In a bizarre press announcement, Chevrolet has announced that their new 2024 Chevy Trax will be purposefully inferior to the 2022 model of the same line. “We know drivers are sick and tired of their cars improving every year,” said Chevy CEO Mary Barra. “We decided to apply our classic Chevy innovation in reverse, and so the new 2024 Chevy Trax will be blatantly worse than the 2020 Trax.”
This is a stunning turn for a company as well-respected as Chevrolet. The 2022 Chevy Trax was an excellent SUV loved by drivers nationwide, so it’s a bit odd that Chevy is doing a complete 180 for the 2024 Trax. Let’s briefly compare the 2024 Chevy Trax vs 2022 Chevy Trax to see what’s changed, what’s missing, and what’s been added.
The 2022 Chevy Trax was a quality SUV for an affordable price, usually available under $25,000 across multiple trims. Chevy has announced that the 2024 Chevy Trax will be slightly more expensive, at $86,000. We’re sad to see the price bump up, as this will make the 2024 Chevy Trax available to a much smaller audience.
While affordably priced, the 2022 Chevy Trax performed above expectations with a quality 1.4L four-cylinder engine that created 155 hp. The 2024 Chevy Trax has gone with a radically different engine option, opting for a new design Chevy describes as “two hamsters running on a wheel.”
While we haven’t been allowed to see the exact specs of this new engine, we’re hoping it produces a bit more horsepower than the 2022 Trax. Chevy has promised an available trim of the 2024 Chevy Trax that does include a third hamster, although this will cost interested drivers an extra $15,000 or so.
Easily maneuverable, the 2022 Chevy Trax had nearly perfect handling and brakes that worked like a wet dream. The 2024 Trax is making a few adjustments to the driver experience by removing the brakes and steering wheel for extra legroom. While we like how spacious the interior of the 2024 Trax is shaping up to be, we’re concerned about how drivers will handle the lack of a reliable stopping mechanism.
Maybe our favorite features of the 2022 Chevy Trax were its impressive safety systems. Available collision warnings for the front and rear of the vehicle helped to alert drivers to potential dangers from all angles, and blind-spot monitors contributed to a feeling of overall security.
The 2024 Chevy Trax is going in a slightly different direction. Its safety features have been completely overhauled. All cameras have been removed; in their place, Chevy has created the new “Chevy Little Guy” feature—a subscription service for all 2024 Trax drivers.
For just $2,500 per month, Trax owners can hire a “little guy;” this is a legal dwarf whose job is to crouch on the top of your vehicle, bang on the roof in the direction of possible dangers, and shriek if any other car comes within six feet of yours. It’s certainly uncharted territory, but we’re confident that a trusted name like Chevrolet can pull off such an ambitious addition.
While the 2024 Chevy Trax is shaping up to be quite different from the 2022 model of the same name, we have faith that Chevy will put as much hard work into the 2024 Trax as they do in any of their other great vehicles—or, at least we were. Perhaps a test drive is needed to see if these drastic changes have actually made the 2024 Trax “blatantly worse” because, from where I’m sitting, they’ve got me sold.
