2018 Chevrolet Traverse RS is More Expensive, Less Efficient, and Front-Drive
Priced at $42,995 including destination fees, the late-arriving 2018 Chevrolet Traverse RS is an oddly positioned member of the second-generation Traverse lineup.
The RS is the only four-cylinder member of the fleet — it’s down 53 horsepower on the 3.6-liter V6 in other Traverses — and yet a basic Traverse RS costs $12,120 more than the least costly Traverse. The RS consumes more fuel on the highway, albeit slightly less in the city. It’s also available exclusively as a front-wheel-drive model.
Ah, but GM says it’s “sporty.”
According to CarsDirect, the $42,995 2018 Traverse RS resides $505 above the Traverse LT Leather; $2,795 below the Traverse Premier. All-wheel drive is, of course, an option on those models. The Traverse RS stands out with blacked-out highlights: black chrome grille, black bowtie, black roof rails, dark 20-inch wheels. (With no official images yet, the picture above is of the Traverse Premier Redline. Imagine it without the, er, red lines).
SEE ALSO: 2018 Chevrolet Traverse Sees $1,280 Price Hike
Inside, the Traverse RS is equipped much like the comparably priced LT Leather: eight-inch touchscreen, heated front seats, blind spot monitoring, rear camera mirror, surround view camera, 2-2-3 seven-passenger seating configuration, power front seats, tilt steering with no telescope, Bose audio.
But while the Traverse RS shares a nine-speed automatic with the V6-powered Traverses, the RS downgrades from the 310-hp 3.6-liter to a 255-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, admittedly with 29 more pound-feet of torque. Highway fuel economy drops from 27 miles per gallon to 25; city fuel economy rises from 18 miles per gallon to 20.
Essentially then, paying for a sporty appearance package necessitates the removal of the thumping naturally aspirated V6. Fair trade? Expect to see more or less similar equipment offerings just like this from General Motors depending on demand for the Traverse RS. And if it turns out that the torquier turbo powerplant is appreciated by consumers, don’t be surprised to see its application broaden in the Traverse range.
For now, it seems like an odd choice.
A version of this story originally appeared on GM Inside News
Discuss this story on our Chevrolet Traverse Forum
More by Timothy Cain
Comments
Join the conversation
I can definitely tell that the Traverse RS is going to get a hell of a lot of critism for having a downgraded engine, being FWD only, and adding 12k to the price, as well as trying to be sporty. There's nothing sporty about 255 horsepower and FWD in a 2 ton vehicle like this. And I mean NOTHING! Not even the added torque is enough to justify the price or its claim to be sporty. I mean, people are already criticizing the idea so I can already tell that reviewers are going to hate it as well for, once again, being FWD only and having a smaller less powerful engine vs the V6, as well as being more expensive. So GM, here's what you should do if you don't want to get all that critism and want to actually sell these, take the 3.0L Twin Turbo V6 out of the Cadillac CT6, maybe detune it from 404 horsepower to 360-380 horsepower but 404 horsepower would be really good, stick in the RS model, as well as the High Country model, make it AWD and tune the suspension for sportiness, as well as make more comparably equiped to the Premier model, and then you have something. It may increase the price further up by doing all this but it will actually be worth the money because people want to pay more for more horsepower, not more money for less horsepower. So there you go, GM, once you realize this is a terrible idea, there's what you should do.