The compact SUV space is hot, and there are a lot of great options for today’s car buyers, from the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 to the Mazda CX-5. In the Chevrolet lineup, the compact but roomy Chevy Equinox offers yet another solid option, though whether it’s truly competitive is another story entirely. In fact, people still view companies like Chevrolet as based in America to compare with foreign car companies like Toyota and Honda, but the Equinox I test drove was made in Mexico with an engine and transmission also manufactured in Mexico.
Nonetheless, I still consider companies like Ford and Chevrolet as American manufacturers, so when Chevy offered me a week behind the wheel of the 2023 Chey Equinox Premier AWD in Sterling Gray Metallic, I was eager to compare it against the other SUVs I’ve recently driven. The Equinox comes in four trim levels, with Premier being the top of the line, and it’s powered by a turbocharged 1.5L four-cylinder engine which lets it eke out some decent fuel efficiency (24/30, for an EPA average of 26 mpg). It also sports some very attractive lines:
As luck would have it, Chevrolet dropped off the car the day before an intense polar vortex weather front swept through the area, with our lowest recorded temperature a brisk -14F (-25C). I bundled up and went outside that morning to see how the vehicle handled an extended sub-zero period and to its tremendous credit, the Equinox started right up within 2-3 seconds of me pushing the START button. Plenty of neighbors were complaining their vehicles wouldn’t start or had dead batteries, so it’s clear that Chevy knows a lot about designing for tough weather…
[article continues at PlanetDave.com as 2023 Chevrolet Equinox Premier AWD Review]
26 MPG? Obviously this manufacturer could not care less about the dire situation this Planet faces.