2018 Chevrolet Equinox first drive: Good now, could be great soon

The roomy Equinox SUV has always been a solid seller for
Chevrolet, but it’s not a benchmark for either sales or
execution. Last year, in the heart of a tremendous bull
market for compact crossovers, the model took a 12.8
percent hit. Still, Chevy found garages for 242,195 of them.
That’s a strong number, but it’s far off the number of
Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue utes that
moved off lots. Part of the reason?
The Equinox is old. Even ancient, at least in automotive
years. The Equinox has been riding on the same GM
“Theta” platform since 2005. Way back then, the
architecture underpinned the dearly departed Saturn Vue
and Pontiac Torrent. Remember them? Today, only GMC’s
Terrain shares mechanicals. An all-new model was long
overdue.
“It’s a fierce market, there’s no question. We spent a great
deal of time benchmarking the competition,” says vehicle
chief engineer Mark Cieslak. “It (the old model) was not
relevant in terms of size. We had to re-proportion and
right-size the vehicle.”
To bring the Equinox in line with the competitors, the
redesigned 2018 model is 400 pounds lighter and 4.7
inches shorter than before. The chassis by itself is 150
pounds lighter and has a 5.2 inch shorter wheelbase too.
That trimmer platform is engineered with a smarter, more
complex matrix of high strength and ultra-high strength
steels along with a heavy use of structural adhesives.
Stiffness is way up—by around 20 percent.
“When you provide an architecture that’s torsionally stiff it
takes the handcuffs off the engineers,” says Cieslak.
“Because now they can use the tuning elements to really
dial in the suspension for ride and handling.”
To preserve ride quality, boost handling performance and
add steering precision, the team hard-mounted both the
front and rear suspension subframes. The Macpherson
strut front suspension cradle is now anchored to the frame
in six positions instead of four with a stiffening bar running
across the structure too. Losing those soft, squishy rubber
bushings means there’s now a solid base for the
suspension to react against, and engineers say that direct
connection into the body structure improves steering feel
too.

    Like many of the Equinox’s competitors, you can have any
engine you’d like as long as it’s a turbocharged four-
cylinder. Initially GM’s 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder
will power every Equinox. But more potent options are
coming later this year. In this application, the 1.5-liter
develops 170 hp and 203 lb-ft of torque and is paired to a
six-speed automatic. That’s 24 lb-ft of torque more than
the Honda’s CR-V and 31 more than the RAV4.
The Equinox comes standard with front wheel drive but
there’s an all-new AWD system too. It monitors the driver’s
behavior along with the driving conditions and uses
hydraulic clutches to pre-emptively send torque where it
needs to go. The system can be manually disconnected,
which Chevy says can increase fuel efficiency.
Chop out a healthy chunk of wheelbase and one might
expect legroom to suffer. But somehow the Equinox has
39.7 inches of rear-seat legroom. That’s a fraction of an
inch less than the old one and just an inch short of the
Honda CR-V. And Chevy has finally added air conditioning
vents back there, along with optional seat heat and USB
ports.

The rear seat does recline, but the lever is located
at the top of the seatback. So, there’s really no way to
make the seat more comfortable while you’re sitting in it.
Fold that seat flat and there’s room for 63.5 cubic feet of
stuff. That’s about the same space as the last Equinox but
quite a bit less than Honda’s CR-V.
The base L Equinox is a pretty good deal at just under
$25,000. However, important safety gear that Honda and
others are now baking into their volume models requires
more cash here. You’ll need to step past the LS grade to
the $27,645 LT model and shell out an additional $1,945 for
the Confidence and Convenience package to get stuff like
rear park assist, blind spot alert and rear cross traffic
alert . More sophisticated tech like lane keep assist and
forward collision alert can only be optioned on the most
expensive Premier model.

The Execution
Our experience driving the Equinox was limited to the
Premier FWD model, which, at $34,615, came loaded with
luxury touches like perforated leather on the dash, comfy
heated and ventilated leather seats and GM’s excellent 8-
inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Check all the option boxes and it’s possible to see a sticker
in the $40,000 neighborhood.
Chevy says one-third of all Equinox models are the lower-
level L and LS models. We didn’t have a chance to drive
one of those, but there was a swatch of seat material to
sample and we certainly wouldn’t mind living with the soft
denim-like fabric in those models.
   If you’ve logged any time behind the wheel of a Malibu or a
Cruze, the Equinox will feel familiar on the inside. The
interior design is airy, clean and simple -- but it also takes
no chances. The analog gauges and digital display screen
between them seem smaller and less expressive than
those in recent newly redesigned crossovers. The fat
leather steering wheel is heated here and feels great. Our
only real grumble is elbow comfort. The center console is
cavernous, but the lid isn’t softly padded and neither is the
arm rest on the door.
Slide the shifter back into drive and the Equinox is
reasonably quick around town. And Chevrolet did an
excellent job integrating the engine stop/start so that it
operates seamlessly in the background. Out on the
highway, the ride is very smooth and impressively quiet.
Dig deep into the throttle and the 1.5-liter makes a bit
more ruckus, but runs out of breath at high speeds.
Similarly, the transmission is too focused on fuel economy
for an enthusiast. It tends to upshift into the tallest gear
as often as it can. And in the hilly countryside around
Asheville, N.C., where we sampled the Equinox, that meant
lots of shifting to maintain a quick pace. Yes, there are
manual controls for the gearbox to help keep the engine in
the sweet spot, but there are no paddle shifters. More
importantly, there is no sport mode. That’s really too bad
because the rest of the Equinox is totally game for playful
drives. There’s little roll in the suspension on twisty roads.
The steering is nicely weighted and offers a level of
accuracy on par with the best in this class, and the brakes
are strong right at the top of the pedal and bring the
Equinox down from speed impressively.

This is clearly a
chassis capable of supporting a far more potent and
responsive powertrain.
The Takeaway
Our prediction? The new Equinox will be very competitive.
The structure, styling and driving dynamics now rival the
best in the class. For those who like a little more
excitement, Chevy will add its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-
cylinder engine with 252 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque this
summer, backed by a nine-speed automatic. Chevy
promises a 0-60-mph time of just 6.5 seconds. At around
the same time, the Cruze’s 1.6-liter turbo-diesel will
become an option too, delivering 240 lb-ft of torque and 40
mpg to give Chevy a diverse mix of powertrains. All told, it
should be enough for the Equinox to hit the top of the sales
charts once again.