The Equinox is one of the newer compact SUVs on the market. It’s built on the same platform as the Chevy Cruze, Buick Envision, and GMC Terrain. The base engine in the Equinox is a 1.5 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder, which is what powered the Equinox that I drove. You can also get a 2.0T engine paired with a 9-speed automatic just like in the GMC Terrain, as well as a 1.6 liter turbocharged diesel engine. The Equinox has clean styling, refined driving dynamics, and a spacious interior, hitting those key points that many buyers in this class care about.
The first thing I noticed about the Equinox is that it feels bigger on the road compared to other entries like the Escape and the Rav4. I got the impression that the Equinox feels like a good car for people who want to downsize from their minivan or large SUV, but at the same time want a good chunk of space and cargo capacity. The Equinox doesn’t feel big like a Pilot or a Highlander, but it will give you more interior room compared to most vehicles in this class. This vehicle reminds me more of a Ford Edge or a Kia Sorento in its dimensions. I find that the Equinox meets a nice happy medium between being too small and too big.
Visibility is good in the Equinox. The front hood is blocky from the driver’s seat, a typical trait of most modern cars and SUVs. However, you get a nice high seating position and a clear view of the road in front of you. Side mirrors are easy to see out of, and the back window is large with completely unobstructed sight lines.
In terms of driving, the Equinox pretty much drives like a bigger, lifted up Cruze with more body roll. It’s a pretty smooth and quiet vehicle for the most part, but it’s not the fastest entry nor is it the best handling. Acceleration with the 1.5T engine feels a little sluggish, and it’s a shame they discontinued the V6 engine from the previous Equinox as it would be really useful in this application. The Equinox isn’t dog slow nor is it extremely underpowered, but it just doesn’t feel very eager to get up and go when you want it to. The accelerator has the same feel as I felt in the Cruze, with that stiff and springy feel that I don’t totally like. You kind of have to jam on the gas before the engine starts responding. You do get used to it after a while, but the vague response from the accelerator sticks out like a sore thumb when you first start driving this car.
The 1.5T engine makes 170 horsepower and 203 lb. ft. of torque. It’s a smooth and quiet engine, however there isn’t much in terms of off the line grunt. The engine is quiet but it also sounds a little grainy and anemic, and it feels slow to rev. The Equinox was never designed for winning drag races, so I can’t knock it too much for having somewhat of a lackluster engine, but it is something to note.
That said, the engine does grow on you after a while. I would definitely like some more torque down low, but the midrange pull from this engine feels decently satisfying. The power band is smooth, and you wouldn’t really be able to tell that this engine is turbocharged unless you looked at the spec sheet. You have to get used to driving this car and learn how to finesse the throttle a little bit to hit the engine’s sweet spot, but once you find that balance, the Equinox accelerates fine. The torque feels nice and linear between around 2700-3700 RPM. It does take a little bit of time before the engine hits that midrange, because like I mentioned above, the 1.5T is slow to rev. I’m not sure if that is something to do with the transmission programming, because I drove a GMC Terrain with this same exact engine, however the Terrain’s engine felt quicker when paired with that 9-speed automatic.
The 6-speed automatic in the Equinox is smooth, but definitely has somewhat of a sluggish character as well. As you’re accelerating, you feel the transmission kind of staggering through its gear set, and overall I found that this transmission felt slushy. The upshifts generally feel slow, and the engine power seems to pause for way too long between shifts. The shift points are smooth and evenly spaced most of the time, but you can still “feel” pretty much every shift, so I wouldn’t call this a seamless transmission nor would I say that the shift quality is flawless.
The 6-speed automatic also feels hesitant to downshift, and sometimes the downshifts can even feel clunky and unrefined. If I was in a situation where I needed to slow down to 15-30 mph and then get back on the gas (for example, if I was slowing down for a red light, and the light turned green before I came to a complete stop), the transmission wouldn’t engage and get me moving again until I was practically flooring the accelerator. Once it did engage, the transmission stuttered a little and felt clunky. As for driving up hills, again, you’ll probably be losing some momentum before the transmission recognizes that you need a lower gear. The 6-speed does read your throttle inputs pretty well in delivering the correct gear for most situations, and it holds out the lower passing gears for a good amount of time, but I was seriously disappointed at how laggy the transmission felt when requesting a lower gear. I’ve driven a few different Equinox’s with this same powertrain, and they all seem to behave this way.
