Chevrolet Equinox 2016

Even though crossover cars have become common to the point of making people tired of seeing them on the streets, most people still find them flashy and trendy. While such stereotype underpins the release of dozens of new models every year, Equinox accounts for an interesting exception. You won’t see it in many advertisements or press events, but none of this has stopped it from being one of the best-selling Chevrolets in North America in the past few years. Preserving such performance is the reason why its new lineup received some changes… and also the reason why they weren’t big.

For those who haven’t heard much about it, Equinox was released in 2004. It was Chevrolet’s very first crossover and, following the corporate policy it had back then, came from a global project which also spawned a twin brother Pontiac Torrent, Chevrolet Captiva, Opel Antara, Saturn Vue, and Suzuki XL7. Despite the tall shape and optional all-wheel-drive, heavy off-road tasks were still restricted to the truck-based Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon. After some years of receiving more equipments and slight technical upgrades, Torrent and Vue were dropped along with their marques in 2010, while Equinox reached a new generation. It uses an improved version of the same platform, which spawned the second Cadillac SRX and GMC Terrain, and Saab 9-4X.

While the others have achieved mixed sales around several countries, Equinox has become a solid seller mostly in North America. Given the huge variety of crossovers offered there which work as direct rivals for it, it’s very easy to understand why GM is so worried with keeping things as they are, rather than trying to improve them. In this kind of situation, making few changes is important because one doesn’t want to make customers think it’s a different car. Instead of dealing with the risks implied by releasing a new product, at least partially, it’s much better to make them think of it as the same vehicle they’ve been using over the past few years, but better. As usual, one of the tools used by the company to execute such plan is facelifting the exterior in some key points.

Compared to the outgoing car, the refreshed Equinox looks more elegant. The headlights received smoother contour, the wheels became prettier, and the front grille feature Chevrolet’s latest trend: both parts have independent design and new mesh pattern, with the upper one playing an auxiliary role compared to the other. The rear fascia uses new lower portion and tail lights with new internal design. Besides, choosing one of the upscale trim levels will add an exclusive set of chrome inserts, just like the pictures show. Speaking of those, they became easier to understand: the 1LT and 2LT sub-levels were merged into LT, which results in a list composed by L, LS, LT and LTZ. Projector-beam headlights are now standard, while LT and LTZ get new external LEDs and LTZ new fog lamps.

Equinox’s cabin, in turn, received new shifter, new option for color scheme, and minor tweaks at the central stack. OnStar and 4G LTE connectivity appear once again, with built-in Wi-Fi, but now they’re paired to universal tablet holders (sold as an accessory) that mount to the front seatbacks. L and LS received backup camera, new fabrics and a multimedia audio system with 7” touchscreen and Bluetooth, while LT and LTZ feature blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts and MyLink. The standard engine is an Ecotec 2.4 (182 hp and 172 lb-ft), which can be upgraded with a 3.6 V6 (301 hp and 272 lb-ft) in LT and LTZ – the only transmission is a six-speed automatic. All trims but L can also have the standard front-wheel-drive replaced with an AWD system.