2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71 Review | Reviews
2024 Chevrolet Traverse steals from its big brother’s closet — to great effect
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The 2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71 reminds one of the old movie trope: a younger lad raids his older brother’s closet for those cool rock band t-shirts before heading out for a night with his buddies. Maybe the Big Bro finds out and gives him pointers about life or maybe they row over the situation — whatever happens, Young Lad generally ends up at the party looking straight fire and hanging out with the cool kids.
This sibling theatre often plays out in the design studios of automakers around the world. When a brand hits on something popular, it isn’t uncommon for the group to apply similar treatments to other models when it’s time for a revamp. The latest? Chevy’s own Traverse, a vehicle which takes more than a few design cues from its popular big brother, the Tahoe.
The 2024 Traverse Z71 earns an upright and SUV-like appearance, putting bystanders more in mind of a Tahoe than older models ever have. The Z71 trim this year, brings knobby tires, an inch of extra ground clearance, and a burlier style — again ripped straight from the Book of Tahoe.
What’s under the hood of this 2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71?
Let’s start in the one place where this new Traverse most emphatically does not steal from its brother — its engine bay. Gone is the V6 engine of yore, replaced with a turbocharged 2.5L four-cylinder mill making 328 horses and roughly a like amount of torque. Whilst this is a thoroughly modern engine, those power peaks occur rather far up the tachometer, at 5,500 and 3,500 rpm respectively, which is sky-high for a turbo-fed powertrain in a large vehicle. All-wheel drive is standard in Canada.
Can it haul?
The 8-speed automatic is well mannered and always seems to be in the correct gear. Curb weight is about 4,800 pounds, on par for the segment and contributing to a competitive maximum trailering weight of 5,000 pounds when shod with the correct gear. The Z71 trim of our tester sees fit to include the trailering package as standard equipment.
How’s fuel economy in the 2024 Traverse?
Following long highway stints and numerous jaunts about town, we averaged 11.0 L/100 km in this large crossover with an extremely green powertrain bearing just over a thousand kilometres on its odometer. This is bang on what NRCan estimates as the Traverse AWD’s combined economy (11.3 L/100 km); knowing engines tend to improve economy performance following initial delivery, we estimate the Traverse could reliably dip into the 9s on long highway runs as it ages.
Does the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71 drive like a bus?
It does not drive like a bus, despite its size, with a comfortable ride thanks in part to those Z71-spec tires which bring an 18-inch wheel with a decently high sidewall to absorb bumps. Super Cruise is the best in the (semi-autonomous) business, consistently reading the road and making automatic lane changes when appropriate. The system now even works on some major two-lane highways, such as parts of the Trans-Canada in Cape Breton where private driveways and business entrances dot its shoulder. It is a tremendous fatigue-reducing tool, only ceasing to work in places like the huge 180-degree bend at Kelly’s Mountain or across the entirety of Newfoundland island.
Grunt is sufficient for the task, though hybrid powerplants like the one found on option in the Toyota Grand Highlander do a better job of delivering low end torque, thanks to supplemental electric motors even if the total stated output is not as robust as the Chevy. Its engine note was unpleasant when pressed, sounding for all the world like roofing nails in a Ninja Foodi blender.
Interior features of the new Chevy Traverse
General Motors has been doing a great job in terms of digital displays lately, a performance which continues into this revamped Traverse. An enormous 17.7-inch infotainment touchscreen is standard on all trims, full of bright colours and reasonable response times, though some passengers felt the volume control was out of reach during times when they objected to the driver’s choice of tunes.
Wireless device charging worked every time and a half dozen USB ports mean everyone has a place to plug in. The cabin is stretch-em-out comfortable, with plenty of leg- and headroom even for this NBA-sized driver. About the only misfire was a Bose-branded stereo system which delivered a disappointingly buzz-filled audio experience despite its price as part of a $4,325 option package. The middle-row bucket seats can slide fore-and-aft to optimize legroom; be sure to check out the gallery above which shows the difference in space depending on seat position.
Is cargo capacity increased for the 2024 model year?
Total carrying capacity grows to 98 cubic feet (2,763 litres) when both the second and third rows are stowed away, a figure Chevy claims is best in class even if just by a couple of litres (official specs for the Toyota Grand Highlander say 97.5 cubes of 2,761L). The seats can be annoying to fold if other passengers are long of limb, since headrests will make rude contact with other seatbacks and prevent folding until the latter are scooched forward out of the way. Still, there’s no shortage of room in the Traverse, with its space best measured in acres.
What is the competition for the Chevrolet Traverse?
It is worth cross-shopping machines like the Hyundai Palisade, Toyota Grand Highlander, Kia Telluride, and Ford Explorer when considering vehicles in this segment. All are around 200 inches long and have three rows of seating, though some continue to be powered (for better or worse) by a more traditional naturally-aspirated V6 engine.
