1-269-685-3557
Pickup trucks and SUVs: They both offer remarkably similar power and can be yours for similar prices, but if your driveway is like many Americans’, there’s only room for one. Depending on which side of the argument you find yourself leaning toward, any particular benefit might be enough to push you toward either Ford’s pickup, the Ranger, or Chevy’s midsize SUV, the Traverse.
The 2023 Chevy Traverse
With the Traverse, you’ll get the usual SUV vs. pickup benefit in that all of your cargo can fit inside, and if you have temperature-sensitive items or just want some extra security, you’re probably going to steer toward an SUV anyway.
Prices start at $34,520.
Power and Towing
A 3.8-liter V6 provides the Traverse with plenty of thrust, with 310 hp on tap, but its standard tow rating is only 1,500 pounds. If you want the full 5,000-pound capacity, you’ll need to opt for the trailer package. Its mileage is 17 MPG city/25 MPG highway, but that will drop quickly with a large trailer.
Space and Comfort
The Traverse provides 157 cubic feet of passenger space and 23 cubic feet of cargo space. It’s an incredibly quiet vehicle, as well, with excellent wind and road noise insulation. Passengers can enjoy the quiet as they stream their favorite shows by connecting their tablets or phones to the onboard Wi-Fi hotspot.
Safety
Drivers looking for a 360-degree camera or radar cruise control will need to head straight to the top trim levels, though automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, and lane-departure warning are standard.
The 2023 Ford Ranger
Glancing at its $27,400 starting price tag, you might think the Ranger is the superior choice, but that particular price is only for the base, two-door, SuperCab trim. If you want to step up to a SuperCrew model with four doors, the price increases by $2,000, and it also robs a foot of space in the bed (5’ with the four-door, 6’ with the two-door).
Power and Towing
While the Ranger’s 270 hp seems inferior to the Traverse’s 310, the Ranger has significantly more torque (310 lb-ft vs. 266 lb-ft), and its towing capacity is also greater, starting at 3,500 pounds and increasing to 7,500 pounds with the tow package. Mileage is 21 MPG city/26 MPG highway.
Space and Comfort
The Ranger’s available passenger volume is less than the Traverse, with only 95 cubic feet of space in the four-door SuperCrew trim, but you can haul up to 1,860 pounds in the bed. Comfort isn’t as high as the Traverse, and its material quality is lower, too, but it does feature a Wi-Fi hotspot to keep passengers happy.
Safety
While forward collision detection and automatic emergency braking are standard, blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise are upgrade options.
Results
If you’re looking for a comfortable family vehicle with the ability to occasionally carry some bags of mulch back from the Home Depot, the Chevy Traverse is the more practical choice, but if you expect your vehicle to carry its weight by towing and hauling regularly, you’ll be better served by the Ford Ranger.
Whether you prefer an SUV or a pickup truck can depend on what you expect out of a vehicle, but in any case, the Chevy Traverse and the Ford Ranger offer similar experiences at similar prices that are worth comparing.