Monthly Archives: February 2019

Sounds of ‘greetings’ from new Trail Boss

The Trail Boss is a new offroad trim level for the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado. (Chevrolet)

Sitting high in the 2019 Chevy Silverado Trail Boss, with driver’s-side window open, my “Merry Christmas” greeting goes out loud and heartfelt to all the readers.

The Trail Boss, a four-wheel-drive crew cab, is a new offroad trim level for the Chevrolet pickup. This one, finished in cajun red, is very visible, perfectly suited to the Christmas column. Color was an attraction a year ago, too, when the 2018 Subaru CrossTrek showed up for Christmas Eve in sunshine orange exterior finish.

The “Merry Christmas” shout is a highlight of the year for me. My first time as a Post car columnist was Christmas Eve 1977 from the seat of a ’78 Chrysler Cordoba.

The Silverado Trail Boss 1500 is a modified version of the Z71 LT 4X4 model and sports a 2-inch lift on the suspension and 4-inch-longer wheelbase.

Complementing a new, upright grille are red recovery hooks, boomerang-style headlamps and rounded fenders. A 6-foot box with easy-drop tailgate and convenient cornersteps in the rear bumper is highlighted by CHEVROLET, in capital letters, stamped across the back of the tailgate.

Strong performance comes from the 335-horsepower/385-torque, 5.3-liter V-8 engine tied to a smooth-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. Four-wheel drive is engaged through push-buttons to the left of the driver. My driving time, split from highway to in-city to offroad, averaged 18.1 miles per gallon (EPA estimate 15/20).

Black alloy wheels are shod with Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac LT275/65R18 M&S tires; they’ll keep the Trail Boss moving over rocks and ridges in the hills and through mud and water down by the river, while out on the open highway they sing a slightly noisy tune.

Like its most-serious competitors, the Ford F150 and Ram 1500, Chevy has added noticeable roominess to its rear-seating area, and a handy stow box has been carved out beneath the bench seat.

Nine thousand bucks worth of options, including Bose sound, leather, lane-change alert, bedliner and advanced trailering package, raised sticker price to $57,285; there is no navigation.

Turbo, 8-speed, e-assist boost Jeep Wrangler

An offroad setting is perfect for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4X4. (Bud Wells photo)

Team a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with an 8-speed automatic transmission, boost the pair with an electric assist off-idle and the creation appears to be a winner for the redesigned 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4X4.

Piloting the new one on a very busy weekend, it seemed to me it will run away from the Jeep’s traditional Pentastar V-6 in straightaway, lower-end acceleration, and out on the highway the new retuned suspension is noticeably smoother and more comfortable than before.

The 2.0-liter turbo eTorque earns a 22 in-city and 24 on-highway fuel-mileage estimate from its 268 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, compared with 18/23 mpg for the 3.6-liter V-6’s engine rating of 285 horsepower and 260 torque.

Yeh, but how about offroad? I tried that, too, and could detect no softening of Jeep’s tough-guy image. The Sahara’s SelecTrac four-wheel-drive capabilities are intact, with 10-inch ground clearance, Dana heavy-duty rear axle, anti-spin differential and hill-descent control. The Unlimited four-door is on a wheelbase of 118.4 inches, 188.4 inches in overall length and 4,380 pounds in curb weight. Cargo space behind the second-row seats is 31.7 cubic feet.

The Sahara is equipped with a Sunrider soft top, which can be manually removed for open-air driving. As it slid back in its tracks, it brought back memories of some uneasy moments several years ago with a Jeep Liberty Sky Slider roof (let’s forget about that). The Sunrider appears to be well-designed and structurally sound.

The Jeep was in my possession from Friday noon to Monday noon, and we made the most of the shorter-than-normal review time.

After a relatively short drive Friday evening to the Eaton Country Club for dinner with Bud Hargis and Ila Dubois, on Saturday we drove the Wrangler in to Bruz Beers in north Denver for a birthday celebration for Jackie Chmelka. During the party, planned by Jackie’s  sister Laura Jordan Grush, I enjoyed a visit with Roger Jordan, Jackie’s father, regarding a special car he owned years back, the stainless steel DeLorean sports car with gullwing doors. Entertaining the partygoers was Kurt Wells with his voice and guitar.

The best test for the big four-door Wrangler came Sunday morning, when Jan and I headed to Carr up north in Weld County a short distance from the Wyoming line; the town is on narrow paved Road 126 halfway between U.S. 85 and I-25, and lends itself to offroad opportunities.

