In Chevrolet parlance, RS typically stands for Rallye Sport and is applied to sporty-looking (if not actually sporty) trim packages. As applied to the 2018 Traverse, RS means you get blacked-out exterior trim and wheels, a few choice option packages?and the lineup’s sole four-cylinder engine. Every other Traverse is powered by a V-6.
The only practical downside to the four-cylinder RS?on paper, at least?is that, unlike the V-6, it can’t be paired with all-wheel drive. The 2.0-liter turbo four thus directs its 257 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque through a nine-speed automatic transmission to the Traverse’s front wheels. The V-6’s 310 ponies have the four-cylinder beat, but the turbo four’s torque has the six licked by 29 lb-ft, although that peak arrives at a slightly higher engine speed.
We suspect the RS won’t accelerate with quite the same gusto as the six-cylinder Traverses we’ve tested?the front-drive model hit 60 mph in a quick 6.3 seconds, the all-wheel-drive version in 6.5?although around town the RS might feel gutsier thanks to its torque advantage.
As you might expect, the four-cylinder Traverse nabs the highest EPA-estimated combined fuel-economy figure in the lineup: 22 mpg, better than the front-drive V-6’s 21 and the all-wheel-drive V-6’s 20 mpg. The four-cylinder Traverse’s 20-mpg city estimate also betters its siblings’ 18- and 17-mpg estimates, even though, curiously, its 26-mpg highwa...