By Eric Peters
For NMA
It’s interesting that Chevy – GM – offers two iterations of the Equinox. One of them sells really well.
The other not so much.
You can probably guess which one – and why.
What It Is
The Equinox is a compact-sized crossover that seats five in two rows. It’s also Chevy’s best-selling model after the Silverado 1500 pickup. So it’s very important – to Chevy – to not mess that up. And that’s probably why there hasn’t been any move to “electrify” it, even partially (i.e., make it into a hybrid). Because that’s not what most Equinox buyers are interested in.
For the few who might be, Chevy also sells a battery-powered device called Equinox – but it’s sold as a separate model.
The regular Equinox has a starting price of $28,600 for the base LT trim with front-wheel-drive; the optional all-wheel-drive system bumps the MSRP up to $30,600. The two other available trims – RS and Activ – have the same sticker price of $33,000 but differ in their cosmetics, with the RS being the sportiest-looking of the two and the Activ the most rugged-looking.
Regardless of trim, all Equinoxes come standard with the same 1.5 liter four-cylinder engine and either a CVT automatic transmission (FWD versions) or an eight-speed automatic (AWD versions).
It competes with other compact-sized crossovers in the same price range such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, VW Tiguan and Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, among others – but its most interesting rival may be its battery-powered stablemate, which is both similar and very different.
What’s New for 2025
The Equinox gets a major cosmetic makeover (inside and out) for the new model year but remains mostly the same under skin.
What’s Good
- Looks more like an SUV now than a crossover – for those who like the more hunky appearance of an SUV.
- Standard dual LCD displays – for those who like the smartphone look.
- Conventional eight-speed automatic is standard with AWD-equipped versions.
What’s Not So Good
- Standard (and only available) engine is small and so relies on turbo boost to generate adequate power to move this 3,428 lb. small crossover.
- A continuously variable (CVT) automatic is standard with front-drive versions.
- Though slightly larger than rivals like the RAV4, it has less cargo room.
Under The Hood
As already mentioned, every Equinox comes with the same 1.5 liter four-cylinder engine. It has a turbocharger – because it needs boost to produce enough power (175 hp) to adequately move this pretty heavy Chevy. With a driver and passenger of average weight on board, this compact crossover approaches two tons.
In the Before Time, a vehicle this heavy would have at least a V6 under the hood. Fours this small were for small cars that weighed half or less what this crossover weighs. For instance, a 1984 Chevy Chevette – which was just over 2,000 lbs – was powered by a perfectly appropriate 1.6 liter engine. But an engine that size doesn’t make enough power for twice that weight. Which is why this heavy Chevy’s 1.5 liter engine is turbocharged.
The upside is adequate power – and adequate performance. The Equinox can get to 60 MPH in just over 8 seconds; an ’84 Chevette needed about twice as long to reach the same speed.
The downside is that power requires pressure – in the form of near-constant boosting (via the turbocharger) to make it. That, in turn, is harder on this smaller engine and may reduce its life vs. a larger engine that doesn’t need a turbo to make as much or even more power. Like the 2.5 liter four (no turbo) that’s standard in the Toyota RAV4. It makes 203 horsepower without turbocharging.
The larger-engined RAV4 also gets better gas mileage: 27 city, 35 highway vs. 26 city, 31 highway. Normally, you’d expect to get better mileage out of a smaller, less powerful engine.
But not in this case.
On the upside, you do get much more range out of this engine than you would from the battery in the electric iteration of the Equinox. As well as more honesty about the range. The gas-engined Equinox can go 387 miles in stop-and-go city driving on 15 gallons of gas and 461 miles on the highway. The electric iteration of the Equinox touts 319 miles of range on a fully charged battery. Like all battery powered vehicles, this is not separated out into city and highway – which is an interesting omission because there is typically a big difference in range, city vs. highway driving when it comes to battery powered devices.
EVs go farthest on a charge when they are not moving very fast (or at all). This is because they do not burn much energy when they’re not moving fast (or at all). But it takes a lot more energy to keep them moving at highway speeds. The electric iteration of the Equinox may indeed go 319 miles in city driving. But it won’t go nearly that far on the highway – and that greatly limits how far you can go on the highway because of the time it takes to get going, again.
The gas-engined Equinox’s 461 miles of highway range is probably twice the highway range of the electric iteration of the Equinox.
If you buy the front-drive version of the gas-engined Equinox, you get a CVT automatic while AWD-equipped models get a new eight speed conventional automatic that shifts through gears as opposed to varying through ranges. As a rule the latter are less long-term reliable than the former – and some people do not like the shiftless feel of CVTs, which tend to keep the engine’s revs up during acceleration.
So why a CVT? Because – usually – there’s a small uptick in gas mileage, because CVTs are more efficient. And that’s the case here. The front-drive Equinox with the CVT rates the already mentioned 26 city, 31 highway. With AWD – and the conventional eight-speed automatic you get with that – mileage is 24 city, 30 highway, a slight but significant difference in so far as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) is concerned. AWD-equipped versions of the Equinox help boost Chevy’s overall/average CAFE figures- which helps Chevy comply with the CAFE regs.
