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2008 Chicago Auto Show - 2009 Chevrolet Traverse Video

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The Chevy Traverse is further indication that the days are numbered for angry-looking SUVs with fat bumpers, brush guards and ribbed plastic body molding.
General Motors Corporation
The large five-pointed front grille bisected by a horizontal logo bar is a variation on the look introduced by the new Malibu.
General Motors Corporation
Neither as pretty as the Buick Enclave nor as handsome as the GMC Acadia, the Traverse is tidy-looking nonetheless.
General Motors Corporation
Pictured here is the heavily equipped LTZ model.
General Motors Corporation
The interior is about as straightforward a design as they come, with none of the odd, bulbous shapes of the TrailBlazer, the vehicle the Traverse effectively replaces.
General Motors Corporation
The Traverse will be available with all the equipment of the other Lambdas, including Bluetooth connectivity, a nav system with a real-time traffic feature and power liftgate.
General Motors Corporation
Like its siblings, the Traverse will carry seven or eight passengers or 117.9 cubic feet of cargo.
General Motors Corporation

2009 Chevrolet Traverse

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What is it?
2009 Chevrolet Traverse

What's special about it?
The 2009 Chevrolet Traverse is about as predictable as it comes in the automotive industry.

Let's break it down. There's a new full-size, unibody SUV platform in the house of the General, called the Lambda. GMC got a version, called the Acadia. Saturn called the one it got the Outlook. And Buick has received raves for its swoopy blue-eyed version, the Enclave. That Chevy didn't have a version of this vehicle from the very start is the only surprising thing about it.

But Chevy gets to be the division to announce that the 3.6-liter V6 in the line of GM three-row crossovers will get a direct injection system for 2009. The DI pushes horsepower up to a maximum 286. This compares to the maximum 275 hp that the current Buick, GMC and Saturn versions make. The peak output drops by 5 horsepower to 281 hp for lower-level Traverses equipped with a single exhaust as opposed to dual exhaust. The DI system also brings with it a small bump in torque — 4 pound-feet in dual-exhaust vehicles. Nobody at GM wants to confirm that the DI engine will be standard across all Lambda-platform vehicles, but if this doesn't happen for model-year 2009 we'd be shocked.

Other than styling, the Traverse is essentially identical to its siblings. That's not a bad thing considering how well-received they've all been. Interior dimensions are, predictably, nearly identical to the other Lambdas. And available equipment appears to be consistent across the board. We'd expect the Chevy to come with fewer standard features than, say, the Buick, given that it will probably be the least expensive of the lot.

How much less expensive will the Chevy be? Well, GM isn't talking, but since the Acadia starts at $30,470 and the Outlook goes for $28,995, we'd estimate a two-wheel-drive Traverse LS would start right at $28,000. And yes, this does spell the end of the body-on-frame and long-in-the-tooth TrailBlazer, which carries a base price of $28,150.

Production of the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse begins this fall at GM's plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

What's Edmunds' take?
In the likely event that a Chevy dealer is closer to your house than a GMC or Saturn dealer, the Traverse would be the Lambda to get. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit