2010 Chevy Equinox: The Crown Jewel of Compact Crossovers

What's New About the Equinox:

Chevy has stepped up its game with the upscale-looking redesigned five-seater Equinox. The redesigned compact crossover is now available with either a fuel-efficient four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine. Also new for this year, the Equinox is equipped with such high-tech features as a navigational system, a 40-gig hard drive and Bluetooth hands free phone connectivity.

Must Have Goodies:

The Equinox is available in several trim packages: LS, LT or LTZ. Depending on the trim package, your Equinox can be optioned out with leather seats, a DVD rear seat entertainment system, a programmable power-operated liftgate, a power sunroof, a rear-view backup camera, a premium-class 250-watt audio system and 19-inch chrome wheels. Although the Equinox we reviewed was equipped with Chevy’s LT1 package, it lacked many of the aforementioned options. However, our vehicle was still nicely equipped.

What Rocked:

The craftmanship and the attention to detail were exemplary in the Equinox we reviewed. If there were ever a question about the quality of GM’s vehicles, critics will put that theory to rest once they’ve spent sometime driving this new crossover. In the redesigned Equinox, there are a number of nice touches: sliding rear seats, which enhance the leg room, to the well-orchestrated v-shaped layout of the center stack instrument panel, which houses the audio system, the ventilation system and the optional navigational system.

Moreover, the Equinox’s driving range on a full tank of gas can range from 500 to 600 miles, depending on if you opt for the four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine. This mileage is quite exceptional for a non- hybrid vehicle.

What We Hated:

Our biggest gripe with the Equinox was the location of the power door lock switch. As opposed to the lock switch being located on the front doors, ironically, we were able to locate the lock switch next to the ventilation controls. What an odd place to locate the door locks? However, since the Equinox was equipped with GM’s automatic rolling door locks, we weren’t too concerned about locking and unlocking the doors.

Any Juice:

The Equinox is available with a 3.0-liter, 264-horsepower engine. According to GM, the vehicle can deliver more than 500 miles on a tank of gas. As we stated earlier, this is quite exceptional for a non-hybrid vehicle. And while the four-cylinder puts out 182 horses, it’s still a smooth-shifting, peppy engine.

Verdict:

In addition to the Equinox offering a comfortable ride and superb quality, the newly designed crossover is available in a number of trim packages in either a front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive configuration. Pricing for the well-built, stylish Equinox starts at $22,615 and when fully optioned can run up to $37,777. Ironically, a base Cadillac SRX crossover, which is the luxury version of the Chevy, starts out at $34,655.

So before you place too many options on the Equinox, you may want to consider it’s a Chevy you’re buying and not a premium luxury vehicle to keep the cost down. The Equinox we reviewed with the LT1 package was approximately $26,000. As long as you keep the option list to a bare minimum, you’ll find that the Equinox is one of the best compact crossovers on the road today. Based on our review, now we know why this is one of GM’s hottest-selling vehicles. Although the vehicle has been on the market since last year, GM still isn’t offering a rebate on the vehicle. In fact, they added extra workers at the assembly plant to help keep up with the demand.

Competition:
Ford Escape, GMC Terrain, Mercury Mariner, Nissan Murano and Toyota Highlander