Yahoo Autos Chevrolet Trax review
Chevy’s attempt to create a cute sport ute is an exercise in mediocrity—one that suffers from poor performance and cheap interior materials at a price that should buy a lot more car.
The Chevrolet Trax is meant to attract the young and young at heart. Originally developed for low-priced overseas markets, it hasn’t made the leap to U.S. buyers, which makes this plodding crossover a disposable appliance.
Standing tall, the Trax is easy to get in and out. But once squished inside its unfriendly confines, the driver is wedged between a too-close left footrest and an intrusive center console. You may even rub elbows with a front passenger. The seats may as well be carved from wood—a stiff and poorly padded cushion with overly firm side bolsters.
Given the Trax’s small exterior silhouette, rear-seat accommodations are surprisingly roomy, with adequate leg and head room for two adults.
Blue stitching and patterned fabric did little to dress up the gloomy interior of our $25,560 LT edition. The cabin materials are the stuff of cost-cutting memorandums. The design of the instrument cluster is as dated as a 1980s calculator watch. And the Trax actually stank, with an off-putting chemical odor that lingered for several months. So much for that new-car smell.
The touch-screen infotainment system lacks any helpful buttons or knobs, is slow to react, and has microscopic onscreen fonts.
Chevrolet customers deserve better than the Trax’s strained 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. This gruff powerplant delivers glacial acceleration for freeway on-ramps or passing. The reluctant automatic transmission harshly punctuates shifts with engine noise. Simply put, the Trax is tiresome to drive.
