Road-trip ready small SUV just right for Vancouver couple
‘GINGER’ HAS MORE THAN ENOUGH REDEERMING QUALITIES, FROM GREAT HANDLING TO PLENTY OF CARGO SPACE
Sometimes people go into a car dealership with the vision of driving off the lot with one specific vehicle. And sometimes plans change! For Allie Wolff and her wife, Kristina, they had gone to test drive one thing, and came out with something entirely different.
Allie explains: “My car, that I’ve had for the last for the last six years, was getting down to its last limbs. So we had decided that we were going to purchase a new vehicle.” But what to buy? Says Kristina: “We looked at the Mitsubishi RVR and we also looked at the Mazda CX-5. We also checked out the Chevrolet Equinox but it was a little too big for our parking space.”
Allie adds, “We live in a condo and we have underground parking so the spaces aren’t very large. We had to find a car that was big enough for our family but small enough to fit in the spot.”
Not only did their new vehicle have to fit into a relatively small parking spot, but it also had to accommodate Allie’s teenage son and daughter
That might have been a tall order for some brands, but not Chevrolet.
“My father in-law had suggested the Chevrolet Trax,” Allies says. “So we went, and took it for a spin and loved it right away.”
There were quite a few redeeming features of this small SUV.
Moving from a Chevrolet Optra – ‘Nelly,’ as they called her - into the Trax, Allie really appreciates the standard power doors and windows.
And speaking of things that are standard, so is the transmission.
“We both prefer standard,” says Allie, adding they both love it. “It’s fun having a 6-speed! I’ve never had one (with that many gears) before so that’s an interesting feature to have.”
Because they opted for that particular transmission, it also afforded them a more wallet-friendly price tag.
To attest to the Trax’s size and versatility, Allie regales, “We recently went out for dinner with my wife’s sister, her brother and her sister’s boyfriend and all three adults were in the back… I guess it’s roomy!”
That room comes in handy, especially when they travel.
The family frequents Vancouver Island and tries to mix up their urban driving with some road trips.
With all that driving, you’d think it would wreak havoc on the fuel bills.
Not so. Another great feature of the Trax is its fuel economy. It’s a rare case nowadays that a manual transmission gets better numbers than an automatic. But that’s the case with this vehicle.
Its estimated figures come in at 9.1L/100km in the city and 6.9L/100km on the highway for the 6-speed.
It also helps that Allie was attracted to the Trax’s shapely styling. She comments that she likes the truck/ SUV-like influences from its siblings, but its compact design.
She adds, “I love the interior, it’s really smooth to drive, and corners really well.”
Additionally, the Hill Start Assist feature – which comes standard – has been an added bonus to daily driving.
Overall, the Wolff family, particularly Allie, is more than happy with “Ginger.”
“Her name is Ginger,” Allie explains. “Because she’s a redhead!”
This story was produced by Postmedia Works on behalf of Lower Mainland Chevrolet Dealers for commercial purposes. Postmedia’s editorial departments had no involvement in the creation of this content.