On the Road
The astonishing thing is this thing moves as well as it does given the weight of this thing and the smallness of its engine. Turbos work miracles.
Except when it comes to saving you gas.
They offer the power of a larger engine without the larger engine – and the lure of higher gas mileage than a larger engine. The latter word italicized to emphasize a truth that’s not well-known about small, turbocharged engines. It is that they can use less gas, because they flow less air, than a larger engine. But when they are turbocharged, the airflow (and fuel flow) increase to make the power of a larger engine – and when that happens, gas mileage goes down. So – basically – when your right foot goes down, so does your gas mileage and – here’s the subtler catch – your right foot will go down more when your vehicle is heavy and it is powered by a small engine that isn’t powerful enough by itself to adequately move the vehicle.
Cue the boost – and there goes the gas savings you thought you’d be getting.
I was pushing the gas pedal down a lot to keep the Equinox going up the mountain passes where I live and found that I was averaging around 22 MPG. That’s thirsty for a compact-sized crossover. Then I remembered how much it weighs – which is only about 300 pounds less than my 1976 Pontiac Trans-Am muscle car and it has a 7.5 liter V8 engine.
And my old Pontiac’s a lot quicker!
The restyled Equinox looks like it’s more SUV than crossover but it’s still all-crossover and that’s good if you prefer a vehicle that rides and handles like a sedan rather than a lifted 4×4. It’s powerful enough to not feel slow and once you’re up to speed, it is quiet – but the CVT in FWD models increases drivetrain noise while you’re getting up to speed. AWD models with the eight-speed automatic are . . . quieter getting up to speed and feel (and sound) less tinny and small-engined overall, because the small engine isn’t revving as high or as long when the vehicle is accelerating.
Its small size makes it easy to park – and back out of – parking spots but there’s a blind spot on either side due to partial blocking of your view to the side that’s caused by a roughly four-inch wide and eight inch tall section of rear quarter panel that takes up a portion of each piece of what would otherwise be the rear side glass.
At The Curb
At 183.2 inches long, the Equinox is one of the larger compacts in its class. It is nearly three inches longer than a Toyota RAV4, for instance. So it’s surprising it has less room for cargo behind its second row (29.8 cubic feet) and with its second row folded down (63.5 cubic feet) than the smaller RAV4 has (37.6 cubic feet and 69.8 cubic feet respectively).
What the restyled Equinox does have is a bolder look than the RAV4 and others in this segment that have many functional virtues but look so much alike it’s hard to tell them apart.
Chevy worked hard to differentiate the Equinox from the crowd with this new, more squared-off shape and bigger/heavier-looking squat. Activ trims can be had with two-tone paint schemes and what looks like a 4×4’s wagon wheels with tall (rather than short) sidewall tires, as if it were ready to do some rock-crawling.
But don’t be fooled by the restyled Chevy’s hunkier new looks. This is not one meant for off-roading (or pulling). It’s as light-duty as the previous Equinox that looked a lot like the crossover it still is.
On the inside, there’s a Camaro-inspired dashboard with the dual LCD flatscreen displays canted toward the driver. There are also a pair of large, ball-type air vents on either end of the dash that allow for the airflow to be directed in every direction rather than just up-down and left-right.
There isn’t a gear selector on the console, as has become usual. Instead there’s steering column-mounted stalk – just like there used to be in most automatic-equipped vehicles, before it became a thing to put a gear selector in the console to make things look sporty. Moving the gear selector to the steering column is ergonomically intelligent in that it’s easier to reach and it removes delicate electronics away from where you’re likely to spill coffee all over them.
There is also no key – at least, no key that must be put into an ignition switch and turned. Like almost every 2025 model year vehicle, the Equinox comes standard with an electronic transmitter fob and push-button ignition.
The Rest
It’s interesting to note how quickly big LCD displays went from being available only on the highest-end makes and models – such as the Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8 – to standard features in entry-level crossovers such as this one. It makes one wonder how the high-end makes and models continue to justify their high-end prices (especially given that many of them also have small, turbocharged engines now as well).
Also standard – like it or not – is a bevy of “driver assistance” electronic nannies that correct your driving, such as lane centering and traffic sign detection (the latter being a kind of preview of the speed limiting technology that’s almost certainly just around the corner).
All trims also come standard with a Wi-Fi hotspot and multiple new-style (oval) USB charge ports.
The Bottom Line
Chevy hasn’t fixed what’s not broken.
Eric Peters lives in Virginia and enjoys driving cars and motorcycles. In the past, Eric worked as a car journalist for many prominent mainstream media outlets. Currently, he focuses his time writing auto history books, reviewing cars, and blogging about cars+ for his website EricPetersAutos.com.
Editor’s Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the National Motorists Association.
