Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
Born in 2008 as the successor to the Uplander minivan and, above all, the TrailBlazer body-on-frame SUV, the Chevrolet Traverse is a full-size crossover SUV with three rows built by General Motors initially in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and then only at Lansing Delta Township Assembly, Lansing, Michigan.
It naturally had quite a lot of siblings during its lifetime – the first generation was twinned with the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, and GMC Acadia on the Lambda platform, while the current one switched the defunct Saturn for the posh Cadillac XT6 on the newer C1XX architecture. And that's not a bad thing, of course.
Interestingly, although we should all remember that while this is a full-size CUV, it's also a unibody offering, and some people like to call it the 'baby Tahoe.' For sure, this trend will intensify now that the second-generation Traverse was given a refresh for the 2024 model year with lots of truck-inspired styling cues – making it even closer to the Silverado-based Tahoe and Suburban body-on-frame SUVs.
Naturally, this new GM apparition hasn't gone unnoticed – including across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Jim, the virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, has quickly noticed there's a refreshed 'baby Tahoe' almost ready to hit the market for the 2024MY and decided to give up for a second his long-running series of 1980s and 1990s-inspired digital projects.
As such, meet his virtual Chevy Traverse SS, a full-size unibody crossover SUV with three rows of seats that would rather sit proudly in the performance section of Chevrolet's online portal rather than with its fellow SUVs. And it is all thanks to the aggressive front fascia, the lowered ride height, the extreme aerodynamic kit, as well as the much larger aftermarket-style wheels that don't hide much of the beefier brake setup.
However, there's a potential issue – the real world's Chevy Traverse only has a 2.5-liter inline-four turbo engine under the hood rather than an easy-to-mod V6, which 'only' churns out 315 horsepower. That doesn't make it a match made in CGI heaven, even for the likes of Ford Explorer's ST, let alone the mighty 710-hp Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. No worries, though, as the author's fans quickly found solutions – the Caddy CT4-V Blackwing's 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine (472 hp) for the Explorer ST brawl or the Escalade-V's 6.2-liter V8 supercharged engine with 682 hp for the Durango SRT Hellcat fight!
So, do you think that Chevrolet should start thinking about bringing back the 454SS-style vibes with a new line of performance crossovers, especially now that the 2024 Camaro is biting the dust and the C8 Chevy Corvette (Stingray, Z06, and E-Ray) will remain the only sports car option in the brand's lineup? Or is this entirely wishful thinking, and GM would never allow it?
Interestingly, although we should all remember that while this is a full-size CUV, it's also a unibody offering, and some people like to call it the 'baby Tahoe.' For sure, this trend will intensify now that the second-generation Traverse was given a refresh for the 2024 model year with lots of truck-inspired styling cues – making it even closer to the Silverado-based Tahoe and Suburban body-on-frame SUVs.
Naturally, this new GM apparition hasn't gone unnoticed – including across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Jim, the virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, has quickly noticed there's a refreshed 'baby Tahoe' almost ready to hit the market for the 2024MY and decided to give up for a second his long-running series of 1980s and 1990s-inspired digital projects.
As such, meet his virtual Chevy Traverse SS, a full-size unibody crossover SUV with three rows of seats that would rather sit proudly in the performance section of Chevrolet's online portal rather than with its fellow SUVs. And it is all thanks to the aggressive front fascia, the lowered ride height, the extreme aerodynamic kit, as well as the much larger aftermarket-style wheels that don't hide much of the beefier brake setup.
However, there's a potential issue – the real world's Chevy Traverse only has a 2.5-liter inline-four turbo engine under the hood rather than an easy-to-mod V6, which 'only' churns out 315 horsepower. That doesn't make it a match made in CGI heaven, even for the likes of Ford Explorer's ST, let alone the mighty 710-hp Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. No worries, though, as the author's fans quickly found solutions – the Caddy CT4-V Blackwing's 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine (472 hp) for the Explorer ST brawl or the Escalade-V's 6.2-liter V8 supercharged engine with 682 hp for the Durango SRT Hellcat fight!
So, do you think that Chevrolet should start thinking about bringing back the 454SS-style vibes with a new line of performance crossovers, especially now that the 2024 Camaro is biting the dust and the C8 Chevy Corvette (Stingray, Z06, and E-Ray) will remain the only sports car option in the brand's lineup? Or is this entirely wishful thinking, and GM would never allow it?
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