You need to get up to Cadillac territory where they start to show improvement.