Penny Savers: 2024 Chevy Trax vs. 2023 Jeep Compass

All roads may lead to Rome, but that doesn’t mean each route is the same. Take, for example, the 2023 Jeep Compass and the 2024 Chevrolet Trax. These two subcompact SUVs are sized within a few of inches of one another, yet nearly every other aspect for comparison—from powertrain to price—highlights how wildly divergent the utes are.

The Jeep Compass is hot off a mid-cycle refresh that extended into a second year, at which point its tired old 2.4-liter inline-four was rightfully jettisoned in favor of a perkier 2.0-liter turbo four. The Chevy Trax isn’t just refreshed, it’s brand spanking new, retooled from soup to nuts in pursuit of not being the rolling box of sadness it was in iterations prior. Is it still a stinker? Read on to find out.

2nd Place: 2023 Jeep Compass

When we first tested a well-equipped Compass Latitude model earlier this year, we walked away impressed with its newfound power and improved aesthetics. The base Sport variant you see here isn’t as well equipped, but the fundamentals are the same, and they’re still worthy of commendation.

HIGHS: Standard AWD across the lineup, zippier than the Trax.
LOWS: Piles on the poundage, big price penalty.
VERDICT: Just because the Compass is better than before doesn’t mean it’s the best.

Under the hood is a new turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, making a solid 200 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, urge that is sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic no matter the trim. Against the stopwatch, the Latitude (we weren’t able to test the Sport) molly-whopped the three-cylinder Trax. The Compass needed 7.5 seconds to reach 60 mph, while the Trax required 8.8. At 15.8 seconds to the quarter-mile mark, the Jeep got to rest on its laurels for a whole second while the Chevy played catch-up. And the Compass’s responsive engine means that the leap from 5 to 60 mph takes only 0.4 second longer than a standing start.

As for how the Compass drives, most editors opined, simply, “It’s fine.” Around our 10Best loop, the logbook entries remarked on the Jeep’s quiet practicality and decent, if uninspiring, handling. The base Sport model, perhaps ironically, lacked a Sport mode to firm up throttle response, leaving it in a perpetual commuter-oriented mood. Nearly everyone agreed it’d be happier in the dirt, where its all-wheel drive would be more of an advantage.

If you don’t like the Trax’s wagon-ish silhouette, the Jeep’s more upright SUV form provides a nice counterbalance. The Compass roofline does lend an airier feeling for taller occupants, and we think the cabin is pleasant all around, with a clever use of warmer fabrics in place of the usual cheap-car piano-black plastic. The second row earned high marks for offering vents and outlets, which is not always a given at this price point. However, the all-wheel-drive hardware and lots of cabin features can pile on the pounds; despite having a shorter wheelbase and overall length than the Trax, at 3717 pounds the Compass is a whopping 648 pounds heavier than the Chevy.

In spite of that porcine curb weight, the Compass proved surprisingly efficient. On our 200-mile, 75-mph highway fuel economy loop, the Compass returned 31 mpg—one mpg below its EPA estimate and one mpg above the lighter front-drive Trax.

One arena where the Compass and Trax are far apart is price. A base Compass Sport demands no less than $29,995, $8500 more than a base Trax. That’s also $3310 more than our Activ-trim test car, which was nearly fully loaded.

1st Place: 2024 Chevy Trax

Despite being lower, longer, and wider than the old Trax, this new front-drive-only model aims to maximize thrift by downsizing its engine and—extremely uncommon for the industry—its price tag. That places this urban runabout atop a mountain of value that the Jeep simply cannot scale, even if the Compass leaves the Trax in its dust on the way up.

Whether you want to ascribe it to the lack of available all-wheel drive, the missing cylinder underhood, or perhaps off-label Ozempic use, the Trax crossed our scales at a svelte 3069 pounds. That certainly helped its fleetness around our skidpad, where it achieved 0.84 g of stick, 0.03 g better than the Compass. It aided braking as well; the Chevy required 180 feet to clamp down from 70 mph, while the Jeep needed an additional 15 feet.

HIGHS: Impressive bang for the buck, flat rear floor is a welcome addition, it’s giving tall-wagon vibes.
LOWS: No hustle whatsoever, no back-seat climate vents.
VERDICT: It may never win a race, but there’s no denying the Trax’s greatness on raw value alone.

As you might expect, the Trax doesn’t have a whole lot of motivation underfoot. Its turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder makes a paltry 137 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque, all of which is routed forward through a six-speed automatic transmission. Our testing revealed a 60-mph time of 8.8 seconds, with the quarter-mile requiring 16.8 seconds. Some drivers called the six-speed slushbox pokey, which tracks with the 9.5-second run from 5 to 60 mph. Passing maneuvers aren’t much better; going from 50 to 70 mph takes a chelonian 6.4 seconds.

The Trax deserves some credit for its around-town quietness. At idle, we recorded just 37 decibels of clamor, well under the Compass’s 43-dBA result. Its logbook showed sufficiently high praise for its on-road demeanor. Technical editor Mike Sutton said the Trax is “[n]ever exciting but composed and competent all-around.”

If you enjoy the Chevy’s carlike handling, you’ll probably also appreciate its wagon-ish aesthetic. The Trax’s top Activ trim doesn’t do much to the outside, other than adding black 18-inch wheels, but it throws some fun yellow accents into the cabin mix. We’re big fans of Chevy’s latest infotainment software, and the dashboard touchscreen looks good nestled against the gauge-display binnacle—it’s leagues prettier than the dashboard on its Buick Envista platform-mate. The Trax loses some points for lacking full rear-seat accouterments—namely, A/C vents—and some of its plastics are almost insultingly hard, but the lack of all-wheel drive means Chevy had no problem flattening the rear floor, which is a huge boon for running three-abreast.

Most of the Trax’s issues are forgiven once price enters the conversation. The cheapest Trax will run you $21,495, but the $24,995 Activ trim throws a whole bunch of great equipment into the fray, including an 11.0-inch center touchscreen, keyless entry and start, and a heated steering wheel. Our test car added on a sunroof, inductive device charging, and a $795 Driver Confidence package that includes blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control; yet, at $26,685, it’s still thousands cheaper than even the barest-boned Compass. That’s a tough deal to beat.

Senior Editor

Cars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree.