Our Family Road Trip in the Chevy Traverse

Two weeks ago we test drove for a week the Chevy Traverse. We took it up to Michigan for our niece’s 6th birthday party.

It’s a 3 1/2 hour drive or 468 miles (as you probably remember from Dave’s post). We were grateful to have the chance to test out the Traverse LTZ over the weekend because our two family cars are getting up there in years. It was so nice to know the vehicle we were driving on this trip was not only reliable, but had a lot of fun up-to-date features that made the trip go so much faster.

Loading the Traverse with all of our luggage was no problem. The space behind the 3rd row probably would have been adequate enough to hold all of our bags.

But I wanted to fold down the seats, simply because we could. I was pleased to discover that folding down the 3rd row was a snap – just lift up on the lever at the back of the seat and push forward. I was able to lie the seats down myself with no assistance and didn’t even exert much energy doing so. We ended up with lots of space for our luggage and probably could have brought the bags of two other families with us.

With our bags packed and we were ready to hit the road.

We started out the trip, like most people, by backing out of the driveway. The Traverse LTZ makes backing out an entirely different experience thanks to the Rearview Camera System. When you shift into reverse the camera turns on and what it sees is displayed in a portion of the rearview mirror. We live near a park so we often have small children and people walking dogs traveling past our driveway. In our current SUV, I’m always extra-aware of that blindspot behind me and I triple-check that no one is there before heading out. In the Traverse LTZ, I could quickly glance into the rearview mirror to see if anyone was there, I still always double-checked, but I felt much more at ease also utilizing the camera as well.

One of my favorite features that made the trip unlike any other we’ve taken to Michigan was the Tri-Zone Climate Control. Tired Dad Dave and I constantly fight over the temperature in the car. Typical husband and wife: he’s always hot and I’m always cold. So he drives with temperatures reaching Artic levels, while I prefer desert heat. On top of that, in our current vehicles, there is no way to regulate the temperature in the backseat. So while we may have settled on something comfortable in the front, the sun is usually beating down on one kid on the way to Michigan and then the other on the way back, so we have to direct all the air toward the back seat.

In the Traverse, the Tri-Zone Climate Control takes care of all of these problems. Tired Dad Dave and I each had our own controls for our seats. We simply set the temperature, the fan speed, the air direction, whether we wanted heated or cooled seats and immediately we were both comfortable. Tired Dad Dave was head over heels for the cooled seat, while I rode wrapped in warmth. In the back, there were 2 ceiling vents for each row and a vent in the floor as well. The climate controls were very easy to reach from the front seat. All the same options were available for the kids, except the heated and cooled seats. When the sun was on one side of the car, I would simply shut the vent in the ceiling over the shaded child and everyone was happy.

Another incredible road trip feature was the XM Satellite Radio. I now know what I’m asking for at Christmas next year. It was so much fun! There were hundreds of stations to choose from, everything from the 90’s on 9 (a personal favorite) to a station that only played Sinatra, another that only played Elvis, and multiple others that centered around books, parenting, doctors, Oprah, the NHL, NBA, and MLB etc. And if you were listening to music, it told you what song was playing and by what artist. While there was an option for a CD player we had so many station choices we barely used it.

While I’ve listed a number of my favorite features, quite possibly the absolute best was the smooth quiet ride.  It not only made for a nice quick trip for us, but for the kids too:

Kora and Logan loved the Chevy Traverse too, and in the last post of this series on Wednesday, will be sharing their thoughts about it. So stay tuned!