One good thing about this transmission is that it doesn’t seem to be overly focused on fuel economy like some other cars in this class. It usually seems to listen to your inputs and it delivers the gears that you want. I hate to call this a “bad” transmission, because it will perform fine for most people, but I did find that it was flawed in some areas. I honestly preferred the 9-speed ZF automatic used in the Jeep Cherokee over this 6-speed. I would definitely get the Equinox with the 2.0 turbo and the 9-speed automatic, as the base transmission is too slow and laggy for my taste.
There’s really not much to talk about in terms of steering feel. I think the response is good, as it seems to respond fairly quickly at initial turn in, and it has decent precision. The steering is refined and maintains good composure. Although the steering is heavier at parking lot speeds, it gets pretty light out on the road. There also isn’t any road feel, nor does it have really any other noteworthy characteristics that would make this car feel interesting or unique to drive. The steering isn’t sporty, nor is it particularly solid in its feel, but it feels pretty much like a normal, modern, electric power steering system. I think the steering does feel a little bit loose and rubbery at times, but I’m nitpicking here. Really, the response from the steering is fine, it certainly isn’t sloppy or unpredictable. The Equinox is an easy car to maneuver, and you get a good sense of where the front wheels are, and the wheel pulls back to center nicely upon exiting a corner. The steering response is smooth, and overall most people will be fine with it. I think it’s definitely better than the Rogue’s steering, but again, the steering in this car isn’t necessarily sporty nor does it have much of anything that stands out.
The handling of the Equinox is about average for the segment. There is a relatively modest amount of body lean in the corners compared to other offerings in the class. You might not feel encouraged to drive all that fast, but you can pitch the Equinox into turns at normal speeds and come out of it just fine. It doesn’t have that dicy, disconnected feeling that I got from the Rogue or some of those larger SUVs I’ve driven. As I mentioned above, the Equinox is an easy car to maneuver. The chassis feels a little heavy, and you won’t be flying around turns, but I think the overall rigidity is good and you never really feel like the car is going to protest being driven a little faster. You get a decent sense of predictability as to how the car is going to perform and where it’s going to end up, and the Equinox will be able to handle most of what you throw at it in your everyday commute. As I said, it’s basically a lifted Cruze with some additional weight added to it. The Mazda CX-5 and Ford Escape definitely feel a little sportier and more tuned in with your inputs, but the Equinox does fine in the handling department. It’s maneuverable, decently precise, and car-like.
As for the vehicle’s accelerator and brake pedal response, I would definitely like the accelerator to feel more responsive. The Equinox just doesn’t really move for that first quarter of the pedal travel. The brakes are an entirely different story though, as the braking response feels very sharp right at the top of the pedal, and the brake pedal is stiff. I definitely found myself lurching forward and spilling my coffee the first few times I applied the brakes in the Equinox. That said, the brakes have a good solid bite to them, and the stopping power feels smooth and powerful.
In terms of ride quality, the Equinox is smooth. It is kind of a stiffer and more rigid chassis compared to the last generation, but you really don’t feel much in terms of road imperfections. The vehicle pretty much just glides down the road without much fuss at all. Great sound deadening as well, you don’t get much in terms of wind noise or road noise intruding into the cabin. I think the Jeep Cherokee does road isolation and comfort a little bit better, but the Equinox scores just fine on those key points as well.
And that about covers it. The Equinox is kind of a mixed bag. The 6-speed automatic, while smooth, is just generally a little slow and delayed. The engine could also feel a little quicker to rev and more eager to accelerate off the line. While I may be knocking the Equinox a bit much in these areas, I still found it to be a pleasant vehicle to drive. It’s not a very “premium” feeling experience, but I appreciated the smooth ride, the quiet engine, hushed road noise, and the clear outward visibility. The Equinox also feels maneuverable and just generally easy to drive. It rolls pretty quick, it’s easy to keep a constant speed, it drives in a straight line, has smooth braking, and overall nothing really disturbs you about the driving experience. I do wish the drive stood out a little more, but most vehicles in this segment are plain and designed to blend in. If you’re looking for a comfortable SUV that is built more for practicality than sporty driving dynamics, the Equinox is worth taking a look at. You might want to spend a little extra just to get that 2.0 turbocharged engine, though.