The Chevy Traverse is big, but don’t hold that against it.

Big ski vehicles are not inherently evil...

 but stupid big vehicles will hurt you so many ways they should be avoided as much as straddling a four foot pine. Case in point: any Hummer.

But the Traverse is a whole new class of big: big enough to get the job done, not so big as to waste oodles of Earth’s precious resources.

One thing the eco-police have to remember is that there are people who actually need big vehicles. A family of four, five, six people traveling together just ain’t gonna make it in a Prius, Civic, SX4, whatever. At least not in the same vehicle. And what’s the point of driving two vehicles to get to the ski hill?

Those families need seating for a small horde, and luggage space to boot.

Their options used to be pretty limited: a full size minivan. (Smart family!)

Or something like an Expedition, Armada, Tahoe or Yukon.

Behemoths all, old tech in most cases, and sucking the Earth dry of fossil fuels as we watched the gas gauge spin almost as fast as the speedometer.

Enter the Traverse, and its siblings, the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and for now, the Saturn Outlook.

What’s that, you say, four vehicles off the same platform? Welcome to the bad old world of GM.

Having driven the Acadia and the Traverse, there are substantial differences between the two, and not just in styling fascias. But four different vehicles? Not really necessary.

That being said, the Traverse offers a whole lot of goodness to skiers, without the huge fuel economy penalties of the past stupid-big SUVs.

Driving Impressions

Once you climb up into the Traverse, you can appreciate the effort GM has put into the vehicle. Not as jeweled as the Acadia, or as plush as the Enclave, the Chevy has vast tracts of plastic on the dash. Not unattractive, but a lower snack bracket than the other siblings.

You will feel higher and bigger than most vehicles on the road, because you are!

But that heft is seen, not felt. The Traverse is firmly suspended, leading to some head toss over rough roads, but it handles quite well. While never fleet of foot, it is well planted and secure.

It is obvious that the engineers wanted to make sure fully loaded situations wouldn’t flummox the Traverse, and they have succeeded. Empty ride is a tad flinty, but extra passengers smooth things out.

The overall impression I got was one of solidity, security, and competence. I was never inspired to rip off a hot lap down my favourite country road, but if I drove that road the Traverse could handle it with aplomb.

Now, if it lost a few hundred pounds… ‘course, I could say the same thing for myself!

The issue inside is one of scale as well. This sucker is big! It’s along way up to the seat, a long way back to the rear window, and a good distance to your front seat companion.

The cloth seats were a step up from the mouse fur of G.M.s not so distant past. Leather is optional on lower models, standard on the top of the line LTZ.

You have the choice of seven or eight passenger seating, with easy access to the third row with one lever and a sliding second row seat. Good space back there, too. And there is space behind that third row for luggage, though not a lot.

The third row splits 60/40, as does the second row, giving good flexibility to the interior. Skis up one side, passengers on the other.

My tester was the mid-level 1LT FWD, which was well equipped. One option added that was worth the $515.00 was a rear view camera that displayed in the interior rear view mirror.

Cool!

It worked seamlessly, and allowed you to use the mirror and the camera without shifting your eyes to a separate nav screen.

Both outside mirrors also had a convex mini-mirror in the top outside corner to help check your blind spot. They also had turn indicator repeaters and were heated. Also very nice.

The gauges gave a neat display on startup, with the needles sweeping across their dials. Very nice! Gauges also had very classy aluminum-looking bezels.

And the turn indicators have a ‘tap to pass’ feature, where one touch up or down gives three flashes to that side. No more flashing left turn flickers for miles in the left lane! This should be standard on all cars.

One ergonomic flaw: one stalk for both turn indicators and wipers. This means you must rotate the wiper control all the way through the intermittent settings to turn the wipers on. And where is that rear wiper control? Come on guys, spring for another stalk!

The steering wheel tilts and telescopes, and has a fantastic suede-like leather surface- gorgeous! Cruise control and audio controls were also on the wheel.

The centre console controls have an outside ring that rotates around a fixed centre section. Very nice, and they have a nice feel of solidity. Altogether a very nice dash- a big improvement for GM.

There are ventilation ducts in the roof, like an airplane. And a huge bin between the front seats with a sliding armrest. Watch out, Paris, you could lose a Yorkie in there!

The second row seat cushion pops up, the seatback tilts and the whole assembly slides forward to access the third row. That second row also slides forward and aft several inches, and reclines. Smart seat! It’ll be interesting to see how well it holds together through years of abuse.

The 1LT has an eight-way power drivers seat, while the passenger has to work for their adjustments. No seat heaters at this level, either.

Altogether, this Traverse is far superior to past G.M. efforts, and is perhaps one notch below it’s up-market brethren.

Luggage Space And Cargo Capacity

This is where the Traverse shines. Oodles of interior space and flexible seating options and patterns give the skiing family a variety of ways to get their stuff where it needs to go.

Two caveats: a very stiff manual hatch, and a high liftover created by a high stance. I thought the hatch was a power hatch, and I was opening and closing it against the resistance of the motor. Wrong.

Power hatches are available, but the liftover’s the same across the board.

With the eight seat option, it’s possible to carry 5 people and their ski stuff. And everybody rides inside!

It really is an ideal ski mobile, but I’d still get the AWD and put four winter tires on it—you can’t fool the laws of physics.

The Look Of Love

The Traverse has a gorgeous family resemblance to the sexy Malibu, with a clean front and rear end that are the best looking of the quartet, I think. The rear end is particularly striking, being very clean and elegant.

How Green Will My Mountain Be?

My observed fuel economy was worse than the estimate, which is usually the case. The EnerGuide ratings are 12.7 L/100 kms, and 8.4 L/100 kms. My consumption was 14.7 L/100 kms in mostly city driving.

The trip computer integrated into the instrument panel let me keep tabs on fuel consumption and klicks to empty, a very handy item to have.

Fully loaded the Traverse makes fuel sense. Empty? You’re hauling a lot of metal and empty space around, and it shows on the gas gauge.

The Skiing Scoop

A great ski vehicle for the large families out there who are allergic to minivans. Good looking, capable, smart big, there’s a lot here to like. The bigness is high enough off the ground to make petite people think twice, while the heft and fuel mileage might make some people look at minivans. But few minivans have the option of AWD, and that can be a deal maker.

Summing Up

Lots to like here: looks, capacity, lots of standard and safety features, and a domestic manufacturer doing well. While the Traverse would be a wasteful proposition as a daily driver, it serves a very important purpose in being sensible smart family transportation on a grand scale.

Peter Gilbert is a freelance wheels writer and regular contributor to Ski Press.

Peaks: Smart size, good looks, versatile seating, good cargo capacity, reasonable fuel consumption for its role.

Mountain ratings: (out of 5)

Fun to drive: 3+

Engine and transmission: 4

Driver’s and passenger’s environment: 4+

Luggage capacity and utility: 5

All-weather-ability: 3+ with FWD and 4 winter tires

Sex appeal: 4 (if you like big!)

Ski friendliness: 5

Value: 4

Bottom line:

Chevrolet Traverse 1LT FWD, base price: CDN$37, 255.00

Options on test vehicle: Preferred equipment group 1SB, N/C, rear view camera with rear view mirror display $515.00.

Total price, including destination charge of $1,200.00: $39,120.00