Chevrolet has facelifted the Equinox lineup. The sales start date is pending, so let’s take a look at the details in the meantime.
Starting with the exterior, it conforms with Chevy’s current design language and looks rather muscular thanks to boxy outlines, a nearly upright radiator grille, and new head- and taillights. The fenders are squarish, too, and the c-pillars have black trims on them for a ‘floating roof’ look.
The interior sports a different layout, getting rid of a standalone center console and putting visor-free displays on the dash. The dash screen is sized 11 inches corner-to-corner and the head unit is 11.3 inches large. The gear selector now resides on the steering column, but the climate control panel still offers physical buttons and knobs.
Like before, the Chevy Equinox will be offered in two main modifications – standard and RS. The number of available trims and option packs continues to go down, though. The only new addition is a version called Activ, which can be mildly useful for cosplaying an off-road driver. It introduces geometrically improved bumpers, a different grille pattern at the front, unspecified suspension tweaks and 17-inch wheels wrapped in off-road tires. Other than that, you get to enjoy an exclusive interior trim, and that’s it.
The new Equinox ships with only one engine – a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-pot rated at 177 PS (175 hp / 130 kW). If you go with the standard front-wheel-drive version, you will be getting a CVT for transmission and 249 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque. Paying a premium for AWD will net you an eight-speed automatic and 275 Nm (203 lb-ft) of torque.