By Peter Perrotta
I am a weekend vintage sports card dealer.
I spend most weekends loading up my vehicle with five jewelry display cases, boxes of sports cards and various other paraphernalia needed to do sports card shows.
This usually occurs at about 4 a.m. before I shove off for such exotic locations as Plainview, Long Island; Colts Neck; Wilmington, Delaware; or Chantilly, Virginia, to do another show.
What vehicle I am test driving for the week usually determines how easy or difficult this task is.
Two weeks ago, when I was road testing the Subaru BRZ, I had to be quite the magician to cram all that stuff into that car and navigate the Long Island Expressway.
But this past week, with the spacious 2022 Chevrolet Traverse High Country, I was able to neatly stack my belongings into this three-row SUV (with the third row down) and still have room for additional cargo, if need be.
What a difference a week makes!
More to the point, one of the big advantages of this newly freshened up Traverse is that it is the best in its class for cargo room, sporting an impressive 98.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the second and third rows folded.
Powered by a more than adequate 3.6 liter, V-6 engine that puts out 310 horsepower, this all-wheel-drive Traverse is plenty powerful enough to get you up and down whatever hills you may encounter in the high country.
This engine is paired with a smooth nine speed automatic transmission.
Moreover, with gas prices at more than $4 per gallon – and who knows headed where – this Traverse gets some pretty decent gas mileage for an SUV of its size.
The EPA fuel consumption rating for this Traverse is 25 miles per gallon on the highway, 17 mpg in city driving and 20 mpg overall.
The EPA estimates that it will cost, on average, about $1,750 per year for gasoline for this Traverse.
There are five different trim levels for the 2022 Traverse starting with the entry level LS at a base price of $34,895 and moving on up to the top of the line High Country, with a base price of $53,400.
The fully loaded High Country I tested for one week carries a bottom line sticker price of $54,595. The only extra charge was $1,195 for a destination and delivery charge.
Some of the new features for the 2022 Traverse High Country include a new front fascia and new grilles, a new headlamp configuration with standard LED and daytime runners.
This year’s model also has new LED taillamps, new roof rail design and four new wheel options.
For the most part, I found the High Country very comfortable, easy to drive and most of all a very able workhorse.
The ride of the Traverse is sound. However, I feel this Traverse comes up a bit short in the handling department.
Most of the time I drove it, it did not need to be switched into the all-wheel-drive so it was in the default two-wheel drive mode.
I found that the Traverse exhibits quite a bit of front-end torque steer when in the two-wheel drive mode, especially if you accelerate aggressively.
Other than that one glitch, I think that overall, while the Traverse won’t “wow” you, it is a solid all around competitor in the mid-sized, three-row SUV segment.
The folks at Car and Driver give the Traverse high marks for have a spacious cabin peppy acceleration and a fuel efficient powertrain.
They gave it low marks for having blind spots toward the rear and a plasticky interior.
Peter Perrotta’s On The Road column appears every two weeks.
On The Road is sponsored by Capital Motor Cars of Springfield, N.J.
