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Quick Drive: Holden Trax

Photo by Ted Baghurst (http://tedbaghurst.com/)
Holden's new compact SUV the Trax is a funny thing. About the size of a mid sized hatchback but much much higher the Trax is easy to get in and out of like most SUVs.
Major differences with the Holden Trax to other SUV's however is the lack of a rear axle and all wheel drive. Which I will admit was rather scary to look under the rear of the car to see the rear wheels appear to only be connected to the rear struts, much like the superstrut system on some Toyota models.

The power is very urban friendly, and we even managed to get the wheels spinning with the TCS on in the atrocious weather we had in Auckland on the day that we went out to shoot it.

Styling wise it looks very much as part of GM's stable even though it was designed by a chap in Australia. The only Australian things I managed to take from the design of the Trax is the rear bumper shares the same silver insert as the VE Commodore and even risking my integrity here, the front of the car resembles a Koala, with the mesh grill its nose, headlights for eyes and big mirrors as the ears. Don't look at me that way, I swear, I'm not the only one who thinks the Trax and a Koala share a similar look!

The front bumper's deep in the style of many of the new GM range which does make going over bumps a tad on the scary side when you approach any, especially the overzealous 'speed bumps' of many urban Auckland streets. It easily makes it over almost anything though, its mostly just a mental wall you have to overcome than anything physical about the Trax.

Practicality wise the Trax is great. Taller than your average hatchback yet smaller than an SUV means chucking stuff in the boot is a simple pick up and push in, yet you don't have the massive cavern of unused space you almost always have with SUV ownership - that is unless you happen to own a few Labradors.

The market could do with more cars like the Trax I think. 2wd and high so that Remuera tractor owners can get rid of their giant BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne and jump into something more urbanised and useful for the trip to the supermarket than a giant full sized, 4wd equipped SUV.

The only grip I had with the Trax however was the dash. The cluster itself was a funky - almost motorbike styled unit. But the plastic dash it was nestled into was a bit unsightly and had a pair of strange inserts on either side that I can only think of as sunglasses holders.

Almost as an afterthought (I will admit it as something I had forgotten) - GM/Holden have a full power socket into the back of the centre console. That's right, if you felt the need you could plug in anything you wanted into the back of the Trax.

No word yet on whether you could plug jumper leads in there and jump your Trax - from your Trax...


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