Autoblog

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety took some GMC Acadias and smashed them up to see how the big crossovers hold up against immovable objects, and unlike recent tests conducted for the Chevy Equinox and Pontiac Torrent, the news is positive. An AWD Acadia SLE acted as a stand-in for all of the Lambda models - Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, Saturn Outlook, and all Acadia trims included. It didn't matter whether the IIHS attacked the front, side, or rear – the CUV earned a "good" rating in all directions. With the standard fitment of Stabilitrak, the IIHS also bestowed a Top Safety Pick crown on GM's big haulers. The Lambas now have both a five-star rating from the NHTSA and a Top Safety Pick designator about which to brag.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Chevy Traverse

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.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

click above for more high-res live shots of the 2009 Chevy Traverse

As was previously mentioned, Autoblog is here at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, doing our best to bring you up to speed on all the latest live reveals. We made it down to the GM booth early in the morning for the official debut of the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, and it was pretty much exactly as we expected: another Lambda crossover, platform mate to the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. Looks-wise, the Chevy Traverse is not the least attractive Lambda (looking at you, Outlook), but the Acadia and Enclave have it beat. Though Chevy claims that it used styling cues from the Malibu midsize sedan in the Traverse's design, we don't think they work as well on a CUV of this size. Especially note the grille, which apes the current Chevy design language to a tee. As Alex mentioned, the headlights look a little mean in pictures, but less so in real life. We like the upswept rear quarters, which remind us of the Enclave - by far the best looking Lambda. Other than that, everything remains status quo, with the 3.6 liter V6 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, your choice of front-wheel or all-wheel-drive and seating for either seven or eight.

The presentation that GM put on for the Traverse was much less agreeable than the actual vehicle. Involving a family of two parents and their four children (all actors, for sure) reciting a contrived script, it reminded us of a high school play, though thankfully was much shorter.

click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Chevy Traverse

Let's cut right to the chase. Everything about the 2009 Chevy Traverse that will be unveiled later today in Chicago is stuff we pretty much already know. As the fourth Lambda-platform crossover from General Motors, the basics have been introduced already in the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. The Traverse is a roomy seven (or eight)-passenger crossover with a well-organized cockpit, whose details differ only slightly from its platform sibs. That's been GM's M.O. thus far, so why should the Traverse be any different? Power, like the other Lambdas, comes from the 3.6L V6 with direct injection, which makes 281hp/253 lb-ft or 286hp/255 lb-ft in the Bowtie version depending on whether the vehicle is equipped with a single or dual exhaust. GM promises "best in class" fuel economy (final numbers are still TBD), but our experience with the other Lambdas (non-DI 3.6 VVT models) has been that they averaged in the mid teens during real-world driving.

The Traverse comes in third in the looks race behind the Enclave and Acadia and ahead of the Saturn Outlook. In front, the jumbo-sized Chevy grille is the dominant element, flanked by some rather angry-looking headlamps. In profile, the Traverse has a lot of Enclave to its looks, with pronounced but less-sculpted rear haunches and similarly-shaped glass. The rear end is highlighted by some very funky-looking taillights. Other than that, you feel like you've been here before, mostly because you have. GM hasn't announced pricing yet, but there'll be LS, LT and LTZ trim levels with both 2WD and AWD available. Given that the Chevy should be competitively priced and has a large dealer network, we wonder how many sales it's going to cannibalize from its siblings -- particularly the Outlook. We'll find out this Summer when it starts appearing in showrooms.

[Source: GM]

We've seen spy shots of the 2009 Chevy Traverse, the bowtie brand's upcoming large Lambda-based CUV. Whether those spy shots are of the same vehicle we see above is a matter of debate. The image you see here, while grainy and potentially a photoshop experiment, appears to be an official image of the '09 Traverse that made it's way out GM's hands somehow. Being a stablemate of the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Rendezvous, you can see that the Traverse pictured shares its doors and perhaps its roof with those vehicles, but everything before the A-pillar is all new, as well as the C-pillar out back, which features an upkink not seen on the other Lambdas. The other thing that suggests to us that this picture may be real is the background, which appears to be one of the many standard backdrops against which GM photoshops its press shots. While there's no conclusive evidence this is the production 2009 Chevy Traverse, we can't imagine the real deal will look much different.

[Source: The Hollywood Extra]