The Wrangler rests outside the Carr Community Church. (Bud Wells photo)

Carr often is referred to as a “ghost town,” though on Sunday morning we found it somewhat typical of other small settlements. After visiting with Bruce Ransier and Christine Schneider, who have lived in Carr for 12 years, we drove the Jeep past the Carr Community Church; 16 cars were parked around the building, and inside, pastor Philip Lukens was delivering a weekly sermon.

As we headed the Jeep out of Carr, back toward U.S. 85, we passed the U.S. post office. This is no ghost town.

I’d not driven a $50-grand Wrangler until this one, which peaks out at $50,050. A Wrangler four-door Rubicon a year-and-a-half ago came close at $48,750.

From its base of $38,295, the 2018 Unlimited Sahara reached $50k with the addition of the turbo engine for an extra $1,000, the 8-speed transmission for $2,000, plus leather seats, navigation, Alpine premium audio, the SelecTrac  four-wheel-drive system, the soft top and LED reflector headlamps. The new Jeep is the JL series, succeeding the Unlimited JK, which began production in 2006.

Traverse, pickups prevail in GM cutback

The Chevy Traverse, roomy and comfortable, and with all-wheel drive. (Bud Wells photo)

What better time in the driver’s seat of the 2019 Chevy Traverse than November 2018 while receiving the announcement that General Motors plans to close up to five assembly plants in North America and end production of three Chevrolet car models – the Impala, Cruze and Volt plug-in hybrid.

The popular midsize Traverse SUV is a major strength of Chevrolet today, in combination with other SUVs Tahoe and Equinox and pickups Silverado and Colorado.

As more and more consumers turn toward the truck side of the market, most all midsize and compact sedans this year have suffered double-digit declines in U.S. sales.

GM, in shutting down factories for the three Chevy models, along with the Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac CT6 and XTS, is following the lead two years ago of Chrysler, which killed the 200 and Dodge Dart, and Ford earlier this year planning to do away with all its sedans, except the Mustang, by the end of 2019.

On a wheelbase of almost 121 inches, the Traverse is considered by some to be a full-size SUV, rather than midsize. It performs with a 310-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 engine and smooth 9-speed automatic transmission, with all-wheel drive. Performance is strong, other than, when in manual mode, shifts are attained by pushing a button atop the shifter knob, awkwardly placed. The twist of a dial on the center console moves it into all-wheel drive from two-wheel. The engine turns somewhat noisy under acceleration demand.

The Traverse was introduced in the fall of 2008 as an ’09 model. I was driving one in early December ’08, heading north out of Denver following a Denver Nuggets’ win at the Pepsi Center, when I stopped for a red light and the Traverse got popped hard from the rear by a kid heading home from work in a Pontiac. I got out, made sure he was okay, then asked, “Didn’t you see the red light?” “I did,” he said, “but I didn’t think you would stop for it.” While the front end and engine block of his older Grand Am were pushed back toward the firewall, the Traverse showed only slight damage to its rear exterior and had some minor suspension issues.

The Traverse’s size in 2019 has been expanded a couple inches from the original to 204 inches in overall length. It competes with the Ford Flex, Subaru Ascent, Dodge Durango and other models.

Standard this year for the Traverse interior is MyLink infotainment with 7-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, six USB ports, Bose premium audio and navigation. The three-row SUV has cargo space aplenty; 23 cubic feet behind the third row and with that folded expands to 57.8 feet.

The big Traverse carried us to an early Thanksgiving breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Loveland with Dale and Sandy Wells, Tyler Wells and Seth Blanke. Returning late on Thanksgiving afternoon from Brent and Tina Wells’ home in Windsor, I pulled into the garage, shut the Traverse off and chimes sounded and warning in display message center read, “Rear Seat Reminder: Look in Back Seat.” Sure enough, there rested the leftover pumpkin pie for dessert at another meal.

The Traverse rides smoothly and comfortably on Continental 255/55R20 tires, with front struts and rear multilink suspension and coils all around. Overall  fuel mileage was 21.8; its EPA estimate is 17/25.

The AWD Traverse with 3LT Leather trim level carries a sticker price of $45,090, with surround vision camera, lane-change alert, rear park assist, power rear liftgate, remote vehicle start, leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel, and tri-zone climate control.

Regarding its announcement and responding to concerns for expected layoffs of thousands of factory workers, GM officials issued this statement:

“Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employes to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM’s transformation also includes adding technical and engineering jobs to support the future of mobility, such as new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles.”