#Chevrolet trax review free#

There’s also more space behind the back seats than you would think. Taking four adults out for a night wouldn’t be too bad. It does have a nice, wide dead pedal to rest the left foot.īack seat space is good, with my 5’10” frame in front. The leather steering wheel is a nice touch, but I hate the weird, Range Rover-style armrest in the center. Again, maybe if it was all black it would look a little better. I like plain interior styling, but this is just miles of semi-cheap-looking plastic and rubber. Ground clearance is also good, but I don’t like the giant wheel well space. I do like the lack of chrome, and the five spoke wheels look right. The protruding rear haunches remind me of the forgettable Jeep Compass, too. I have seen one in black, though, and it looks a little bit better. I’m not a fan of black body cladding on the lower portion, either. Big headlights, big grille, big air intakes, it looks a little cartoonish to me. The company’s front end is looking a little too … exaggerated, maybe, is the word. ONLINE FEATURES EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: The Chevy Trax is nearly the perfect size for today’s commuter.

If you can do without most of those features, including, I’d say, the all-wheel drive, the Trax is worth a look. Does this make sense as a $27,405 car? No, but I can at least rationalize it as a $20,995 with a heck of a lot of features tacked on. It doesn’t get you a better motor or anything.Īs I said, though, whether you’re insulted by the sticker price has a lot to do with how you frame it. I’m not sure jumping to the top trim level and paying a huge premium for the privilege really makes sense here. A good set of winter tires would probably do as much as the extra driven wheels, though. Granted, that’s a front-wheel drive LS, not this top-of-the-line all-wheel-drive LTZ. You can get into one for as little as $20,995. But you know what? Chevy does offer the Trax for a few thousand dollars less. Some of this would be acceptable on a car costing a few thousand dollars less, even if it’s hard to swallow on a car going on $30,000. The 1.4-liter motor is so-so, buzzing furiously but lacking guts above 75 mph. Something rattled in the center console - the bitter cold probably caused all the plastic bits to contract, loosening things up and letting them shake around - but still. Yet at this price point, I can’t overlook the lack of automatic climate control, push-button ignition and generally cheap-feeling interior. Its dorky tall-and-narrow design doesn’t look as much like a turtle to my eyes as the Buick Encore - I actually like it - and it didn’t drive as top-heavy as it looked. There’s enough room here for four (but don’t even think about fitting five) adults. It’s not that I don’t like the idea behind the Trax, a compact crossover that isn’t pretending it’s some sort of trail-devouring rugged lifestyle machine. Or even a good value, necessarily - but guess it all depends on how you frame it. I fail to see how that is at all relevant to buyers, to whom $27,405 most definitely does not represent “free money.” Or anything close to it. This year will be interesting watching it battle the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3.ĪSSOCIATE EDITOR GRAHAM KOZAK: Wes may be right about this vehicle being “free money” for Chevy. I thought it was fun, and a heck of a value. Some of my colleagues say I need to get over myself and stop whining about hard plastic surfaces inside of lower-priced cars, so I won’t.Īnyone looking for a small SUV, and a lot of people are, would do themselves a disservice if they didn’t at least drive the Trax. It’s hard not to call the Trax exterior cute, and the interior is comfortable (enough) and good looking. It’s no rocket - I didn’t expect it would be- but it cruises along just fine.

The Trax feels light on its feet and wieldy and fun to toss around. People like their small SUVs - that market is exploding - so one could argue Chevy is merely figuring out a way to sell ’em a car. It’s near the perfect size for lots of folks: the interior is big, and if you fold down the rear seats, there’s a bunch of cargo room. That’s spreading the cost around nicely, I’d say.Īnd frankly, I thought this 2015 Trax LTZ is a delightful little commuter. There are 66 countries where the Trax or some variation of it is sold in. Yes, I’m oversimplifying, but besides the Trax, GM’s Gamma II platform is also used underneath the Buick Encore, Chevy Sonic and Opel Mokka.

#Chevrolet trax review free#

Trax’s development, this thing represents to Chevy darn close to free money. EDITOR WES RAYNAL: Considering the Buick Encore and global Trax already paid for likely well more than 75 percent of the U.S.