The 2011 Chevrolet Traverse is a crossover that rides much closer to your station wagon than your off-road SUV. A family oriented eight- or seven-passenger vehicle, the Traverse is pleasant to drive and spacious without carrying the stylistic stigma or poor fuel efficiency of a minivan or the gas-guzzling and eco-unfriendly worries of an SUV.

All eight Traverse trims come with a 3.6-liter V6 (281 horsepower, 266 lb-ft of torque, 5,200-pound towing capacity) that is mated to a six-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission with overdrive that includes auto-grade braking and available tap-shift manual shift control. Front-wheel-drive Traverse trims get 17 city/24 highway/19 combined mpg, and all-wheel-drive (AWD) trims get a touch less at 16/23/19. All Traverses come standard with StabiliTrak with traction control and four-wheel antilock brakes.

A clear highlight of the Traverse is cargo room. It offers an impressive 116.4 cubic feet of total storage space, and it’s well distributed. Even with all three seating rows in use, it has 24.4 cubic feet open behind the last row, plenty of space for groceries and school bags. With the second row folded flat, it has 68.8 cubic feet left, a striking number considering you can carry five people at the same time. The Traverse is available in four trim levels: LS, LT1, LT2, and LTZ.

The base LS trims, both front- and all-wheel drive (AWD), come standard with cruise control, air conditioning with rear ducts, power windows with driver express, power locks with programmable lockout protection, remote entry, a tilt/telescoping steering column, Driver Information Center with outside temperature display, four-way manual driver’s seat, two-way manual passenger seat, second- and third-row 60/40-split flat-folding benches, cargo storage tray under the rear floor, and 12 cupholders. The exterior features include 17-inch steel wheels with P245/70R17 all-season tires, power mirrors, chrome door handles, rear wiper, roof-rail moldings, body-side Argent moldings, automatic headlamps, and Solar-Ray deep-tinted glass.

LT1 trims upgrade with an eight-way power driver’s seat with premium cloth upholstery, Rear Parking Assist, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, digital compass, rear spoiler, body-color bodyside moldings, heated body-color mirrors with an integral spotter for the blind zone, and 18-inch machined aluminum wheels with P255/65R18 all-season tires.

Move up to the LT2, and you get tri-zone air conditioning with controls for the second and third rows, an acoustical insulation package, rear-view camera integrated into the rear-view mirror for the Rear Parking Assist system, a power liftgate, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, and second-row flat-folding captain’s chairs.

High-end LTZ trims come standard with all the above features plus Bluetooth, a four-way power passenger seat, two-position memory for driver’s seat and exterior mirrors, remote start, integrated turn signals with powered and heated mirrors, Universal Home Remote, and 20-inch polished aluminum wheels with P255/55R20 H-rated tires.

All Traverse trims come with safety in mind and come standard with six months of the OnStar Directions and Connections plan, frontal and side-impact airbags for driver and front passenger, head curtain side-impact airbags for all rows, front passenger airbag suppression, a tire pressure monitoring system, and daytime running lamps.