2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71 Canadian Pricing
This is a machine whose base price starts at $47,999 plus destination for a well-equipped LT that features precisely the same amount of power and cargo space (and digital real estate) as our Z71 model which rang in at $63,789 as-tested. Chevy makes Super Cruise available on the LT, if interested (pro tip: you should be). So equipped, it would be no trouble to largely replicate our experience whilst saving about ten grand, putting some aside for Z71-style knobby tires to be installed after delivery.
Final thoughts
Chevrolet has crafted an attractive and spacious vehicle in the 2024 Traverse, one which successfully raids the closet of its Tahoe big brother for an appropriately lantern-jawed and rugged set of duds. Since options like Super Cruise, formerly the domain of bucks-deluxe models, are available on the LT now makes that trim worth the scrutiny if considering the new ’24 Traverse.
Pros
✔ Grown up and SUV-like appearance
✔ Impressive digital real estate
✔ Comfort and space for days
Cons
✘ Rear seats can be annoying to fold
✘ Coarse engine note
✘ Buzzy audio speakers
Millennial Mom’s Review of the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse Z71
I think Matt really summed up how I feel about this SUV when he wrote about the pricing — I thought this Z71 trim seemed fairly normal. An average SUV. There’s nothing specific that makes it worth it to get this trim, especially if you can save some dollars and get pretty much the same amount of stuff.
Looks-wise, it’s a typical SUV inside and out. It doesn’t have anything truly distinguishable that would make it simple to tell it’s a Traverse, but sometimes simple is good; it works here. On the inside, there’s a lot of red stitching that stands out against the muted grey tones but if I have to pay extra for that, it’s definitely not going to be a part of any family hauler I’m cross-shopping. There’s a huge sunroof in here, which is nice, but as someone who doesn’t often use it, I don’t really care to pay an additional $1,695.
While I’m nowhere near as tall as Matt, I did find the Chevrolet Traverse to have adequate space in all three rows. Of course, the third row isn’t the most comfortable, but I didn’t hear any complaints from my eight-year-old son and 15-year-old cousin back there — then again, they didn’t really have the option of sitting anywhere else in the vehicle since my 10-year-old (car sick) daughter was in the second-row’s captain’s chair, along with my five-year-old in a car seat latched into the other chair. While three-row SUVs are generally known to have huge amounts of space behind the third row of seats, I found this one to be adequate — far better than some recent three-rows we’ve tested. Obviously, if you need some extra space back there, the third-row’s seats can be folded down to open up the area, but if you’re in the same family situation as me — three children — then one of the seats in the third row will need to be up, almost at all times.
I don’t mind this infotainment screen and operating system, though it’s not the easiest one I’ve used, but definitely learnable. I do like that there’s a customizable panel at the top of the screen that stays visible at all times, and you can drag in the icons you want quick access to — or drag out the ones you don’t — such as the camera, Android Auto connectivity or climate controls.
One thing I found a bit annoying was that when I got to a red light, the seat would vibrate and the camera — a very clear backup and surround view camera — would come on, assumedly because it detected something as shown in the digital screen in front of me, but I was never sure what exactly it detected because there was nothing around me. Exiting the screen didn’t help because it would just pop open again since it was still detecting something, but it did go away once I started driving again.
Matt also noted the addition of Super Cruise in here being easy to use — and while I do appreciate the $4,325 addition being on such a simple family vehicle, it’s also available on lower trims meaning you can save some money on the lower trims without letting go of this feature. I’m not sure how many people will find the semi-autonomous feature useful in daily driving since it mainly works on specific mapped portions of highways, but it’s still cool to have, especially if you’re someone who road trips a lot.
Another minor thing I found annoying was that after a week of driving, the wiper/mode selector placement still confused me and made me pause every time I got into the SUV to start it up — don’t even get me started on starting it up in the rain. The wiper controls are on the left, on the same thing that controls the left and right signals, meaning flicking it up or down does nothing for the wipers. Furthermore, it’s a bit hidden behind the wheel and awkward to reach, which would be fine if it was only the indicators that you don’t need to look at to flick while driving — note that this might be a me-problem because I’m short. And finally, I still haven’t gotten used to the right side not being the windshield wipers, but instead it’s the mode selector that needs to be pulled forward and down to go into Drive.
Final thoughts from Millennial Mom
I wouldn’t mind daily driving the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse because it’s a fairly simple and spacious three-row SUV. That said, it’s got some pretty good competition — the Toyota Grand Highlander is a bit more spacious, the Stellantis SUVs have a simpler infotainment screen, and some three-rows even have a lower starting price. While it’s a great option to test drive for those looking to cross-shop in this segment, it doesn’t necessarily stand out among its competitors. Even though the Chevy Traverse would most definitely make a great daily family hauler, so would all the others, and possibly even do a better job.
Check out the latest Chevrolet Traverse model. Click here for more Millennial Mom’s Reviews.
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